What kind of pencils, pens, etc. for traditional genga animation?

[mrjalen]

Hello, I’m here trying out traditional genga. I was wondering what would be the best supplies or pencils/pens. I started out with my generic 0.5 mechanical, but knew there had to be more to this. And what supplies would I use to color the different shades in the frame (red/blue/yellow,etc.). And are there any tips or advice on creating line art with different widths and thickness?

I would be grateful for any helpful advice and techniques in regards to this.

I’m starting out from the beginning, but eventually I want to reach the levels of Wit Studio AoT S1 levels of quality in the future. It would be quite the journey to get there.

[Douang]

2b-10b Mitsubishi pencils are what I’ve seen used for anime. Though they did announce that they discontinued some colored pencils.

As for colors it’s usually the same and could be different depending on the studio. These are commonly used:
Red - Highlight Outline
Blue - Shadow Outline
Pale Blue - Shadows
Green - Gradient Line
Pale Green - Other Outline
Dark Green - Black Fill
Light Purple - Hair Outline
Pale Orange - Skin Shadow
Yellow - Highlight
Pale Yellow - Cel Color
Grey - BG Shadow

Holding the pencil in different angles or use multiple strokes perhaps.
Use a light table (there’s some cheap portable ones online).

[mrjalen]

Thank you so much, this is really helpful, especially the color guide. Looks like I’ll add some of those pencils to my shopping list. I’ve had some experience with similar types of pencils and are great with different shading and sketch practices. What would be the most efficient way to utilize the variety of pencils onto the sheet and line art?

[Douang]

It’s quite simple because you have the econte as a reference. After finishing a keyframe line art, just build on top of that with color for shadows, highlights, etc. The cut that you get will usually be only as hard as what the director imagined for it. So sometimes you won’t even use all the colors.