Federico Etchegaray
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Where did you grow up? At what age did you start thinking about pursuing an artistic career?
I was born and raised in Montevideo, Uruguay, and I have been drawing for as long as I can think of. As a kid I used to watch cartoons and films all the time, losing myself in those imaginary worlds. I was known as the ‘‘drawing guy’’ at my school in those early years, but as a teenager I put the pencil down and ventured away from drawing. It was only later, when I was 18-19, that I started to think about my future and I spent a couple of months really thinking about what were my passions and where would I see myself doing the rest of my life. Drawing and film quickly came to mind, and it didn't take long for me to realize that I could mix those two. The result was animation. Even though I knew it was going to be hard to pull that off in Uruguay, I blindly followed the dream.
Did you go to an art school or are you self taught? How did you develop your skills?
I first went to school at the Animation Campus in Uruguay for 2 years before looking into coming to the US. Uruguay is a really traditional small country without a film or TV industry so I had to look elsewhere if I wanted to really pursue this dream. After a bunch of applications, it was the Savannah College of Art and Design that gave me the best options and scholarship to be able to attend University. I spent 4 years there before graduating in 2016 and coming to Los Angeles.
In terms of skill development, I would say that art school helps to offer motivation and some insight into the art of animation. But overall I consider that what takes you farther than anything is the ability to be self-taught and have a hunger for knowledge, reading books, watching tutorials, taking online classes and of course practicing, A LOT. The best thing you get out from art school, in my opinion, is being surrounded by people that have the same passion as you, people you can share conversations about this crazy dream of yours and people you can work with on cool projects.
Have you always been supported in your artistic path or has it been challenging to let your family and friends understand your choice?
I couldn't be more thankful about how supportive my parents were towards this crazy dream of mine. It was hard at first for them to grasp the idea of me doing animation living in Uruguay, but they never doubted me, they never said no and instead always believed in me, even in the harshest moments, and there were a ton of those. The hardest part of following this path was having to leave both wonderful numerous loving sides of my family behind in Uruguay and not being able to see them every week as I used to for my whole life. This was heartbreaking and I'm still dealing with the difficulties of that reality. Still working hard on a plan to bring those two worlds together.
What was the strongest influence you had when you were growing up ( artists, movies, cartoons, comics etc.. ) ?
I had a ton of influences throughout my life, painters, sculptors, writers, comic book artists, filmmakers from all mediums. I was mainly influenced by TV cartoons, films, and games. But none were more life-changing to me than the personal work of directors such as Brad Bird, Miyazaki, Kurosawa, Kubrick, PT Anderson, Fincher, Andrew Stanton, Coppola, Satoshi Kon, and Pete Docter. Through them, I became obsessed with film and animation.
In a more personal matter, the actual turning point for me to make the full jump into animation and coming to North America was watching "Ratatouille" right before graduating from high school. That movie spoke to me deeply as I saw myself in the shoes of Remy as a person that wants to be creative but is stuck in a place that looks down upon it and doesn't allow its development. I could say I was at the edge of the plank about make the jump but I needed a last push and that was that movie for me. In retrospective, this shows to me how powerful films can be emotionally and how they can help guide us in moments of uncertainty.
Did you have a favourite subject to draw when you were a child and do you still have one today? If you do, what makes it so special?
My favorite subject to draw is people. I was raised watching and drawing a lot of furry anthropomorphic animals in Disney films, cute little monsters in Pokemon and muscular people in anime. I certainly love those but nowadays I find regular people with their infinite idiosyncrasies fascinating to draw and capture. There is something so unique to capture in the way people present themselves to the world. It speaks volumes to who they are and what they want and character design is just that, pure visual storytelling. The best design work allows you to get to know a character just by the way he presents itself and every design detail is a conscious choice that should further tell the story of who this character is.
From the initial client idea to the final work: What goes through your mind and what is the method, you use when starting a project? Could you describe it?
When designing I think the most important steps that people rush through are research and knowing your character. Research is the input that will define the output. If you don't input different ideas that are unknown to you you will only regurgitate ideas you have already done before. When designing a character one needs to familiarize him/herself with the subject and study the reference, study the details in the reference. Find the ideas that you can bring to this design to sell who the character is. In terms of knowing your character if the character is a cowboy, you need to ask questions. Who is this cowboy? How does he act in the story? What is he looking for? Is he scruffy? Is he refined? Has his face been beaten by the scorching sun or is he a fresh kid that still hasn't seen much? Does he slouch because of riding horseback for so long or not? All these things define how a character looks. And it's that specificity that brings a character to life three-dimensionally visually. So it's only after studying reference and getting to know the character that you can start designing.
What is your process in creating your art and what are your favourite tools?
My process after research and studying the character is pretty simple. I first explore silhouettes and shapes through thumbnails to come up with a lineup of body ideas. Then I cherry-pick the strongest ones and blow them up and start exploring the facial structure, props, clothing, hairstyle, iconic features that will make this character come to life as the one in the story. Underlying all this process are principles like caricature, structure, volume and clear shape language. Once I find the character and the director/supervisor is happy with it I go into the posing and expression stage, where I explore how this character would act and emote. At this stage is really important to bring this character to life in your mind and see how he/she would perform in the story. Poses should have clear silhouettes and negative space and placement that reflects who this character is. Is he refined and contained in his movement? Clumsy? Cheerful or pessimistic? You need to ask a lot of questions that are answered visually with your design. Sometimes it's good to put your character next to another and have them interact to tell a small story in a situation.
In terms of tools, I'm pretty barebones in that I just use Photoshop and a Wacom tablet, nothing else. I’m heavily considering trying to procreate out though since people are recommending it so much.
What part of the creation process is the most fun and easy and what part is the hardest?
I find the beginning exploration to be the easiest and most fun since you have a lot of freedom to experiment and create new things based on your sensibilities. Later on, it gets harder when trying to find with precision what your supervisors are looking for in this character.
What is a typical day for you, and who are the people you work, collaborate or share your creative time with?
As both a story artist and character designer my days usually involve me focusing on one or the other. For character design, I usually separate my process by stages. Some Days I spend them researching and studying the character to try and find unique ideas for the design. Others I spend them drawing hundreds of thumbnails, polishing a key drawing that defines the character or doing poses/expressions of it. It all depends on what stage of the design phase I'm at. In terms of collaboration, usually art director and supervisors that keep track of the process and make decisions on the character as you go forward.
Professionally I'm glad I was able to work under people like showrunner Craig Gerber (Elena of Avalor), supervising director Elliot Bour (Elena of Avalor), producer Pilar Flynn, Director and Disney veteran Robb Pratt, Showrunner Shellie Kvilvang and director Otis Braboy who guided me and helped me develop my skills in these first years in the industry.
What are some of the things you have learned from other artists who you have worked with or whose work you have seen?
I would say one of the main takeaways has been to focus more on the character and story than the technicalities or style of a drawing. A drawing style is a tool of communication, but the aesthetic of the drawing and the way you illustrate it is less important than the design itself that will be later translated to a CG model. Thinking dimensionally is also a big one since the two-dimensional qualities of drawing sometimes distract you from the fact that these designs need to work in three dimensions.
Is there something that you have designed that you are most proud of?
I'm a pretty harsh critic towards myself as most artists so it's hard to pinpoint anything. As I draw and finish a design I instantly let it go and start on a new one. Like stories, I finish reading/watching one and go onto the next. That keeps it fresh and allows you to not fall in love with your work that might get thrown away. This is a skill that I learned most from storyboarding since sometimes whole scenes that you worked on for weeks go straight to the cutting floor.
I'm also proud that my work has been featured in the SCAD connector, VoyageLA, Miramama, ASIFA-SOUTH, CTNX, SIGGRAPH, and Character Design Quarterly.
What projects have you worked on in the past and what are you working on at the moment (if you can tell us)?
I'm still new to the industry having graduated only 3 years ago, but during those 3 years I have been fortunate to have worked on Elena of Avalor for Disney TV, Valt the Wonderdeer for DreamEast Pictures and other smaller projects for Studio Yotta.
Do you have a long term career goal? What would your dream project be?
My long term career goal is to work in feature as a story artist or character designer. Animated features are what got me into the industry so it makes sense that that's where I would want to end up. Outside of that goal, I would love to teach and hopefully make short films on the side.
Working for a company or freelancing: what suits you best? And why?
I love them equally as they both have their pros and cons. The freedom of freelance to make your own schedule is incredible. It's refreshing and allows you to escape the idea of a daily routine that might get tedious and boring to you. On the other hand, freelancing is a very lonely experience, you don't get to share experiences with your peers or learn from them as much. On the other hand a full time job is more collaborative and social, and most important of all, it makes you financially stable. Freelance comes and goes, which forces you to be more cautious about money.
What advice would you give to an artist who is dealing with an artist's block? How do you boost your imagination and keep yourself creative?
Artist block can be a pain. Especially when you have job responsibilities that have to be addressed right away. I've found that to me, the only way to escape artist block is to draw for myself. Drawing something you are passionate about, experiment, have fun and eventually your creative juices will start flowing again and the block will be gone. I boost my imagination by consuming a lot of different media, researching on very different subjects that interest me and going out and having real-life experiences. If you can afford it traveling is one of the most inspiring things one can do to recharge the spirit and creativity.
Concept art, animation, illustration, comics, you name it. There are so many careers and when you are very young, sometimes you know only one thing: you simply love to draw. In your opinion, what should a young person take into consideration to make the right decision when choosing an artistic path?
That is a great question. I think if your passion is "drawing" in general, it's really important that you consume different media the involve drawing and try doing them yourself. There is nothing better than testing doing something yourself to know if you would see yourself doing it. Try doing comics, illustrations, animations, explore the possibilities and see what sticks. Drawing for different mediums is usually about the process and the different rules so you should experience them to know which one best suits your taste. I, for instance, started wanting to be an animator because I didn't know that there are hundreds of jobs encapsulated in that general title. Once I went to school I found character design to be really enjoyable and later on in my senior year I decided to try storyboarding and found it as challenging and exciting as character design.
In your own experience, what would you suggest to someone who is inspired by your work and wants to follow your footsteps: should they work in one consistent style, or work on many different ones?
I would advise anyone that likes my work or any other artists work to not just copy it, but study it. Study what makes it successful and appealing. Copying helps with dexterity, but dexterity alone will take you as far as just copying already made work. One needs to study to understand why things work, why a certain style is appealing to a certain studio and production. Then I would say to draw non stop and you will notice that your style will seep through. Style is just a mix of different elements you like that your subconscious helps put together in a new way. Every artist learns from the artists that came before, they copy, study, push, experiment and come up with something new, that people then call style. I've found artists focus too much on style, but I always found the principles of design and animation as the most important thing to learn. Style is the cherry on top. That's why you see very different artists with different styles working on one project. Because the important thing is the underlying design, not the particular style of the artist.
If you had to recommend only one art book (a comic book, graphic novel, children book, ''how to'' book) to a fellow artist, what would it be and why?
I would say the best and most easily digestible introduction to design and visual storytelling that I've seen is "Dreamworlds" by Hans Bacher. This book introduces a lot of the principles and concepts in a very visual and easy to understand way for people with skills of any level. Then, I would say the myriad of "Art of'' books from different animated films, because they show you the practical aspects of designing to serve a story.
What’s your point of view about the industry today: what are the expectation for someone who wants to make a living with an artistic career?
I still don't have enough years in the industry to give an informed opinion, but from what I see it's a great time to be in animation, there are a lot of studios putting a lot of money in animation content and streaming is spearheading that growth. In terms of the needs of the artist, it's tough and really competitive. There are a lot of really talented people out there and the bar keeps being raised. So I would say work your ass off without sacrificing your personal life, or otherwise, you'll burn out and give up halfway.
Who are the artists who inspire you the most today and what are some of your favourite designs out there?
In terms of character design, the artists that most inspire me today are the great Carter Goodrich, Nico Marlet, Daniel Lopez Munoz, Shiyoon Kim, Matt Nolte, Nick Orsi, Mike Mignola, Moebius, Toppi, Klimt, Schiele, Nemiri, Shoujirou Nishimi, etc.
We have a soft spot for hand-drawn animation, what is your opinion about the future of this art form?
Contrary to what people believe I feel hand-drawn animation is alive and strong. Maybe not at the high budget feature level but we see it every day in Television animation and independent features. I feel hand-drawn animation will keep going forward as long as passionate people keep using it as a medium to express their stories.
Social networks, crowdfunding websites, print on demand online services and so on. New media on the Internet are connecting the artists directly with their fans like never before. In your opinion, how is this affecting the industry and what are the pros and cons?
I think this a great thing for the industry. Now fans can actually sponsor the creators by investing in a project before its made. People can create their own original projects and distribute them online to an infinite amount of people. I think this model is still in its infancy and will keep on growing as long as the promises are kept and the trust between creator and fan is not broken.
When clients contact you for a commission, what essential info should they include in their very first email in order to communicate with you efficiently and effectively?
This is a great question. I feel clients usually don't have a clear idea of what they want in their head and that they should offer more detailed information on what they are looking for to avoid confusion and wasting of time on both sides. More information means fewer mistakes and second-guessing. Sometimes that lack of communication and information ends up translating into tons of revisions that could be avoided. Clients should be very clear in offering references, examples, descriptions and the rules of the contract should be clear from day one in terms of time frames, pay, etc.
Finally, where can we see your art online and get in touch with you? How can we buy your creations and support your work?
You can reach me out via email ( fedetch@gmail.com ). Feel free to visit my website ( Fedetch.com ) and get updates about my work on my social media pages ( Instagram, Tumblr and Twitter ).
Thank you Federico :)
