César Pelizer’s 2D and 3D experiments are full of humour and imagination

Growing up, illustrator and animator César Pelizer was surrounded by comics, magazines and cartoons on TV, so his interest was piqued early on. “I still remember that episode from Bugs Bunny where he interacts with the animator and Bugs gets angry that he keeps drawing and erasing things from the scene, for some reason I saw that and thought I could do that,” says César.

Born in Brazil, he then went on to live in Argentina and years later moved to England, where he now calls London home. César is currently working as a director at motion studio weareseventeen and sees his style as a mix of 2D and 3D. “I like to use 3D more as an animation tool rather than looks, I like keeping things flat,” explains César. “At the moment I am really enjoying experimenting with 3D, basically having a 3D character is like having an actor in scene, you can position the camera in different angles and perspectives and that gives you infinite possibilities, especially if you’re coming from an illustration background like myself.”

Set against coloured backdrops, César’s characters have a humorous disposition with tiny faces and little limbs, even static there’s a real energy to his figures. When starting a new project, he begins by drawing in his sketchbook and later re-draws things on Illustrator, though they “always look completely different” leading to new ideas and directions. “Sometimes I will do the same thing several times, which means I always end up with a few options, even though I will most likely end up wit the first one,” he says.

Much of the creative’s work right now is client-based and César has worked hard to find freedom in the briefs he’s given. “I think the challenge in this industry is to find clients that give you the space to create something that you really likes and care about, something that means something to you and potentially for other people too,” he says.

In between commercial projects, the animator has been working on a short film set to be released later this year called Looking For Something. “The story is about a surreal journey of a man searching for answers within his own consciousness,” says César. While it’s only a taster of the film for now, it seems it could be a sign of things to come. “The dream would be having more time to work on short films, therefore having the chance to reach other audiences other than just a client,” says César.