Creative Works member, Lee Robinson, is an art director, motion graphics designer and the founder of the motion graphics studio, AlteredTV.
Lee joined us in 2020, just as the country was emerging from the first lockdown. As a freelancer, Lee had already done his fair share of home working over the years.
But it was getting to the stage where all the distractions and cups of tea were getting in the way of getting actual work done.
Like many of our members, Lee is a Walthamstonian, so he already knew about the “amazing Art Deco building” (Gnome House) that we’re fortunate enough to call home.
“I saw that Creative Works was running a free trial, so I decided to give it a go,” he says.
“It was great – I got so much done that I immediately signed up for a dedicated desk.
It’s a really open and light space, and it’s just great to have somewhere else to work.”
It’s hard to summarise the type of work Lee does in a single sentence because he has such a diverse portfolio.
While his main bread and butter is motion graphics, he recently created a record cover for an American band who commissioned him after seeing his work on Instagram.
The animation industry has changed a lot since Lee started out 25 years ago as a self-taught professional. After using a program called Adobe After Effects to create 2D animations, he ventured into the more “labour-intensive” world of 3D animation about a decade ago.
“Even after ten years there are still bits of it I don’t know anything about,” Lee admits. But the great thing about it is that I can create anything – whatever I want.”
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Another interesting job Lee worked on recently was for an exhibition at the Washington Spy Museum. For this experiential project, he was commissioned to create animations based on the accounts of four digital espionage experts. The project lasted around six months.
Credit: Lee Robinson
Like many freelancers, Lee worked in-house for a few companies first.
He animated for Cartoon Network, the BBC, Channel 4 and Channel 5, before embarking on what would turn out to be a ten year permalancing gig for Disney.
To build up his freelancing portfolio after leaving Disney, Lee committed to creating one piece of artwork every day. “That worked really well and really improved my work: I got lots of paid jobs from that and started freelancing in other places.”
Lee’s come full circle in the sense that he’s once again focusing on developing his personal creations. Last year, he exhibited stills from his animation work as part of the E17 Art Trail.
Lee’s work in the 2021 E17 Art Trail
Credit: Lee Robinson
He’s even made his first foray into the world of NFTs.
For anyone not in the know, a non-fungible token (NFT) is a type of digital file that can be sold and traded. Just as only one person can “own” the original of a physical piece of art, an NFT enables someone to own a digital creation.
“Whoever buys your NFT has the original copy of that piece of artwork. An NFT is a contract that says you’re the owner of that piece of work,” explains Lee.
“There are various ways of doing it. You can have an open bid where you put it up for 24 hours and people bid, or you can just put it up indefinitely and people make offers.”
Credit: Lee Robinson
Encouraging the next generation of animators
Creative Works is also home to Big Creative Education’s apprenticeship team. BCE regularly runs workshops for students in our training room.
“I was working late one day and I heard a couple of BCE’s students talking about animation, so I came to make tea and speak with them,” says Lee.
“They were excited that I was self-taught in design and computer animation, and the college invited me to share my journey at a recent talk.”
Lee is currently advising a couple of animation students on how to get started in their career.
He’s encouraging them to produce something every day. The original idea, says Lee, comes from the practice of “writing something every day as if nobody is going to read it. You free form, your subconscious comes out and you improve really quickly.”
The famous digital artist Mike Winkelmann – known as Beeple – produced something every day for 14 years. After honing his craft, he became a leader in the design world.
Then, in 2020, Beeple put three artworks on an NFT marketplace. One, titled “Politics Is Bullshit”, came in an edition of 100 priced at $1 each.
Fast forward to March 2021 and the editions had resold for as much as $600,000 (artists receive around 10% of retail prices).
In March 2021, a mosaic of Beeple’s work titled “Everydays: The First 5000 Days,” was auctioned at Christie’s as an NFT. Bidding started at $100 and it sold for over $69 million.
It’s the third most expensive artwork ever sold by a living artist. Jeff Koons’s “Rabbit” comes in second and David Hockney’s “Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures) wins first place.
“With the emergence of NFTs, people making art that was completely unnoticed by anybody outside of the industry suddenly came to the fore. Beeple led the way.”
Credit: Lee Robinson
NFTs aside, the animation industry is booming, says Lee. 25 years ago, only one university offered a dedicated animation course and it didn’t have a lot of funding. Nowadays, there are lots of routes into the industry and plenty of opportunities.
“It’s one of the fastest growing industries in the country. The whole industry – post-production, animation, film, games – is enormous, but there’s a huge shortage of people working in it in the UK and people are hiring internationally.”
If you’re interested in training to become an animator or motion graphics designer, check out Big Creative Education’s creative courses and apprenticeship opportunities.
