My name’s Gunnar and I’m an artist living in LA, with an animation degree from Laguna College of Art + Design.
My best art always comes from a subconscious place, when I’m drawing but I don’t really know what I’m doing or why, and something happens on the page that my intellect can’t take credit for. I’ve been drawing since I was three, with a broad range of interests. I love overlooked corners of existence, strange things hidden in plain sight every day—elderly people, insects, creatures of myth and folklore. My family is from Iceland, so I was brought up with a lot of stories about elves, trolls and ghosts, and retain a fascination with all things old and supernatural—a part of me wishes that we still had a place for that in our modern world. I steal a lot from my dreams, or things seen and heard on the edge of sleep. I’ve kept dream journals for years, and practice lucid dreaming on a semi-regular basis.
When I’m not animating, my most common medium is pencil, pen and marker in a sketchbook, though I’ve been experimenting with oil paints recently. I also have some experience with costume fabrication and production design. I tend to start a piece with only a general idea, and then work it over repeatedly and improvise additional details, developing a story or character as I go. I like things intricate, full of details that suggest a larger world. In the long term, I hope to develop more animated shorts, zines, and perhaps one day children’s books.
(949) 212 4541
gunnar.mcgriff.art@gmail.com
Courses completed
ART EDUCATION - ADOLESCENT DEVELOPMENT
ART EDUCATION - COLLABORATIVE MODELS OF INCLUSIVE EDUCATION
ART EDUCATION - CURRICULUM, INSTRUCTION, ASSESSMENT & AFFIRMING LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS
ART EDUCATION - DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY IN EDUCATION
ART EDUCATION - CRITICAL & CULTURALLY RESPONSIVE PEDAGOGIES IN URBAN SCHOOLS
ART EDUCATION - READING & WRITING IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS
ART EDUCATION - INTRO TO TEACHING ART
ART EDUCATION - CURRICULUM & METHODS IN TEACHING ART
STUDIO ART - INTRO TO CERAMICS HAND-BUILDING
STUDIO ART - INTRO TO PAINTING
STUDIO ART - CORE STUDIO LIFE PAINTING
STUDIO ART - ADVANCED PAINTING
STUDIO ART - FUNDAMENTALS OF ANIMATION
STUDIO ART - ANIMATION 1
STUDIO ART - ANIMATION 2
STUDIO ART - ANIMATION 3
STUDIO ART - DIRECTING FOR ANIMATORS
STUDIO ART - THESIS FILM 1
STUDIO ART - THESIS FILM 2
STUDIO ART - FUNDAMENTALS OF DRAWING
STUDIO ART - FUNDAMENTALS OF PERSPECTIVE
STUDIO ART - FIGURE DRAWING FOR ANIMATORS 1
STUDIO ART - FIGURE DRAWING FOR ANIMATORS 2
STUDIO ART - FIGURE DRAWING FOR ANIMATORS 3
STUDIO ART - FIGURE & PORTRAIT SCULPTURE
STUDIO ART - DIGITAL COMPOSITION & COLOR
STUDIO ART - INTRO TO PHOTOSHOP
STUDIO ART - ACTING FOR ANIMATORS
STUDIO ART - FUNDAMENTALS OF PERSPECTIVE
STUDIO ART - FUNDAMENTALS OF MAYA
STUDIO ART - CG ANIMATION 1
STUDIO ART - CG ANIMATION 2
STUDIO ART - CG MODELING 1
STUDIO ART - FUNDAMENTALS OF DIGITAL PAINTING
STUDIO ART - CHARACTER DESIGN 1
STUDIO ART - CHARACTER DESIGN 2
STUDIO ART - STORYBOARDING 1
STUDIO ART - VISUAL DEVELOPMENT 1
STUDIO ART - VISUAL STORYTELLING
STUDIO ART - ANIMATION LAYOUT
STUDIO ART - BACKGROUND PAINTING
ART HISTORY - HISTORY OF ANIMATION
ART HISTORY - WESTERN ART 1
ART HISTORY - WESTERN ART 2
ART HISTORY - MODERN & CONTEMPORARY ART
ART HISTORY - AESTHETICS