About
I have always been inspired by realism and minimalism; I don’t know why but I lean towards these styles. I started my artistic journey at a very early age. Art was my favorite class. That’s why I also chose Architecture for my university education. I expected (and I actually did) to learn something. I think, it’s the biggest milestone in my career. It’s also where I learnt the basic principles I needed to know. I also think I might have been too focused on the artistic side of things and missed some stuff I should have learnt. Early on, I was always fascinated by animation movies I always wondered how everything worked and the creative process put into them. So, the ultimate goal is to work on animation film. Everything I do, fits into this one big picture.
Eventually, this is my goal. To work on my own animation film and collaborate with other artists. I want to work with other artists and produce an animation film with great story and great visuals. It’s a lot of work but that’s what is true about any field.
When I first started, I thought things would be easy and short. Boy was I wrong! In my field, for instance, to do character design, you need to know the human anatomy, fashion design, psychology and color psychology. Along with a whole host of other things. It’s hard work but in the end, it helps the process.
Creative Process
I usually start with what amuses me. Silly stuff. Then these silly ideas turn into concepts and force me to work on something. A great deal of these, are inspired by just browsing the internet. I believe that every creative process is therapeutic. It is always fun to work on every process, from creating the block and composition to modeling to texturing. Then comes the rendering process. I spend ours, if not days, almost burning my device in the process to finally realize I have forgotten to turn on one little thing or something and everything looks wrong. Detail, it’s important!
People often think, that the computer does every tedious task. However, it takes some sort of skill to actually bring the art alive. It is easy to get your hands on a computer and develop 3D models it can take years to develop the skill that pushes your own unique voice. It takes time. When I work on a project, I spend most of time sketching various concepts, then blocking out basic shapes, then agonize over the 3D modeling, so on and so forth until I hit the render button.
Creative Ethiopia
We still have a long way to go before we have the true financial and creative freedom for any creative to achieve their artist goals. For me to make an animation film, I need the producers, investors, the gear and the market. It’s not there yet.
Instagram @amanuelyit
Facebook amanuel yit