I was born and raised in Toronto. My mother picked up on my passion for cartoons and drawing and bought me the Illusion of Life written by Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston, two of Disney’s Greatest animators when I was 5. She and my father had both studied art so they understood my passion from a very young age.
By the age of 9 my love of drawing had died down a little but once I moved to Italy, and away from my friends, my art as of means of escape was reignited.
After attending art high school in Italy there weren’t many colleges or universities that I could attend that catered to what I wanted to do. So I moved on and found a job, only sketching in my free time and doing some drawings here and there for friends and family. I worked for five years in an Italian gas company, I got married in 2003 and thanks to my wife and mother’s encouragement, in 2005 my wife and I moved back to Toronto, so that I could attend the art fundamentals program and eventually the Bachelor of Arts in Animation program at Sheridan College.
In art fundamentals thanks to my passionate teacher, Vivien Ludlow, I rediscovered the love I had for for art and animation.
I graduated in 2010 with honours recipient of the Silver Medal for highest GPA in the Program and completed my first animated short entitled A Cut Above.
Now I just have to see how far my passion for art and my love of drawing will take me!
Alessandro Piedimonte