Aleksandr Petrov is a Russian animator who received the 1999 Academy Award for Animated Short Film for his adaptation of The Old Man and The Sea, by Ernest Hemingway.

The Old Man and The Sea, published in 1952, was the last short story written by Hemingway in his lifetime and was considered by him to be one of his finest, if not his finest, work. Since then, it has gained a well-deserved reputation as one of the classics of American literature. Its telling of the story of an old fisherman's struggle to haul in a large marlin at sea is also one of my favourite piece of work.

So I was pleasantly surprised when I chanced upon this animation by Aleksandr Petrov.

Aleksandr Petrov & The Old Man and The Sea

Aleksandr Petrov specialises in animations created with a special technique, pastel oil paintings on glass. Each frame of the animation in the video above consists of Petrov laboriously modifying a small aspect of the painting on glass using wet paint on his fingers, and then capturing the image with a camera. Do that repeatedly and the captured images string together to form a video, capturing motion and conveying a story with a dream-like effect.

The 20 minutes video took Petrov and his son over 2 years to complete. In total, over 29,000 frames were painted.

A video of Petrov at work

I have always wondered about what goes on in the minds of a person who spends years of his life on his work and craft.

Petrov considers animation to be his calling, despite having had some doubts. He said it in a very matter-of-fact manner, but behind that, how much strength of will underlies his devotion to his work? Is this the nature of passion?