Here is a quick introduction to making Anime using Macromedia Flash. Before you begin, you must have a copy of Flash (download a free trial version at http://www.macromedia.com/software/flash/) I also highly recommend purchasing a Wacom Pen Tablet because it is much better then trying to draw with a mouse. If you are curious about why I chose Macromedia Flash to animate in, check out the section of the intro entitled: "Why Anime in Flash"
The Basic Toolset
To do general vector drawing with Flash, first select the pencil tool (y) . Flash has three modes for drawing vectors freehand: Straighten, Smooth, and Ink. Straighten is for drawing straight lines where Smooth is for drawing smooth curves where if you draw a line, it will "interperate" your drawing accordingly. But the most useful is Ink which just lays down your line exactly as you draw it.
Straight and Smooth are useful for drawing background buildings or mechanical objects, where Ink is good for organics like people or animals, but if you want a really stylized look, try just using Smooth.
A very cool and helpful feature of Flash is that it recognizes the intersection of two lines when using the arrow tool (v) . This feature is very useful for cleaning up drawings as explained below.
Because it is so easy to clean up these extra lines this way, I recommend over extending your lines as opposed to not drawing your lines far enough so that you have to go and connect them later, but thanks to the vector nature of Flash, even that is not to bad to do.
So with that in mind, practice drawing in Flash and when you are ready, move on to coloring using the Flash toolset. Was this helpful? Please let me know
Now that you have practiced drawing in Flash, you are now ready to start coloring. Just like drawing, Flash has some smart coloring tools that makes coloring anime style easy. Be sure you have read about anime style coloring in the anime aesethic section before you start coloring.
Color Filling
To do general color filling with Flash, first select the paint bucket tool (k) . Flash has four modes for color filling: Don't Close Gaps, Close Small Gaps, Close Medium Gaps, and Close Large Gaps. The idea of Gaps is where the intelligence of Flash's toolset comes into play. Basically, Flash will recognize gaps between lines (or colored areas) and stop from filling in beyond those gaps. Don't Close Gaps is the basic paint fill mode that if you have ever used a basic paint program you know and hate. It can accidently fill your whole screen with a color if you let it. Close Small Gaps really does mean "SMALL" gaps and is great for touch up or for area with fine details. Close Medium Gaps has a good threshhold for gap size and is the one I generally use. Close Large Gaps generally detacts gaps a little too large but at the same time, not enough color is more easily remedied then over colored.
The above example just shows what happens to the same image when the paint bucket tool is used once under three of the different modes. Notice how the medium and large gap recognition smartly stops the color from filling into unwanted areas like the hair, even though in a traditional paint program (or in Don't Close Gaps or Close Small Gaps modes) it would have just painted everything. Also when the gap detection stops even when you you wanted something colored like the ear, you can easily just click in the uncolored part of the ear to fill.
Color Shading
The paint brush tool (b) is a great painting tool. It is pressure sensitive when using a Wacom Pen Tablet, so the harder you press, the wider or fatter the brush size. Also, there are five paint brush modes: Paint Normal, Paint Fills, Paint Behind, Paint Selection, and Paint Inside. While each mode has it's specific use, the two modes I used most are Paint Normal and Paint Inside as described below.
The paint inside (or paint selection) mode is perfect for adding the additional shading tones to give dimension and depth to the artwork. When using both the paint bucket in Close Medium mode and the paint brush in Paint Inside mode, it is easy to add anime style color to your artwork like seen below.
So with that in mind, practice drawing and coloring in Flash and very soon I'll post a little bit on basic animation using the Flash toolset. Was this helpful? Please let me know .
. Flash has three modes for drawing vectors freehand: Straighten, Smooth, and Ink. Straighten is for drawing straight lines where Smooth is for drawing smooth curves where if you draw a line, it will "interperate" your drawing accordingly. But the most useful is Ink which just lays down your line exactly as you draw it. 
. This feature is very useful for cleaning up drawings as explained below. 
