Mile End View
Emma Pittson
Digital Painting
2020
As an animator, I believe that the concept of “character” goes beyond the individual. It also includes the environment in which they move and interact, where they work and rest, and through which they travel only once-in-a-lifetime, or every day. By focusing on my personal landscapes, I can reveal certain facets of myself that would be left out by a more traditional self-portrait.
“Mile End View” shows the view from a window of the animation studio where I’ve been working for the last few years, painted in January of 2020. The rise of remote work during the Pandemic has removed me from this exciting and invigorating Montreal neighbourhood of fellow film and animation artists, quirky apartments, imposing churches, and beautiful Mont-Royal. After an absence of almost two years, I’m stuck by how this landscape seems like it belongs to the life of someone else, another character entirely.
Born in Halifax, but raised in Montreal, my childhood was filled with cartoons, comics, and drawing. After studying Fine Art at Dawson College and Concordia University, I went on to learn 3D Animation at Sheridan College's celebrated Computer Animation program. For the last 20+ years (minus an extended break to raise a family), I have devoted my career to animating and supervising animation on various acclaimed projects for film and television. In 2016, I took up painting again as a respite from helping someone else translate their artistic dreams into reality, and instead focus on my own artistic development.
Instagram: @emma.pittson
Website: www.emmapittson.com