The following is a break down of a digital painting that I did while Barrack Obama was running for President.I use this as an example of a traditional process working in layers in my Animation Class.
Concepts that I related:

1.Working in Layers
2. Working General to Specific

Outline = Preproduction

Under Painting = Blocking in (Keys)

Layering of Mid Tones = Yellows

Layering of Mid Tones = Oranges

Layering of Mid Tones = Reds & Blacks

Details such as Hair Noise — Course Detail

Details such as Hair Noise/Stubble — Fine Detail

Hight Lights — Specific Details and Refinements.

Animation can be broken down into layer much the same way as this painting.

In Animation, I  typically use a 5 Pass Process:

(Pre-Productions)
Pass 1 - Blocking In — Keys ( What is needed at a base level to communicate the main idea)  These poses should match your thumbnails at minimum.  Work in Stepped mode within Maya. (Underpainting)
Pass 2 - Contacts -  Last Point of Contact — Anticipation ( Holds & Rests).  Timing should be at the top of the list. Work in Linear mode so you can see a constant rate of change.  If it looks too fast then the keyframes are to close together.  If it looks to slow then the keys are to far apart. (Mid Tones)
Pass 3 - Passing Positions — Breakdowns — I call this the 31 flavors of the animation.  Favor timing of the Passing Position is needed and then Breakdown in between.  Arcs/Overlap/Follow Through are top on the list at this point.  I work in Spline and then Plateau/Flatten the keys that need to be locked down. Establish Overshoots if necessary. (Contrast in Mid Tones)
Pass 4 — Curve Tweeks, Curve Clean up, Further Timing Adjustments, Pose Adjustments, Ease in Ease Out Hard Hard Out, Sometimes I will use weighted Tangents.  At this point its all about finessing the animation and working on the specific details. (Details Hair, Stubble, Flaws & Perfections, Highlights)
Pass 5 — Cleanup — Remove Static Channels, Remove Redundant Keyframes, Check for Penetrations, Double Check Contacts, Make sure keys are on whole frames so they get rendered.  “The animation should be doing well without you at this point.”  (Cleanup)

The students at this point start to get a sense that the process is actually pretty familiar and they tend to relax.
I tell them that 3D Animation is like any other traditional art we are just using a mouse instead of a pencil.

The only thing I might do different next time with the painting is separate the Blacks into it’s own layer (Contrasting Layer) That way I have more specific control.

Hope this example helps in relating 3D Animation with more traditional processes.  Keep Drawing and painting it will change how you work in 3d for the better.

Craig