Perhaps no one is as well-versed to the skill one needs to go from a heavily technical profession to the arts as Armand Serrano. From graduating from the University of Santo Tomas with a degree on Civil Engineering, to being a major contributing animator and illustrator to the likes of Disney and now at Marvel, Serrano’s career is definitely a wild and exciting ride, to say the least.
As the Co-organizer of ICON MANILA, one of the Philippines’ largest gatherings of the creative minds in animation, film, games, illustration, and visual effects, Armand Serrano is among some of the most respected Filipino artists making a name for himself in the global creative community. And rightly so, as his works have brought to life such iconic moments in animated movies and powerful scenes in several legendary games.
Fresh from graduating with his Civil Engineering degree, Serrano started his career as an assistant animator at Fil-Cartoons, a Hanna Barbera studio based in Manila. From then on, he joined the Philippine Animation Studio where he was given the opportunity to supervise Marvel’s overseas production for the TV series of X-Men and Fantastic Four, to name a few. In 1996 he joined the Walt Disney Animation Studios in Florida as a Layout Journeyman and worked on several popular titles: Mulan, Tarzan, Lilo & Stitch and Brother Bear.
His next big break was working at the newly formed Sony Pictures Animation in 2004 where he illustrated for a total of fifteen productions including Cloudy with A Chance of Meatballs, Hotel Transylvania, Arthur Christmas and more. He then went back to Disney Animation Studios in 2013 where he joined the team of artists behind Big Hero 6, Zootopia and the 2017 featurette, Olaf’s Frozen Adventure. Earlier this year, he joined the powerhouse band of creatives at Marvel.
Serrano’s blazing passion for animation and illustration led to the inception of ICON Manila back in 2014, flying creatives from all around the world to Manila for a day or two of learnings that could change the game, art works and productions that could reorder societies, and — at the center of it all — inspiring talks that could transform the world.
Since its inaugural year, Serrano has been a constant and immovable character in each edition’s speaker lineup, and this year’s not any different as he joins a fresh new batch of mentors and speakers onstage: Zac Retz, Mike Avezedo, Bobby Pontillas, and Finnian MacManus.
Serrano also joined the lineup of mentors at one of adobo’s own workshops at the 2015 leg of the adobo Main Course where he shared some valuable insights on how to make it in the animation industry, a previous adobo Main Course recap stating: Starting with his foundations for good visuals, using a three-sided pyramid to illustrate the total idea, [Armand Serrano] explained that ideas sit at the base because it’s the most important element. Nowadays, people tend to focus on the technique used rather than the idea behind the art work. Design comes in second, then the technique. During execution, you will also come across three cornerstones: perspective, composition and tonal values.
This year, don’t miss out and hear firsthand Serrano’s explosive creative talent and inspiring, yet humble, wisdom at the 2019 edition of ICON Manila on September 20-21 at the Samsung Hall, SM Aura, Bonifacio Global City.
Full details at https://www.iconmanila.com/
Illustrations from Armand Serrano’s website: https://www.armandserrano.com/
adobo magazine is an official media partner of ICON Manila.
