Each second of animated film demands 12 images, or ‘frames’, to create and maintain the illusion of movement for the human eye. Thus, every second of the live-action video recording is separated into 12 individual frames, which provide the basis for the finished paintings. I sit and closely inspect the 60 rudimentary images, which together form a shot of the protagonist Armand in mid-argument. The background stays the same, but the character’s expression is constantly shifting, meaning the entire face must be wiped clean and repainted each time. To understand the full movement is important, as is the awareness of already-completed neighbouring shots to achieve consistency in colour and texture. Referencing the original van Gogh paintings associated with the scene is also necessary. After mixing the paints and testing the colours with the camera, it takes a few hours to complete the first frame. When approved and photographed, this provides the basis for the following 59, which are painted on top in succession.

Altogether, approximately 65,000 paintings are necessary to make the film – a task that would take one person 81 years to complete! But working alongside 125 painters is not merely an advantage. It is an education, and a celebration. An education because preconceived methods and techniques are put aside in order to align with something new – in this case, the style necessary to make the film harmonious. Something different and fresh is drawn out in the letting go of what is already known, for each and every painter. And it is a celebration because of the rare opportunity for togetherness: the chance to co-create and to share a work of art. It is an unexpected joy to wield a brush in the company of others, and to transcend the solitary life of the conventional painter. For many of us, this is the first time we are working together in creative collaboration, with a shared vision and focus, on a project that has the love of painting as a fundamental element.

The support of co-painters, all partaking in what seems like the endless repainting of an image, is hugely important. The demand to remove the paint once completed and photographed is often difficult to accept. The nature of the process – painting one image to perfection then wiping the board clean for the next frame – even coming to it as an animator, seems a clear road to madness. The fruit of the labour is seen only afterwards once several paintings have been photographed and are played in sequence. But the intensive absurdity of the situation leads me to important questions.

Later, when frustrated and disheartened by the task, I ask myself: what was it that had drawn me, some nine years ago, to pick up a brush and begin painting? What was it that attracted me, a few years later, to the somewhat absurd practice of animation? What is it – between that flash of inspiration and the emergence of a created artwork – that fuels and ‘animates’ the artist to carry out the task given by the indwelling creative spirit?