We haven’t covered much on the topic of animation yet here on CG.CreativeFan, but that’s about to change, as today, we sat down with Los Angeles-based animator Jesse Toves to talk about his work as an animator for TV and film. Originally starting as a journalist, Jesse changed career paths after viewing Pixar’s Toy Story, and since then, Jesse has managed to become a talented animator and digital artist.
Enjoy the interview!
- Your Name: Jesse Mesa Toves
- Your Age: 41
- Location (City or Country): Los Angeles, CA
- Your website or portfolio: www.jesse-toves.com
- Software you use: Maya, Lightwave, Modo, ZBrush, Digital Fusion, Flash, GIMP, Modo
Thanks for taking the time to interview with us. First off, could you tell us a little about yourself?
I am originally from the island of Guam – which is United States soil if anyone’s interested. I was originally a journalist – albeit not a very good one – and graduated from college with a degree in mass communication. Editor of the campus paper, general manager of campus radio, and an art minor as well so multimedia was definitely something I have been very comfortable with. Once I saw Toy Story, it was all over though – I had to get to the United States mainland and try to get into this business. I actually started out doing CGI for advertising, briefly heading my own agency called 760 Media in San Diego, went on to do some video game cinematic work freelance for 989 Studios and then got a job at Foundation Imaging which started my work in television and some film.
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Most recently I finished the character animation duties for the “Battlestar Galactica” spinoff show “Caprica” which was unfortunately cancelled but lives on in DVD now. Currently I am promoting and working on my own graphic novels and comic books.
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How did you get started with digital art?
I entered the world of digital art in a very sneaky way – during my college years no one in the art departments could afford computers to do digital art so I changed my major to communications because they gave me access to Macintosh computers. The early programs were crude but they introduced me to all the concepts – 3D imaging, compositing, photo manipulation etc. A great friend Sheff Abella attended Art Center in Pasadena and kept me abreast of many of the more interesting topics in digital art before the advent of email and the internet.
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What are your major influences? Any artists in particular who influenced you a lot, or other media such as music and movies?
My most prominent artistic influences oddly enough are from the worlds of advertising and psychology. Lee Clow, one of the most famous anc celebrated creative directors in advertising, is famous for saying “show what you can’t say and say what you can’t show.” It is a concept which I try to apply to almost everything I do in life let alone art or media.
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Secondly, and in some ways related to Lee’s statement, is the concept of Johari’s window as applied to media and art. It’s actually a heuristic developed for self help groups which I adapt in a way to discover what people will relate to in my artwork – things which they can know or not know depending on what I show or don’t show.
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Are there any artists you look up to?
While there are many artists I admire I tend to admire thinkers more – I am a huge Malcolm Gladwell fan and have also beenr eading and listening to Clay Shirky, Seth Godin and Nassem Taleb.
From a creative standpoint, is it easier to work on personal work or client work?
From a financial standpoint working for myself is much more difficult because the goals become much harder to achieve. Working for a client affords an artist working as part of a group (as I often do as a freelancer) affords a project a greater amount of leverage creatively and financially. The team is able to support various aspects more readily than an individual. Personal work is always more challenging in some ways because the only compromises being made are personal ones. Working in a group, you tend to diffuse the feelings surrounding compromises better if the group agrees on them.
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How would you describe your style, in a sentence or two?
I try not to have a particular style – I like to develop “looks” for projects.
Can you describe your typical workflow when you’re working on a project, whether it be personal or for a client?
Everything starts with obsession – haha. Seriously, I tend to “meditate” about something as an idea or concept long before it ever becomes an actual project.
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Do you have a favorite work that you’ve done, or something you’re especially proud of? Why that work especially?
Anything I have just finished tends to be the work I am most proud of – could be a page or two from my comics work, a recent animation. Just like films or clothes though – sometimes you can peg your own work to a period in your life by the techniques used or the creative choices, but there are certain shots from Caprica which I am actually very proud of looking back at them.
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Do you use any external hardware such as a drawing tablet? How do you use it in your workflow?
I actually have a second hand Motion Computing LE 1600 which I have used to do almost all of my comics work and some 2d animation studies with. It’s sad that they were discontinued because the form factor is practically perfect for animation and 2d art.
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Do you have any advice for beginning artists out there?
It’s really important to learn a particular skill regarding time management – learning when you are taking up too much of someone else’s time. Almost every animation job requires that you fit into a larger workflow – comprised of many people who may or may not be waiting on your work. When people talk about being a team player – this is what that concept boils down to – how much do you value other people’s time.
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Where do you see yourself in the future, and how do you feel that you will be growing as an artist?
It’s a difficult time to be a digital artist – in the past it was a rarity and now it is an absolute necessity. Lately it has become more important to answer the “why” of doing a particular work than answering the “how” – does that makes sense? In other words it’s more important to me to have a particular work say something valid or interesting than it is to know how to use the latest particle systems or sub-d modeller.
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Anything else you’d like to say? Any projects you’re working on that you want to draw attention to, or closing thoughts for the readers?
I am close to finishing a labor of love – a three part graphic novel series entitled “Trouble, Guts & Noir” – since I started in the area of print and publishing it seems natural to return to it during the most pronounced era of digital publishing.
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