We were lucky to catch up with Rodrigo Tello recently and have shared our conversation below.

Rodrigo , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?

Just draw and then draw some more. It’s frustrating learning this skill and not being able to totally achieve what was in your head. Nonetheless, the constant trial and error and willingness to fail and learn is so important. I remember countless hours outside of class, painting and life drawing. All of this in an attempt to better my skills. With any skill based profession, the amount of hours you put in is essential. I unfortunately didn’t take that to heart till college. Even though I knew I wanted to get into animation since middle school, I didn’t take drawing as seriously as I should. Looking back I wish I spent more time drawing than just watching tv and playing video games.

As well as putting in the hours, also be specific on how to study. You can draw the same thing and fan art everyday and still stay stagnate. For me drawing from life has been crucial. Understanding how things work and how they appear in real life is such a wealth of knowledge. All of this you can apply to you’re own art. This whole dilemma over finding your’e artistic style should take a back seat. I believe no matter what, an artist will eventually develop an artistic style. But the style will become enhanced and enriched with the knowledge of studying from real life.

I went to CSULB to study animation and illustration. Even though I was able to grasp and learn the fundamentals I still had to take additional classes at Concept Design Academy in Pasadena. Even after that, being in this industry for the past seven years, I still make the time to take classes and improve my skills. I think having the passion and the desire to learn and be curious is key to succeeding in the animation industry.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Just a quick summary, I’m a background designer/visual development artist in the animation industry. I’ve worked for Powerhouse Animation, Dreamworks TV, Nickelodeon, Disney and Titmouse. I’ve been fortunate to have been working consistently for the past 7 years or so. With animation there are different departments. There are the storyboard artists, the bg designers, the painters, color stylists etc.. As a bg designer I’m responsible for laying out and staging whatever world is behind the characters.

I always loved to draw everything, but always tended to have more fun and interest drawing the world, and building it. I designed bgs for Kipo: Age of the Wonder beasts, Rise of the Ninja Turtles Movie, the Casagrandes, and some unreleased Nickelodeon projects.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

Honestly, just doing a good job and being able to take criticism well. There have been jobs where I struggled, but they nonetheless saw my potential and my ability to grow and learn as the show progressed. Also another one, be nice to everyone. Do the job and stay drama free. Animation is a small industry, so being courteous to one another is important, since chances are you’ll be working with them again.

Can you share your view on NFTs? (Note: this is for education/entertainment purposes only, readers should not construe this as advice)

Not a fan. Never totally understood owning a copy of art that isn’t tangible. Nonetheless, NFT’s aren’t doing so hot at the moment.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.rtelloportfolio.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rtello516/?hl=en
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rodrigo-tello-30917873/