Darko Tomicic

I worked as accountant in meat factory, and occasionally as security officer between two animation projects.

I enjoyed working on animated series Mr. Bean in Varga Studio Budapest, but I was even happier to work on Tom Jones musical video Give a Little Love. I animated several scenes, designed some characters and almost all old model cars that appear in the clip. Since I am a huge fan of 40’s and 50’s music and lifestyle I enjoyed a lot designing and animating cars from that period.
Regarding „proud to have been a part of“ I am proud every time people whom I worked for previously and were satisfied with my work call me again for their next project.

As a kid I loved comics and cartoons (don’t remember what was first) and spent most of my free time drawing.

I am from Zagreb, Croatia. I worked as accountant for three and a half years. I hated it and felt just as Joe ( Tom Hanks) at the beginning of Joe Versus the Volcano movie. One day I left my desk and decided to do what I really like since I was a kid – drawing cartoons. Studio Croatia Film from Zagreb had open positions, I applied and in a few days was there doing inbetweens.

As a freelancer I don’t have usual routine how I work, each project that I am starting is completely different from previous one. My day starts with huge cup of Turkish coffee in the morning( what happens before that cup I have no idea).  After coffee I work in my studio which is in my house. Usually on Cintiq and Toon Boom, although on some projects I do traditional animation with good old-fashioned paper with peg holes.  I usually work all day with breaks for lunch, getting my kid from kindergarten, having coffee or beer with friends outside.

Drawing. Cause I just like it so much.

Since I am a freelancer I work with lot of people on different projects. I hate when someone, before the rates are set, tries to convince me that the project is „very simple and easy, almost nothing“ which means that they just want to pay as little as possible. It usually turns out to be a complex and time-consuming project with no end.

I mostly use Wacom Cintiq, Toon Boom Animate Pro, Photoshop After Effects and Autodesk Maya.

There is no long-term project as in steady job. I have to compete for every new project/client. There comes the time where there are no projects for few weeks and then suddenly three super extra urgent projects pop up at the same time. Unfortunately, in Croatia there are currently no studios that make features or TV series so all the jobs I can get in Croatia are short term projects that should have be finished yesterday .

Thanks to Internet, I don’t have to travel much. In Zagreb Film I met one of the forefathers of Croatian animators Mr. Dusan Vukotic, who won Oscar in 1962 for best animated short. Substitute . Also, while I was working in Budapest I met Csaba Varga, one of most important European animators.  Last summer on 3d character animation masterclasses I had a unique opportunity to have teachers that actually have shaped the form and standards in 3d art and industry in last decade and a half. It was Michele Meeker  from Animation Mentor, Andy Schmidt and Rich Quade from Pixar and last but not least Keith Lango from Valve.

Not working on any project for three months. I just do not know what to do with all that free time I am not used to have.

I collect vinyl record from 40’s and 50’s (jump’n’jive, rythm’n’blues and 50’s rock’n’roll).
I still have some clothes in 50’s style that I used to wear but they shrunk too much lately. It happens when you spend whole day sitting and drawing.

I can say words and sentences backwards without thinking, but till now I did not find any use for that.

You have to REALLY love what you do and never stop learning. Never be completely satisfied with your drawings and thrive for better. And, of course, there’s always somebody who is better than you, but if you’re sure you’ve done your best, you will have nothing to feel sorry for.

http://www.darkotomicic.com/index_eng.html