1. Tell us a little About yourself.
My name is Cheng Peng and I’m mostly known as “Kurtssingh”. I’m currently working as a character animator and script writer at Grant & Bert Studios. Besides work projects, I spend most of my time doing Warcraft and Marvel fan-arts for fun.
2. Describe your style.
For animation I’d say it’s somewhere between Sylvain Chomet and Priit Parn. Digital artworks hmm…I think is a combination of modern comic and a little traditional Chinese realistic painting technique.
3. What tools do you find yourself use most the time?
I use Photoshop and TVPaint Animation, and sometimes After Effects for extra editing.
4. What got you into animation and digital art?
I watched Disney and Dreamworks animations a lot when I was a kid. But the one that really made me decide to make animations was the animated feature film “the Iron Giant”. I cried so hard when the giant sacrificed himself to save the town, and then I realized how fascinating animated works can be. They’re not as visually realistic as live action films but they have the same or even stronger power of sympathizing. And because of the different art styles, they can be more visually creative.
5. What is your inspiration?
The biggest inspiration will be Sylvain Chomet without doubt. All his animated works have deep messages and can make audience think. Besides the character designs are so accurate. It’s like when you see the character’s face and movement at the first glance, you know precisely what kind of character he/she can be.
Could I mention my second biggest inspiration as well? Kevin Wada! Smooth lines, beautifully bright colors, and creative posture designs. Also Skottie Young, Timothy Bradstreet, Brom, Adam Hughes, Clay Mann, Matt Rhodes, Nesskain, Shoomlah…they all give me huge inspirations. Their works are simply amazing.
Examples of Kutssingh’s Work:
6. What do you do when you have creative block?
I’ll take a break and go reading books or watching movies and TV series. If I have a massive block I’ll just go outside and hanging with my friends, thinking nothing about my work, nothing at all.
7. What is your favorite work from another artist?
Sylvain Chomet’s The Triplets of Belleville for sure! The plots, the animating and the character designs are just…perfect.
8. What tips would you give to a beginner artist?
Learning to draw anatomy and speed sketches. For anatomy study, watching slow motion clips are also quite helpful. They’ll give you an idea of how bones are connected and react to each other, and how the muscles act. As a character animator I would suggest to go outside and watch people. It’s important to actually see how people move and act with your own eyes instead of by using imagination only. (It might sound weird, but you can try watching two people chatting at a café or somewhere else, and see how their emotions affect their facial expressions and gestures. It’s really interesting.) Filming yourself is another good way. Animators are somewhat like actors…
There’s an useful book I’d recommend here: What Every Body is Saying by Joe Navarro.
9. What message do you want people to get from your work?
Share my experience and thoughts on all sorts of things.
10. What makes your style different from everyone else?
It’s hard to say. It’s like the iconic superhero comic style, but in a gentler and lighter way. And that makes my works different from others.
