jumpin’ GIFs

December 3rd, 2014

For some time now I have been puzzling over a vexing problem: how to draw a jumping jack. You can usually find a way to convey a sense of movement in a drawing. But I just couldn’t seem to capture a jumping jack in a single image.

Even with lots of overlapping outlines of limbs, and motion lines, it’s impossible. I kept trying to figure it out, making a video of myself and analyzing the different positions. Then drawing them separately and combining them in a flip book. But I didn’t have enough drawings and my pages weren’t on thick enough paper. Then it occurred to me to put them in a GIF generator.

Jumping jacks!