Graphic murals, weird characters and abstract shapes: David Luepschen experiments with a variety of mediums

Flitting between stop-motion animation and murals built with spray paint, David Luepschen is a director, animator and illustrator based in London who’s “fascinated by video” and “loves combining all kinds of animation techniques.”
 
On the side of his commercial projects, David has been widening his landscape of paint with colourfully graphic murals, featuring weird characters and abstract shapes. “Painting is my kind of work-out. I must confess that I love paint, ink and spray paint. For me it is very satisfying and mesmerising to paint long outlines with an opaque colour in one go,” he says.
 
With a deep background in the creative sphere, David’s passion in art and design are highly prevalent in his work. “I did my first fanzine when I was about 10. It was black and white with cut-and-paste graphics multiplied by the photocopiers at my Dad’s office. I tried to sell them on the street – I remember a guy who pointed out that the binding was on the wrong side,” David tells It’s Nice That.
 
“My interests in skateboard graphics and graffiti from a very young age definitely made me realise I wanted to study colour and communication design. In my last year at university, I started to experiment with stop motion and animation – I then fell in love with that medium.”
 
David’s speciality in animation includes clever ideas “visualised in a tactile, clean and clear stylised world with great attention to the little details”, that give all of his pieces a signature witty and playful tone. On the topic of paint – his side project when time allows it – these particular domains are conveyed through his use of figurative sculptures and graphics. “I am really excited about characters…The idea is to keep it spontaneous by being experimental with the letters JIAR and simple characters, all by using spray paint and paint,” says David.
 
A “bold colour concept in a stylised world” is his ethos. Since we last featured David in 2014 – when we covered his comical online dating animation Chit Chat Roulette – he has since tied all ends with the works of animation, paint, typeface and any other medium he can get his hands on.