Interview » Lesley Barnes.

01. Little White Lies – Magazine Cover Design Competition
(Lesley’s winning cover was selected for the final Top 18 amongst hundreds of submissions!)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

I am quite excited to present the super creative talents of UK illustrator and animator Lesley Barnes who is such a treat to know. Her work has tremendous depth, dimension and complexity achieved through multiple layers, beautiful cinematic lighting, recurring typographic elements and oftentimes shadowed figures and sets. All of which creates Lesley’s signature style. She currently works as a director for Picasso Pictures in London. Keep reading to find out more about Lesley, her work and inspirations via our recent interview below.

02. Herzog and the Monsters – Film Still
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Q: Please tell us about yourself and your background.

A: Lesley is someone who loves tea, shiny brass buttons, old lady hats and turbans (like this one Little Edie in the film Grey Gardens is sporting), collecting old books with interesting covers, the seaside, drawing and creating text and making things move! (I mean animation I don’t have telekinetic powers or anything!) I studied at Glasgow School of Art and graduated in 2006.

03. Herzog and the Monsters – Film Still
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Q: What prompted you to pursue animation? What is your favorite aspect about it and your least favorite bit? In contrast to animation, what do you enjoy most about printed illustration work?

A: I think always in the back of my mind I wanted to do animation but it was only really a few years ago that I decided that I really needed to do it. I was working as an intern at the Edinburgh International Film Festival (I was a submissions assistant) and was allowed to take submissions home to watch. I saw lots of short animations and just thought ‘That’s what I want to do!’ My favourite bit of animating is at the beginning when you are planning it, and at the end when everything is coming together… the middle can be frustrating! In contrast to animation I like the fact that print is still!

04. Herzog and the Monsters – Storyboard
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Q: You have a very distinctive style that permeates your illustration and animation work including both rich typographic and textural components plus a somewhat *dark* aesthetic. How would you describe your style and what/who inspires it?

A: I grew up surrounded by books and I remember when I was very small and couldn’t read very well just gazing up at the shelves above and being fascinated by the covers and spines of the books. This probably explains my short film Herzog and the Monsters! (Film stills seen above and the entire film can be viewed below.) I also have really strong memories of picture books I read as a child and I loved the way that the words and pictures almost worked together to tell the story. This is why I use text and images together in my animation—to try and capture the way that you read and understand a picture book. Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak was also a book that stayed with me strongly growing up… I always remembered Max’s bedroom transforming into a forest and it was this idea of pictures transforming and moving that made me want to animate. I really like ‘cut-out’ simple animation styles like the silhouette animation of Lotte Reiniger and the beautiful (classic 1975 Russian animated) short film Hedgehog in the Fog. [Based on a story by Sergei Kozlov (who also published a book by the same name) and directed by Yuri Norstein.]

05. Herzog and the Monsters – 2006
Award-winning short film animation… “for anyone who loves typography, about a small boy who steals words, a forest full of monsters and lots of vintage Penguin Books.” This project was done whilst Lesley was finishing her M.A. in 2D/3D Motion Graphics at GSA.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Q: What are your favorite materials?

A: My favourite materials are paper, ink and photocopied bits and pieces (mostly photocopied bits of fabric or whatever would give a nice texture). The buildings and landmarks of Edinburgh I produced for the animated titles of Haunted Hogmanay, for example, were created entirely from bits of cut-up photocopied paper! The buildings ended up being huge and I had to scan them in in tiny bits and reconstruct them on my computer!

06. Illustrated Leather Bookmarks
These beauties make excellent gifts for bookworms and are available for purchase in Lesley’s shop. I am pleased to own one myself and the quality is so nice.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

07. The Economist
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Q: I understand you particularly enjoy designing title sequences. What are important aspects of this that are different from other forms of motion design?

A: I think that title sequences and book covers are quite closely related in terms of their function… they are about enticing the viewer/reader into the narrative of the story, setting a mood, and quite simply making the viewer want more! I think I almost treat titles like moving book cover designs! One recent title sequence favourite was for a film called Priceless.

08. Solar Ink Illustration
As seen in Amelia’s Anthology of Illustration now available for purchase.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

09. Studio Workspace
A glimpse at some of Lesley’s inspiration sources above and below.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

10. Penguin Book Collection
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Q: Do you have a dream project? If so, what might it be?

A: I guess my dream project in terms of printed media would be to design a cover for Penguin Books and in terms of animation I have a short film script that I really really want to animate! Also if anyone out there would like a fantastic title sequence please get in touch!
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

>> See more on Lesley’s website + vimeo + flickr
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

A huge *thank you* to Lesley for sharing her incredible work and her time!
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

[ All images & work ©Lesley Barnes ]
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Tagged as: Animation, film, Illustration, Interview, Lesley Barnes, Typography, UK