This is a series of journals ive been wanting to start for quite a while now, the first several will focus on what it means to be a great flash animator (in my opinion) aswell as what it takes to be a lousy flash authur, and later will also discuss what makes a great flash character and how to create atmosphere. If you want to have a paricular animator discussed just leave a comment and i'll see what i can do in the future.

***The following journal is just an opinion***

What is it that makes a flash animator good? Is it the artists technical skill? There ability to create smooth and seamless animation with jaw dropping backgrounds and a great understanding of perspective and anatomy? Well yes, partly, but i believe it goes deeper then that. I personally think that as important as being good technically is, the most important thing is being able to evolve and experiment. By evolving and always trying new things can keep an audience captivated alot easier then by recycling the same work. A few good examples of artists like this are...

The Swain
Hes been around since 2005, Blockhead was a breath of fresh air at the time, and even now i find it to easily be one of the best series on newgrounds. When it first started tho, Blockhead, from a technical standpoint wasnt all that impressive. The Swain was and still is to my knowledge completely self taught, the quality his animation has improved over the last 2 years is completely astonishing, and id argue he has improved more over such a short time period then any other animator around. Just look at the golf between his work from 2005 to his current work at the end of 2007. This is largely due to him taking constructive critism and working on his faults.
The Swain tries new things and takes what people say onboard, This is what makes The Swain a great flash animator.

David Firth
Alot of people hate David Firths work, whether it because its wierd, or because it isnt trying to be funny. I personally appreciate what he does. He set out to make what he wanted and thats exactly what he does. And while he may not be the most impressive animator on a technical level, his simple animation style suits the storys he tells. But thats not to say he hasnt improved and evolved over the years. While alot of animators strive to make there animation as smooth as possible, David Firth tries to create as much atmosphere as possible, something that alot of flash authors neglect in there work. This shows threw all his work, from Salad Fingers to A Black and White Cartoon about Berries. Hes not afraid to experiment, as Burnt Face Man shows, and he just like the swain tends to take constructive crit on board, and is always improving, tho his improvements tend to be alot more subtle then alot of other flash animators. This makes David Firth, a great flash animator.

---

So theres part01. Part 02 should be up sometime in the coming weeks. Ill keep you posted.