Ep 28 - Unlocking Creativity with Tomas Pajdlhauser
I speak with Ottawa-based Tom Pajdlhauser (aka Captain Tom) about his years of work in the animation industry. I ask him about the many responsibilities of an art director, and the hierarchy of workflows involved in the creation of an animated show. We talk about how he sees the relevance of traditional drawing skills in the age of digital art.
But as a career illustrator, what does Tom gain from the practice of urban-sketching? He tells me about a motorcycle trip through SE Asia when he arrived at the intersection of travel and art, and how it changed everything for him. We also share our respective experiences self-publishing books of our art, with reference to Tom's excellent Palestine Sketchbook, and my SneakyArt of Eau Claire.
🎨 Follow Tom's work on IG, or visit his website.
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Transcript
Hello and welcome to the SneakyArt Podcast, I'm your host, Nishant Jain. In this episode I speak with Tom Pajdlhauser, or Captain Tom as he is known across social media. I wanted to speak with Tom just because I loved his travel sketching, but the more I learned about his work, the more fascinated I became with all the different, amazing things he does. And then on the morning of our recording, I became very nervous because I realized that I am horribly underqualified to hold an intelligent conversation about the subjects Tom knows so much about. So my role in the conversation begins as an over-excited noob, trying to learn all he can about how animation works. That's our subject for roughly the first hour - Tom tells me about his education and work in the animation industry, and the various artistic roles he has occupied on his way to what he calls his dream position - that of art director. To give you an idea for how little I know these things, my first question for him is - "Hey Tom, what's an art director?"
From animation we move to Tom's other great passion for skateboarding. I am more than sufficiently knowledgeable on this subject, because of my years of experience playing Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2 on the PC.
We take the long way around these wonderful, interesting topics, and arrive at Tom discovering the joy of outdoor sketching while on a motorcycle trip through SE Asia. How did this manifest into a love for urban sketching and travel sketching? What value does drawing from observation, or even just the act of drawing on paper, have for a professional animator whose day job revolves around digital tools?
Before this conversation, Tom and I sent each other copies of our books. I speak to him about the experience of visiting Palestine, and putting together this book in the latter part of this conversation. We talk about the technical and curative aspect of putting together a book of one's work, so if you're at that stage of your creative life as well, you will find many interesting things in this conversation.
Follow Tom's work on Instagram or check out his website using the links in the shownotes. You can visit my website - www.sneakyartist.com - or use the link in the shownotes to see a summarized transcript of this conversation, and also find my other work.
03:10 Nishant asks about the work of an art director on an animation project.
Tom talks about the essential role of the art director to decide a creative direction for various teams. They discuss how creative inspiration is balanced against stylistic consistency.
09:20 What were Tom's early interests that pushed him towards these forms of creative expression?
Tom explains why the role of an art director is his dream job, and how he gathered the varied experiences that led him to this position and this understanding.
(on why he enjoys being an art director)
"Essentially I like being in control of the project because I feel I have a lot to offer, with various experiences collected from different disciplines in different projects... For example, I worked as an animator, a background designer, background painter, clean-up artist, prop designer, character builder... So as an art director I can make sure the art we're creating is production-friendly and has the whole team's best interests in mind."
Talks about skateboarding as a teenager, and the resulting exposure to hiphop/graffiti counter-culture. Interning at an animation studio, going to college to study animation, and getting a job at Mercury Filmworks in his hometown of Ottawa.
"Animation is all about cheating, everything you're doing is an illusion - turning an inanimate object into an animate object, giving life to nothing."
25:00 Nishant talks about how both graffiti and skateboarding extend ownership and usage to public structures that are meant for other purposes, or are otherwise in disuse or abandoned.
They talk about Tony Hawks Pro Skater and its impact on skateboarding culture.
They talk about how the sport has transcended borders and cultures, and become a symbol of rebellion and also freedom in other countries.
36:25 How does it feel that for more animators today the first tools they use are already digital tools? Is the easier path better or are important lessons being lost?
Tom shares his ideas about the place of traditional and digital skills in the development of an artist/animator.
"I dropped the pencils altogether and went straight to ink, because I liked the idea that I was going to war with committing to an illustration and having to work around mistakes."
43:40 Nishant relates Tom's ideas to his own journey with digital and analog art styles. And explains how his unique art style developed from imposing the constraint of working "direct with ink".
"You look at the pros, and they have those constraints. They use like 3-4 brushes. The top level designers have the experience to have identified and created a look and a style and the efficiency of that."
"Limitations help unlock creativity."
"Happy accidents don't really happen in the digital world."
Tom explains how accidents happen due to brush and water dynamics in traditional media. But in the digital medium, there is always intention behind every decision. Digital media decisions are informed by aesthetic, and we leave less room for discovery.
"Working tonally" - paint in greyscale first, then add colors.
Nishant speaks about how digital art does not allow for delayed rewards, making you a very intentional artist.
Nishant asks how Tom feels about artistic accidents and the importance of accidents in making work that supersedes your own expectations and skill level.
Has there been a turn back towards low-budget and traditional art forms, because of the deluge of "perfect" high-budget realistic art?
Tom speaks about Laika Animation Studio, and the appeal of stop-motion in today's world. Also refers to Wes Anderson's Isle of Dogs.
71:40 How does Tom strategize his workflow around projects that are low budget vs high budget?
"The budget is always too low and there's never enough time."
Tom explains the various places where compromises are made on the budget, while retaining artistic quality.
Is there back-and-forth between the writing and the animation department because of how much a single line can impact the workload of the animation team?
81:20 Nishant asks Tom about his "library of good lines", where he collects the material, and how he manages his knowledge. If you're entering into a new project, how do you gather the information and materials around it, before actually starting to make the art?
88:20 They finally arrive at the subject of urban sketching. How did urban sketching begin for Tom?
"We were taught that you have to maintain a sketchbook. And now as an art director, as a person who looks and scouts for talent to put on a project, I also look at sketchbooks because it tells me a lot about you."
Tom explains his phobia of sketchbooks which came from not wanting a single place where people could see and judge his work.
"I found that I liked drawing a lot more when I was outside. Forget drawing hands and feet at home, I'll just draw people and places outside."
Taking advice from a famous animator about the need for keeping an active sketchbook.
"The more I did it, the more comfortable I was with mistakes."
"It wasn't until the last day in India that I had an aha moment of finally loosening up and letting go. Not drawing straight lines, misshaping buildings, going a little faster and looser with watercolors. From that moment, I was hooked to this stuff. It was like I had reached not necessarily a learning curve of skill and technique but a learning curve of being comfortable with myself and my ability. And that allowed me to start enjoying what I was doing."
104:40 Did the art you did before influence your travel sketching, and did travel-sketching have an effect on your later work in animation?
"Speed, out of necessity, has influenced how my work looks."
"It is the shape of the building and how the light is hitting it that is more important than the stonework around each window."
Nishant brings up his revulsion for drawing windows.
Do you enjoy the flip between impromptu sketching and elaborately planned animation work?
Nishant introduces the idea of accuracy vs precision and wonders how difficult it becomes to maintain a style over a long animation project.
Nishant asks about how art and the practice of urban sketching influences travel. And if Tom had the idea for a published sketchbook before he went to Palestine.
122:03 Break - Nishant talks about the SneakyArt Insider Podcast and the bonus content of this episode.
125:30 They resume with Tom answering Nishant's question about travel. Talks about going to Istanbul from India, and falling in love with urban sketching.
Tom talks about various outreach programs he does with his skateboarding shop, and how urban-sketching and skateboarding came together for his trip to Palestine.
Nishant takes it back to skateboarding - How does skateboarding help under-privileged children?
Nishant asks about the various cultural difference and revelations Tom had while in Palestine.
How did Tom negotiate urban chaos in Palestine and Istanbul?
158:00 Is there a difference in notions of personal space between the Middle East and Canada? What is it like to sketch people in Palestine?
They discuss the difficulty of showing people their portraits, because of their minimalist or exaggerated styles. And how this translates to commissioned work, and to putting together a book.
170:25 Nishant talks about taking creative executive decisions as an independently published author. Tom talks about the design decisions around his book, while having his art stay chronological and true to the sketchbook experience.
180:04 Nishant asks about Tom's winter sketches in Ottawa, made on coffee cups.
They talk about cultural differences. Nishant brings up experience as a tourist in Morocco. Tom shares his India experience traveling from Chennai to Dharamsala.
I shared ideas from this conversation in The SneakyArt Post, my free email newsletter.
🔥🔥🔥 This episode has ~45 minutes of bonus content, available to all SneakyArt Insiders. Subscribe to become an Insider and access bonus content, join the SneakyArt Discord + other privileges!