Episode 27: Cuphead's Tina Nawrocki on How To Find Success in 2D Traditional Hand Drawn Animation

This episode of the Animation Industry Podcast features Tina Nawrocki, one of the original hand-drawn animators on the Cuphead video game. Tina shares how she got her start in traditional 2D animator, how she landed Cuphead, and what opportunities exist for hand-drawn animators in the marketplace.

You’ll also learn:
*The top 3 skills you’ll need to thrive in hand-drawn animation (2 of them may really surprise you)
*How Tina risked everything to pursue hand-drawn video game animation
*Tina’s complete process for creating the unique character loop animations in Cuphead

Tina Nawrocki has over 13 years experience working as an animator and concept artist in the video game industry. Throughout her career, her clients have included Disney, Warner Bros., National Geographic, PBS Kids, One Drop Foundation and MLB.

Tina joined Studio MDHR in 2015 to work on Cuphead as a Concept Artist and 2D Animator. She designed and animated Baroness Von Bon Bon and the mini-bosses for the Sugarland Shimmy level. She also created concepts and animated enemies for various platforming stages. Overall, Tina animated over 60 characters for Cuphead.

Follow Tina:

Tina’s Blog: http://tinanawrocki.blogspot.com/
Demo Reel: https://vimeo.com/254787713
Twitter: https://twitter.com/NawrockiTina
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tinanawrockiart

Resources Tina mentions in this podcast:

The talk Tina did at Digital Dragons: http://tinanawrocki.blogspot.com/

Samantha Youssef’s Studio-Technique: http://www.studio-technique.com/

Samantha Youssef’s Book, Movement and Form: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/samanthasketches/the-youssef-drawing-syllabus-movement-and-form

They Drew as They Pleased: The Hidden Art of Disney's Golden Age: https://www.amazon.ca/They-Drew-Pleased-Hidden-Disneys/dp/1452137439

The Hand Behind the Mouse: The Ub Iwerks Story: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0179496/

Felicity Morland’s film Hand Drawn: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/hand-drawn-feature-film#/

Brian Kesinger’s Jasper J Pumpkinhead Project: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/babytattoo/the-fantastic-contraptions-of-jasper-j-pumpkinhead

Hanna Abi-Hanna’s live drawing of Miss Chalice: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGQkXdzUG_U

Learn more about this podcast at terryibele.com/animation-industry-podcast/