James A. Castillo
@jmurfish
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He/Him · 🇨🇺🇮🇪🇪🇸 · Emmy winning Director · Character Designer · Directing a movie about Goya. Co-Host of @negspacepod Creator of @Madridnoir
Community of Madrid, Spain
Joined March 2012
After a few days of celebrating, I look back at what we have accomplished and I am filled with nothing but GRATITUDE. Thank you to all who believed in us, who worked with us, who supported us, who took risks with us. This award belongs to all of you too. #emmys2022 @madridnoir
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THE NEW TMNT FILM IS OUT! #TMNTMovie When I joined #MutantMayhem my first assigment was to work on April O'neil. NO PRESSURE. We tried making her relatable and grounded in the real world while keeping some of the details that make her so iconic. I personally love her in the film
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After April and Splinter I worked on populating NYC. Again the main note was "specificity", to make characters that covered the spectrum of diversity of NYC, we looked especially at Alphabet city and MidTown. #tmnt #mutantmayhem #animation #visdev
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“You must see with eyes unclouded by hate. See the good in that which is evil, and the evil in that which is good. Pledge yourself to neither side, but vow instead to preserve the balance that exists between the two.”.― Hayao Miyazaki. Happy birthday master
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Today is the one and only Hayao Miyazaki's birthday! .“You must see with eyes unclouded by hate. See the good in that which is evil, and the evil in that which is good" .#Miyazaki #sketch #portrait #StudioGhibli #illustration
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Three years ago I had the chance to work in what would become one of the most formative professional experiences of my life, #TheMitchellsVsTheMachines ! Thanks @michaelrianda and @lindseydraws for trusting me with your precious film. Here are some Katie explorations & drawings.
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I did not start the day thinking I was going to draw Jesus os Nazareth, but here we are. I hope you like it.
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I have been made painfully aware that these drawings are a year old and it just made me realise how little time I have given to personal work lately.
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Is Nosferatu's 100th birthday y'all! Say something nice.
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Working on #TMNTMutantMayhem I worked extensively on April's design. This warms my heart and speaks to the rooted authenticity of the films artistic direction.
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Come not between the Nazgûl and his prey! Or he will not slay thee in thy turn. He will bear thee away to the houses of lamentation, beyond all darkness, where thy flesh shall be devoured, and thy shrivelled mind be left naked to the Lidless Eye.#lordoftherings #nazgul #Tolkien
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If anyone is looking for references on how to draw three fingered hands, please enjoy. A bach of hand studies I did for #MutantMayhem to serve as reference for modellers, riggers, animators and designers. #tmnt #hands #aniation #visualdevelopment
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Nadia from @RussianDoll is so iconic. Love the character and love the show. @nlyonne you have made a classic
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Just a Tuesday for Conan. Finally found time to finish this. Wish I could do more cover/illustration work for PULP STUFF #CONAN #conanthebarbarian #illustration #pulp #fantasy #animation #characterdesign
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Im only posting this image to remind you all, Freelancers, that your health is more important than any job or client you have. We are at the bottom of our priority list, always questioning if new jobs will come and saving every peny for dry season. Dont be cheap on your health!
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Finally, I worked a little bit on developing Splinter, based upon the amazing design by Woodrow White. #tmnt #MutantMayhem #animation #characterdesign
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This is SUCH an insult. How dare people treat art like this. No one wants to hear AI extending Mozart's work, or re cropping a Gordon Park's photograph or giving a sequel to Cather in the Rye. Why do people treat visual media with such disregard?.
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I while ago, when I was reading Dune for the first time I couldn’t help myself and started imagining it as an animated film. I wish I had the time to do more at the time, because that book is full of amazing ideas. #dune #animateddune
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I have always found Baba Yaga fascinating, her whole mythology and character is so mesmerising and fun to play around with. Specially her house which, I imagine, would have a lot of personality. #babayaga #illustration #russian #animation #visdev #witch #characterdesign
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At some point, someone asked me how John Lennon would look in a Beatles animated film and I said "like this".#thebeatles #JohnLennon #CharacterDesign #Animation
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Gross and insulting. I have lost all interest I had in watching it. Its a shame specially for an indie film. Using AI is not saving you cash, its depriving you from collaborating with an artist that would elevate your film.
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Careful with those who are calling for this to be an example for a new standard in the industry. Don't forget that Arcane is financed by the company that made the game, which happens to be the biggest game company IN THE PLANET.
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There is a very interesting conversation to be had about how #LoveDeathandRobots completely misread the zeitgeist and confused maturity with sordidness, but I'd rather focus on the jewel of the crown, Zima Blue. Its in another league guys, so powerful and thematically ambitious.
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I am officially actively looking for work folks! I have been trying to stay afloat these past couple of months but I could use some help. If you know of any productions that need a character designer or beat board artist, I am available.
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Happy #PortfolioDay guys! I am a character designer/Visdev artist residing in London, UK. Unfortunately, most of the work I have been doing for the past two years is under NDA's but here is some personal stuff I have been doing for fun lately.
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The Bad Guys might be the best attempt at bringing Akira Toriyama's work into CG ever done. Look at this kid! It looks like it would fit right onto a Dragon Ball background!.
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Hey Everyone! Its official, my (fantastic) time at Netflix is coming to an end soon and I will be looking for work starting in August! If you are looking for a character designer or an art director, hit me up! More work here:.Feel free to share :)
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My name is James and I am a designer and director for animation. I have worked on things you probably like. I love helping tell thoughtful, fun and engaging stories. I #StandWithAnimation to hope for a stable industry that allows for personal and creative growth
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"There is something about you. Something you carry, something made of gold. but far more precious. ".#thehobbit #smaug #Dragon #illustration
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What is a Monday but an opportunity to ignore your responsibilities and spend an obscene amount of hours looking at Tadahiro Uesugi's work and trying to learn how he uses textures? .#illustration #characterdesign #sketch
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I was rencently in Peru trying to get off the grid and gain some perspective. Neddless to say, Peru blew me away; the food, the people, the history, but specially it's mountains. Incredibly magestic. Here are some photos I took of the trip.
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New year, new projects!! I am a Character Designer/ Vis Dev artist looking for work! My previous clients include Sony Pictures, Dreamworks TV, Nexus and Psyop among others. You can find more of my work at:
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Now that the #TalesOfTheTMNT show is out I can finally share some of the work I did. I was called by @RustamHasanov2 to help translate some of the stylistic decisions made for the film into 2D. I did a quick exploration trying to lean heavily on a more sketchy linework.
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You will die down here and never be found, down in the deep of Goblin Town. #TheHobbit #LOTR #Goblinking
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Solomon Kane lives rent free in my imagination these days… #solomonkane #robertehoward #animation #illustration
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Here is some early work for Lola and Manolo, the main character of @madridnoir . We needed some clear direction on how to pose them, but also needed to explore their personalities and range. It was such a treat working on my own characters. #oculusquest #VR #characterdesign
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There isnt anything quite like the classic Spiderman fighting an actopus doctor. #SpiderMan #Marvel #comicbooks
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Here are some CG notes I did for @madridnoir . Translating 2D designs into CG is such an artform, we were so lucky to have such amazing artists on the team. #characterdesign #virtualreality #animation #OculusQuest
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A while back, I got the opportunity to pitch on my first animated commercial as a director! Unfortunately for me, but fortunately for them, the job ended up on the hands of @AbleandBakerEnt who did an amazing job! This are some of the images I did to sell them my vision for it.
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Now that my nose has been peaking around Netflix Animation for a few weeks I can make it official. I have joined an amazingly talented group of people to work on a movie I cant say a thing about. But it's going to be amazing! #netflixanimation
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I find it of very bad taste to single out this films and their directors. These films have heart, soul and a point of view. These are your BEST MOVIES OF THE DECADE, Pixar.
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Early on, when we were still figuring out what Madrid Noir could become, we toyed with the idea of having Manolo, Lola and Paquita travelling around the world unravelling mysteries and making friends. I would love to explore this idea in the future, maybe as children's books?
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Like I said, #arcticdogs allowed me to break into the animation industry, almost 5 years ago. This is some of the work I did for the film, I might show some more over the next few days. I have to be grateful for the opportunity and I did learn a lot from the process.
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📢 TO STORYBOARD ARTISTS!.Hi guys! We are working hard on The Quinta's Ghost animatic and I am in need of a couple story artists to work with me. If you are experienced and interested in making cinematic, atmospheric horror (think The Lighthouse) Contact us!
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Sooooo I haven't been able to stop thinking about Little Women and Greta's work. It's masterful and compelling and it deserves EVERY praise it gets. Specially Saoirse Ronan's performance of Jo. Hypnotising. Also, GIVE GRETA A DAMN OSCAR! .#littlewomen #saoirseronan #sketch
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Following up with yesterdays post, here is some of the work I did for Splinter for #TalesOfTheTMNT !! He was really fun to work on in 2D, specially seeing how to push his expressions and mouth shapes.
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A while ago I had the ABSOLUTE pleasure of working with @Jeremy_Schaef on some new characters for his incredible project @TheBoxAssassin , which is live on Kickstarter now! You can learn more about it and support it here:
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@michaelrianda @lindseydraws Here are some more scattered drawings done for the film. Working on Monchi was HARD, but thankfully Lindsey had a pretty clear idea of what she wanted. I really loved working on Young Rick and all the flash back moments with little Katie.
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As much as I enjoyed Tears of the Kingdom, I will always be a sucker for old school Zelda games. No amount of open world exploration can match the purity a child fighting a giant hog… .#zelda #ganon #illustration
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This character has been hunting me since season one. Have you seen the actual video recordings of Kemper? Ice cold. Cameron Britton's performance is brilliant. #sketch #mindhunter #edkemper #kemper #characterdesign
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The "best character design" award of the year is for. .
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Hey everyone! I need your help. I am putting together a presentation on character design and, as I was gathering references, I realized that it was overwhelmingly male. Could you please share the work of female character designers you love on this thread?.
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Keeping it up with The Lighthouse themed weekend. I just loved this two character so damn much. #thelighthouse #willemdafoe #dafoe #illustration #sketch #blackandwhite #portrait #RobertPattinson @LighthouseMovie.@A24
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Had a four hour train ride listening to #johncarterofmars and this came out. Thanks to @MaxUlichney for his amazing Oil Brushes for @procreate #edgariceburroughs #digitalpainting #martian
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Saw Moonstruck for the first time the other night. God damn, Cher is a total queen. #illustration #procreate #maxpacks #cher #moonstruck
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"I never knew your name, but I know your monsters" .If you want to know more about our upcoming animated horror film; The Quinta's Ghost, find us at @annecyfestival !! .@Illusorium #animation #annecyfestival #animationfromspain #adultanimation #AnimationIsNotAGenre
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If there is anyone making the music scene in Spain grow, that's @rosaliavt . She is the bridge that has united generations. Que arte tienes! 💃🏻 #rosalia #illustration #characterdesign #flamenco #trap
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Hi guys! .Been out of town for a bit and realized I had some more #TalesOfTheTMNT art to share!! This time some designs for ROD and HUN and ANGEL of the Purple Dragons. I loved exploring some designs elements of the gang
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@DiscussingFilm Blue Sky is responsible for some of the most imaginative films in recent memory. I personally have always loved Robots and Horton. This is awful news.
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Waiting for notes the way Benedict Cumberbatch is waiting for his oscar. #ThePowerOfTheDog #Sketch #oscars2022
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Thanks everyone for helping me cope this weekend! I wanted to have some variety with the characters and do some anime, some comic and some live action characters. Wish I had more time to really push the likeness but It was tons of fun. #sixfanarts
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YESSS!! I have been telling people for years how amazing this films looks and NOW THERES PROOF! Check it out, a new standard in the industry.
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@michaelrianda Ts was me through the film at every little bit that I recognised from the boards and designs I saw back in 2018.
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In 1965, Alexei Leonov, one of two cosmonauts aboard the Voskhod 2, became the first person to ever space walk. After coming back and still in zero gravity, he drew what he had seen, the sunrise over earth. This is the first drawing ever done in space.
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Here is one last batch of designs for #TalesOfTheTMNT !! some incidentals for the Purple Dragon crew
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Hi! I design characters, do some visual development here and there, cook a killer tortilla de patata and more recently started creating content for VR; directing, writing and producing an award winning short film called Madrid Noir #ThisIsAnimation #tortillaisbetterwithonions
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I had a jaw infection due to a misstreated root canal. All of it was preventable, but I kept moving appointments because of jobs, and focused more on pleasing clients and performing at a high level, than to put the time to fix this. Dont take your helth for granted guys!.
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Tea time!! Man, this @MaxUlichney brushes deserve half the credit. I haven’t had so much fun painting on the iPad in a loooong time. #madhatter #aliceinwomderland #watercolors #procreate #illustration
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I also worked in games for a hot second. This was for a cancelled fantasy game I LOVED working on.
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