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Cel Painting

What is cel painting?

Cel painting is an animation technique: you paint a clear sheet called a cel with dedicated paints, then layer it over a background and photograph it. ArtCel® is the line of materials that Loppo develops and sells so that cels can still be painted today.

  • The mainstream technique of Japanese animation from the postwar years to the late 1990s
  • Paint is applied directly to a clear plastic sheet
  • Loppo sells reissued materials made specifically for cel painting
Read about cel paintingSee how to paint one

Layering color on a clear film

What is cel painting?

Cel painting is an animation production technique in which a clear plastic sheet called a cel is painted with dedicated paints, layered over a background painting and photographed. The painted sheet itself is also called a cel. In Japanese the technique and the sheet are both called “seru-ga”; in English you will also see cel animation art or anime cel.

In Japanese animation it was the mainstream production method from the postwar years to the late 1990s. Countless works, from theatrical films to TV anime, were made with cels.

When digital production became mainstream in the 2000s, uncertainty over the supply of materials and the spread of computers meant cels were used far less in commercial production. Loppo specializes in materials for cel animation, and makes and sells cel supplies that work for today’s productions and hands-on sessions under its own brand, ArtCel®.

Pouches of Anime Color (cel paint) after filling
We make Anime Color (cel paints) in-house

What is cel animation?

Making motion with cels

Layering cels and photographing them

Cel animation is a production method in which lines are transferred onto clear sheets (cels), the drawings are colored with paint, and the cels are layered over a background and photographed frame by frame. It is one form of traditional, hand-drawn animation. A “cel” or “cel painting” is the single painted sheet and its technique; “cel animation” is the whole method of creating motion with those sheets.

The typical process

Motion is designed in key animation and in-betweens, traced onto cels (transferring the lines), colored from the reverse side with cel paints, then layered over a background and photographed. When several cels are stacked, clarity and registration (with a peg bar, for example) determine image quality. Commercial animation has moved to digital coloring, but the technique itself is still used in education, art, hands-on sessions and experimental work.

Anime cels

Cels that survive from that era reached us by many paths — from cels actually used under the camera to stolen ones and ones made for retail sale — and provenance, rights and whether a cel was actually photographed are hard to tell from appearance alone, so how to treat them as cultural records is under discussion. Separately, there are new works painted today with the same technique. What Loppo supports is the supply of materials and the spread of cel painting not as a traditional craft, but as a living technique.

Where it is used today

Cel painting is not only something to view in archives; it is a technique that works in today’s video production, artworks, classes and events. There is more than one way in: paint one at home, try it at a workshop, or build it into teaching materials or a project. The materials and steps you need are in How to paint a cel.

The roots of the cel look

Cel painting and analog / hand-drawn animation techniques

On this page, cel painting means putting color on a physical clear cel with paint. “Cel painting” and “cel shading” in digital illustration imitate this style. It also differs from print: the real thing is vivid, and although the color is flat, it carries a faint three-dimensional shading.

Anime Color (cel paint) color chart
Anime Color (cel paint) color chart

Cel painting materials

Three ArtCel® materials

Paint and try

Two ways to start cel painting

Paint at home

In your web browser

Learn by doing

At the store or a venue

FAQ

What is cel painting?

Cel painting is an animation technique in which a clear plastic sheet (a cel) is painted with dedicated paints, layered over a background and photographed; the word also refers to the painted sheet itself. It was the mainstream of Japanese animation through the 1990s, then gave way to digital production. Today you can still make your own work at home with ArtCel® materials while experiencing the basic process.

What is cel animation?

Cel animation is the traditional animation method in which characters and other elements drawn on clear cels are layered over a background and photographed frame by frame to create motion. In Japan it was the central method of domestic animation from the postwar years to the late 1990s. A cel is each painted sheet produced in that process — one part of cel animation as a whole.

What do I need to paint a cel?

At a minimum you need three things: blank cels (clear sheets), Anime Color (cel paints) and a fine painting brush (menso brush). A dip pen or fineliner is useful for tracing the line art, and a simple peg bar for registration. The tools you need are listed on the “How to paint a cel” page.

Can beginners paint cels?

Yes. The basics of cel painting are simple: trace the line art and paint from the back. You can start without any experience of digital illustration or acrylic painting. At our workshops we begin with how to use the tools.

How do cels differ from digital animation?

Because a cel is paint layered on a physical clear sheet, it has qualities only the real object has: the gloss of the surface, the thickness of the paint, the transparency.

How do analog animation techniques relate to cels?

Analog animation is a general term for the handwork of creating motion with physical media such as paper, film and cels. Cel painting is one of its best-known examples, combining tracing and painting on clear sheets, layering over a background, and frame-by-frame photography (or something close to it).

Where can I buy cel painting materials?

You can buy them on this site and at our unstaffed shop, open 24 hours, in Sakuragaoka-cho, Shibuya. We stock the materials needed for cel painting, including blank cels, Anime Color (cel paints) and simple peg bars.

Are there workshops where I can try cel painting?

We hold cel painting workshops that beginners can join, on an irregular schedule. From using the tools through to painting, you finish one cel on the spot and take it home. Dates, times and venues are listed on the workshop page.

Using cel techniques in production and education

We take inquiries about choosing materials, the quantities you need, how to run a session, designing teaching materials, production training or workshops, and press coverage or joint projects.

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