Q: Who is Chris?
A: Passionate animator, constant learner, big nerd.
Since the beginning, I have found animating to be a deeply spiritual practice. We start with pixels on a screen: dots of color, much like atoms, lit up and arranged to form larger molecules of images. These images, and the pixels that comprise them, can move and change, becoming animation. As animators, our objective is to “breathe life into the inanimate”, or to move and change images in such a way that the line between the living and the inanimate becomes imperceptible. We have succeeded in this objective when folks who engage with our art forget that the characters before them are synthetic and instead empathize with their personalities, their struggles, and their goals. To me, the work I do to achieve this feels like a sacred act of creation, as if God has granted me a spark with which I may create that fabled “illusion of life”.
Of course, none of this matters if our animations are neither entertaining nor inspiring. When we create believable and impactful animations, this must be our metric; we are often compelled to study as much of real life as we can to achieve it. A lifelong pursuit of learning helps us to become better entertainers, artists, actors, activists, and practitioners of anatomy & physiology, physics, psychology, and so on—many of the skills needed to thrive in a fruitful career or journey in character animation. It may sound contradictory, but regardless of where we are within our artistic journeys, the most important task for us is to “lock in” and simply make our art. To pour our hearts into it. To send messages and to touch souls. To craft works that speak truth to power without worry over perfection. We, and our communities, will be all the better for it. This is my philosophy and my commitment as an animator.
“To invent your own life’s meaning is not easy, but it’s still allowed, and I think you’ll be happier for the trouble.” – Bill Watterson
