ABOUT

I’m Arno Shahbandari, also known as Arno Onra. I’m a 2D and CG artist focused on animation, illustration, and visual storytelling, with a graphic design background. With almost a decade of freelance experience in graphic design, motion graphics, and illustration, I’ve built a solid visual base in composition, color, and design thinking. This background strongly influences my approach to animation, where I’m now expanding my skills in character driven storytelling and motion.

My work spans different stages of the animation process, from concept development and storyboarding to modeling, sculpting, and animation. My art style mostly focuses on minimal and clean designs and sometimes maximal designs depending on the style I am working in. Both for characters and backgrounds. Basically, geometric shapes play a crucial role in my art and design. Also, colors are very important to me, and I really am picky choosing the right color palette. Usually I pick a limited color to use in both my designs and motions.

What excites me most about animation is collaboration. I enjoy working closely with creative teams, sharing ideas, receiving feedback, and solving visual problems together. I value clear communication, and strong teamwork is essential to creating meaningful and memorable animated work. I’m particularly inspired by studios like Disney, Pixar, Hanna Barbera, Cartoon Network, and Nickelodeon, where storytelling, character, and emotion are at the heart of every project.

My goal is to continue growing as a 2D and CG artist while contributing my design background, creativity, and strong work ethic to a collaborative studio environment.

During my animation studies, I had the opportunity to learn from experienced instructors and industry professionals including Judy Kriger, Jeremy Mowery, Eric Daniels, Walter Santucci, Leslie Park, Kelvin Nguyen, Butch Hartman, John Pomeroy, Sir Wade Neistadt, and Andrew Arcilla.