Today we’d like to introduce you to Chris Battle.
Every artist has a unique story. Can you briefly walk us through yours?
I was born and raised in Santa Monica, CA by an artist Mom and a photographer Dad, who both encouraged my artistic endeavors from an early age — Lots of paper, crayons, pencils, & markers. Growing up in Los Angeles surrounded by the film & television business, I had the advantage of having my dreams of working in cartoons/illustration seen not as a silly fantasy, but as a valid career choice! My parents also knew several people who worked in the animation/entertainment industry, so it was not uncommon for me to get a tour of Disney or Lucasfilm as a child — We even had a good family friend that was a Disney animator, and he was an informal mentor to me in my teenage years. I was also fortunate to attend Santa Monica High School, which had a serious art curriculum, and where I had an art teacher who encouraged my cartoon illustration at a time when most of the art faculty frowned upon cartoons, as they weren’t “real” art. Other than those high school classes, I never went to art school, so fortunately, during the early 90’s there was a boom in animation, and most studios were open to trying out inexperienced yet capable talent regardless of whether or not you went to CalArts or similar schools, and that’s how I got my start in the biz. It’s been 25+ years now, and along the way I’ve worked at almost every animation studio there is (Disney, Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, Warner Bros, etc.), most notably on classic shows like DEXTER’S LABORATORY, POWERPUFF GIRLS, SAMURAI JACK, and most recently the current hit series TEEN TITANS GO. Currently, I’m busy working on projects for Disney and Marvel.
Please tell us about your art.
I’m an animation character design artist, and work primarily in television, but have occasionally branched out into features, consumer products, book illustration, and even video games. After trying a few other design disciplines (storyboarding, background design) in the early days of my career, I found I enjoyed doing characters the most and focused my development towards that. While I (like most of the industry) have fully embraced working digitally, I still love to work with pencil and paper, and always start the early iterations of my designs on paper before transferring it into the digital workspace. As for inspiration, as a child of the 70s/80s, I grew up in a perfect storm of old/new pop culture (Star Wars, Looney Tunes, Hanna-Barbera, Marvel comics, Muppets, Nintendo, 1st wave anime, etc.), and when you grow up with a steady diet of visual treats like that, you can’t help but be inspired to create things yourself. It’s also fun to have become part of that very same entertainment industry, and realizing my contribution is providing inspiration to a new generation of viewers (and hopefully artists!)
Given everything that is going on in the world today, do you think the role of artists has changed? How do local, national, or international events and issues affect your art?
No matter the era or political climate, people will always need entertainment, whether it’s to simply escape or even to inspire. I’m lucky to be one of those that provides that necessary distraction/inspiration. I have faith that art, regardless of medium or delivery system, will always be part of our human experience– Even if that experience involves a cartoon mouse smashing a cat’s head with a mallet.
How or where can people see your work? How can people support your work?
Since I’ve been working in television animation for so long, if you turn on Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, or the Disney Channel, chances are I worked on something you grew up with or something your kids are watching! But the easiest place to see my work is on Instagram.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: instagram.com/
chrisbattleart - Facebook: facebook.com/ChrisBattleArt
- Other: artstation.com/chrisbattleart
Image Credit:
Main photo: Calvin Florian
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