Don't Be Afraid of the Blank Sheet...

This is great insight to what becomes the greatest problem for not only 3D animators, but 2D and beyond. This is the dreaded blank piece of paper. You see a blank canvas that is in front of you and you freeze from the moment you start because as an artist you are always struggling to do your best so that when people see it, and they will, you don't want to suck.

     As they pointed out in the video, "pain is only momentarily, sucking is forever!" So automatically you have this fear of making the wrong stroke, the wrong style, the wrong look for your project, so you are setting yourself up to fail even before you put your first line on that blank piece of paper. This episode of Ricky Vega Nierva Art Director / Production Designer, Pixar Animation Studios
Video from TEDxAthens conference shows that it is just a state of mind that you can overcome by applying simple methods to regain focus over your project.

Watch it here :

You notice that his first stroke he made he did not even look at the sheet of paper. He applied his hand to the surface and proceeded to just make a random convergence of lines and forms with no real purpose!
"Design is not just what it looks like and feels like, Design is how it works"- Steve Jobs, co-founder of Pixar Animation.
Basics Shape represent design and why it works. Opposites can support and compliment each other unexpectedly.
Symbolism is applied throughout the project so that you don't see what they are trying to show you, but instead you feel it. That is what makes it so successful.
The whole process of making these stories and projects is to be simple, but being simple is not always as easy at it may seem.
Be like a kid, just dive in, simplify and just fill it up! Don't worry about the polished look, just get your ideas out and discover what makes your story work! Don't be afraid of making mistakes, make it your goal as well to draw as a child does.