About

Hi, I'm Varun: animator, analyst and filmmaker in the making. This site collects what I make and learn, so you can take something useful from it.

What's here for you

🎞️ If you love animation and film

Short stories, animated and live-action, from Illuminartist Studios, with the full process behind them. Every piece says which tools were used, traditional or AI, so you can learn from the workflow and not just the result.

🤖 If you follow AI

Plain-language notes on new papers in AI safety, generative video and LLM agents: what the paper claims, whether it holds up, and why it matters to people who make things.

📊 If you care about India

India in Data (coming soon): clear, sourced explainers on what's improving, what needs attention, and where the numbers disagree with the headlines.

📷 If you like the outdoors

Street and landscape photography, travel vlogs and, eventually, the night sky (coming soon).

🛠️ If you build things

Open-source tools and experiments, starting with an animation app for iPad, built in public with devlogs (coming soon).

A bit about me

I've worked in analytics for over a decade and have drawn and animated for even longer. You may know my older speed paintings and Flash tutorials as illuminartist. These days I'm putting it all together: art, data and AI, building toward Illuminartist Studios.

Views here are my own and not my employer's.

Say hello

Ideas, collaborations or feedback: hello@varunvishnani.com.