If they say a picture paints a thousand words, then a GIF is like a tattoo to your memory. It gets imprinted in your mind. I find the entire process quite interesting and a breath of fresh air from the traditional drawing.

Life's little joy to me is sipping a cup of cocoa, be it hot or cold cocoa. Hot cocoa for a cold day and a cold cocoa for a warm day.

The Process

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Making it a GIF

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It started In Photoshop with a very rough sketch of position and what kind of poses she is doing. Then I proceed to make the outline with a little more detail. This is used as my reference to paint. Next I started to paint the skin colour first, followed by the clothes, cocoa and hair.

Hair is a very interesting thing. Different hairstyle will give a complete makeover. It is always fun to play around with what style suits her the most. For this one I just wanted to make her look cute and a little matured.

After I am satisfied with it, I add the smoke on cocoa and then begin the process of making the gif. On a side note, remember to create a different layer for each parts for you to animate later.
For example : Hair layer, eyelash layer, cocoa smoke layer etc.

For this gif, I used a total of 8 images to loop. Each image have a slight change to make a subtle movement. The more images you use, the smother it is.

The timeline option in Photoshop is a great way to see how your character moves.
Window > Timeline.

Do share with me if you have any hack or tips that would make my GIF better. I really hope to learn.

Your friendly GIF provider, Ellie Bong

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Generally I support whichever community that is involved in supporting good content. I guess that is how we grow strong and healthy.