EXTRACTS: Illustrators issue 12 © 2015 The Book Palace (96 PAGES in Full edition)

37 ABOVE: Inspired by the ‘Mariachi Zombie’ animation created by Carlos “Dundo” Soto whom Denis met in Mexico last year. you’ve mentioned, I believe it started when I began studying character animation at Animationmentor.com around 9 years ago. After I began studying animation I realised that most of those famous 12 principles of Disney animation can be easily applicable to illustration as well. I took a lot from animation for my graphic style. All those little animation tricks like silhouette, staging, posing, line of action, primary and secondary action—I use them every day in my work. DC: What made you want to be a cartoonist or illustrator? DZ: Since I was raised in an artistic family I always knew that my life would be somehow related to art. After all, drawing was the only thing I was good at since I was a kid. However, that desire to become an artist had been pretty mild up until I was around 25 and the big Pixar and Dreamworks blockbusters started to come around. The Incredibles , Ratatouille , Kung-Fu Panda were a true revelation for me. I felt like I had discovered a whole new world. I realised how vivid, intense, Text continues on page 41