Blender Grease Pencil

2D Animation

Introduction

This book describes how to access the Grease Pencil component in Blender and create 2D

Animation within the Blender 3D environment. It is assumed that the reader has no previous

knowledge of the Blender program and treats 2D Animation using the Grease Pencil as a stand

alone application.

The Grease Pencil is a component of the 3D Modeling and Animation Program - Blender.

Blender is a free open-source 3D Computer Graphics software toolset used for creating

animated films, visual effects, art, 3D printed models, motion graphics, interactive 3D

applications, virtual reality and computer games.

Blender supports the entirety of the 3D pipeline—modeling, rigging, animation, simulation,

rendering, compositing and motion tracking, video editing and the 2D Animation Pipeline.

The Blender program is maintained by the Blender Foundation and released as Open Source

Software which is available for download and FREE to be used for any purpose.

The first step in using the Grease Pencil, is to download, install and open Blender. These

operations are described in separate sections.

The second step is accessing the Grease Pencil when Blender is running. This step is often

overlooked in many tutorials and requires clarification.

When Blender is opened, it opens in 3D Modeling Mode. The instruction in this book will,

therefore, briefly describe the 3D Interface to establish the basic concept of operation through an

introduction to a Tool (The Annotation Tool) which is the origin of the Grease Pencil.

The Grease Pencil was originally a Tool for drawing construction notes during the 3D Modeling

and Animation process. This Tool still exists but has been developed to facilitate 2D Drawing and

Animation. 3D Modelling and Animation in Blender takes place in a 3D Workspace which is the

arrangement of panels or windows in the programs interface. For 2D Animation a separate

Workspace (arrangement of panels) has been developed which resides within the 3D

environment.

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