What is your name and your current occupation?
My name is Lionel Freitas, I’m graduated in advertising and also a freelance animator and illustrator.
What are some of the crazier jobs you had before getting into animation?
The craziest job I had was working as an office boy during the week and taught drawing and football full-time on Saturday and Sunday for underprivileged childrenduring 4 years.
What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of?
So far I did not participate of any major project, only small illustration work for magazines and animations for mobile games.
How did you become interested in animation?
Like everybody, watching great classics on TV like Woody Woodpecker and Tom and Jerry since I was little. But only after watching Lion King at the movies I decided that in some way I would like to work with drawing.
Where are you from and how did you get into the animation business?
I’m from Brazil.I don’t consider me totally inside of that market, since I live more with publicity than animation and illustration.
What’s a typical day like for you with regards to your job?
I usually wake up at 5:00 in the morning, put a drawing on my blog, do my exercises at the gym, come back home, have a breakfast and go to work at the agency. Â When I get home I continue with my projects of illustration, animation or personal work until my brain does not take it anymore.
What part of your job do you like best? Why?
To study and research the most possible about a subject before start creating. It is the coolest part of the process and usually gives much value to this stage. Meetings of well conduced ideas where we discuss about the work are also fascinating.
What part of your job do you like least? Why?
Working a lot, insist and trying to create something on a day of low creativity.
What is the most difficult part for you about being in the business?
Certainly the tight deadlines, dealing with large egos or with people who either do not fully understand the business or have no way to deal with people.
What kind of technology do you work with on a daily basis?
Pencil, mechanical pencil with 0.5, Wacom tablet, Corel Painter and the whole Adobe package.
In your travels, have you had any brushes with animation greatness?
Not yet, but thanks to the internet e the blogging we can see great jobs and meet artists without leaving home. I love the work of GenndyTartakovsky, Paul Rudish, Craig McCracken, Dan Krall, Scott Wills,all of that guys that revolutionizedCartoon Network two decades ago. I also like Amanda Visell, Britney Lee, Mary Blair e a lot of other guys that are working today on the Toy Art movement. Â Web can be an incredible tool if you know how to use it, every day I discover incredible artists that inspire me to be like them.
Describe a tough situation you had in life.
Working a lot for paying my studies was really hard for me, once I had two jobs, 2 bosses and only seven days in the week and none of them to rest, and still have good grades at college. Â Today I see that it was a good time, because I also dealt with underprivileged children, they were really underprivileged, including affection and good examples, so it was a life lesion for me, because I could see with my own eyes the social differences that my country still suffers and the fundamental role that education has to change this reality.
Any side projects or you’re working on or hobbies you’d like to share details of?
I’m crazy to launch a web series I started writing in 2007 and also something related to toy art.
Do you have any unusual talent or different hobbies?
I can touch my tongue on the tip of my nose and make that Russian dance that no one remembers the name, but everybody finds it very funny.
Is there any advice you can give for an aspiring animation student or artist trying to break into the business?
Study hard and always persist. Enjoy the facility we have available to study and see lots of references, review the great masters and have the discipline to practice every day. Once a great sportsman of my country, that became a true national hero said, and I take this as my lemma: “Whoever you are, whatever the social position in life you have, the higher or lower, always have as its goal a lot of strength, determination and always do everything with love and with faith in God, that one day you’ll get there. Someway you’ll get there.†Ayrton Senna.
