Artist Interview John Celestri

“Artist Interview”

John Celestri, or better known as “JOHN THE ANIMATOR” in the art world, is a featured artist here on Pencils.com. Read Johns interview to learn how a young budding artist found his passion to create art.

By Krystina Jackson

KJ- When did you start drawing?

JC- I first started drawing at about the age of 4. I distinctly remember my family being visited by my father’s cousin, who drew a picture of Mickey Mouse for me. Seeing the drawing being formed in front of my eyes fascinated me and I immediately tried to duplicate it—enjoying the process/struggle of transferring what I saw in my mind on to a piece of paper. From that point on in my childhood, I was in constant search of what I call “pencil euphoria” — always having a pencil and paper in my hand.

In fact, I remember when I was five or six years old drawing a walk cycle of Lady (the female dog in Disney’s “Lady and the Tramp”)…and then had my mother send it to the Disney Studio. I received a publicity poster of Peter Pan in return.

KJ- So John, what inspired you to create?

JC- I drew for the sheer joy of it as a young child. But when I reached the sixth grade, my parents took my younger brother and me out of public school and enrolled us in a Catholic elementary school several miles away from my neighborhood. My brother was very athletic, outgoing, and easily made new friends, while I was more withdrawn and shy. However one day, several weeks after we had started attending the new school, I was drawing for myself at lunch time and within minutes had attracted the attention of one of the “class loudmouths” who shouted to the other boys and girls, ”Hey, the new kid can DRAW!”

The attention was an additional element spurring me on to create because the process of doing so had given me an identity within my peer group.

KJ- What kind of emotions do you express through your work?

JC- As an animator, I am an actor giving a performance through my pencil. So the emotions I express through my work run the entire range from the most positive to the most negative.
A good example of this range can be seen in a YouTube clip of my early professional animation from the second TV animated special I worked on as a directing animator: The Devil and Daniel Mouse (1978). The characters I animated in this clip are the male and female lead characters (the mice Dan & Jan) and a lot of the dancing crowd.

KJ- What’s your favorite piece?

JC- Not to be flippant, but I try to make what I’m working on today my favorite piece –- that way, I’ll always have good feelings about each portion of my body of work, which goes back 33+ years.

-Be sure to check out Johns work here on Pencils.com and get inspired!