Many people dread going to the dentist because they fear the experience will not be that great. However, if all dentists were as artistic as McPortar aka Michael Mupotaringa then many would readily go for those recommended regular checkups.
When his not playing with his probe, tweezer and mirror the dentist is busy giving his friends and fellow Zimbabweans a good laugh with his hilarious 2D animations and comic posts.
“My purpose with animation is to share humour primarily and stories. Occasionally to spread information. I plan to be a 2D guru before I learn 3D,” said McpPortar.
He added that his early inspiration to venture into the trade came from Tupac Shakur.
“My earliest inspiration was Tupac Shakur’s Do for Love video. I was fascinated by it because not many cartoons depicted black people on national TV. So I always wanted to animate so I would animate black people. There is no surprise I fell in love with The Boondocks for the same reason.”
Asked where he learnt animation he said, “I learnt how to animate through various online tutorials. Since 2013, initially I couldn’t draw so I stopped animating to learn still drawing. Now I force myself to sleep having drawn at least one person a day.”
Responding to how he balances being an entertainer and a dentist he said, “I test my jokes on people I meet at work. Occasionally if there is a slow day I take that time to read material on either writing, drawing or animation.”
