In my recent post-grad journey to learning After Effects, I quickly realized I wanted to try to make an animated illustration to practice my skills with compositing, masking, and layering. I wanted to create an LGBTQ+ image for Pride Month, so I decided to depict a love-filled brunch scene.
I did a quick thumbnail on paper, and then sketched it out in Procreate. I continued to make a full illustration, with separate layers for each of the parts I planned on animating. For the eyes of the characters, I decided to make separate GIFs in Procreate with a few frames each.
My goal during the process of animating was to make the scene feel lively through several small loops, each with their own different types of motion. The final step was adding steam to the coffee and food. I used the technique from my previous experiments making smoke to create these effects.