In a niche industry like animation, there aren’t always that many resources guiding new artists through their careers, detailing their options or inspiring them with professional wisdom. So when one does appear – particular in the form of a shiny new book from Ben Mitchell of Skwigly Animation Magazine – it’s rather exciting and we all rush out to buy a copy as soon as we can.

(Before you ask, yes we do colour code our books.)

Independent Animation by Ben Mitchell is a fantastic book. It’s smart and insightful, with impressive case studies by the bucket load. It makes the world of animation more exciting and accessible than ever, showcasing some of the most innovative giants in the field, and guiding the reader through the artistic process and production techniques. It’s the book we all wish we’d had when we graduated, and are still learning from today.

But of course, we probably would say all that, seeing as how we’re in it…

Author Ben Mitchell has been a regular freelancer for Slurpy for several years, contributing to projects such as Oxford University Press’ Activate Series, and BBC Bitesize’s Extremely Deadly Conundrums. When he asked if he could interview Slurpy founders Aaron Wood and Katie Steed about how they started up and run the studio, and use our ongoing personal project ‘The Fearsome Beastie’ to talk about the process of adapting a children’s book in to an animation, we were pleased and proud – even more so when we saw the list of other contributors: including Adam Elliot, Signe Baumane, Bill Plympton, and Kristen Lapore.

So what you waiting for, go get yourself a copy!