From the Film Maker:

I made a connection between the Pointillist movement and modern-day pixel art, seeing pixel art as the digital equivalent. I also loved how the painting had an almost other-worldly feel – to me it looks more like a moonscape than a lake – and decided to use both ideas in my animation.

Research into pixel art led me back to all the old video games I enjoyed as a kid and I took much inspiration from them in the look of my animation as well as in my characters and setting.

Just as the Pointillists rebelled against the stroke-perfect realism of their time, I wanted to rebel against the current trend for extreme realism in CG animation, instead going with a blocky, simple look.

Through this I also wanted to pay tribute to the original Pixar shorts, which had a major influence on my decision to study animation.

Chris Holt

A piece inspired by Théo van Rysselberghe, Coastal Scene, about 1892