Danny Casale Wants to Give Your
Holiday Cards Character
Tips on how to turn the characters in your life into animated season’s greetings.
Danny Casale aka @coolman_coffeedan shows off a piece in big, cinematic style via
The Premiere 4K Laser Projector
Holiday cards are a great way to celebrate the characters in your life — whether that’s the aunt who really loves cats, the sibling who always borrows your stuff or the bestie that gets you.
Thankfully, a guy who animates characters for a living is here to help take your cards to a new level: professional “bad animator” and #TeamGalaxy member, Danny Casale. Here are his tips for how to turn your loved ones into fun, animated holiday cards that crack smiles and lift spirits.
Animating on the Galaxy Tab S7+ and viewing work on The Sero /
@coolman_coffeedan
Spice it up with animations
You’ve seen paper greeting cards and singing eCards, but when’s the last time you got an animated card made just for you? For Danny, animation adds a dash of holiday magic that other cards are missing. “It's a little more personalized and a little more fun. There's movement going on. There's different colors going on. It kind of spices the whole thing up a little bit,” he says.
Sketching “bad animations" on the Galaxy Tab S7+ /
@coolman_coffeedan
Bring the warm, fuzzy holiday vibes
The holidays have a warmth and wonder unlike any other time of the year. To capture that spirit, Danny taps into its unique colors, objects and emotions. “You have colors — red, greens, blues. You have that nice, warm, fuzzy feeling that comes from fireplaces and candles.” He also is inspired by scenes of joy, drawing “characters all having fun together, laughing together.” To quickly sketch and fine-tune his animations, he uses the S Pen on his Galaxy Tab S7+ and the Galaxy Note20 Ultra 5G. Both let him easily switch between different colors, tip sizes and brushes.
Self-proclaimed bad animator and #TeamGalaxy member, Danny Casale @coolman_coffeedan
Zero-in on what’s uniquely human
Turning friends or family into fun, simple characters takes a keen eye. “When making an animated card for a friend, I kind of make it just for them by, you know, seeing what type of traits and qualities they have. Do they have glasses, do they have big poofy hair? How did they dress? How do they act?” he says. Find the qualities that set a person apart and try to combine them into one character.
“I get my inspiration from real life. Being from New York, you would never go for a 10-minute walk without something crazy happening.”
Draw right on top of images using the Galaxy Note20 Ultra 5G and PENUP app.
Always be ready for inspiration
Finding inspiration is about capturing the magic (or craziness) around you. “I get my inspiration for my characters and stories from real life. Being from New York, you would never go for a 10-minute walk without something crazy happening,” he says.
When it comes to drawing with the Galaxy Note20 Ultra 5G, he says, “There's really no other piece of technology that has allowed me to be that quick.”† He’s able to save characters on-the-go from his Galaxy phone or tablet right in the cloud.
Blow up your holiday masterpiece with The Premiere 4K Laser Projector / @coolman_coffeedan
Remember to step back and enjoy it
In the end, the more you enjoy your work, the better that work will be. So, before you share a holiday animation with your aunt, best friend or family, step back and take it in on a big screen, like The Sero or make it huge with The Premiere 4K Laser Projector. As Danny puts it, “It's a movie premiere for my bad animations, which is a dream come true.”
* The PENUP app comes pre-loaded on specific devices (mainly S Pen devices) and can be downloaded from the Galaxy Store for all of our other devices or Google Play Store.
† 5G speeds vary and require optimal network and connection (factors include frequency, bandwidth, congestion); see carrier for availability.
Danny Casale's top tech
Everything you need to craft, edit and enjoy your art.
Galaxy Tab S7+
Galaxy Note20 Ultra 5G
The Premiere 4K Smart Laser Projector
