Andrés Sandoval and the Art of Bringing an Idea to Life
The Artist Behind Janlops Sandoval
Andrés Sandoval is a graphic designer who graduated from Universidad del Valle in Cali. He is also an illustrator, cartoonist, character designer, and animator specializing in frame-by-frame and 2D cutout animation.
His career includes work in animated films, television series, web content, multimedia applications, music videos, book illustration, corporate identity, visual humor, and character development.
He has contributed to projects associated with production companies and studios such as HuevoCartoon México, Bombillo Amarillo, HBO Max, TeamToon Studio, Fósfenos Media, Cánido Studio, Doinmedia, El Bando Creativo, and WebMedia.
His animation experience includes productions such as Los Colorados, Sésame, Balloon & Ben, Tuttle Twins, Gold Fish, Orphans, El libro de Lila, Guillermina y Candelario, Historias en Juego, Kayko y Kokosh, and the music video Serial Jane by The Blemish.
Yet Andrés’s work cannot be understood only through the productions in which he has participated.
As a cartoonist, he also observes, interprets, and responds to the world.
Working under the name Janlops Sandoval, he has participated in book fairs, comic festivals, exhibitions, and international gatherings devoted to caricature and graphic humor.
He was a national guest at several editions of the Ricardo Rendón International Festival of Graphic Humor and Caricature between 2012 and 2021. He has also participated in Calicomix, Comics Without Borders, and the Bogotá and Medellín book fairs.
His work has appeared in publications such as El Clavo and 20/20 Magazine UK.
A Creative Collaboration that Began with Balita, la Bala Perdida
I met Andrés Sandoval in Cali, Colombia, in 2006, during the creative development of Balita, la Bala Perdida, an audiovisual proposal based on the Colombian comic created by León Octavio and developed with El Bando Creativo.
I had recently graduated and was invited to compose the incidental music for the project. Andrés was part of the visual and animation process that gave the story its identity, movement, and personality.
That experience taught me something that continues to shape my work today: an audiovisual production is not built through isolated disciplines.
It emerges when the image listens to the music, when the music understands the character, and when every artist contributes a different perspective to the same narrative world.
Balita was one of my earliest professional experiences in which I could witness how an idea transforms when illustrators, animators, composers, designers, and producers work around a shared vision.
Andrés already possessed the quality that continues to define his work today: the ability to find the gesture, expression, and visual energy that allow a character to begin existing in the imagination of an audience.
“One day, while walking home through the Santa Librada neighborhood in Cali, Colombian artist and cartoonist León Octavio Osorno Aguirre discovered a .38-caliber bullet on the ground. That unexpected encounter sparked the creation of Balita—“Little Bullet”—a memorable character that would go on to become part of Colombia’s cultural and graphic storytelling history.” -Leon Octavio
Discover the story behind Balita and celebrate its 50th anniversary.
Photo: 2019 Leon Octavio
Photo: Andres Sandoval 2019
A visual language recognized internationally
Andrés’s work has received numerous awards and distinctions in Colombia and abroad.
In 2020, he received first place at the Noticartoon Colombia Festival in the physiognomic caricature category. In 2018, he earned second place at the XVIII International Festival of Unpublished Poetry of Cali, revealing a creative voice that extends beyond the visual arts and into language.
In 2021, he received third place at the KienyKe National Digital Journalism Awards in the opinion cartoon category.
His work has also been recognized through special prizes, diplomas, parchments, and honorable mentions at festivals and competitions in Greece, Syria, Italy, the Czech Republic, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Azerbaijan, and Colombia.
In 2014, one of his caricatures was selected for an international printed book honoring Robin Williams.
Each recognition speaks to a career built through observation, discipline, imagination, and craftsmanship.
Yet the deepest value of Andrés’s work cannot be captured only through awards. It lives in his way of seeing: in his ability to discover humanity within an expression, tension within a posture, and an entire story within a small visual detail.
Selected for the 3rd International Cartoon Festival in Iran, 2020
A creative reunion through 4TheArtsLab
Many years after Balita, la Bala Perdida, our professional paths crossed again.
Andrés is currently collaborating as an illustrator on one of the educational projects being developed within 4TheArtsLab. The project is still in a creative and conceptual development stage, so I am intentionally not sharing its title or its specific methodology at this time. What I can share is that it brings together several areas that have shaped my professional journey: music, visual storytelling, culture, learning experience design, and creative technology.
Andrés’s role is helping us explore how illustration can support understanding, imagination, emotional connection, and cultural curiosity. This process is not simply about adding images to educational content.
It is about asking deeper questions:
What should a learner feel when encountering a character?
How can an image make a concept more approachable?
How can visual storytelling help learners connect information with memory, identity, and lived experience?
How can illustration invite curiosity before an explanation even begins?
These questions have brought Andrés and me back into a shared creative space, although our professional journeys have evolved significantly since our first collaboration.
In Balita, we explored how music and animation could express the identity of a fictional character.
Today, we are exploring how illustration and learning design can help transform educational ideas into meaningful human experiences.
The value of creative continuity
There is something deeply meaningful about reconnecting with an artist after many years and discovering that the original creative dialogue is still alive.
The tools may have changed.
The professional contexts may have evolved.
The projects may now serve different audiences.
But the essential question remains the same:
How can different art forms work together to communicate something that one discipline could not express alone?
For me, this collaboration represents creative continuity.
It connects an early chapter of my work as a composer with my current role as a learning experience designer, educator, cultural collaborator, and founder of 4TheArtsLab.
It also reminds me that our professional journeys are rarely linear. Sometimes an idea, a collaborator, or a conversation returns years later with a new purpose.
Follow Andrés Sandoval’s creative journey
Andrés continues to create across animation, illustration, character design, caricature, publishing, and visual storytelling.
I invite you to discover his work and follow his professional journey on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn under the name Janlops Sandoval.
LinkedIn: Janlops Sandoval
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/janlopssandoval/
Professional profile:co.linkedin.com/in/Janlops
His work reminds us that an image does more than show us how something looks.
At its best, an image helps us understand how something feels, moves, remembers, and comes alive.
