Chrysoula Varia

Animation BDes (Hons)

2D Animator and Background Artist ... in the making.

About

Profile photo of Chrysoula Varia

During my studies at DJCAD I had the chance to learn many new things, try different production roles and work with several of my classmates. In the end, I decided to specialize in 2D character animation and background design, but I am also interested in storyboarding.

My aim as an animation student and soon-to-be professional artist is to produce expressive content that will create some kind of emotional reaction to the audience. When it comes to backgrounds, I do not have a defined style yet. I like to study other artists' work and also create my own.

Animation wise, I would like to reach a level that people would think of the animated characters as alive beings instead of drawings. It seems ambitious but I am working on it!

Toy Workshop - Free style design

An interior background depicting a toy workshop. In the front layer of the image there is a table with an unfinished doll along with other items like books and scissors. In the middle layer, there are several toys sitting on a short elevated surface in front of a window. Moonlight highlights some of the toys as the room is covered in darkness. In the back layer there is a bookshelf filled with toys, an old sofa, some staircases leading to another place and other old furniture.

A toy workshop with spooky atmosphere.

Forest Background - free style design

An exterior background depicting a forest. In the front layer there is an abandoned sword stuck inside a rock. In the middle and back layer there are several trees, bushes and tree logs. The atmosphere gets darker and the colors get less saturated as we move away from the front part. This background is used for one of my animation shorts.

A fantasy forest background inspired by the story of the Excalibur.

Free style painting tests

The image is split in two parts. On the left, there is a digital illustration of mushrooms along with the lined sketch (top right corner) and the respective colored thumbnail (top left corner). The illustration is a study based on a photograph. On the right part, there is a digital illustration of a house along with the perspective sketch (top left corner) and the colored thumbnail (top right corner).

Smaller painting experiments - On the left: A mushroom study. On the right: A house painting.

Klaus - Style experiments

A series of backgrounds I made trying to mimic the style from the “Klaus” animation movie.

The Dam Keeper - Style experiments

A series of backgrounds I made trying to mimic the style from the “Dam Keeper” animation movie.

Lined layouts

A series of lined layouts I made for practice.

Demo reel - March 2022

If you like my work, feel free to connect with me on social media. It's simple but it means a lot. Thank you!

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