Be Relentless and Keep Making Because Hard Work Pays Off

Beans Sr is an animation director based in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

During his formative years, Beans Sr received a comprehensive education on weird ‘80s movies from his older brother, which unfortunately both shaped and warped most of his tastes. Drawing inspiration from janky, animatronic characters in ‘Beetlejuice’, ‘Labyrinth’, and ‘Gremlins’, Beans Sr’s work is characterised by his British humour, grotesque character design, and the heightened reality environments that his characters inhabit.

Beans Sr sculpts his characters in VR, giving them a digitally handmade aesthetic. He brings them to life using various 3D software, often using multiple programmes on one project to achieve his distinctive style.

When in the physical world, Beans Sr plays an impressively low standard of padel and can often be found running from his demons in and around Amsterdam.

LBB> How did you fall in love with animation?

Beans Sr> We met on After Effects. Instant connection. Creativity with just enough technical nonsense to keep my brain happily overstimulated.

Then lockdown hit and I fell down a Cinema4D hole. What started as motion design spiraled into character animation and weird little skits that made me laugh out loud and made everyone else wonder if I was okay. That’s when I knew I was truly in love.

LBB> Tell us about the animation project that kick started your career?

Beans Sr> Probably my submission for DEMO Festival. Seeing my animation play on giant screens across the Netherlands, alongside artists I’d followed for years, was the first time I thought, “Maybe I can actually do this.”

It gave me the confidence to start shifting away from production and properly lean into animation.

LBB> How would you describe your art style and what are your biggest inspirations that developed it?

Beans Sr> Grotesque-but-cute characters with regional British accents. Worlds that feel like real life but someone left the gas on.

I love weird films like ‘Beetlejuice’, ‘Labyrinth’ and ‘Gremlins’. Anything with rubbery monsters, unexplainable vibes, and an undercurrent of childhood trauma. You can definitely see it in my characters. They’re all a bit cursed. But in a charming(?) way.

LBB> Show us your favourite or most impactful project that you’ve worked on – tell us, what is it that makes it special and what were the memorable moments or challenges?

Beans Sr> Definitely the video I created for Kevin Heartbreak’s ‘Now You’re Gone’. It marked a shift from my usual tone, but one that felt natural.

Kevin wrote the song after losing his dad, and I’d lost my brother in 2017, so I approached it with a shared understanding of grief.

The video explores the quiet moments of grief where memories feel heavier than the present, when the world feels both vast and empty without your loved one. It’s about surrendering to grief rather than resisting it.

To honour my brother, I incorporated real photos and video footage of us. These became the images the protagonist holds, and they shaped the lighting and mood of the underwater scene. During the middle eight, when the character is falling, the footage in the background is actually us swimming together on holiday.

It was hard to revisit, but I’m proud of how it turned out.

LBB> How do you approach character design? What is your creative process like? Show us some of your favourite characters and their journey from notepad to screen.

Beans Sr> I usually start off seeing a character pretty clearly in my mind’s eye. I translate that onto paper with a pen, but really at this point I’m just blocking out composition and shapes as I kind of suck at drawing.

From here, I quickly get into sculpting in 3D. Whether that’s on ZBrush or in VR on Adobe Medium.

I like the iterative nature of jumping straight into 3D. I can experiment with what works and what doesn’t and really just follow my intuition within the set of parameters that I laid out on the paper sketch. I have no formal training so I just make it up as I go along and it works for me.

LBB> What is your favourite piece of technology or software that you use and how does it help your creative process?

Beans Sr> I primarily work in Cinema4D, but more and more I’m using Blender. There are so many useful Blender add-ons that I incorporate into my workflow and I have such a deep respect for Blender’s mission and vision.

LBB> What sort of briefs or projects do you find more personally satisfying to work on?

Beans Sr> It would be easy to say ones where I have unbridled creative freedom, but I also love finding the most creative expression possible within strict parameters. It makes things challenging and often I end up with something I never would have thought of if it wasn’t for those restrictions.

I’m definitely drawn to briefs that centre on humour, human emotion, or a mix of the two. Projects that let me be unhinged and sincere, those are the dream. If I can make you laugh, cry, and question your taste all in 60 seconds, I’m happy.

LBB> Outside of the field of animation, what really inspires you?

Beans Sr> Poodles. No, I won’t elaborate.

LBB> Any advice you would like to give to aspiring artists?

Beans Sr> It’s a cliché, but it’s true: hard work beats talent. You get out what you put in. Be relentless. Keep making. You’ll mess up, cringe at your own work, but every piece sharpens your skills, your taste, and your voice.

You can find more of Beans Sr's work here.