We had the pleasure of sitting down for a tête-à-tête with Ted Sandiford, the man behind countless drawings, animations and music videos from ACID Kreationz, among other memorable works of art. Ted spoke on what he’s all about and even the things that not many people know about him.
Dazzle: You’re well known to the public as an artist, a teacher and a fitness fanatic but how do you see yourself?
Ted: Well, fitness is to maintain my sanity because of my busy schedule (laughs), alongside staying healthy. But I do all these things and work so hard because of my family. So my life is a combination of family, fitness, art and work.
Dazzle: In creative industries it’s easy to assume that you can learn everything with the hands-on experience of working in the field. However, you chose to do online schooling with the Art Institute of Pittsburgh. What prompted you to take that route?
Ted: I’ve done a few electives at SALCC, workshops and seminars in Trinidad and Jamaica, in traditional classrooms. The reason I chose to do online schooling instead was because I had responsibilities; my family. I didn’t want to get up and leave for four years. Ideally I would have liked to attend The Art Institute in Florida but after doing more research I found out about the online division in Pittsburgh. Even then the price was a huge deterrent for me. But I told myself ‘Just start, you will finish’. So I took a small loan and got started. Smaller jobs started coming in to help me finance my schooling, and that forced me to start my business ACID Kreationz around 2008.
Dazzle: How did ACID Kreationz start?
Ted: ACID (Audio Crew In Defiance) started off with mixtapes, because I was a DJ back then. After releasing seven volumes of mixtapes I teamed up with Kendell ‘Scady’ Eugene. It was then the idea of Cocoboy & Girard got developed; two characters who always got themselves in trouble. At first they’d only appear on skits in between tracks on the mixtapes but Scady prompted me to visualise them since I could draw. Then we did weekly comics in the YO! Magazine where he worked. Soon after we switched gradually from sound to visuals and ACID Kreationz (now Artistic Creative Innovative Dynamic Kreationz) became what it is today.
But still, because of limited finances I took breaks from school, sometimes a whole year. At a certain point I realised that I needed to finish this thing, so I started a crowdfunding campaign. With IndieGogo you could give people an incentive to donate and mine was to do caricatures for everyone who asked, once they donated.
Dazzle: That ended up being a hugely successful campaign. What was it like while it was all happening?
Ted: That was the time that I worked the most. People had the option to just donate but I’m thankful that they opted to get the most expensive caricature along with their donation. Doing those definitely kept me busy. I did over 100 caricatures in that time and I exceeded the goal I had set for myself in the first place.
Dazzle: In Saint Lucia we hear a lot about ‘the struggling artist.’ How have you been able to, if at all, overcome that stereotype?
Ted: There’s no avoiding it because the stereotype is always there. You just need to ignore it. However, seeing how greatly art is appreciated in first-world countries compared to here can be discouraging. Some clients can make it difficult when they say things like ‘You only take five minutes to do that… You just drawing something on a computer, why does it cost so much?’ and so on. But it took me multiple years to learn how to do that in a short space of time. It’s a huge investment to gain that expertise and knowledge to do what I do now. Previously, I would bend to the client and lower my prices but I don’t anymore.
Dazzle: At what point were you able to stick with that and say ‘this is my price and I’m not changing it’?
Ted: I learned a lot about valuing myself and my work in my time at school. I didn’t just learn how to animate, I also learned the business of being an artist. The jobs are out there because there’s always a need for art and design, which is an advantage because you always get work. But the disadvantage is that you always get work (laughs). And that’s because of time. Time management is something that you have to master. That’s my downfall because I haven’t gotten a good grasp of it yet.
All jobs are different and all clients have different needs. Sometimes I don’t have the zeal to do a job at the time so I do another job to find inspiration. I try to approach artists to do music videos for free, but with full creative freedom, just to get back on track. The most recent one was ‘Bad in Bum Bum’.
Dazzle: You’ve also done quite a few music videos to date, the first one being ‘Hey Scady.’ What other art forms are you actively engaged in?
Ted: Fine arts (painting), graffiti, music videos … I can do murals but I really dislike doing them since I specialise in animation and graphic design. I’m readily available for those things. I truly enjoy doing them. With painting, it can easily take up to a year to complete because I mostly paint when my emotions are heightened, whether it’s happy or sad. After the ‘Hey Scady’ video I kept doing videos for Ricky T, Mongstar, Sherwin Winchester, Subance and Mighty, Freezy and others.
Dazzle: What’s the most misunderstood thing about you as an artist, and the art form you make a living off of?
Ted: When it comes to animation, people always believe that animation costs less than real life art. I get that a lot. Earlier on in my career it really used to bother me. But like I said, there’s always a need for this kind of work. But there are, of course, exceptions. My prices for my usual clients are not my prices for schools and youth activities. Often, I take on work for free, especially if it’s for charity or a good cause.
Dazzle: So far, you’ve been achieving most of your dreams. Are there any other things that you’re still chasing after?
Ted: Regarding fitness, it’s like art; it’s ongoing. I’m never satisfied with my art but the beauty of it is that you’re the only one who knows your mistakes. Someone will see a piece of art and think ‘Wow this is perfect, I love it!’ but it will never be perfect for the person who created it. And that’s because you know where you could have improved and where you could do better. So I treat fitness like art and never settle.
As for what’s next? My dream is to have an animated series on TV, starring Cocoboy and Girard. I know that TV is losing its impact because of the internet. But it’s been my dream from long before the internet took over, so I still want to see it come to reality. I don’t plan on being the sole contributor to the series because animation is a team effort and each person has their own set of strengths. It is difficult to foster that collaborative spirit among artists in Saint Lucia. That’s why when I teach, I try to include lots of group assignments to try to break that mould.
Dazzle: How do you balance out all these various parts of your life?
Ted: It would be nice to have all my kids involved in the same thing but each of them has their own separate interests. I try my best to be present at all of their different activities because it lets them know that they have a supportive father there with them. Sometimes, during the busy season, I feel like I’m neglecting them but there are times when I need to take a break, play some games with them, and so on. My eldest son is into art and anime, so I bond with him while getting him into the industry as well. I even learn things from him and what he’s doing. My eldest daughter is into photography too. And it costs quite a bit to finance their dreams but it’s most certainly worth it.
With so much going on in his life, we wish Ted Sandiford all the success that he’s working so hard to achieve!
