Juried Emmy Award Winner Talks About his Work on "Love, Death + Robots"

Domestika teacher and illustrator, Patricio Betteo, shares his creative process behind the popular Netflix series

Patricio Betteo (@patriciobetteo) is one of the winners of the 2021 Juried Emmy Award in the Animation category for his work as background artist on the ICE episode of "Love, Death + Robots," Season 2. This is the most awarded series this year, raking in four of the six awards open to animation professionals.

The Juried Awards are part of the Emmy Awards, the most important award in global television. The Juried categories require all entrants to be selected by a panel of experts in the field - in this case, the animation field.

Nominations are conducted in the same way as in the traditional Emmy, but the evaluation and voting procedure differ in that deliberations include open discussions about the work of each participant.

"Love, Death + Robots" is an animated science fiction anthology series produced by Joshua Donen, David Fincher, Jennifer Miller and Tim Miller. The first season, released in 2019, is composed of 18 standalone episodes - each 20 minutes in length - and all produced by different casts and crews. The second season was launched in May 2021.

Career path

Born in Mexico City and affectionately known as Pato (duck in Spanish), Patricio has been a professional illustrator for 17 years.

His characters have featured in magazines such as Expansión, Rolling Stone, and Nexos; comics, such as QUO, Switch, Chilango, and Diario Milenio; as well as books, graphic novels, and even video games.

Although digital painting is his favorite way of working with colors and shapes, he believes “there is nothing better than a pencil, a pen, and a brush loaded with ink”. His experience as a painter led him to exhibit at galleries in Athens, Bucharest, Los Angeles, Madrid, and Zacatecas.

Patricio has also created numerous book and magazine covers as well as posters, working with publishers Fondo de Cultura Económica, SM, Secto Piso, Alfaguara, Almadía, Edelvives, and Edebé in his illustration of nearly 30 children’s books.

The comics he has collaborated on have made it into several Mexican anthologies (Sensacional de Chilangos, Pulpo Cómics), as well as foreign publications Popgun and Side B.

The drawing books Never Again (Brand Studio Press) and "Mirador" (Resistencia), published in 2008, as well as his graphic novels Mundo Invisible (National Graphic Novel Award 2011, JUS) and Cinco (Editorial Cifra, 2017) are considered his best works. In 2018, Patricio’s first literary novel, Alicia Underground, was published by Alfaguara.

In video games, he created the art and aided the conceptual development of games such as Grimm by American McGee in 2008, and Dance Central by Electronic Arts in 2010.

In 2019, he worked on the Zima Blue episode of the first season of "Love, Death + Robots", and later he was called back to work on ICE, an episode from the second season, which has now earned him an Emmy.

Below, we chatted with the graphic artist and illustrator about his creative process on the Netflix series, the challenges he faced, and the impact this award will have on his career.

Hi Patricio! How would you describe the experience of working with the Netflix and "Love, Death + Robots" teams

The process, from its very first moments of storyboarding, color scripting and exploration, until post production, lasted eight months. So, during that time, I went through all the range of emotions and experiences.

From the excitement of the blank page to the nervousness of executive meetings. From the wonders of seeing all elements in action (when compositing blended the animation seamlessly with the backgrounds of a finished shot) to the dread of reviewing rough cuts for the 22th time. The dull and the sublime.

How was your creative process during this project?

This was a collaborative effort. Close communication with the director was needed, and in the same manner, but less frequent, meetings with Blur Studio.

Weekly meeting appointments between four countries, a very complex calendar with many tabs and colors… and conversations 100% in english. Dios mío, OMG! Something totally different from my editorial illustrator experience in México.

What was your favorite part of this project?

First explorations, without a doubt. Dreaming with the possibilities. Watching Robert Valley’s doodles. Knowing the rest of the team. Such great and super talented people!

What does a background artist do on a project like Love, Death + Robots?

I had to create all art that appears on-screen, except the characters, creatures and 3D elements. I used photoshop for everything on my part.

I also contributed with the creation of props and some of the color scripting. My files never had less than 20 layers, to facilitate parallaxing and compositing.

What does this award mean to you and your career?

My priorities are still the same (create the best art I can without destroying my health or personal relations, ha!) but somehow… the quality control bar has raised some notches, at least in my own personal expectations.

Bigger jobs for sure. And, of course, a very nice addition to my CV. Such a privilege!

Can you tell us something about your future projects?

I have a book named Nada Que Ver coming out late september 2021 (with visual/verbal poetry and short creepy stories). And after that, I guess I will appear now and then on more end credits from animation specials.

Did you enjoy finding out about Patricio Betteo's career? Check out the full list of Juried Emmy 2021 winners here, and don't miss Patricio's online courses on Domestika, Illustrated Characters Factory and Brushes and Pixels: Introduction to Digital Painting in Photoshop.

English version by @marguerite_camu.

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