My personal art is inspired by Theology, History, and Philosophy. Stories of such themes have guided humanity through tiring times, given principles and guidance to live our lives more meaningfully. As Time is Love, I spend my life in persuasion to manifest beauty, grace, and meaning in our world.
I’ve been drawing my whole life, on empty papers, behind books, and even school walls, for which I paid dearly. Art has been my fundamental connection with the experience of living. It stores my nostalgia and memories of childhood.
Watching The Lion King and Aladdin as a child was to see magic come to life. The story of young Gohan in Dragon Ball Z was also a deeply formative experience as a young boy. I wanted to share the same joy with the rest of the people of the world that the creators of such masterpieces had shared with me.
I like my animation to be old school, hand-drawn frame by frame. The drawings, the linework, the pressure, and the composition are a direct communication to the artist who drew them. It might not be as direct as one would think it to be, but the subconscious communicates just as it must.
Although through my career, I’ve been through many styles and iterations. Some were bound by the limitations of my skill set at the time and others due to the production needs. All in all, I now work as a pro-3D Animator in the animation industry and use hand-drawn animation for my independent productions.
I’ve been deeply influenced by the film ‘Ghost in the Shell’ by Mamoru Oshii and the manga ‘Vagabond’ by Inoue Takehiko. These two works show the true strength of animation as a medium for humanity. The deeply philosophical yet action-packed style of these artists is beyond comprehensible in the realm of the broader animation movement.
I’m also deeply influenced by the European Renaissance Art movement. The classical artists have captured meaning and skill in such harmony that it feels like a piece dropped down from the heavens.
Stylized and purpose driven Action.
I use pencils and paper for ideation and capturing the soul of the idea. And for production I use Krita and After Effects for animation and Premiere Pro for the final edit.
Abstraction is what comes first. The final product is something you want to be furthest away from in the beginning. Many variations of sketches, on mood, characters, core emotions, and purpose. In the beginning, you don’t want to be bound by your tools, instead, you explore the abstract ideas rapidly, hold what feels true to the subject matter, and let the rest fizzle away.
As stressful as the animation production can be, my personal favorite is key drawings that capture the cinematic value and spirit of the scene and character animation, which does the same but in motion, this is where the image comes alive.
As much as I would like to say follow your intuition to draw, my professional advice would be two-fold. To work in the industry you need to narrow down your niche as quickly as possible, whether is it 3D animation, 2D animation, BG artist, etc. The departments are very structured and in the industry, it's counter-productive to want to jump across mediums or disciplines.
For your business, collaborate and find good working relationships with other artists/animators as much as you can. It’s a team game and even the greatest artist will eventually burn out by themselves.
I go for long walks. Our human ancestors have been doing this since the eternity of time and many great thinkers of the past have conceived great ideas for their walking routine.
I do this almost every day and it works like magic every time. Step away from the creative space often.
The thing that I truly appreciated and enjoyed the most was the tone and seriousness of the story. It was very refreshing to explore and create in the tone I love but seldom get an opportunity through the industry. I loved the space Storiaverse gave me to bring my story-telling style which is more in tune with classic cinematic storytelling, which many clients do not appreciate at this time as they seek copies of what’s already in the popular sphere.
Particularly after reading the script, I truly felt it to be a natural collaboration. The quality of the stories was much better than what I work in with the industry. (Personal preference)
The beauty of animation is that it doesn’t let the creator be conscious of their direct role in representing the story. It is truly a merit-based democratic space where all the artists understand the years of effort and sacrifices that go at an individual level to create such works of beauty. And as animation is a natural collaborative medium, this is where a true synergy between people from all backgrounds comes forward at its strongest.
The ability to move viewers through drawing is still as magical to me as it was when I was a child. As I was exposed to the mature narratives in animation I could not believe the reality we live in can be so profound, beautiful, deep, and stylized with explicit skills.
The human experience is a deeply psychedelic experience and adult animation is the natural successor of all such art created by the past masters. I can't wait to truly be a part of it at a much grander level and connect the past, present, and the future.
The animation industry is broadly headed into a schism. On one end we will have endless re-imaginations of the same stories, especially in the children category (which at this time dominates), many of them lifeless in meaning but spectacular in their skill. This will be the big studio films.
Then there will be smaller independent movements that’ll capture the individuality of the human spirit and narratives. This in my opinion is the real direction where the industry led by artists and independent trailblazers is headed. In the older days, there were very few animators, all employed by the big studios but now 20 years from that time, I’ve never seen so many amazing independent animators, writers, and filmmakers. All in all, I’m super excited about where this movement is headed.