MANILA, PHILIPPINES — Ever wondered what it takes to create character designs out of nothing for major animation projects like that of Disney’s or Pixar’s? It apparently takes a lot of time, gusto, and putting your friends and family in the most bizarre and unfamiliar costumes.
At this year’s ICON Manila, we made it just in time to hear world-class Fil-Am Disney animator and illustrator Bobby Pontillas’ very enthusiastic relationship with animation and illustration, mainly for character design. He joined visual development artist Zac Retz, freelance Illustrator and concept artist Mike Azevedo, film and video game concept designer Finnian MacManus, and Filipino visual development artist and production designer Armand Serrano in the 2019 lineup of speakers, marking his long overdue return to his family’s home.
For an artist of his caliber — Oscar-nominated, and has made massive contributions to the beloved world of Moana, One Small Step, Wreck-It Ralph (to name a few) — it took Bobby, as well as the other speakers, absolutely no time to connect and feel at home on the ICON stage.
Pontillas, with a career so decorated, geeked out over his favorite illustrators’ work, giving several tips along the way: shapes connote character types (round, cuddly, or someone you want to hug and protect = protagonist / angular, sharp, or someone you want to avoid = antagonist), playing with the “ladder effect” (designing with an equal distance between points in a character — head to shoulders to torso to knee to feet — or not).
Pro-tip from Bobby Pontillas in building your illustrator dream: Reimagine iconic stories. He demonstrated this by sharing his own take on the beloved Peter Pan. Set in feudal Japan, Peter becomes a fox, Captain Hook is a samurai-pirate hybrid, and the crocodile is a large (and much more terrifying) sea monster. He said that practicing such can really expand one’s imagination, urging illustrators to think outside of the mold these stories have so successfully created in our heads.
Another pro-tip from Bobby when making background characters and not having personalities to base looks from: Imagine your family members, your friends, that barista from your local coffeeshop, and put them in outfits they’ll probably never wear. He talked about basing some children from the world of Moana off of his cousins here in the Philippines, doing personal illustrative work with people from his life coming in as cameos, and just straight up making caricatures of people he met throughout the years.
One of my favorite things about Bobby’s session was probably seeing a truckload of illustrations coming to life before my eyes, and the response it had from the conference hall full of young and aspiring artists. The grand showcase of his illustrative work on stage was really a delightful sight to see with the most diverse characters meeting the most captivating styles, and just imagining fictional universes for each one of them.
It definitely doesn’t take a lot to see why Bobby Pontillas is one animator and illustrator who deserves all the applause and recognition he’s been getting as of late. His work is as unique as it is familiar, and the whole conference just couldn’t help but fall in love with each character and concept he presented at ICON Manila 2019. We can’t wait to see what else is up his sleeve, and according to Bobby himself, he’s trying to incorporate more Filipino and Asian themes into his illustrations.
Who knows, with his line of work maybe we’ll one day see a whole ensemble of Filipino characters on the big screen.
Artwork from Bobby Pontillas’ website: http://bobbypontillas2018.blogspot.com/
