Prepare to Board: Creating Story and Characters for Animated Features and Shorts, by Nancy Beiman is the newest of the books I'm studying.

By studying I mean reading it from cover to cover, taking notes and writing all my ideas and insights along, between and in every conceivable nook, cranny and margin of my notebook and illos of said notebook. Its how I learn, the hands on approach, by doing and with lots of pictures. They say, "A picture is worth a thousand words" and in my case is more than true. I have never been a lecture only student, give me visuals and let me try my hand at new and old concepts.

Now you may wonder why I'm so interested in storyboarding? Well, cause I think its all part of the visual storytellers journey. I think its all related, stories, graphic novels, cartoons, comic shorts, picture books, movies, anime, gaming and animation. Its like music, or dance, the more you learn, grow and experience the more creative you become and the freer your soul is to express itself.

This is fast becoming one of my favorite storyboarding books by the way, the other is of course Dan Bluth's: The Art of Storyboarding.

Both Bruth's and Beiman's books are indispensable, both easy to follow and laden with examples and eye opening insights. I find myself experiencing many "Eureka" moments, while studying these books. That's where the light bulb generally shines above the character in cartoons and understanding ignites them.