While many filmmakers have embraced the technological wonders of CGI, or computer-generated imagery, New York-based Ukrainian animator Sashko Danylenko spends days drawing by hand, cutting out paper figures, moving them around, and photographing them frame-by-frame to turn them into old-school, but cool, animated cartoons.
Danylenko, 29, has used the old-style technique to create music videos for Ukrainian bands TNMK and Dakha Brakha, as well as for the French band Kwoon. His animated films have been presented at multiple film festivals, in Ukraine and abroad.
He has also been selected for the TED Residency, and presented his work on the TED stage in New York in 2016.
“My passion is to tell stories, and my language is animation,” Danylenko says.
From hobby to job
Danylenko has been drawing since childhood, and never thought of making his hobby into a profession. Never having studied art, he started working on his first commercial art project in 2010. It was the music video for Ukrainian musicians Ocheretyany Kit, featuring Tonya Matvienko, for the song “Ziishla Zorya.”
Two years later he created the video for “Carpathian Rap,” a song by the Ukrainian famous band Dakha Brakha, which combines Ukrainian folk music with modern musical trends in what has been dubbed the “ethno-chaos” genre.
The band even ended up using the designs from the music video created by Danylenko to create the costumes they later performed in.
After producing the music video for French band Kwoon’s track “Swan,” released in 2014 in Paris, Danylenko won international recognition.
However, this success was not enough for building a profitable career in Ukraine, so in 2015 Danylenko and his 29-year-old wife and business partner, Kasia Zabavko decided to move to New York. There, he started getting invitations to participate in film festivals and animation shows.
In 2016 he submitted his work to TED, an international non-profit organization “devoted to spreading ideas,” and participated in its four-month residency program, during which he created a short animation movie called “Bike Portraits.”
Featuring a combination of hand-drawn animations, videos, and pictures, the movie shows how one can tell a lot about any city by looking at the bicycles local residents use.
“From the bright bike decorations of Bohemian Berlin, to the built-for-speed cycles of New York City, a bicycle is a good tool to explore a city,” Danylenko says. He presented his artwork at TED’s stage in New York.
Cat and Bat
“My favorite thing in animation is music videos, and I would love to work in music videos, but it is very difficult to make a profit on them,” Danylenko says. “That’s why you need to find a balance and do other commercial projects at the same time.”
“Cat’n’Bat” is a comic book by New York-based Ukrainian animator Sashko Danylenko that features the adventures of two friends – troublemakers Cat and Bat. (Kasia Zabavko) (Kasia Zabawka)
Together with Zabavko, Danylenko has spent last 18 months on a comic book called “Cat’n’Bat,” which was released in the United States in April.
It is a series of wordless comic strips that reveal painful but hilarious truths about human nature, Danylenko says. They portray emotions that anyone will be able to understand, no matter where in the world they come from.
“Everything that irritates us and everything that enrages us in modern society — all of that inspired ‘Cat’n’Bat’,” the artist says. “Racism, religious fanaticism, expensive education, social injustice, extremism, dirty politicians, insane medical bills and such things.”
Cat and Bat are two friends and troublemakers.
“Every day, they watch awful television, get awful ideas, and get into an awful lot of trouble,” Danylenko explains. “Actually, it’s a bomb of black humor in a kawaii (Japanese for cute) wrapper.”
The book was exhibited at the U. S. MoCCA Arts Festival in April.
While Danylenko says he misses Ukraine and plans to promote his work here, he doesn’t plan to come back for now.
“I would love to keep working in New York, as it helps me to grow and has blessed me with an opportunity to be surrounded by very creative and intelligent people, and to be a part of their community,” Danylenko says.
Check out Danylenko’s art at www.sashkodanylenko.com.
Order a print copy of “Cat’n’Bat” for $9.99, or a digital one for $5.99 at
www.idwpublishing.com/product/cat-n-bat/ or at
www.amazon.com/CatNBat-Sashko-Danylenko/dp/1603094229.
Print copies are also available at: http://www.topshelfcomix.com/catalog/catnbat/975
“Cat’n’Bat” related accessories are available at https://society6.com/catnbat.
