Hello
My name is Rodrigo Burgos, also known as Poppyguy. I'm a story artist deeply in love with visual narrative, 2D animation, and character design.
I find myself spending hours obsessing over my characters' expressions and gestures, which translates into carefully curated acting.
But the most important part of my work is the analytical questioning behind creating panels and sequences. I ask myself: What is every part of the story feeling emotionally? What is the character feeling? What emotion does the story need you to feel?
This process translates into sharp imagery of emotional fragments that, when put together, create a cohesive emotional journey.
My Story
Hey, this is the awkward part to write.
I'm originally from Venezuela, and my passion for art started really young. In class, and in general, I always had a hard time meeting new people or socializing in groups. But thanks to one of the good parts of my ADHD, I found that I could understand and interact with people better while doing something else, so drawing became a constant part of my life without getting in the way of school.
From a young age, I was always drawing, creating characters, and moving them through the pages. They were inspired by all the media I consumed, shaped by my lack of social interaction, and brought to life by the few strong bonds I did create. I was—and still am—fueled by a constant desire to make my work better.
I grew up in a small city in the mountains called Mérida, one of the most beautiful places in the world to me. I spent a lot of my time after class hanging around parks and plazas with the "bad kids," complaining about life and getting ideas for stories. When we weren't there, we'd go up into the mountains, to the top of the valley, just to spend time together, tell stories, or play games.
Eventually, because of the local economic situation, I was forced to make a choice: leave and pursue my dream, or stay and never know what I could achieve. I had always dreamed of getting out there, telling my own stories, and helping other people tell theirs.
I fell in love with animation from an early age. With little to no parental control over what I watched, my days could start with Cartoon Network, move into Adult Swim, and end with MTV before bed. Stories became a way for me to understand myself and discover what I was feeling.
As I grew older and developed more natural relationships with people, I also developed a close connection to stories that reflected the reality of the world I felt I was living in—things like BoJack Horseman, Skins, South Park, and FLCL.
In those stories, I found something I hadn't found anywhere else: the idea that we're all flawed, and that no matter what you're going through, somewhere there are people who feel like you do.
That's something I carry very close to myself, and it's what I want to bring into the things I create. I want to make stories where people can recognize a little piece of themselves and realize they're not alone in their room, dreading everything. Maybe today sucks. Maybe tomorrow does too. But if you keep doing the work and putting in the hours, the day after that might be a little better.
