Shakin' It Out
Before doing the rest of the tail, which after all is a follow-through item, I needed to finish all necessary work on the body, lest the tail end up wagging the fox.
The two unresolved elements were: 1) how the fox sits down after shaking himself out, and 2) how his bristly fur settles down, and what kind of timing that called for.
Sitting Down
Previously I had only done key drawings. Now I added in my inbetweens and got this:
This was good in most respects, but I thought the head turn, where he looks down, should hold longer. (Remember, we are more-or-less ignoring the tail for now.)
I altered the timing so that he is looking down for 8 frames instead of two. Here is how that looks:
Much better, and I am now ready to look at it together with the shakeout that comes before. Also I now add detailed drawings showing his fur, which is all bristled out after the violent shake, settling down as he goes into his hold.
Here is all of that together:
All seems to be working. Yet to do is the final timing, mostly on its own layer, of the tail itself, and then a test of the entire combined scene.
But first...
Next: An Analysis of the Shakeout Drawings and Timing