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The Animator’s Survival Kit by Richard Williams is one of the Bibles of modern animation. Not only does it give a fascinating inside look at some of the real work horses behind the animation we grew up watching, it also provides immensely practical formulas and templates for your own work. I’d read it before, but decided to finally buy it and make it my vacation reading last week. I can’t tell you how useful this book is for animation work.
As a warm up for my next book, I’ve been building a rig and doing some animation. The other morning, I spent about forty-five minutes doing a walk using the techniques in Survival Kit. It blew me away how following the tidbits of advice in there instantly infused an otherwise dull cycle with weight and life. Check it below:

Also, we were hard up for dinner ideas, so I made do with what was in the house. This takes 1/2 hour, start to finish, and turned out great:

• Two chicken breasts, defrosted and thrown on the grill
• Half a red onion, several close of garlic, and a small jar of artichoke hears, diced together
• Heat olive oil in iron skillet. Salt oil and throw in handful of Italian spices once oil is hot.
• Cook garlic/onion/arti’s in oil until they begin to soften
• Meanwhile, cook ravioli (or tortellini, rigontini or other cheese-bearing pasta)
• Put 1/2-1 cup of white wine into skillet with veggies and oil. Add 1 Tsp butter. Let simmer.
• Dice grilled chicken and add to skillet.
• Serve chicken/veggie skillet over pasta. Add fresh parmesean if you have it.