Crabman by Sam Gainsborough from DRAGONFRAME on Vimeo.

Octoboy by Sam Gainsborough from DRAGONFRAME on Vimeo.

We stopped in our tracks when we came across a post by Sam Gainsborough on Instagram. Surprisingly, the animation we liked was merely a test for a longer piece he’d like to do in the future–and it turned out there were two of them! Both Crabman, which originally caught our eye, and Octoboy, are clay-based pieces featuring raw clay trimmed with occasional accents of aquatic blues as man turns into Crabman or Octoboy and back again.

“These short pieces were a bit of an experiment last year when we were still in lockdown in London,” Gainsborough said. “I had limited space, and limited materials to use, but I wanted to make some short pieces as a bit of a personal challenge.”

It’s great to see someone making the most of unfortunate circumstances in this way. The result is notable both for how smooth it is, as well as the great energy it has when combined with the seaside soundtrack complete with gulls and squeaky/sandy transitions.

“I had a load of leftover white plasticine, and some blue which led to the ocean theme,” Gainsborough went on to explain. “As soon as I’d created the first frame I loved the monochromatic style.

“Animating in my home wasn’t ideal, I lived in a shared house with four other people at the time so there wasn’t much space! It was a good exercise to see what I could do with very limited resources.”

As is often the case when limited in resource, the result has a fresh originality that may not have come about without the challenges and restrictions from which it grew. Great job, Sam, we can’t wait to see how you work this into future works!