Influences - Artist Inspiration - Major Film

Influences - Artist Inspiration

Genndy Tartakovsky

One of the key artist who has influenced my short animation is Genndy Tartakovsky, a Russian-American Animator, Director, Producer and Storyboard Artist, known for creating the animated television series, Samurai Jack, Dexter's Laboratory and Star Wars: Clone Wars for Cartoon Network. He has also worked on animated series such as the Powerpuff Girls and most recently, Tartakovsky directed the animated Hotel Transylvania films.

(Top; Dexter's Laboratory. Bottom; Samurai Jack 2017)

I think what appeals to me in terms of his character designs, is Tartakovsky's use of simple characters with angular designs and thick, flowing outlines.  from to his designs have maintained this style and though these designs may not seem inherently nice to look at, I still think the are done so for a purpose. Though some of the angles may seem unnecessary, in my opinion the limited number of outlines seems to help streamline the images and thus, the animation clicks for the viewer.

(Top; Concept art from the animated film Hotel Transylvania. Bottom; My own early concept art of the Zombie Main character)

I wanted to try this type of drawing style as it is simplistic yet effective in focusing the audience on the character and not drawing them away with too much excess detail. My attempts at Tartakovsky's have shown me that my own character designs are still too overly complex and I will need to simplify them further.