Frequently Asked Questions through steaming

When did you start learning animation? What school did you go to?
I technically started animating with Flash through Newgrounds.com at around the age of 14-15. It wasn’t until the age of 17-18 that I wanted to pursue it as a career choice. I went to Sheridan College for Art Fundamentals, and Calarts for the Character Animation program

Would I need to go to an animation program/school to get a job in animation?

Short answer is no, since studios usually look at one’s body of work and see if they can do the job. There are a lot of online schools where you could just pay for a discipline. Schools like Schoolism, Concept Design Academy, CGMA, Radhowto school and many others fall into this category. I would say look at your own goals and what a certain school can offer. I chose Cal Arts because I wanted mainly to make films every year, but it also helped me be a part of the community, form connections, and really find myself in a school. That was just my experience.
If you are an international student trying to find work in the industry WHILE living in America, you HAVE to have a degree to qualify for the H1-B work visa.

How would I start animation? What types of practice would I need to do?
I believe you can start anytime you feel like it. Like drawing or painting, you just have to do it. The reason why a lot of schools have portfolio exams is to see if you have enough draftsmanship skills to be able to keep up with the animation curriculum, but that doesn’t mean you can’t start learning it or trying it out yourself.

There are many things you can do to get better at animation, such as classic animation assignments such as the bouncing ball, the waving flag, etc. You could learn by the basis of the project, so if you started animating a very short and simple film, you can learn animating that way. I would encourage you to have clear intentions when you start animating or you start learning, and you have something in mind you want to improve on.

I have a video course on my gumroad page that is an introduction course to 2D animation:
https://gum.co/Introto2DComplete

What type of drawing/draftsmanship skills would I need to have to pursue storyboarding or 2D animation?
Drawing is an endless life study, so you’re always going to keep learning new things about it even after you have a job in animation. However at the top of my head, here are a few things I can think of

• Gesture Drawing - Being able to draw the figure loose and quickly, but maintain clarity. Think about showing weight, force, and tension. This is great for rough animation

• Decisive Lines and Strokes - Try drawing with less hairy lines and be bold with every line you draw. Clarity and being bold is useful for both storyboarding and animation.

• Solid Construction - Know how to break complex figures /subjects down into simple shapes and primitives, and know how to draw solid form. In animation, you’ll need to know how to animate the character while maintaining consistency

• Observational Skills - Useful for adapting a different style for a production. Blind Contour Sketching is a practice where you draw your subject WITHOUT looking at your paper. This forces you to look at your subject without falling back into your usual drawing habits, and to train hand to eye coordination. Also useful for looking at reference material in general, and knowing how to replicate it. Useful for getting acting and performance down.

• Basic Perspective - Understand the horizon line, one point and two point perspectives, how to draw form in perspectice. This is essential for layout and storyboarding.

• Layout + Compositional Skills - Know how to compose your pieces so you know how to stage things in a set, or how to use an effective camera/composition for your storyboards.

Anything related to Value, Illustration, Paintingn and colors may fall into territories such as Visual Development, Color Keying, Design etc.

How do you deal with mental/art block?
I’m no therapist, and I get asked this a lot. The only suggestion I have is to take a step back from it, and think about what is causing that overall thought. Everyone is different with their own issues, and everyone is going to deal with art/mental block the way they can. You have to stop what you’re doing and think about things in your life that is hindering your work.

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