From Pixar to Plein Air

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After a successful career in Hollywood, Harsh Agrawal now channels his creativity into landscapes that reveal both the poetry of place and the resilience of his own experience.

By Ellen Howard

From a small mining village in India to the creative halls of Pixar Studios — with credits on Coco and Toy Story 4 — Harsh Agrawal’s journey is a study in reinvention. Now based in London, he has exchanged Hollywood’s fast pace for the quieter rhythm of full-time painting, transforming parks and ordinary street corners into intimate landscapes that invite viewers to see the world with fresh eyes.

Harsh Agrawal, "Chelsea Nights [London]," 2025, watercolor, 10 x 14 in., Available from artist, Plein air — Harsh Agrawal, “Chelsea Nights [London],” 2025, watercolor, 10 x 14 in., Available from artist, Plein air

To trace the artist’s remarkable path to success, we begin in Rairangpur, where he grew up in a family that valued traditional education. Though science and mathematics were emphasized, Agrawal held fast to his passion for art. In high school, a visiting friend saw some of his work and later shared it with the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), which offered him a full scholarship. To cover additional expenses and pursue extra courses in technology, he worked as a resident advisor — at one point sleeping only every third day to keep up. That relentless determination led to a data-visualization project with NASA and, ultimately, an internship at Pixar, after a studio executive discovered his artwork on the SCAD website and sought him out.

After SCAD, he continued his computer science studies at a university in Hong Kong while keeping his passion for art alive. During this period, he created “Organized Chaos,” a painting that captures the buzzing energy of the city’s neon-lit streets. He spent two years there, returning each summer to Pixar, where he steadily built his reputation. Upon graduation, the studio offered him a full-time position in California.

Harsh Agrawal, "Organised Chaos [Hong Kong]," 2022, watercolor, 20 x 13 in., Available from artist, Studio from plein air studies — Harsh Agrawal, “Organised Chaos [Hong Kong],” 2022, watercolor, 20 x 13 in., Available from artist, Studio from plein air studies

From Studio to Solo Artist

At Pixar, Agrawal discovered a vibrant art community among his colleagues, participating in the company’s life drawing classes and joining Bay Area plein air painting groups to develop his skills and pursue his fine art ambitions. Later, he transitioned to Lucasfilm’s visual effects division, Industrial Light & Magic, in Singapore. His portrait work on characters for Star Wars and The Avengers: Endgame sharpened his sensitivity to subtle variations in texture, color, and line — experience that directly informs his work as a fine artist today.

Continue reading this article in PleinAir Magazine (October/November 2025)

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Blog post prepared for the web by Cherie Dawn Haas, Editor of Plein Air Today