Firstly - Happy New Year and all that. Hope everyone enjoyed saying goodbye to 2022.
Secondly - Yeah I know…it’s been a while…so this is going to be a bumper edition recapping what’s been going on. I’m really determined to try and stick to the monthly schedule so Go Go Power Rangers 🤜💥🤛
Note - The quote from the title (I think - because I cant find any proof online) is from the 1922 German Expressionist film Nosferatu by F.W. Murnau. I watched it in film studies class when I was 18 and a massive arsehole film snob (2004 or 2005 - Can’t remember). Anyway, Count Orlok is this bald vampire guy who preys on the wife of his estate agent - reading that back it sounds like a shit Netflix show - it’s a silent film so all the dialogue is written quotes on screen. I remember Count Orlok telling the estate agent to spend the night at his castle, the estate agent was in a rush - probably to check out another property before putting it on the market for a silly price. However, Orlok whips out that line and the agent and his wife decide to stay the night and oh boy is it a bad decision 😱. I suppose it’s quite a wise little line and so I’m using it here as an excuse. The more I think about it though, the more I’m pretty sure I made it up. Here’s a terrifying drawing below, incorrectly named.
I Made a Reel! BOOM-SHAKA-LAKA
That’s right sports fans - as I mentioned in a previous post, I’ve been making a bunch of work to put into a reel. That reel, due to me getting caught up in some jobs, took ages to get done but now it is finished in all it’s glory. I left out most client projects because I felt like a lot of that stuff, style-wise, no longer aligned with the type of work I want to be doing. It might seem risky to some but I believe that you should only show the type of work you want to be getting hired for - Feedback is always greatly appreciated. So on that note, I’m available for any freelance and commissioned direction, animation and illustration work in After Effects/Flash/Photoshop. Feel free to hit me up if you need a hand on a project.
A Quick Side Note on 2022
This was the year I produced the biggest volume of personal work and it feels like I really turned a corner in terms of pushing my style and finding out where I want to go with it so that’s been really great - I think I’ve really pushed myself outside of my comfort zone and I’m starting to feel excited and fulfilled again in the work I’m producing.
Which, in a super sexy way, leads us into a few little things I’ve made in the past 6 months ✏️
Firstly, I wanted to flex my transitions with this little series of vignettes as a tribute to the capital cities of the countries of the South Caucasus region - Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan - all of which I visited back in 2019 when I was smashing solo travel. I took a bunch of inspiration from mid century designers - mainly Elaine Lustig Cohen, and Roy Kuhlman - and improvised each piece without any planning beforehand. It was very free and playful, sort of like jazz when you make pasta and put whatever you like in it and it usually tastes good. I still have a bit of an issue being comfortable in making personal work that might be different to what I would normally do however, a lot of the visual references I used are from things that influence me in one way or another - travel, typography, industrial design and good old fashioned graphic design.
BAD
In late August, I along with some friends Matei and Cristina, started a bi-monthly animation meet-up in Bucharest - very cleverly titled Bucharest Animation Drinks or BAD. After moving to Romania + pandemic, it felt like the community here was super disconnected and I wanted to meet more people working in the same field as me without the whole ‘network’ vibe. We meet every two weeks and have a few drinks at a bar in the centre of town and so far the turnouts have been great, each week new people show up - so if you’re working in animation/visiting Romania and happen to be in Bucharest, get in touch via one of my social channels to be added to the facebook group where we also share ideas, resources, tips and tricks etc…
Here’s an ident I made for it during some downtime - I made the little tune too.
Amateur Football
The whole World Cup being held in Qatar issue really put a downer for me on the game I love to watch and play, so I used it as inspiration for a personal illustration project celebrating the grassroots culture and amateur side of the game. I drew a bunch of players doing idle things before, during or after a game of five-a-side. It’s a kind of love letter the sport. You can see them in full size over on my site which has had a small update. I need to optimise it though, a lot of gifs take ages to load.
Outside of Work
Un caffè lungo per favorre
…is what I said daily during a week long holiday to Venice back in September with my family to visit my partners relatives. We went to the Guggenheim and it was really great. I haven’t been to a top gallery in over two years so it was a real highlight to get to see amazing work up close. Also took some photos and got this cool Pinocchio pin.
Cool Stuff
I watched Severance and it was awesome! I’m really excited for the second season. If you’re into trippy psychological thriller sci-fi then definitely check it out.
I’ve been watching The Rehearsal and it’s so weird and wonderful. If you’re a fan of Nathan for You then I guess you’ve watched it already, and if you have no idea what I’m talking about, check them both out! You wont be disappointed. Unless you hate cringe doc/mockumentary stuff where you cant work out if it’s real or not.
Final Note
I might throw in a few extra posts now and then where I can focus on sharing more technical stuff/resources because I feel like trying to cram it all in one thing is just too much. I also have a few Rolo invites so I might do some sort of giveaway at some point soon so keep an eye out on my socials for that! if you don’t already, you can follow me on Instagram and good old Twitter
Please let me know if there’s anything specific you’d like to see or ask me about.
Thank you so much for sticking around it really means a lot 💙
Luiz x