Time to meet the incredibly talented artist Christian E. Rosado García, also known as “3V”! He was born in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico and currently living in Juana Diaz, Puerto Rico. His drawings and animations have captured the attention of many people, which led him to win first place in the Competencia de Diseño Inclusivo (Inclusive Design Competition) in Atlantic University College along with his development team in their adaptation of Pinocchio. Becoming part of the student body at Atlantic University College in Guaynabo, P.R. has led Christian to many opportunities to develop his talent and open doors to his future career as an animator.
I had the immense pleasure of interviewing Christian. Through our conversation, he shared his backstory as an animation student and the perks and difficulties in choosing the animation career.
Her Campus at UPR: What are you currently studying for your Bachelor’s Degree and how has the student experience been for you at Atlantic University College?
Christian Rosado “3V”: I’m currently working towards a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Animation which teaches you how to work with programs such as Maya, a 3D computer animation software; Photoshop; and Toon Boom, which lets you work on 2D animations. In regards to the student experience at Atlantic University College, it has been a very positive one since it’s led me to many opportunities to improve my art. The professors have been very helpful and have lent me the right tools to practice my art on my free time. I spend most (if not all) of my time drawing on the Wacom Cintiq tablets that the university provides and the professors have helped me grow a lot as an artist.
HC UPR: When exactly did you start drawing?
3V: I started drawing when I was 5 years old, ever since I held a pencil. When I was 11 years old, I went to an art school at Cabo Rojo for two years. My mother bought me a notebook specifically for drawing because she didn’t want me drawing on my class notebooks, even though I still did. I drew on exams, quizzes, everywhere. I still have my elementary and high school notebooks with all my drawings from back then, so yeah, they’re very cringy.
Having drawn in those notebooks helped me develop story and animation ideas for the things that I do now or I have done throughout my college years. For example, in my first year of college, I challenged myself into re-drawing something that I drew when I was 5 or 6 years old and transforming it into the drawing style of those times. Even though my focus is on digital art nowadays, I always have a pocket notebook that I take with me so I can draw anywhere at any time.
HC UPR: What or who inspired you to draw?
3V: Classic animations, meaning 1940’s animations that come from companies such as Warner Bros. Entertainment like the creation of Looney Toons. Classic animations done by people like Chuck Jones and Tex Avery have inspired my art now. When I was younger, I did some Sonic OC’s (Original Characters) and anime drawings but as I said, classic animations are my to go to nowadays. I also loved to see the animations done by Craig McCracken such as The Powerpuff Girls and Dexter’s Laboratory, and other shows such as Ed, Edd n Eddy and Courage the Cowardly Dog. One other inspiration has been UPA of Mister Magoo because their abstract style captivated me with its simplicity that was pleasing to the eye.”
HC UPR: How did you know about the existence of doing animation as a career? What inspired you to follow it?
3V: In high school, I started to think about how some people worked in animating shows and I would wonder how they’d gotten there. Since I didn’t know that I could choose animation as a Bachelor’s Degree, I was planning on getting a degree in Architecture. This thought was so concrete that I even went to La Universidad Politécnica de Puerto Rico’s summer camp so I could start to get a feel for how it was.
During this summer camp, I blossomed in the interior design part of the architecture summer camp because my designs were always whacky and out there, but I noticed that interior design was not for me because it’s more aimed to satisfy the client which means that you might have to change your design over and over to get the design that your client wants. Anyways, when the university fair was organized in my high school, I saw that SCAD (The Savannah College of Art and Design) was there and that’s where I saw that one of their academic program options was animation, making me realize that I could study this. I was planning to study in the United States, but since the tuition was too high, I found out about Atlantic University College later on and decided to take on the animation career there.
HC UPR: Your team won 1st place in the Inclusive Design Competition with your adaptation of Pinocchio in April 2019. Can you tell me more about that project and your experience of your contribution to it?
3V: This competition was a graphic design competition, and even though that’s not what I’m majoring in, I decided to take the challenge head-on and try to make captivating characters for the competition, which led our team to take 1st place. We had like 1 week to do an adaptation of the story of Pinocchio and to draw the characters. Our team was comprised of 5 members and I was in charge of doing the design of the characters and the silhouettes of the characters because it will possibly become a book for people who are blind and it’ll have the braille system; one page has braille and the other page has the illustrations. I did from 5-10 designs and the team chose the ones they liked the best. The characters were Pinocchio, Geppetto, the Fairy, the merchant, and the whale. The hardest part was doing the silhouettes since the competition gave us ‘the mystery challenge’ to be completed in one day, but all in all, it was an amazing experience.
HC UPR: As a comic artist, which has been the favorite comic that you’ve done and why?
3V: Well, it all started with me recently taking a comic design class and I started making comics. I’ve done 5 comics in total, but I’ll tell you about my two favorites: Tito El Gekito and Box Boy. The challenge that became the creation of Tito El Gekito was to create a non-stereotypical Puerto Rican character, it couldn’t be a jibarito or a vejigante, so I thought I should do a character from a tropical house gecko or salamandra that usually lives in dry areas of Puerto Rico.
I wanted to make its personality traits to come off as sneaky and confident, making it into a one-page comic. In Tito’s story, he usually passes through a lot of problems ending up with his tail cut off, which always grows back on. The second comic, Box Boy, had the challenge to create an original character. I created Box Boy out of a sketch I did in high school and it’s about this boy that lives in an apartment that he just moved into. There are lots of boxes in his room and because he was bored, he went over to look at one of the boxes and by opening it, he thought it would be a good idea to use it as a hat. In using the hat, his creativity goes up and starts to create new things with the boxes he has in his room. Then his mother comes into the room and the boy acts as if he were sleeping, but the mom just came to tell him that his box friends should keep their volume down. I really can’t choose between the two, but I chose Tito El Gekito to end it as my last project of my Bachelor’s Degree.
HC UPR: What do you enjoy most about animating?
3V: What I enjoy most are the beginning and the end. The beginning is enjoyable because you just came up with a new idea and you’re excited to start right away on it, and I love the end because you can see the finished product to that idea. What makes animation difficult is all the in-between process: checking if the frames are good, if the roughs are okay, if the coloring is right, etc. I do like the in-between process as well, but it’s a lot of tedious work also. The exciting part is when you have your finished product and you feel proud of yourself for completing it and see that people are liking your drawings. You just feel immense joy. It is amazing.
HC UPR: What has been one of the most difficult moments that you had to cope with during your trajectory?
3V: I will say this: the process of being a good artist is slow, and you have to practice. Your best teacher is practice. It’s frustrating at first because you doubt yourself and ask yourself why isn’t your art as great as the others, why can’t I be greater? And I sometimes doubt in myself still but once I see the finished work and hear people saying that I’m doing great is refreshing. So in other words, the most difficult part is realizing that this is all a slow process. You’re growing as an artist and you’re growing as a person. When I realized that, I really delved myself into practice. I draw every day and I always carry my pocket notebook. I sometimes have an ‘art block’ but the way to cure it is to either rest, do another hobby, or get you pencil and start doing doodles of whatever can come to mind. Don’t think of the results, just do anything you can. This is what you love, this is what you’re aiming for, and you should never give up.
HC UPR: Where do you see yourself in 10 years from now?
3V: One of my biggest dreams has been to work at Cartoon Network. It was my childhood and it would be a great ending story if I can get to say ‘Wow, I work there.’ If not, I’ll probably end up being a freelance artist or work with a few friends of mine in our studio. On the other hand, I’ve always seen myself working on an animation studio and that’s what I’m hoping for.
HC UPR: What advice would you give to those that decide to take on the animation career?
3V: Practice. Practice, practice, practice. Even though the animation industry is very friendly it is also very competitive because companies look for certain types of artists. The professors at Atlantic University College say that their mission is for their students to become better than what they are and to grow as an artist. If you’re going to study animation, don’t just learn what the classes teach you. What you learn in classes are fundamental things you should know, but if you want to learn extra stuff, search for YouTube. YouTube has helped me A LOT. There are always online classes that you can take to become a better artist, but my main source of learning new stuff was YouTube.
Don’t be afraid of feedback and constructive criticism. Take the criticism and improve on that. Always take feedback from people, not just in the animation industry but also in normal people because sometimes they see what animators don’t see. If you’re into 3D animation, practice a lot with the program, and be open to learning from different aspects of animation. I’m personally stretching my field in learning how to do comics, 3D animations, and other things to finally see what I’m mostly good at doing. The last piece of advice, use all the facilities that your college provides for you and don’t be afraid to talk to people. The reason why I’m well known in Atlantic is that I’m always taking the opportunities that my university offers and I’m always willing to help out if I can.”
If you want to follow Christian and see more of his work, go follow him on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter! Her Campus wishes the best to all the artists out there who’re on their journey to success!