So you want to be an Animator? Here's what to expect.

[Ericldj]

Do you think The Art Department (TAD) would be a good place to study the foundations?

[virtualciti]

Originally Posted by Ericldj

So would if I don't have raw talent, but what if I am and willing to work to become something than the average animator? Can't shear hard work and learning from mistakes allow me to do something great?

Well surely you can overcome anything by hardwork. Hard work is a talent, drawing is just a skill.

"Hard Work is a Talent"
- Garry Kasparov, One of World's all time Best Chess Players

[Daumenkino]

Thank you all for the wisdom.

[Chalaite]

Hi, everyone. I've been reading through every post on this thread for the past few days and I have finally caught up. The discussions/advices here have been extremely helpful, I just want to say thank you very much to everyone who contributed their nuggets of wisdom. I really wished I had realized earlier that forums can be helpful; when I was younger I was blinded by DeviantArt being the only art community. Clearly, I've been deprived. There's also conceptart to check from.

If my brain were a computer, it would be showing the blue screen right now because it's so saturated from everything I've read here. After that, here comes a plethora of text like the flood of HTML codes when your PC tries to boot up again. Let me give a brief introduction of myself:

My name is Kaf and I'm 18 years old. I finished high school last December and I'm currently an Illustration major. Drawing is something I've been doing religiously since I was 10 and I know I cannot live without and but I have yet to incorporate drawing EVERYDAY into my self-discipline. My initial goal ever since I were a preteen was to be a comic book artist (the Japanese kind). However as I grew older, I have learned to appreciate different art styles (thank god). My goal to publish a comic book hasn't changed one bit but I intend to dive into other fields of art too.

Animations was something I had only cared for aesthetically and I did not think of being involved in an animation production until I watched How To Train Your Dragon. There was a scene that I found particularly inspiring and wow. After that, all I could think of was, "Wouldn't it be great if something you created could give other people those same feelings?" And basically that's how I got a deeper interest in Animations. That and I am past being intimidated by the industry. I was ready to take the risk the moment I chose Visual Arts over Law anyway.

My main goal is to be involved in preproductions of film animations like concept work and boards. I don't mind diving into cartoons like ones you see on Nickelodeon or Cartoon Network too. A friend who was an animation graduate recommended me a few books (Preston Blair's Cartoon Animation, Richard William's Animators Survival Kit and Harold Whitaker & John Halas's Timing for Animation) before I found this thread. I've yet to read them all but I'll slowly finish them. My question now is that:

What daily practices I can do to improve movement in drawings besides gestures? I realize that illustrations can be very different from animations where we want to polish everything and it would come out too stiff for animations.
Incidently, what are your opinions on the French school, Gobelins? I found their shorts to be impressive and I hope that one day I can attend a short course there, maybe summer school.
After reading so many posts here, are you trying to say that people should be pursuing an animation career as a freelance?
I'm in a good art school in my region and there's so many things to harvest from it. What habits, skills and mindset I should develop/pay attention to? (Ken has addressed this before but I feel like asking again for extra input)
How do people decide if a newcomer is 'skilled' enough for them? What are the first things they seek out in a portfolio?

These are the questions I can think of for now. Thanks for the answers in advance.

[Ken Davis]

I'm in a good art school in my region and there's so many things to harvest from it. What habits, skills and mindset I should develop/pay attention to? (Ken has addressed this before but I feel like asking again for extra input)
How do people decide if a newcomer is 'skilled' enough for them? What are the first things they seek out in a portfolio?

Hi Kaf--

I might have mentioned this before in this thread, but here it is again:


How "skilled" do you need to be?

You need to be able to produce work at the level of the studio that is hiring.
That is the benchmark.

How do you find that level?
Look at the work the studio produces. At the quality of drawing, backgrounds, animation movement, timing etc. If you can get material from their pre-production work ( say from DVDs of the shows) then study those as a gauge of artistic ability required.

To do all this, you need to develop the skill of self-evaluation, and suppress the tendency of your ego to delude you into thinking you are good enough, at too early a point. Just compare your work to the work of the studio--what it produces. Learn to draw the way they draw, paint, design etc.....

Yes, those things are always changing, evolving, but there tends to be a common benchmark standard of ability. Its a bit hard to describe: a kind of robust ruff drawing that is sketchy, yet supple, appealing and has strong design elements, yet isn't too tight or stiff early on. The work should have some "life" to it, at all stages. This can apply to drawing, painting, CGI, rigs/builds, what-have-you.

Along the way, try to show your work to professionals--get their opinions. Don't show it to people that are not drawing professionally--their opinions are valueless because they don't know what to look for.

As for what to put effort into--aside from what is mentioned above---all classic drawing disciplines are worthwhile, especially strong life drawing skills.
Perspective, composition, gestures and expressions and the range of human types and archetypes.
Strive to challenge yourself, find those things that you feel are intimidating to draw, and work on mastering those things. It will keep you from getting lazy and it will challenge you.


Good luck.

[Chalaite]

Originally Posted by Ken Davis

To do all this, you need to develop the skill of self-evaluation, and suppress the tendency of your ego to delude you into think you are good enough, at to early a point. Just compare your work to the work of the studio--what it produces. Learn to draw the way they draw, paint, design etc.....

Yes, those things are always changing, evolving, but there tends to be a common benchmark standard of ability. Its a bit hard to describe: a kind of robust ruff drawing that is sketchy, yet supple, appealing and has strong design elements, yet isn't too tight or stiff early on. The work should have some "life" to it, at all stages. This can apply to drawing, painting, CGI, rigs/builds, what-have-you.

Along the way, try to show your work to professionals--get their opinions. Don't show it to people that are not drawing professionally--their opinions are valueless because they don't know what to look for.

As for what to put effort into--aside from what is mentioned above---all classic drawing disciplines are worthwhile, especially strong life drawing skills.
Perspective, composition, gestures and expressions and the range of human types and archetypes.
Strive to challenge yourself, find those things that you feel are intimidating to draw, and work on mastering those things. It will keep you from getting lazy and it will challenge you.


Good luck.

Okay, thank you very much!
Many of the things you've pointed out are stuff I'm weak in, I'll keep that in mind and on paper.
I'll read up the books first, if I've more things I need help on then I'll return here to ask.

Ah, I feel like sh*ttiest artist in existence almost all the time rather than "I'm a good artist". But usually I just draw and don't think about all those things.
It can get depressing and I often imagined what it would be like if I hadn't started drawing as a hobby at all. I would probably end up in law school.

From the previous posts, you state that you dislike your job. But have you ever regretted going into art? Has animating become just a job for you and nothing more? Have you published a comic book yet or intend to get it out? Are there still things you're looking forward to creating while you're in the industry and if it okay, what are they?

Sorry for the bombarding of personal questions but I'm curious.

[Ken Davis]

Originally Posted by Chalaite

Okay, thank you very much!
Many of the things you've pointed out are stuff I'm weak in, I'll keep that in mind and on paper.
I'll read up the books first, if I've more things I need help on then I'll return here to ask.

Ah, I feel like sh*ttiest artist in existence almost all the time rather than "I'm a good artist". But usually I just draw and don't think about all those things.
It can get depressing and I often imagined what it would be like if I hadn't started drawing as a hobby at all. I would probably end up in law school.

Well, there's always a need for lawyers.
Don't beat yourself up about drawing though. Learning and growth are incremental. The frustration comes from not being able to gauge or measure yourself properly.....you don't know whether you are progressing or floundering--and THAT'S NORMAL. Approach things intelligently--chunk things down to manageable sizes. Learn to spot what is working in the stuff that inspires you, and then translate that stuff that works into your own work.
As long as you persist, you will grow.

From the previous posts, you state that you dislike your job. But have you ever regretted going into art? Has animating become just a job for you and nothing more? Have you published a comic book yet or intend to get it out? Are there still things you're looking forward to creating while you're in the industry and if it okay, what are they?

Sorry for the bombarding of personal questions but I'm curious.

Its not so much that I dislike my job, its that I am realistic about it.
I don't animate any more, I storyboard, and they are both different disciplines in the same line of work. I'm not awestruck by the stuff any more. The projects I work on are not my own creations, they are jobs I'm hired to do. My contributions are under the auspices of other's oversight. My input is governed by the limitations of the script and the director's notes/advice.
I do not necessarily LIKE the projects I work on......and I don't have to, as I'm just hired to bring what I can to it and get paid for delivering what the client wants.
In essence, I am just a hired wrist.
Because the project is not mine, once the work leaves my hands, it is out of my control. The person that follows me in the production pipeline may be more or less competent--something that cannot be predicted or influenced.
I do a specific task, give it what I have and then hand it it. My participation ends there. The work isn't magical in any sense because I have seen follow-up work rendered unto shit, by people that simply did not care enough.
You cannot force someone to like something, so one must simply accept that not everyone is going to give their all.

Keep in mind, that indifference or dislike does not equal incompetence.
The skill-sets are so varied in this craft that finding the people who all love a specific genre or style is nigh-impossible.
A job ends up being.....a job.

This is the main point of a thread like this, to introduce the "reality" of the biz to newcomers--even though the reality can vary somewhat, based on personal experiences.

[Chalaite]

Originally Posted by Ken Davis

Its not so much that I dislike my job, its that I am realistic about it.
I don't animate any more, I storyboard, and they are both different disciplines in the same line of work. I'm not awestruck by the stuff any more. The projects I work on are not my own creations, they are jobs I'm hired to do. My contributions are under the auspices of other's oversight. My input is governed by the limitations of the script and the director's notes/advice.
I do not necessarily LIKE the projects I work on......and I don't have to, as I'm just hired to bring what I can to it and get paid for delivering what the client wants.
In essence, I am just a hired wrist.

Yes, I suppose it makes sense seeing as the work you do is not your own, there's nothing personal there. The drawing is just to get pay.
But that's the same with any other job so I think I'd still rather prefer to go mental or frustrated over something like animations or illustrations than regular 9-5 jobs.
Well, I'm still new to this so maybe when I'm older and into the industry, I'll be less awestruck over every little thing hmm.

Have you had enough time for personal projects while working? Stuff to do to retain your sanity or do you wait until your job is done?
Do you allocate your time daily like an organized, sensible person or just do it when you feel like it?

Edit: And what are the negative/positive aspects of plateauing? Plateauing early would be horrible of course but what if everything you draw ends up generally having the same style even though you've become a pro? Is trying to diversify your styles a method to get out of it? It kind of scares me at the moment.

[tyree]

I can tell you honestly I dont always start off enjoying the jobs I do for others. but along the way, as it comes together that changes. while my main thing is animation, I do general work modeling, painting, video editing, graphic work. all creative work but animation and painting I enjoy the most. whenever the need hits me. thats when I work on my personal work. sometimes I have the time, other times I make the time

it isnt a set thing

[Chalaite]

Originally Posted by tyree

I can tell you honestly I dont always start off enjoying the jobs I do for others. but along the way, as it comes together that changes. while my main thing is animation, I do general work modeling, painting, video editing, graphic work. all creative work but animation and painting I enjoy the most. whenever the need hits me. thats when I work on my personal work. sometimes I have the time, other times I make the time

it isnt a set thing

Hmm, sounds just like balancing school work and personal work. And okay thank you
I was just unsure whether going into animation is going to give me a lot of sleepless nights until I finish the given work or is there a tiny bit of free time I can squeeze into.