Ryan Woodward, an esteemed artist among those in the animation and the story-boarding field, has contributed to many of this generation’s favorite films, including Osmosis Jones and Space Jam, where he worked on the EFX Animation (visual effects).   He  did storyboarding for  popular films such as Ironman 2, Cowboys and Aliens, and Captain America 2.  He had a hand in forming the character design of the well known Thundercats, and took part in the animatics (animated storyboard) of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Woodward  has  worked in the animation field for approximately 21 years now.  He currently shares his artistic wisdom in his animation course  at Brigham Young University in San Francisco, CA. He imparts some of his own wisdom and knowledge from the field into the young minds of today’s youth by teaching and often doing class interviews for those majoring in animation and storyboarding.

Some of his more note worthy escapades include a number of  independent works. This includes his animated graphic novel app from 2012,  the first animated graphic novel of its time, which combines  the feelings of the classic comic book, with touch that activates voices, animation, and music; creating a whole “new type of storytelling experience.”  The story takes place in the year 2172, revolving around an enhanced form of a futuristic baseball which includes “artificial gravity.”

A fellow worthy mention would be his amazing short film, Thought of You, released  December 4, 2010 on YouTube.  It quickly escalated in views and went viral, finding its way into the hearts of many and gaining new fans every minute. The film  was a short 3 minutes, but ultimately took up to about

4,000 or more frames to create according to Ryan himself in an interview  In the Making of Thought of You. The video, accompanied  to The Weepies song The World Spins Madly On, has many interpretations, but inevitably evokes the same reaction. It’s undoubtedly a beautiful piece of animated magnificence that should not only be seen by all, but cherished too.

Known too doodle in his free time, his sketches reflect some of the things he loves, a few of the things he’s lived, and a couple of the things that may have just sporadically popped into his head. Because of his success with his artistic talent, Ryan created a book to help those in search of assistance with gesture drawing. His book, downloadable through PDF and available in paperback, gives the reader insight to different poses in the human form, tips on drawing clothing, materials suggested, and drawing the form in general. A cute feature included in the book are little drawings on the corners of the pages, and when flipped through, form adorable little animations. As a special feature in the book, Ryan includes frames in the back of the book from his work in Thought of You.

For a closer look into some of his drawings and animations, he has his own website.    Not only that but he also has created Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and Vimeo accounts. Vimeo withholding many of his very brief test animations and designs, consists of 97 of his videos while Youtube takes hold of about 30.

Also visit:

The Washington Post Google Doodle Chat with Ryan Woodward