To draw a character and make it act is the most important and exciting part of the animation process. Before animating a character, one should know about the character’s behavior which generally comprises of:
• How the character responds to various situations,
• How he poses himself and
• What are the gestures he makes to convey an action.
While drawing the poses and gestures keeping the following things in mind will help:
1. The line of action that follows his body.
2. The arcs while he is doing an action.
3. The balance and weight shift that happens while he pauses or does a small change in his gestures.
It’s advisable always to act out the performance as it becomes a good reference for the posing.
• Knowing every detail of your character will help you spot small nuances while animating the character.
• A small change in gesture will speak a lot about the character’s actions.
• Keeping an action pose in mind while drawing will help in knowing the body dynamics and then it becomes easier for the animator to know how the body of the characters behaves.
Kindly refer to the video for a detailed process: