What is your name and your current occupation?
My name is Beatriz Iglesias and I work as an Artist at Kandor Graphics Studio, at Granada, Spain. I work as freelance illustrator too.
What are some of the crazier jobs you had before getting into animation?
Cat trainer and Coke addict are considered jobs?
What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of?
I’m very proud of having participated in “Justin and the Knights of Valour”, Kandor’s latest animaded featured film and I’ve enjoyed very much illustrating several children books. I have fun too drawing for a couple of illustrator collectives such as “Girls Drawing Girls” or “The Autumn Society Spain”. Â Lately I have taken part of many exhibitions too and that’s very cool too.
How did you become interested in animation?
I enjoy cartoon most of all…ever since I was a little girl. I’ve grown up watching Disney’s films thousands of times on video, learning the dialogues and repeating the movements of the characters! When I became a little older, I fell in love with cartoon…Bugs Bunny, Samuray Jack, Power Puff Girls, Foster, Batman…so many awesome cartoons! Â Nowaways I enjoy both cartoon and animation films equally, but my style is more cartoony and I must admit that Adventure Time and Gum Ball are stealing my heart.
Where are you from and how did you get into the animation business?
I’m from Madrid, Spain, and I started working at a 2D animation studio at 19, fresh out of art college. Two years later, an animation studio from Valencia hired me, so I moved there. And one day, three years ago, Kandor Graphics gave me the oportunity of joining their art department so I moved again, this time to Granada…where I currently work as a memberof its art development department.
What’s a typical day like for you with regards to your job?
I get to work at 9.00am and start drawing concepts for our new proyect. We talk to each other to get an idea of our needs in the department and twice a week we do a meeting to check the work we’ve done and show the material. We’re currently in a very creative moment and we enjoy it very much. We have a break at lunch time and then we continue working until 6pm or 7pm. Sometimes someone brings a birthday cake or cookies and we enjoy them all together. The studio is quite fun and familiar.
What part of your job do you like best? Why?
Well, I REALLY enjoy creating charcaters. I try to do my best there.
What part of your job do you like least? Why?
For me it’s quite hard to design backgrounds and sets, but I don’t do it at Kandor. I’ve been drawing props the last 2 years and I must admit that drawing a carrot is not as much fun as drawing a characer…at least for me! But, hey, now I draw the best carrots of the realm! 😉
What kind of technology do you work with on a daily basis?
Excluding the coffee machine, the technology I work with is Photoshop most of all, and sometimes Flash.
What is the most difficult part for you about being in the business?
Sometimes it’s a little frustrating, because somedays my inspiration stays in bed while I’m at work, so you try to generate good stuff but it’s not a mathematical matter, so you try to do your best even when you feel like a log…the deadlines don’t help either, so when I feel that way, I get up, leave my desk and have a walk through my department, chatting with my pals and watching their drawings, or I visit other artist’s blogs. But at the end of the day, I usually enjoy most of every day at work.
In your travels, have you had any brushes with animation greatness?
I have several friends in the animation industry, so when I’ve travelled to Los Angeles or San Francisco, I’ve visited great animation studios and I have met great people there. I enjoy it VERY much.
Describe a tough situation you had in life.
Until now, I haven’t had any real bad situation at work…only when your contract is going to end and you feel the fear of “…And now WHAT?!”. But I’ve always found work quickly. Â I hope not to experiment many tough situations…so far I can’t complain!
Any side projects or you’re working on that you’d like to share details of?
Nothing in the horizon for now, but my art exhibitions keep me active and happy.
Any unusual talents or hobbies like tying a cherry stem with your tongue or metallurgy?
I can use my feet almost like my hands, I can move my ears consciously and blink my eyes independently…awesome, uh?
Is there any advice you can give for an aspiring animation student or artist trying to break into the business?
Work, work and work…and never give up. Draw constantly, carriying a block and a pencil always and watch the people around you to learn shapes and movements. Â Learn from the ones who know more than you and leave the ego at home. You can ALWAYS do it better.
