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ChrisOatley.com

Disney Character Designer answers your questions about Concept Art, Character Design for Animation, Digital Painting & Illustration.

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Art Mentor, Illustrator, VisDev Artist :: About Chris Oatley

Chris Oatley sitting on a bench in front of a palm tree and a bamboo fence, wearing a shirt that reads: "Love Wins."Since 2005, Chris has contributed artistically to various animated films, television shows, video games and music videos for companies such as Disney, Universal, Hasbro, Electronic Arts, Activision and Geffen Records.

He is currently working as an Illustrator at Disney Theatrical Productions to commemorate the 20th anniversary of The Lion King on Broadway and, simultaneously, as a Character Designer for Disney Television Animation.

In 2012, Chris opened The Oatley Academy Of Visual Storytelling where he teaches courses in Composition, Color Theory, Visual Development, Character Design, Social Media + Self-Promotion, Digital Painting and Visual Storytelling.

Chris has served as a Creative Technology Consultant at Disney, where he helped to optimize the pipeline and processes for the Art and Story departments by creating specialized Photoshop workflows and collaborating with his IT department to develop new, proprietary software tools.

He has consulted in similar ways on projects at Amazon.com, BLT Communications and Adobe.

An anthropomorphic Tree sits next to a shy turtle on a bench at a bus stop. The Tree holds a travel-worn suitcase on his lap. The turtle holds a polka dot bindle. Grinning widely, the Tree attempts to strike up conversation. Digital painting and Character Design by Chris Oatley.

ImagineFX Magazine called him “The best kind of teacher.” Many of Chris’ students have become professional animation artists or illustrators and consider his teaching to be an essential part of their success.

In addition to his work as Director of The Oatley Academy, Chris has served as a guest speaker at art and film schools across North America, including SCAD, Ringling, CCAD, Emily Carr, Art Center and TheFilmSchool Seattle.

Chris also hosts The Oatley Academy ArtCast – the #1 illustration podcast on iTunes, paints en plein air as often as possible, sings, plays guitar and writes songs.

His life mission is to cultivate empathy and healing in the world through storytelling by educating and empowering visual storytellers.

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