Kitty says no

Seeing the rain outside, the cat decides against going outside. The man, having just opened the door for the cat, looks exasperated.

reference video:



Its hard to see in the small video below but I like the man's expressions and the way the cat sits down and looks up at the man.
I've retained a very useful piece of information about blinking from somewhere, So important I don't even remember where I learned it originally but it's been very useful. I recently had a top up in this article, but not before I was subconsciously following the advice while animating.

The most useful use of a blink is to show a characters thinking process. When they have an idea, switch from one emotion to another or when they realise something, a person will always blink.

Blinks in random places can look unnatural, people blink for a reason.
Rapid blinks make the character feel shy, uncomfortable, nervous, relieved or like they're just about to cry. No blinks at all give your character an angry or intense feel or can make them look dead.



I like how you can almost see the thought process of the cat, he looks at the rain then blinks (when he changes his mind about going outside), then sits down. Equally the man blinks when his emotion changes from apathetic to annoyed.

It has been said that 90% of acting is in the eyes, I think that's very true.