'Minions' co-director shows fans how to draw Gru's henchmen
With summer around the corner and the school year winding down, you might be wondering what else you and your family can fill the days with while in quarantine.
Illumination Entertainment, the studio behind animated films such as "Despicable Me," "Minions," "Sing," and "The Secret Life of Pets," has just the answer with a new how-to video for young (and not-so-young!) fans alike.
Chris Meledandri, founder of Illumination Entertainment, explains in the clip, "We are going through a really difficult time right now, and I know how hard it is to be quarantined, spending so much time indoors, but it's also an opportunity to be creative."
It's time to break out the art supplies!
Meledandri teamed up with Brad Ableson, one of the co-directors of "Minions: The Rise of Gru," to share the beginner-friendly tutorial. All young artists need to get started is a folded sheet of paper and their favorite crayon, pen, pencil or marker.
Fans of Bob, Kevin and Stuart can follow along as Ableson demonstrates how to draw the Minions' characteristically long arms and short legs, overalls and even their iconic goggle straps.
The Minions are easily customizable and illustrators can give them wild hairstyles (how about a mohawk?), comical hats (a tiny top hat?), or any accessories they wish.
But the best part of this drawing tutorial may just be how to bring the Minion drawing to life.
Once the first illustration is finished, artists can trace over the initial drawing on the second half of the paper and tweak small details to give the character a silly action, funny facial expression or new prop.
When both drawings are complete, simply flip the folded sheet of paper back and forth to create the illusion of an animated Minion.
Abelson offers fun examples in the video with one Minion doing a floss dance, another dribbling a basketball and even one of Bob burping widely.
Watch the YouTube clip to see how simple it is to get started and see if you can top Meledandri's colorful version.
Disclosure: "Minions: The Rise of Gru" is produced by Illumination Entertainment and distributed by Universal Pictures. TODAY and Universal Pictures are owned by the same parent company.
