James Willan’s charming animations have a melancholic undercurrent

The animator and motion designer James Willan has a very distinctive analogue practice, one he’s been nurturing since childhood. “My journey started from a young age making stop-motion clay animations using my phone,” James says. He drew from his environment growing up to create all sorts of monsters. “Later, when beginning my 3D illustrations and animations,” he says, “I would work with clay and then mix that with 2D elements,” before switching to an altogether more contemporary approach. In turning towards digital software, James was determined to challenge his approach to making art and he landed on an eclectic hodgepodge of digital and physical effects. “I’ve always admired the stop-motion and claymation style and the charm that comes with it, so when I’m creating digital work I try to emulate these themes from my stop-motion creations,” he says. Through lower frame rates, he achieved an immersive, satisfying interplay of tactility and medium.

At times, the tone of James’ work is quite dark and melancholic, but, on the whole, James’ work is effortlessly fun, candid and, ultimately, a little odd – combining his personal interests in skateboarding, street art, and school hip-hop with more reality-struck motifs found in contemporary culture. “I used to watch this tape all the time when I was a kid called Aardman Classics, which had quite dark and mature themes,” he says. “I feel as if watching this at a young age helped create this tone for me.” He maintains and heightens this timbre by directly responding to his emotions during the act of making. “Whatever I’m feeling at the time, I will try to put that feeling or memory into a piece,” utilising the characters, scenes, and symbolism as a creative and emotive outlet.

James’ creative curiosity doesn’t limit itself to a single medium, bleeding into illustration, painting, sculpture and even armature. On top of that, James adds, “I’ve been getting some commissioned work recently with artists doing music videos and visualisers,” and its a medium he’s found creatively refreshing. “I’m really excited to keep working with other artists, and also progress my personal work and see how my style evolves and develops.”