Animation studies · 2025–26

Small Painted Worlds

A collection of small, hand-painted worlds built to be watched more than once.

Scroll to wander

The starting point

Nothing huge needs to happen.

These started as a way of getting better at small moments. A café conversation, a street corner, somebody walking home. The point was to make a little world that feels good to sit with for a while.

They are self-initiated animation studies, so there was room to follow the painting, change the colour, and let a simple action find its own rhythm.

Made forMy own sketchbook

MediumHand-painted 2D animation

FocusAtmosphere, gesture & rhythm

A painted café scene from Liam Perkins’ animation loop series

A small world, held in place

There is a lot in a repeated moment.

Light shifts. Somebody looks away. A figure crosses the frame. Looping gives a scene time to settle, which is often where the feeling turns up.

How they begin

Loose first, then let the paint lead.

Early colour and character study for a hand-painted animation loop — **01 · Palette & gesture**A loose colour and character study. Enough to find the temperature of the scene, not a rigid plan.

Colourful guitar player from a hand-painted animation loop — **02 · Find the movement**One small action is usually enough. The challenge is making the repeat feel natural rather than mechanical.

A Paris storefront from a painted animation loop — **03 · Let it breathe**Once the scene is painted, the pace stays quiet. The loop does the rest.

Selected studies

Small scenes with room to move.

A few of the studies together. Each has its own bit of weather, colour and pace.

Colourful guitar player animation study — Colour change

Painted dog walker animation study — Dog walker

Painted coffee break animation study — Coffee break

A little further

Some of these worlds are becoming prints.

I’m slowly making a home for the still images too. More on that soon.

Have a project in mind?

If you have a place, a song or a small idea that could live in motion, I’d love to hear it.

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