THE art of hand-drawn animation has a new band of champions - and they are based in Glasgow city centre.

Mark Flood Animations is leading the fight to preserve skills in danger of disappearing completely thanks to the rise of computer-generated drawing.

Founder Mark and his colleagues Jack Morrison, Imraan Ali and Amy Gregson are already attracting global attention, and plan to release a 30-minute cartoon.

Their dream is to create a full-length hand-drawn feature film.

Mark, Jack, Imraan and Amy set up their own artists' group while still at school, after attending a painting and drawing class at Glasgow School Of Art.

"I had always loved drawing and used to drive my teachers mad by drawing over everything," says Mark, who is 18 and lives in Paisley.

"I watched old cartoons and I loved Don Bluth films, like An American Tail and Anastasia.

"Don was one of the big Hollywood animators and he did a series of online tutorials, which is really how I started."

He adds: "I also have two older cousins, who lent me Disney classics like The Fox And The Hound and Peter Pan and I watched all the 'behind-the-scenes' footage of the professionals drawing.

"I was fascinated by how it was done, but I never really thought of doing it as a career."

A spell of work experience at Glasgow animation company Once Were Farmers changed all that.

"I think everyone in the class thought I was going to milk cows for a week," says Mark. "It was an amazing experience and it inspired me to set up my own company."

Two short films - The Freak Next Door and Two Women, One Heart - brought Mark Flood Animations out of the tiny artists group and into the spotlight.

Awards and acclaim, including a spot at several festivals in the UK and America, followed and Mark gained the support of Business Gateway, The Prince's Scottish Youth Business Trust and Young Enterprise Scotland.

Mark has also battled health problems - when he was 14 he suffered a stroke, which left him unable to write, speak or move properly.

He refused to accept that it could be months or weeks before his drawing abilities returned, so he threw everything in to his recovery.

"I don't really mention it any more, it doesn't define me," he says.

In the little Waterloo Street office he shares with Jack, Imraan and Amy, Mark is full of enthusiasm for the future of hand-drawn animation, even though he realises its revival will not happen overnight.

"There is a certain feeling captured by hand-drawn animation that you just don't get with computers," he says.

"I always assumed the reasons the big movie companies didn't go for it was down to pace but hand-drawn animation isn't slower than digital. They are both slow at different parts of the process.

"It is a beautiful art form and I want to bring it back. You know when you are watching a hand-drawn cartoon there is a real person behind it. I think the characters take on that human soul in the process, while in computer generated films, to me the characters always behave a little like puppets."

The team is working on Operation Alleycat, a 30-minute cartoon that features the voice talents of London West End actor Martin Quinn, local actress Charly Stakim and Paisley's panto comedy duo Alan Orr and David Wallace.

It has also attracted the interest of animators who have worked with some of the industry's biggest studios, including Walt Disney, Dreamworks, Sullivan Bluth and Amblimation.

It is the story of a mouse, who has inherited a mysterious diamond, getting caught in a conflict between a brutal gang of lizard thugs and a group of homeless animals.

There are wise-cracking cats, a hypochondriac rat and a charming mosquito.

"It's like an animal version of A Clockwork Orange," says Mark. "There is a real buzz building now, and we can't wait to get it finished. We are looking for financial support, hoping to attract investment from companies and crowdfunding campaigns."

"And after that, we would like to do a full-length film next, or a TV series."

Is he aiming for the next Simpsons? Or Frozen?

Mark says: "I think one of the biggest mistakes you can make is to say you want to be the 'next Walt Disney' or the 'next Matt Groening'.

"You have got to be you, and if people love what you do, great."

ann.fotheringham@ eveningtimes.co.uk