You can scale a layer in only one direction if you unlink the horizontal from the vertical. Here we make Arabella's monster blink.  Repeating actions like this are a simple matter of copy/pasting the keyframes for that layer.

Rotation is another easy property to keyframe, but only if you moved the anchor point to the right spot. Each Transform property has a keyboard shortcut and it's worth learning them. Press the "U" key to show only the values that have keyframes, another critical keyboard shortcut.

Many of our drawings look pretty flat, but what if we've already started in AE? Simple - change the appearance of layer and paths in AI, but DO NOTrename, delete, rearrange or combine them. ONLY add effects, change fills and strokes, move the positions and sizes of paths, etc.

Some layers are meant to be together. Attach them by making a layer a Parent to others. Parenting can have more than one level (Grandparents) although AE doesn't actually call them that.

If you have 2 keyframes, you can have 20 or 200 very easily with Copy/Paste powers. AE will also smooth all the action out with just a couple of clicks... Easy! 

A simple Inner Glow stylize effect is all you really need, but a "reflective" gradient across a stroke is a great way to jazz up horns, tentacles, etc.

Decided not to animate all 5 pieces of an eye, head, arm, etc.? Just select them, right-click and choose Pre-Compose. They are replaced with a single composition you get to name yourself!

If you rename or move a file you can really confuse AE but you can tell it where the file is now. If individual layers disappear, you can still "replace" them with with a little effort.

This is a simple effect that I recommend using sparingly, but it can really look amazing in the right place and time for the right kind of layer, especially one that has a gradient.

Animations that loop can keep on playing over and over - but the ending has to match the beginning for it to truly be called a "loop". Copy the 1st keyframes to the end to make it work!

You can't show off your hard work unless you export the media. Both small Animated GIFs and full 1080p videos can be created at the same time.

Illustrator is still the best place to make visual improvements to your monster.. a little Inner Glow can go a long way to making your Monster really POP. As long as the Layer naming and order aren't changed, you can even move paths from one layer to another safely.