by Andy Ortiz

In the Fall semester, St. John Bosco High School welcomed new animation teacher Mr. Isaac Sanchez, who hopes to bring color and amusement with his whimsical sense of humor. 

Q: Where did you grow up?

A: I grew up in Chula Vista, California. I am an only child with a fantastic extended family, progressive in nature and very close.

Q: What college did attend and what did you study?

A: Laguna College of Art and Design (LCAD), where I went for animation specifically.

Q: Why Bosco? What brought you here?

A: I saw the horrible film The Amazing Spider-Man featuring that lanky fellow Andrew Garfield and thought to myself, “I want to work in that basketball court.” So I feverishly stalked and Googled about Bosco and applied directly when I could. Sadly, I only found Spider-man’s mask in the trash by the 127 metro bus stop out front. I suppose he’s “Spider-man no more.”

Q: How do you give yourself motivation?

A: Mostly knowing that life is too short to give up at minor inconveniences. I don’t enjoy trying to prove a flawed system doesn’t own me, but I do it everyday when I wake up.

Q: How would you make a living if you weren’t a teacher?

A: I’d be working as an art director for various studios, or animating on some show that you’d either watch or never hear about until someone on YouTube made a 45 minute lost media video essay about how amazing it was.

Q: What is something you regularly struggle with?

A: Crippling existential dread and internalized rage for the several civil injustices under governmental institutions.

Q: You moderated the Illustration Club, now Braves Creative Guild. Who’s idea was that?

A: It was a spur of the moment idea. I ran it by a senior in my class. He thought it would be cool. So we took my ponytail palm and a few sheets of paper, and the rest is history.

Q: What do you want members to get out of participation in the club?

A: Our club is a safe space first; it’s a place to be yourself and creative. I’d like members to take the opportunity to develop their creative projects, share with peers to get feedback and be open to new ideas. Lastly, find community amongst the fellow nerds, geeks and weirdos.

Q: What got you into animation?

A: So as a kid, my dad was a video store manager for a bit. We’d rent some wild cartoons, not stuff for kiddos. Street Fighter cartoons, Aeon Flux, Spawn, even some Anime like Lily C.A.T, but it was the band Gorillaz that solidified the “coolness” factor for me. That was around 2001. I had already started playing bass, and so seeing music and animation together really clicked in my brain. I never really grew up with Disney. I’d watch it, but I’d wait to go home and watch The Toxic Avenger and Carnosaur and think, “I wanna make that.”

Q: What do you like to draw and animate? What is your style like?

A: I like drawing my own characters. I like drawing what I like generally. I’ll draw things I liked throughout my childhood and life. I rarely do “fanart,” but I like to incorporate imagery from influences in my work. You’ll see a Yu-yu Hakusho shirt on a character. My style is mostly my perspective on shape language. I like my characters interesting but clean in linework. I love limiting my colors if possible. It’s quite fun.

Q: Who is your hero?

A: For life: my Parents. They compromised a lot for me, and they taught me love.
For music: Paul Simonon, Tina Weymouth, Ruth White and Mark Mothersbaugh.
For art: Mark Rothko, Jamie Hewlett, Daniel Clowes and Mary Blair.

Q: What is it about art and animation that makes it so fascinating to you?

A: There’s this primordial ooze that rests within my jelly dome, while worms within it tell me art is good, as it eats from the electrified meat stew I call a brain.

Q: What made you want to teach animation here at Bosco?

A: I actually have a doctorate in football fabrication. I made fantastic footballs under the apprenticeship of Dr. James Fautebawl, legendary artisan. But when I came here, there wasn’t a class to teach that, so I decided to teach animation since I have a BFA in that.

Q: Say someone came up to you and said that they really wanted to learn animation, what sort of advice would you give to them?

A: Just move forward; don’t linger on the tiny details. Whatever you learn on one project you bring to the next one. Trust the growth; it’s gradual.

Q: What is your stance on the current issue of AI generated images being called “art”?

A: If you took a piece of everyone’s lunches and mashed it together and said you’re a chef, are you really? 

Q: What sort of music do you like?

A: All sorts. I grew up on punk, post-punk and new wave. I had a lot of delta blues and folk for a bit. Then it was a lot of early MCs. But lately it’s been mostly jungle music and drum ‘n bass, like Machine Girl or Ethiopian jazz like Hailu Mergia.

Q: What were your biggest aspirations when you were young?

A: When I was really young, I wanted to be a rock star. As I grew up and learned about capitalism, I was discouraged from pursuing art and music, but I realized in my mid-twenties that being a rock star is a state of mind. Be who you feel you want to be and carry that energy with you to your work.

Q: What is your favorite movie stylistic-wise?

A: Tough question. I’d have to say I enjoyed Suspiria (2017) from its understated palettes and vintage approach to composition. I love the tension in staging and overall sense of isolating dread in a sad beige world compared to the vivid 1977 original.

Q: What do you do when you’re bored?

A: I learned early on as a child while watching Kung-Fu with my dad, that life isn’t boring. The same way Kwai closed his eyes and heard the living world around him to affirm he isn’t alone. But I’ll listen to a vinyl record in full. Lately, I’ve been revisiting Norm by Andy Shauf.

Q: The best piece of advice you’ve ever heard?

A:“You’re pretty good at landing, So keep leaping.”

Q: Anything else you would like to share?

A: I’m a public school kid. I wasn’t as fortunate – a lucky sad sucker. Take what you can from Bosco. Be bold but be humble. Be kind, extend love and share empathy. Recognize your faults and work toward a better you but not at your expense. Remove sacrifice from your vocabulary, and replace it with collaboration, but never compromise your truth. If at the end of the day you still don’t feel like yourself, remember there’s a whole world outside of your high school life that is ready to welcome you. You’re just starting to live. Be here, be now. Do not assimilate by disassociation – no one is ever “too cool” for school.