Tuna Bora is a Los Angeles-based illustrator, animator, character developer, designer and artist who worked has appeared in commercials, galleries, music videos, book covers and much more. Her work is elegant and graceful, with stylistic nods to mid-century illustration and animation. Although the bulk of Bora’s work is in animation, she says “I’ve sampled a bit of everything.” Bora works in an eye-popping array of styles and is comfortable both in tightly rendered illustration and expressive painting.

MY LIFE:
I've been working as a freelance illustrator/art director based in Los Angeles for the last seven years. I mostly work on animated projects, but I'm happy to say I’ve sampled a bit of everything. Besides contract work, I’ve been publishing artwork daily for a little over two years. Some of my clients and recognitions include Google, Buck, Sony Pictures Animation, Nickelodeon, New Line Cinema, Mirada, Spectrum, IdN, American Illustration, Society of Illustrators, and Communication Arts.

I was born and raised in Turkey. My father is an architect, and my mom is an accessory designer who also sampled a bit of everything (childrens’ books, a 2D animated film, and sculpture, to name a few). My eccentric family encouraged me to challenge myself and look at things from a different point of view. In high school I was torn between fashion and illustration, so I worked as an intern for Bahar Korcan. For my BFA, I moved to LA to study at Otis College of Art and Design. The rest is history.

MY WORKSPACE:
The requirements of my daily schedule change drastically on a project basis. Sometimes I’m on a commercial and I have to go into the studio, or am required on set. If I can work remotely, I do so out of my office/loft space in the Downtown Arts District. I share this space with old friends who are also artists with varying points of focus. This little community gives me great support and guidance, besides sharing my creative battles and victories with me. I usually go for a walk during lunch. People-watching inspires me so much that sometimes I pack drawing supplies and work at public spaces in the area. On my current project I tend to spend about half of the week at my studio in LA, and the other half either in our production studio in San Francisco, or Google ATAP in Mountain View.

HOW I MAKE MY ILLUSTRATIONS:
For digital work, I exclusively use Photoshop and my old Intuos 3 tablet.

For traditional media, I use pretty much anything I can get my hands on. I often use ink, gouache, and marker. But I also consistently hunt for new mark-making tools in Little Tokyo. Just last week I was using a cooking brush and a feather duster to create large-scale ink drawings. Everyday is a surprise.

MY FIRST BIG BREAK:
I’m not sure if I've had a big break (maybe it is yet to come)! I rarely focus on what comes after I finish a project. Reactions are not a part of the creative process, just the aftermath.

MY INFLUENCES:
I have too many influences to list individually, but I can highlight a few. I grew up obsessed with Chuck Jones, my mom, Beatrix Potter, and Dali. It’s fair to say my influences stayed all over the map, because as I look at my current project my references have been a photographer, a cinematographer, two video games, a fashion designer, a fine artist, and two musician/songwriters. I change my influences on a project basis because letting each project brew something new in me is more interesting than going back to steal ideas from other illustrators or my previous work.

MY MOST ADMIRED CREATIVE PERSON:
I don’t pine after others’ careers, but I do admire people who are brave enough to take a stance. One step further is people who can ignite others on creative fire. I recently attended a talk by filmmaker/animator David O’Reilly, and he is a great example of that. I left feeling I didn’t have a single excuse to not follow what I’m truly passionate about. I appreciate that kind of contagiousness.

MY CREATIVE INSPIRATION:
I tend to use music and literature, as well as photography for larger ideas. For design details and ideas I also look at fashion often, because it has always been of interest to me. I guess the point is that inspiration comes from all over. What I appreciate about them is the depth of the concept, the thought, and how intelligently they're created to sum up their creators' perspectives. I can give a few examples in general. Most things I want to reference would require a long description, and since that's not available I'm going to pick examples that have good definitions.

Hussein Chalayan would be a good example of what I mean by fashion being of great inspiration and interest.

Ode To Joy would be a good example of music.

Literature is a bit harder, because most pieces are left somewhat open ended for the audiences to conclude themselves. I'd love to give The Little Prince as an example of something that's so simple and deep at the same time.

THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE OF WORKING ALONE:
Deciding when walking away for a while is going to be more productive than beating the dead horse with a stick.

A MEMORABLE ASSIGNMENT FROM THE PAST YEAR:
Pearl, Google ATAP’s 360 degree animated short film I’m production designing, is the biggest assignment I've had this year, and it’s still ongoing. It’s been an incredibly valuable experience already.

DREAM ASSIGNMENT:
I would love to get funding to make my own films, both in animated and live action forms.

MY FAVORITE ART DIRECTOR:
More often than not I work directly with the directors, but there are definitely some art directors I enjoyed working over the years.

One of my favorite projects to work on was the interactive music video that Chris Milk directed for ROME (the musical collaboration between Daniele Luppi, Danger Mouse, Norah Jones, and Jack White—not the HBO series). Our art director Ram Bhat knew how to push us in a very independent, exploratory way.

Pearl director Patrick Osborne has been really fun to work with. He welcomes good ideas and suggestions from the entire team, and really trusts his artists. He let me run with some crazy ideas and stick with them.

SOME OF MY FAVORITE ILLUSTRATORS:
I’m a big fan of Jillian Tamaki, Bastien Vives, Kerascöet (Marie Pommepuy and Sébastien Cosset), Manu Arenas, Jon Klassen, Chris Appelhans, Dadu Shin, Jean Julien...the list goes on.

I’ve been on a huge narrative kick lately, and I think these individuals have very specific points of view and make original content that display their kind hearts in incredibly elegant ways.

OTHER WORK:
While I mostly work as an illustrator/art director in animation and commercials, I also do gallery shows, games, book covers, and even some editorial work from time to time.

I love the unusual projects that end up on my screen, such as the interactive music video for ROME, animated graphics for a baseball stadium, or a short that played on a three-story-high screen made of 700,000 LEDs in Minneapolis.

HOW I STAY CURRENT:
I think conceptual designers and thinkers will always be relevant. I try not to try to control the routes my career might take. I’m really passionate about my current project, and I couldn’t have “tried” to position myself in it.

HOW I PROMOTE MYSELF:
Early on in my career, my friend Pascal Campion encouraged me to make daily illustrations and share them. I do this only for the joy of creating something every day, and made a point to post these online so I can get over my shyness about showing my work. I honestly didn’t know what to expect from it, but I’d be lying if I said it doesn’t promote my work.

I also started tabling at animation/entertainment, and small print conventions years ago. This practice has pushed me to make prints and self-published books, because the feeling of facing my audience is so wonderful and very intimidating all at once. Over time galleries and book stores have picked up the same merchandise and started selling them at their stores and online all year around.

I haven’t planned any of these as promotion, but they’ve turned into a large net of connections that got my name out to people and places I wouldn’t be able to reach otherwise.

ADVICE FOR SOMEONE STARTING OUT:
Don’t try to make other people’s art; try to find your own thoughts/solutions/ideas. Decide what it is that you’re passionate about, and make a commitment to follow it.

See more Tuna Bora illustrations, new work, and updates:
Tuna Bora website
Instagram: @tunamunaluna
Twitter: @tunamunaluna
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