I contacted Alan Resnick a little while back with some questions because I was curious about his work; what kind of things drive him, why he makes the things he does, things like that. I was very fortunate to hear back from him with some insight into his process.
On Johnny Bubble, what was the inspiration behind the short?
Alan: I made Johnny Bubble because I simply wanted to explore the medium and try doing some character animation. I also was given the opportunity to pitch some animations to super deluxe, and they gave me a small budget. For that one I tried to work very intuitively, trying not to overthink things. I made those storyboards the same way I make comics. No real plan, just one panel after another, then I tried to animate them. I also tried to keep the scenes super simple since I’m not the best animator and 3D animations take me forever. I also tried to embrace my limited skills, for example the walking animations are intentionally silly because I wouldn’t know how to do it properly.
Generally speaking, do you think there’s a driving motivation behind your work?
A: The only motivation is the motivation to make things. I’m not trying to communicate some specific thing to people, I’m just trying to make art. I must naturally be drawn to scary things and funny things because those elements are usually always there in varying degrees.
What goes through your mind when you’re designing a character? Do you feel the contrast between innocent characters and dark characteristics makes for interesting material?
A: When drawing a character? Not really sure, again I’m trying to work intuitively and satisfy myself. I don’t really know what I’m looking for, but I always know what I don’t like. If I’m drawing something and it looks too cute, or not cute enough, or wrong in some way I’ll erase it and keep trying. I just keep fiddling till it feels right. Occasionally I’ll look to old animations or illustrations for aesthetic inspiration. Also I try to embrace my limitations and make things amateurish in a way that I find pleasing.
Are there any cool artists making stuff that inspires you right now?
A: There are so many insanely talented artists making amazing work overwhelming. I can’t really keep track. I should keep a list going. This short my friend made really cracks me up:
I was incredibly grateful to have heard from Alan because I really think he’s making some of the most unique visual art out there right now, and it was quite a relief to hear not everything he makes comes from some profound position other than the desire to make art, and furthermore to make it for himself. I think there can be a lot of pressure to inscribe meaning into your work even if you don’t explicitly mean to author any intent into it, but I guess that’s what makes art art. Regardless of whether you intend meaning in your work, an observer might interpret their own version of what they thought you meant.