Teamie Spotlight: Nacho Kalbhande
This month for our Artist Spotlight we have a very talented young Teamie named Nacho. Nacho is an Illustrator/Visual Development artist who joined the Kickstart team in October 2020 as a Prop Designer. He is currently living in Vancouver B.C. after moving from India. Nacho’s hobbies include guitar, cycling and obsessing over tons of movies and TV shows.
Tell us about your personal projects.
I’m working on a graphic novel/ visual development project called Droan. The story is written by author Arun Kolatkar and it revisits the Hindu mythical tale Ramayan but from the perspective of the lesser known characters.
What sparked the idea for this project?
I got this idea from my parents when discussing potential subject matter to work on for my final year project in university. Since then, the scope and goal has expanded and I’ve been spending my free time working on it ever since.
What is your favourite 2-3 colour combination?
I like to use earth-like tones; lots of greens, yellows, ochres and browns. I’m attracted towards depicting sunlight in forestial environments.
Can you think of a particular moment when you realized you wanted to be an animation artist?
I wanted to become an artist when I was in university where I learned about animation and visual development. My goal to simply be an artist came about since I was 3-4 years of age when I used to draw dinosaurs and robots on the house walls.
What is the highlight of your career so far?
Joining Kickstart has definitely been a highlight for me, it is also where my career began. :)
What are you trying to improve in your work?
Everything. I’m trying to improve my composition skills, creative ideas, better communication, problem solving in my designs, among many other aspects.
What’s your idea of a perfect sunday?
A perfect Sunday is a balance of outdoor activities (separate from crowds at the moment) and indoor games/ movies with a little bit of time spent drawing. This is not achievable all the time but I try.
What is your most memorable non-animation job?
A Painting commission I did for a client’s friend’s birthday. The client was very supportive and had really great communication skills and was very open to negotiation. Apart from this, he was very passionate and sincere about the work but also respected my creative decisions.
You’re stuck on a desert island with a laptop and a USB stick containing the entirety of one cartoon - what show is it?
Ping Pong the Animation. Out of all the other shows that I love and adore, this is the only show that I can think of that goes from themes of passion and obsession about a sport towards themes of love and appreciation. It has a heartfelt resolution and is inspiring, and perhaps best for my mental health if I am to be stuck on a desert island for a long time. :)
Check out more of Nacho’s art here:
Arstation https://rutvik2101.artstation.com/
Instagram/Twitter @nachokett
