Nighttime in Wonderland
Illustrator, writer, and musician Chris Appelhans discusses the good life working at Pixar, why kids can take more than we think, Frank, and Frank.---------------
By Byron Tsang
Apr 1, 2006 | Chris Appelhans likes painting in Photoshop because planning is overrated.
“It's so fast and malleable,” he says. “I can start a painting and just experiment until I stumble onto something special, then just take it the rest of the way. It's a very forgiving medium and also very improvisational -- which are things I value a lot in art -- a sense of an accident being captured and turned into something more.”
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“Accident”
is the last word that comes to one’s mind when viewing a finished
Appelhans painting. His
art is more likely to conjure a sense of childlike sincerity, one that
tugs at the emotions without any sort of melodrama. This is wonderfully
surprising, considering the wide range of subjects found in his work:
children lining up to sit in a room of sunlight, a ninja stalking a young
boy, old men and odd flying machines. Sock fairies.
He also does humour. His comic Frank and Frank has one-word titles, each one a different theme of childhood fancy, presented with honesty and innocence. Colour is sparse and dialogue non-existent. Perhaps the childlike simplicity is what makes Frank and Frank so irresistibly attractive. Or maybe it’s the title characters’ playful expressions. Bewildered teddy bears indeed.
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Like
many artists, Appelhans often feels disappointed with his work because
his original expectations and the eventual outcome rarely match up. He
thinks feedback is distracting because he’s admittedly, “already
self-conscious enough.” Nonetheless, his talents have been showcased
in the Flight anthologies and at the Nucleus Gallery in Los Angeles.
His character designs are set to hit the big-screen for the enjoyment
of all ages when the major motion picture Monster House is released
in July.
You’ve been a part of the production of Monster House. What can you tell us about it?
It’s a feature animation from Sony and Imagemovers. I did all the character and pre-production design and I've since helped art-direct the transition into 3D, so I'm excited to see how it turns out.
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