Hi and welcome!
My name is Nickolay and I am an animator.

The magic of animation has fascinated me in a special way since very early age. The first feature films that left me breathless were Disney's 101 Dalmatians, Jungle Book and Ivan Ivanov-Vano's Humpbacked Horse. But it was the shorts that ran every day on television that had me hypnotized for hours. These were the classic Tom & Jerry, Pink Panther, Top Cat, Japanese UFO Robot Grendizer and Maya the Bee.

I could draw relatively well since I could hold a pencil, but when I heard the word animator and the explanation what it meant, I had a goal in my life. This happened when I was eleven.

So I started to try to consciously draw objects from different angles and same characters in different poses. Being the son of two architects perspective was a word and concept that I naturally knew since birth. Another extremely important thing I started to do very early was teaching myself to always be observant and learning how to close eyes and extract clear well-defined images from memory, so that I could use them as drawing references. As time passed by this became my second nature, a 'camera' recording continuously everything and a 'video' willingly playing it back whenever required.

Drawing technique was another story. Developing skill is a painful process. I had my happy moments and my huge disappointments. Old-school academic life drawing was hard. But the more you do it, the more understanding you have for anatomy, the more powerful drawer you become. During my high school years I drew hundreds of images, both cartoons and serious academic life drawing. I also drew flipbook animations at the corners of the thicker textbooks. Teachers were not happy.

At the age of 21 I was ready to start my animation education and embrace Time as a new available dimension. This happened in two stages: in 1994 I finished the College of Animation and Arts, Sofia, Bulgaria as an Animator and in 2000 The National University of Theatre and Film, Sofia, Bulgaria as an Animation Director (MFA).

I started working professionally as an animator in 1994 and have worked in this industry since then. Seeing the magic of drawings come alive on screen has kept me going and motivated through the many sleepless nights, crazy deadlines and hard down-time periods typical for the industry. Teamwork has taught me to be tactful, respectful and patient. All the people who have persisted to stay in animation deserve respect.

As early as my first year I had offers to work on both TV shows and computer targeted projects. The early days of multimedia, the slow 486 machines, the 8-bit palettes, the early versions of Director, Photoshop, Painter and Flash. All this came naturally and the knowledge built up slowly. Our generation was learning alongside Macromedia, Autodesk and Adobe developers. We were also lucky to have the chance of working for a while in traditionally organized environments with lightboxes, pegbars and older more experienced colleagues to talk to. This knowledge is slowly getting lost with each new generation of animators, lower production budgets and vector cutouts.

I have touched nearly every area of animation production – from the clean-up to preliminary budget, time and people estimations. I've worked as an animator, character designer, storyboard artist, animation supervisor, technology consultant, compositing artist, editor and director. When asked what my profession is, I always answer: “Animator”. It's how it all started and I always go back to animating as I regularly need my dose of pictures which magically become alive. This has become my identity.

I learned to draw in many different ways, I learned to define new or maintain established styles. Drawing skill, comfort that you can draw anything imaginable from any angle is the starting point, an absolute necessity. It defines the freedom to act in your mind or create believable appealing characters on a blank sheet of paper. Control is power. I learned to look at my own work as if it was someone else's. Then I had to learn how to analyze other people's work. Method and analysis are the tools of the professional. It took me about twenty years of thinking, watching, thinking, talking and drawing of thousands of drawings. Sounds like a long period, but the process was gradual and after only five years I had achieved good professional level and was working as a lead animator for a TV show. Many projects followed. Some of them with best-selling world-famous brands, others poorly managed or designed. I learned how to learn from all of them. The more styles you touch, the more options you have to choose from in the future.

After nearly fifteen years in animation I feel that I am a mature professional that can handle any kind of project in the roles of Concept Artist, Character Designer or Animator. I can give a strong contribution to any team as a creative professional and a technology/workflow advisor.

I love Blues and Jazz, books, cartoons, all animals, some humans and am a keen wildlife photography enthusiast.

If you would like me to help you with your project or just wish to tell me anything, my email is ntilcheff at yahoo dot com. Don't hesitate to contact me.

Thanks for reading!

current location :: Sydney, Australia