Chewing Pencils

This week sees the first time an animator has been the CPFFA. Darcy has some amazing work on Youtube, so if you’re internet connection can hack it, make sure you take a look at his work. And only twenty one years old!! I hate him…

NAME: Darcy Prendergast
AGE: 21
LOCATION: Australia
SITE URL:
www.youtube.com/darcyprendergast

How long have you been drawing cartoons?

I was drawing cartoons whilst in the womb. It’s always been my passion, but let me just state in this opening question, that whilst loving the world of 2d cartoons, and doing the majority of commercial work in the 2d realm, I would consider myself more a clay animator. So I guess, I’ll answer my set of questions more so from that perspective. My love of clay animation spawned from a love of 2d cartoons however, and my clay animations are still completely cartoon in style, just not the 2 dimensional form. For me, it’s been a natural progression down that path, and just seems to fit like a glove.

What made you start to think more seriously about making some money out of it?

Well it’s was the age old problem really. I got to that point in my life where money becomes an essential part of living. So after looking at my options (Flipping Burgers, Selling my body on the streets, or Making cartoons, I started to rigorously pursue a career somewhere within the broad world of cartoons. In the beginning, I had no idea where to go with it. I just wanted to make cartoons regardless of where that passion took me.

Have you done any formal training? If so, what and where?

My long time mentor and friend, David Gibb was the first cartoonist to set me on the path. I was taught by him at a young age, learning the ways of the force and all that jazz, before I started actually getting work. At 13 years of age, I was approached, to design a series of ‘raunchy’ xmas cards for the older market. This was a pretty big opportunity at 13, and still use them as a folio piece even today. Worked kind of flowed here and there, as it does when your young and have no idea what your doing. I did all the art subjects at high school, as all artists do, and I was accepted into the Bachelor of Animation at RMIT straight from high school. This was the most crucial form of training I have done, and think I will ever do. Rather than focusing primarily on programs and techniques, the course also instilled you with a directorial power, urging to become something that more than a shit kicker. So, I’ve not long graduated from that, and I have all sorts of concepts in the works, as well as continuing to push my graduating film “Ron the Zookeeper’ at all the big animation festivals worldwide.

Where was your first cartoon published?

My first cartoon was published in a black and white artist society magazine, Christmas special. My single gag cartoon ‘The Three Y’s Men’ had a modest section allocated for it. Mum and Dad were proud…. The first major film I made was probably couch potato, which can be seen at the ‘you tube’ link provided. Now when I say major, I don’t means as in an epic feature length deal. It was a big steep learning curve, and to achieve what I had at that age, to me felt like I’d reached the top of Everest. This did a bit of festival touring, which was pretty exciting for me, and all this excitement drove me to start another film, which as it turns out was “Off the Rails”.

What materials do you use to create your work?

As you may or may not know, the world of clay animation is expansive, to say the least. You have to build absolutely everything in frame, the sets, the characters, the props. Everything. So as you could well imagine, the materials used to create such a world vary quite a bit. I find that Plasticine is my number one material (Big Surprise there). When I worked in 2d land, my number one material is a pencil, once again, incredibly surprising. I like to just get back to the basics after spending so long modeling and sculpting. I try to just keep it simple and not overcomplicate the process. I mean, I can just take a sketch book and pencil anywhere, and keep myself occupied for weeks. I also do a lot of painting for the same reasons.

What hardware and software do you use?

I’ve got a nice little studio set up. I have a Apple g4, an apple I book g4, a Nikon d50 for my animation, and a canon xm2, for a frame reference fire wire feed (so you can see how much the characters are moved every frame).

From where do you draw your inspiration?

I have a family full of ‘characters’. A mum who’s going through menopause, a Dad who’s having a mid life crisis, and a sister who’s going through puberty and my girlfriend, well she has enough display pillows to drive any cartoonist mad. Everyone who surrounds me in my life is a potential cartoon, so that’s obviously quite a big plus when you need to fill a slot. I’m also inspired, for reasons undefined, by dirty and perverse sexual acts. Right now, I’m pushing my clay animated cartoons into a niche. I’m targeting an adult market, in which I see a major opportunity to produce some seriously gross, yet entertaining content. My new film, ‘Ron the Zoo Keeper’ is a good indication of my new path…. Unfortunately for you guys this complete film isn’t available on you tube, but you can view snippets of it in the ‘2007 Show Reel’ clip. Its touring festivals internationally, so hopefully you can catch it on the trail.

What are some of the resources you’ve found most helpful?

Without a doubt, the most helpful has been stopmotionanimation.com. It’s a resource/ forum for stop motion animators. I basically grew up in a small country town, where cartoons were watched, but not made. So I had to research a lot of this myself, and without this resource, my films would be 2 years behind where they are now. It eliminates a lot of the need for tedious trial and error, bless its soul.

What is the best piece of advice you have EVER been given? The worst?

The best piece of advice, whilst relatively broad, was given to me by a drunk guy looking for a chat at the beach one day. It was a kind of mantra that he lived by, which was “Is today going to be the day?” So every morning, this dude would wake up and ask himself that, and go out and work hard at his goals. It’s been something that’s stayed with me for years, every day in the studio, it’s a very positive motto to follow. Who knows what the new day will bring, it could well be the biggest opportunity of your life. Its amazing the wisdom alcohol can bring out in a man.

Here’s my good advice on bad advice: Don’t listen to bad advice.

Take us through the process you use to create one of your drawings:

My drawings are never in my head before I put pen to paper. They are spawned and inspired by the lines already put down. So it’s always a very random/ spontaneous process, as is the outcome. Its almost like a Mr Squiggle kind of deal. I draw a few lines and then hook them all together, and before you know it I have a whale in gumboots, holding an ice cream, a yo-yo and an umbrella.

How long does it generally take to create one piece?

Drawings- anywhere from 30 seconds to 2 days. Paintings- anywhere from a day to 2 weeks. Clay animation- Anywhere from a year to a lifetime.

What do you find the hardest to draw?

I used to struggle with hands, but I recently had a client who needed quite a few hand drawing, so I got a bit of practice in. I’m pretty hopeless at drawing females to be honest. Great at drawings boobs, but that’s where the buck stops. I don’t know, My male characters always ooze with charisma, yet my females often come out a little generic. I’ll get there…..

What do your friends and family think of you being a cartoonist?

My family loves it. They know how hard I’ve worked for this, and their all proud as punch when things pan out for me. My family has always played such a large part in my success too, they’ve always been there to help. Dad would bring down one of mums top class meals and a change of clothes to the studio, when I was working ridiculous hours (the longest being 4 days without sleep). So, they in a way share the rewards, as I was almost an investment haha. As for friends, they make sure to keep in touch, as they believe I’m going to be famous. I’m told its so they can say ‘I know that guy’ in the future. Once again, ‘an investment’.

What do you think is the best part about being a cartoonist?

‘Cartoonist’ is basically a socially acceptable word for ‘Mental Case’. No one questions a cartoonist’s strange behavior. I also love the fact its pretty much a career never land. You stay young at heart when producing this kind of stuff, the scope is so wide, and the world is your oyster. Other people will be laying bricks, or filing papers….. never inspired by what they do. Me on the other hand, I play with Plasticine. I draw cartoons. I make animated films. For me, life doesn’t get much better.

What has been the standout post on Chewing Pencils for you? Why?

I’ve found the sections on ‘dealing with clients’ to be the best, as that’s something I have difficulty with every single time…..

Anything else you’d like to say….

If cartooning is what you want to do with your life, then let no one drag you down. Chase that goal as hard as you can. Determination and passion are envious traits, and there will be plenty of jealous people who will want to shoot you down. I generally find flipping these people the bird is a fantastic response.

Keep creating, and thanks for reading.

Cheers

Darcy Prendergast