About

Hi there! I studied Animation at Sheridan College, completing the 4-year Bachelor of Animation program. Since then, I’ve been actively working as an animator, picture book and cover illustrator, a landscape painter, and as The Animation Tutor in partnership with my sister company, PortPrep. See my portfolio and paintings.

I absolutely love creating imaginative, descriptive imagery to assist in storytelling in a wide array of applications, be it an infographic to accompany new food security data, or to depict a fantastical weather center that looks like Santa’s North Pole. I create various artworks for a diverse clientele. If you love my work but are not quite sure how I can assist your creative project or organization, just reach out and I’ll give you my thoughts.

“The benefit to working with me versus a larger animation studio is that you will never be redirected to a different department.

I am both the owner and primary artist of my remote, decentralized animation studio.”

garth sketching someone on the street in obidos, portugal
garth teaching a life drawing class in guelph ontario

My working philosophy and process

I love to work with organizations that are environmentally conscious. I’ve worked with food sovereignty-based NGOs, Universities and Colleges working in the food and sustainability sector, and small businesses in my local community.

Animation (motion) and illustration (still images) are wonderful mediums to elaborate the power of the untold stories of the world. I work in both digital and traditional mediums, often combining the best of both as needed. I love working with different artistic styles, and continually try to expand the breadth of my visual palette.

I’ve been freelancing as an animator / illustrator for the past 15 years, and I absolutely love the process of collaborating with clients to bring projects of various sizes to life. I have an amazing extended team of artists that I hire to complete projects if clients require a project to be completed in a short timeline, or if it is of the scale that requires a larger team. The benefit to working with me versus a larger animation studio is that you will never be redirected to a different department. I am both the owner and primary artist of my remote, decentralized animation studio. For this reason, I can often provide a lower rate than larger studios.

I am very transparent about my workflow and process, and regularly communicate if I’m unsure about any aspect of a project — I try to minimize surprise on all fronts.

This is my typical process of creating an animated video:

  1. Create script, and decide if voiceover will be used, or just music

  2. Create storyboard based on approved script

  3. Once storyboard is completed, design characters and backgrounds

  4. Once these are completed, create the scene-by-scene animation

  5. Bring all elements together (audio and visuals) and adjust in post-production

The intricacies of each step can be articulated in more detail, but this is the simplest breakdown.

My animation budget is based on the complexity of the imagery and the techniques used to create the animation, so please ask about my availability for a project and give me a sense of what you’re looking for below.

Contact

garth.laidlaw at gmail.com

(226) 500-4149