In Focus: Will Child
How many of us dreamed about becoming a footballer when we were kids?
And how many, after realising we didn’t have the stamina of Paul Scholes or the right foot of Juninho Pernambucano, thought of finding other ways to make it into the football world?
There is a never-ending amount of stories out there regarding individuals who might have not been talented enough to be footballers, but with a talent that could wonderfully unite with their passion for football.
And here at onetwo we’re all for uncovering these stories and bringing them to life.
Meet Will Child, aka @williamjchild, a creative mind that connected his passion for football to art, and started to craft something pretty unique.
As you’ll soon find out, Will’s art pieces have appeared all around the world, thanks to their uniqueness and expressiveness, so we wanted to know more about his story while discussing his passion for the beautiful game.
Francesco - Hi Will, first of all thanks a lot for taking the time and speaking to onetwo. What do you think if we warm up a bit and start with a brief introduction of yourself?
Will - Thanks to you guys, your interest in my work means a lot to me! My name is Will Child, grew up in Leeds, and currently 33. This probably means I’m not going to make it as a footballer anymore, which is why instead I’m now an animator and director.
Francesco - Great! Now an easy but not so easy question to keep the flow going. What is your first memory when you think about football?
Will - My first football memories are all pretty Tony Yeboah-centric! I remember spending a lot of my younger years cutting about in the early 90s Thistle Hotels-sponsored Leeds kits. I even had a goldfish called Tony Yeboah, who grew massive and lived for years, way outlasting the real Tony’s spell at Leeds. Funnily enough though, I think my first ever game was a Lancashire derby with a family friend - Burnley vs Preston. Proper football.
Francesco - And these are some proper memories for sure. Would love to see a picture of the Yeboah goldfish! Now, here at onetwo we like to talk about those stories that connect football to different facets of mainstream sports and culture, so it’s time to talk about what you do. Ready for a barrage of questions?
Will - Of course! Let them come!
Francesco - Awesome! So, what would you call the art pieces you create? Sculptures? Do they have a label whatsoever?
Will - Yeah, I tend to refer to the plasticine busts and models that I make as sculptures, though it seems a little grandiose! But I guess that would be the technical term. They serve the static, more art-led side of my practice, but are intrinsically linked to the stop-motion animated music videos and commercial work I do as well.
Francesco - How did you start creating these sculptures, and which was the first one?
Will - The first one was a plasticine model of Donald Trump, which I animated to throw up the word ‘BIGLY’; this was something he was saying a lot at the time, and something I’m not sure is a real word to be honest. That was the model that triggered my love affair with plasticine and stop motion; it came about purely by chance after I found some scraps of plasticine in my art kit and fancied giving it a go.
Francesco - This is quite the story. Which makes me even more curious, so let’s talk about the creative process behind your work: what goes through your mind if you can tell? Do the characteristics of the subject influence your thought process and how it is going to look? Which tools and materials do you use?
Will - The characteristics of the subject definitely influence the process! I’m always trying to suggest elements of their personality or story through their pose or expression. I’ve often found it amazing just how much someone’s personality, in essence their spirit, can be reflected in how they look physically. I predominantly use plasticine as I love how expressive you can be with it, and don’t use much in terms of equipment outside my hands and a few very basic clay tools.
Francesco - This is seriously cool, wow. So basically you’re reproducing the subject’s personality thanks to how personalisable the plasticine is, but also reflecting your own personality thanks to your hands and creativity. And what is the piece you’re most proud of, if there’s one?
Will - There’s a few that tend to stand out to me; a few of my favourites include Mike Tyson, Erling Haaland, Harry Maguire, FKA Twigs, my Sopranos series, and Luka Modric of the top of my head!
Francesco - Not a bad collection at all I must say, and you didn’t mention so many cool ones to be fair! What’s the next on the list, if we’re allowed to know?
Will - I’ve got an endless notes list in my phone, with the names of footballers, actors, celebrities, all sorts of people that I want to sculpt one day. But I tend to just choose them on the strength of whose face I’m most inspired to model that day! I’m actually becoming increasingly interested in modelling strangers and regular members of the public - it’s where some of the most interesting faces are.
Francesco - Interesting angle, I guess strangers can provide with a wider range of personalities and emotions. Going back to your work, did any player, club or brand reach out to you for work?
Will - I’ve done a handful of football work in the past yes. I did a Premier League commercial for Man Utd vs Chelsea, a claymation battle between Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte in 2018. I sculpted Carles Puyol’s head for BT Sport, which Gerard Pique interacted with during a Champions League interview and actually ended up taking home to give as a gift to Puyol. Last year I worked on the Adidas Predator campaign, animating a plasticine Ellen White taking on an extraterrestrial opposition, and I’ve made tons of silly little football claymation sketches in the past, but I’m massively keen to do more football-led work.
Francesco - Wow, this is a jaw-dropping list of collabs, congratulations! And so inspiring as well. If we tell you tomorrow you can make your dream connected to this passion come true, what would that be?
Will - I am very lucky in that I have already gone a lot further than I ever thought I would do in animation, and have worked with some dream clients, so everything else now is just a bonus. But that said, I would love to break into television and film, and tell all kinds of stories as a director.
Francesco - We keep all our fingers crossed for that to happen, because we feel you definitely deserve it. One last question before we let you go, what exciting projects do you have coming up?
Will - I am developing a number of series and short films, some of which are currently being pitched to broadcasters, so I’m very keen to keep them moving. Other than that, I recently finished a music video and am looking to get the next video or commercial in soon!
Thank you very much to Will for taking the time to talk to us, it was an absolute pleasure talking to him and getting to discover his outstanding talent.
Make sure to follow his creative journey, as there’s no doubt he will do many more great things!
