Today we’d like to introduce you to Carlos Ramos.
Hi Carlos, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I was born in Burbank and raised in the valley (North Hollywood). I was always drawing and illustrating my entire childhood, obsessed with MAD Magazine, Freddy Krueger, Stanley Kubrick, and anime, so I was enrolled in the arts magnet program at Fairfax High in Hollywood.
From there, I was accepted into the Character Animation program at CalArts, where I earned my BFA. Then, a year out of school, I was teaching character design and story at CalArts while simultaneously developing shows for Nickelodeon, Disney, and Cartoon Network.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Out of the gate, it was a whirlwind of career highlights. Going from art directing shows like Nickelodeon’s Chalkzone (where I received my first Annie Award), to writing on the series Time Squad at Cartoon Network, to being lead character designer on Dave the Barbarian at Disney, to creating my own series, The X’s at Nickelodeon.
Working in animation, as a creator/developer, means living with constant corporate change. Mergers, rebrands, restructures (above my pay grade) they’re all part of the game. One month, you’re developing a show with a champion executive, and the following month, they’ve been let go, and the project disappears overnight. It’s an industry where success doesn’t always guarantee stability, so I’ve had to learn to stay adaptable and keep moving forward creatively, even when the business side gets rocky.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
What’s interesting is that many of my most personal and experimental creative endeavors happened after my Nickelodeon series The X’s was canceled after two seasons. Instead of jumping right back into animation, I started painting fine art.
I began painting with Cartoon Colour cel paint, the same pigment used by animation studios before the digital era. I found that it adhered beautifully to wood, creating a rich, flat contrast that became the foundation of my visual style. I started out in group shows and eventually joined Corey Helford Gallery, where I had several solo exhibitions. I also exhibited with Copro Gallery and Rotofugi in Chicago. Sadly, when Cartoon Colour the only supplier of cel paint shut down, that chapter came to a natural close.
Around the same time, I also started doing stand-up comedy at night to stretch my writing in a different direction. And I began photographing LA’s underground party and nightlife scenes, a passion that’s grown steadily over the years and remains one of my main creative outlets today.
Since returning to animation full-time, I’ve had the chance to work on some incredible projects: from the story team for the first season of Disney’s Star vs. The Forces of Evil, to serving as Head of Story on Warner Bros.’ Smallfoot, directing the premiere episodes of FOX’s The Great North, and most recently working as a character designer on Warner Bros.’ A Minecraft Movie and now on Minecraft 2.
So maybe we end on discussing what matters most to you and why?
What matters most to me is connection. Whether it’s through animation, painting, or photography, everything I create is really just a way to connect with people to make them feel, understand, laugh, or just be entertained. Lately, outside of work, it’s been caricaturing people in public and photographing people at events.
That desire to connect is what drives everything I do. I’ve found that the medium doesn’t matter as much as the moment, the feeling that someone else is on the other side, receiving what you’ve made. That’s what keeps me showing up creatively, even when things get hard. It’s what keeps the work meaningful.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://thecarlosramos.com/
- Instagram: thecarlosramos
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thecarlosramos
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carlos-ramos-91a5b77
- Twitter: thecarlosramos
- Youtube: @thecarloscharles
- Other: https://thecarlosramos.com/fine-art-2/
Image Credits
all images: Carlos Ramos
