What are studios looking for? How can I get into a good animation school? What should I be studying?
I get a lot of these types of questions now and again, and I never know how to answer them. I can’t be sure of what studios are looking for, I don’t control admissions policies to schools, and I have little idea what makes for a current and relevant curriculum. There are a lot of variables in your bid for a career in animation, and it’s kind of impossible to control most of them. You must be crazy to want this job!
I find it helpful to focus on the things I can control. Among those things are your study habits and how you spend your personal time. It’s good to work hard and have goals—without them we would get nowhere. Study hard and make decisive strides towards achieving your art goals. But in the heat of that pursuit, don’t forget to go out and live your life!
If you spend any amount of time looking at artists online, you’ve probably figured out by now that there are about a million dudes and dudettes in internetville who draw better than you (I relive this realization daily). Once your have done your best to rise to their level, the only tool you have to compete with these crazy talents is your background, your personal character—is you!
Consider developing your whole self with the same raw focus and intensity that you develop a particular skill set. Get focused. Go out, have adventures. Run, jump, skin your knee, fall in love, root loudly for the away team at a baseball game, barely escape a crash of stampeding rhinos, live to see another day. Experience things big and small. Go for a walk. The world is full of wonders.
I know this advice is not particularly animation-specific, but maybe that’s for the best. At any rate, it is something I feel strongly about. Animation is great, and there are few things that I enjoy doing more than drawing and storytelling. But in order to have stories to tell, first you have to live them.
Be good, and see you soon!
PS, if you were looking for advice on draftsmanship you should probably be reading this.
I dunno about you guys, but as a soon-to-be college graduate with nothing planned ahead, I think this is pretty darn comforting! Anthony Holden is my hero.
I try to dig deep into the well of my subconscious. At a certain moment in that process, the lid is opened and very different ideas and visions are liberated. With those I can start making a film. But maybe it’s better that you don’t open that lid completely, because if you release your subconscious it becomes really hard to live a social or family life.
Hayao Miyazaki
(Source: pickledelephant, via japanlove)
These are real fucking stallions.
This picture is great from the start, and then you realize that they’re literally wearing her shoes and it makes it that much better.
This is beautiful.
They look better than me in heelsI will never not reblog this.
I never noticed before that they’re actually wearing heels. That is fantastic.
a-freaking-mazing…omg they’re wearing heels!
Best ever
I wonder what would happen if there was a campaign that said ” Walk in his boots, use his equipment”
Oh my god. I love this.
Absolutely love this!
I get to be the shitty person who says I don’t like this.
I DO like that it makes money—hell yeah.
I don’t like that it’s necessary to get men advocating for us to get that much money. We can’t advocate for ourselves and expect half as much praise, attention, and probably even money.
The local kid in charge of this—he’s gotten all of these awesome college opportunities and scholarships for being an advocate. And something about this man getting MORE opportunities, MORE privilege, by representing a GIRL POWER movement—that irks me, especially when my female peers (who are just as good of students as him, mind you) are not given the same (or even similar!) opportunities and privilege for working in female-run advocacy groups, like Take Back the Night.
Sigh
considering why high heels were invented, yeah, not really getting behind this
(Source: melikdaniel, via d3manda)
(Source: vanhouten-peter, via mariannapaige)
How to draw heads tutorial. Hope this helps!
if u feel sad right now look at this bunny eating a flower
Dandelions are actually really good for bunnies! Healthy little cutie :)
Oh his cute little face!!!
(Source: sixsteen, via choco-chihuahua)
How to Make Your Art Look Nice: Contrast by Trotroy
I suddenly had an urge to make a tutorial. Here’s the one I did for my dA. NOW FORMATTED FOR TUMBLR.
HUE
(via wannabeanimator)
