What You Need:

A note to all you 'cel purists' out there. Animation cels are made with the cheapest supplies possible. They are not made with any intention other than to last long enough to be filmed once. Most of them are destroyed afterwards, or recycled. Fading, paint bubbling, cracking, warping, etc are all problems with 'real' animation cels that don't need to happen. Things like colored lines where the colors meet isn't to help the colors transition; it's to help the grunt labor stay within the lines so that they don't have to worry about painting clear edges so they can work faster. My cel paintings are NOT made to be 'authentic', they're made be good.

Transparencies

Firstly, you need a transparency. Starting off, any old transparency will do, you'll screw up lots, and after you stop screwing up all the time you'll still need scrap pieces of transparency to test colors on. Try an office type store like Staples. Get the kind for overhead projectors to be written on. Most of these are better quality than animation cels, sadly. There are several qualities you want to look for in transparencies: Clarity All the better to see the painting on the other side. Dimensional Stability Flat good. Warped bad. Acid-Free So it doesn't deteriorate over time Non-Yellowing So it doesn't change color over time Non-Tearing (if I have to explain this one, don't even bother) Dura Lar comes in both sheets and rolls of multiple sizes and thicknesses. It is made from a hybrid of acetate and other plastics specificially for artists. You want to go with .04 or .05 mm here to balance clarity with dimensional stability, and it is every bit as Acid Free, Non Yellowing, and Non Tearing as the label advertises. It varies from $8 or so for a 9x12" pad to $25 for a 20"x30' roll. There are a couple of different types, and you want the clear stuff for wet media. Treated Acetate is the next best thing. Depending on how it's treated, it is also dimensionally stable, non yellowing, and acid free. I haven't seen this in rolls, but I have seen it in pads, and sold in large individual sheets up to about 30x40". Costs about the same as Dura-Lar, starting at about $8 for a 9x12" pad, and you can get individual large sheets for less, usually around $2 each. Use .05 mm clear for a painting, but you can go thinner if you're doing an effects layer like airbrushing or lines. Treated acetate can still warp a little bit when wet, but it usually dries flat but it can and will tear, so be careful when removing it from your sketch! Glass depends entirely on the glass, and I really can't help you since glass panels aren't sold widely in art stores except as frame supplies. Just remember the qualities you're looking for (you don't have to worry about warping or tearing-shattering yes, tearing no-but the others are still relevant) and ask lots of questions. Acetate also comes in pads and sheets and varies in quality from treated to animation cels. It costs about the same or slightly less than treated acetate. Since what you're getting can vary a lot, I'd only try acetate that hasn't been marked as treated if you can't get anything else in your area, and then make sure to do a test cel first (take a spare sheet and cover most of it with whatever paint you use least; leftover is good. If it stays flat you're good. If it starts to curve..no) Animation Cels suck. They are acetate, but they are probably the lowest grade of acetate you can get before it just doesn't work at all. They warp horrifically when wet (painting on a curve is not good), don't always dry flat, tear, and yellow over time. Also, you usually have to buy them through a distributor online (I got mine at the RISD art store) and are as expensive if not more than dura lar unless you're buying ridiculously large amounts (300+ sheets or more) If you really want an animation cel look to your cel painting, I strongly recommend buying treated acetate or dura lar and simply cutting it down to a standard cel size and punching the holes yourself.

Lines

Some pens you put your own ink in. Other pens come with ink. Because of that, I'll discuss the inks seperately. Koh-i-Noor Rapidograph Pens are pens for graphing, but they do wonderfully on cels. Some sets even come with ' ink for transparencies'. It isn't a very good ink, but still. I prefer a .35mm line, but will go all the way up to .6 and down to .25 depending on the effect I want. You need to clean them thoroughly and regularly, every 2 weeks so long as you have ink in them and in between colors to keep them in good working order. They are expensive, and run about $35 a pen. If you have a Michaels or AC Moore craft store, they also carry them and they're usually cheaper there. Much cheaper since both stores reguarly run 40% off coupons in the mail. If you intend to make this a hobby and not just do one or two cels, they're worth it. Inks (between $3-5 ea): Koh I Noor Rapidograph Ink for Transparencies Good if you choose to do lines on the front of a cel, but bleed under paint if you do them on the back. Otherwise, very dark and UV-resistant (doesn't fade) FW Liquid Acrylic Be careful with this. The sediment (solid bits) are a lot denser, and not all of the pots of ink have 'for pens' written on the side. You need to clean it especially thoroughly and often. Also lightfast, works excellent on the front, and good-very good on the back. It will bleed, but you have to have the paint on it for a little bit first, and then moosh the paint around over it for it to happen. So long as you're careful around the lines you should be all set. Bombay India Ink. This is what I use. It will bleed, but very, very rarely. If it does, it's much more your fault than the ink's. Great on either side, UV-resistant, comes in multiple colors that can be mixed. Anything else: Just make sure it says 'uv resistant' or 'lightfast' and that it says it's good for mechanical pens. Remember to do a test swatch on a piece of scrap acetate first. If you find something that works well, let me know and I'll add it to the list. Artist's 'Dip' Pens. Like old fashioned quill pens, these pens are cheap (a shaft and set of tips will go for under $5) but they take a lot more skill to use. There are dozens of pen tips that each give a different effect. You also have to keep 'dipping' them in ink to refill the reservoir which doesn't go very far. If you're using a tip incorrectly, the line will be ragged, the ink will splatter, and you can cut into the cel. None of those things should happen. If you find that you can handle these pens (expect to put in some serious practice time with them) they're wonderful. They can take any kind of ink or thinned paint and you can use them to do tiny details in perfectly matching colors if your paintbrush skill isn't that good. Inks (between $3-5 ea): All of the above work pretty much the same, except obviously you don't have to take the pen apart and clean it all the time. You should dip it and wipe off with pen cleaner between uses and sometimes during use if your tip is getting crusty. You can also use: Liquid acrylic that cannot be used in mechanical pens Specialty inks, like metallic and calligraphy inks Airbrush paints Thinned down acrylic paint Blood (but only if you really, really want to) Most of those inks will work pretty well, but once again I emphasize doing test swatches. You can find out more about test swatches in the Basics and Tips sections. Deco Color Extra Fine Line Paint Pens I love these things. They are hard to handle, but with a little practice you can get lines that are almost as thin as rapidograph pens, and you can do thick to thin lines and all kinds of inking effects you can do with the dip pens as well. Nothing will make these lines dissolve, smear, or run after they're dry. It's best to paint them on the back because dust particles tend to stick to them which doesn't look nice on the front. Before they're dry (takes a minute or so), they will smear. You can clean up any smudges or errors with a tissue or Q tip with a tiny bit of mineral oil on it. Then take a clean Q tip and polish away any residue. They come in over a dozen colors. If you have particularly runny paint, the density of these lines will help a lot in keeping them from going over the lines. I recommend these pens for the beginner. Figure $3 ea Lumocolor 'cel pens' and any other alcohol pen 'for transparencies' $3-6 ea. It kills me that these are the kinds of pens most people use because they're advertised as 'cel pens' on the few sites that sell animation supplies. Ok, on 'real' animation cels, the lines are almost always photocopied (we'll cover that next). Secondly, they say they're UV resistant, but they're not. They fade gradually on top, and very quickly on the bottom on the same side as the paint. Thirdly, their finest tip is still about .5mm wide, and it isn't even dark enough with one application that you can't see through it to the paint behind it so you have to do the lines over again until they're dark enough which usually makes the line even wider. If you do the lines on the front, you don't have to draw over them as many times but then they have this weird rainbow reflective effect like pooled gasoline. I tried out half a dozen different brands of these 'cel pens' and I consider every cel I did with them to be ruined. Colored Gel Pens .99 up I would not use them on the back, but I have seen some people do nifty effects with them on the front. There are dozens of different brands, so just remember the test swatch rule Sharpies - See lumocolor. It's a similar kind of ink, not very dense on transparency. Regular pens like Bic, etc. Don't. It's hard to get them to show up on the cel in the first place, and afterwards they will bleed like a hemophiliac. Photocopies and Laser Copies Mostly you're only going to be able to get these on the office transparencies and are very low quality. Good for a beginner with an unsteady hand just keep the lines on the front and you should be OK. However, some specialized copy shops with experience in blueprints, etc will be able to do large photocopy lines in much better quality on large transparencies on treated acetate and dura lar. I've heard these are very good, but I haven't found anywhere around me that will do it, so I can't give you an in-person rundown.

Paints

Craft Paints These seem to be the best from what I've tried, but there is a huge difference between brands. You can mix some brands with others, but sometimes they will not combine and dry with small 'swirls' of color in them. So when mixing in between brands, test first. They may fade over time, but I haven't noticed it, and I have framed cels 5 yrs old on my wall. Deco Color: Well pigmented, good color variety, consistenly opaque, no cracking, stays flexible after drying. And no weird stuff so far. It does keep bubbles, but not nearly as badly as other brands. It is also a little bit on the thick side so you may want to thin it with a little water for more detailed areas.$1-2 per 2 oz bottle Americana: Moderately pigmented, good color variety, poor opacity in some colors, 'clots' as it dries which can smear some lines underneath it but stays flexible after drying. It really keeps airbubbles though, and the more transparent colors can be runny. Weird stuff: I had a cel painted with these melt. It was record heat temperatures and probably baked in the back of a metal mail truck, but still. $1 per 2 oz bottle Anita's: Highly pigmented, good color variety in all except the blue range (a bit dull) no cracking, stays flexible after drying, does not keep bubbles. Weird stuff: This paint started randomly dissolving on itself and lines after almost a year of flawless use. This may be related to hot most weather, but I have not yet found a way to predict it. I still use these paints though sparingly because they are so perfect in almost every other way. $1 per 2 oz bottle Apple Barrel: Bright colors but very poorly pigmented. Transparent. Keeps bubbles. Only used it on one cel and threw them all out. Cel Paints: I'm not aware of any specific brand here. They can be on the expensive side (approx $8 or more for a 4 oz bottle) and they have one advantage over all other acrylic paints: they dry the same color as when wet. This is excellent if you're trying to color match. However. As seen in the myriad problems production cel collectors face, they fade, bubble up off of the acetate after drying, crack, and become brittle over time. If you are painting a correction layer or a missing layer from a cel in your collection I would recommend these paints so that you can most easily get it just right, but I would not recommend them otherwise. Artist's Acrylics: In general, these are all highly pigmented and as a result sort of fudgey in texture. Need to be diluted before use. Liquitex Probably the most common brand, these are pretty good paints! They're densely pigmented and opaque and have good color variety. Ounce for ounce, they're about the same cost as craft paint, but they come in larger tubes so seem more expensive. There's one problem with them that keeps me from ever using them on cels: Liquitex paints shink ever so slightly when they dry. This isn't a problem on canvas or wood, but it is on transparencies. On a moderately sized area in dry or warm weather, the paint will often dry too fast for the cel and warp with a pinched and rippled front as a result, even on dimensionally stable dura-lar. You can't stop it, unless you can control the paint for a slow gradual dry. The tightness in them when they dry also makes them more rigid than other kinds of paint, which may lead to cracking/stress pocket bubbles against acetate bubbles over time. $4+ for a 4 oz tube.

Miscellaneous

Paintbrushes are a matter of personal preference. You may be tempted to buy the cheapest ones you can get your hands on, but that's not the best plan even for your first cel. If you buy a moderately priced paintbrush ($3-6) and take good care of it it will last you well over a year even with constant use. I don't use anything above a size 3 paintbrush to paint my cels, which is pretty small. I prefer White Sable because the brush is soft, maintains it's shape well, and is white so it is very easy to tell when it's clean. Rinse your brushes frequently during use. It takes a few seconds and will keep the painting smooth. Buy a size 0 to do tiny detail, size 1 to do average detail, and a 2 or 3 to fill in spaces to start with. You can figure out what else you need once you start painting regularly. Paintbrush qualities to look for in the store: Is it labeled 'for acrylic'? Most paintbrush brands will give a list of the kinds of paint they're good for right on the display. How soft is the brush? You can feel it with your fingers. You don't want something too hard or it not apply paint evenly. Does it keep it's shape? Run the brush lightly over the back of your hand like you were painting it. Did the bristles stay slightly pointed (best) straight (good) or splayed outwards (bad)? A brush that does not keep its shape will suck up paint and give you little to no control over application. Q-tips are just so damn handy you probably have these around the house already. They're good for polishing off fingerprints, cleaning paint smudges, using small amounts of solvent to remove line screw-ups neatly and any number of things. Animator's gloves or tissues. Fingerprints are very important at the inking stage because it screws up most inks ability to bond well to the transparency. That's bad. So to avoid fingerprints, most people suggest wearing those white animators gloves. For me, that's worse because they aren't a terribly good fit and I started getting paint smears everywhere because I couldn't feel when the glove brushed into it. So I just fold up a non-moisturizer-added tissue into a square and keep it under my hand during the inking part. Masking Tape works very well in holding a cel to the sketch and not leaving any residue when you remove it. Light Box isn't necessary, but it makes things soooo much easier. You can use it to flip your sketch for you so that you don't have to go through the trouble of copying and reversing. If you have it on while you paint, you will be able to tell when the paint is thick enough to not be transparent with one coat. And it will keep you from leaving any pinprick holes close to edges where the other color might show through. And it's warm, so it makes the paint dry slightly faster. No lose really. I bought a small 10" one to start off with for about $25 (with the use of a 40% off coupon at a craft store) which didn't cover the entire cel for most sizes, but it certainly worked for painting one area at a time. Recently I bought a much larger 16x18" one and I won't lie, it's far better, but I can justify spending $150 on a light box because I do this stuff all the time and can also use it for sewing. Air Brushes start at $20. If you get the craft kind with multiple nozzles for different spray effects, they can go upto $40. For the kind of special effects you do on cels, this is all you need. Don't buy this unless you're interested in more advanced stuff, and don't buy a 'real' airbrush just to do cels. That would be stupid. And incredibly expensive. Most airbrush paints are not designed for bonding to plastics. Considering how fragile airbrushed effects already are, that's not good. I use createx paints (approx $4 per 2 oz bottle) designed for polymers (=plastic) and they're really nice and don't give off toxic fumes like most of the other ones. Don't forget the solvent to clean the airbrush too.

If you've been paying attention, you're looking at about $35 to paint a basic cel. Next: Basics

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