Quickest way to improvement? Practice. It’s a simple bit of advice that rings with absolute truth. Articles, tips, mentors, and study will never get you as far as rolling up your sleeves and getting down to work, be it animation or any other skill.
adapted from animator island:
Level 2 Exercises
-Change in Character emotion (happy to sad, sad to angry, etc.)
-Character jumping over a gap
-Standing up (from a chair)
-Character Walking (walk cycle)
-Character on a pogo stick (loop)
-Laughing
-Sneezing
-Reaching for an object on a shelf overhead
-Quick motion smear/blur
-Taking a deep breath (difficult)
-A tree falling
-Character being hit by something simple (ball, brick, book)
-Character Running (run cycle)
This video describes how to create simple animations in Photoshop CS4.
LINK TO STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTIONS: CLICK HERE
Do your best.
There is no reason to do these exercises poorly.
Give it your all.
You owe it to yourself to try your very best.
Something not quite right? Take the time to fix it.