Nathan Fowkes

Double the fun The digital animation artist and traditional painter makes the most of both mediums in his LA studio

Welcome to my studio! I live on the farthest north-east reach of Los Angeles, where the city ends and the neighbourhood rolls up into the local canyons. It’s the peaceful life that I’ve always hoped for and finally acquired in recent years, after working in-house at DreamWorks Animation for 15 years.

The studio is a separate building in my backyard and I work here full time, freelancing primarily on feature animation projects. I often work for local studios like Disney and Paramount Animation, but do my work at home, driving in for key meetings and art reviews.

My schedule is not an orthodox one, I do work from nine to five, but it’s the overnight nine to five! I sleep through the morning, then take care of business meetings, calls and emails during the afternoon with the actual painting time mostly happening after my family is settled down for bed.