https://howtobecomeaprofessionalartist.com

In this episode: Graphic novelist and literary agent Tori Sharp shares tips on pitching to publishers, how story guides design and the challenge of creating honest art.

Our Production Coordinator, Mari Gonzalez Curia, who is currently seeking representation for her first original graphic novel, joins me as co-host.

This is the first of a two-part series.

Get clear, relevant feedback on your work and personalized career guidance in our mentorship: The Clockwork Heart: https://howtobecomeaprofessionalartist.com/clockwork-heart/

Subscribe to this podcast on any of the major platforms (Apple Music, Spotify, SoundCloud, Google Podcasts, YouTube) and join our email list for notifications about future episodes, courses, and mentorship opportunities. It’s 100% free and we will always respect your privacy: https://visual-voice-llc.ck.page/688dccdf68

Next, In Part 2: Tori talks about stories as “sense-making” devices, urges the importance of “celebration breaks” during long projects and shares her experience as an autistic artist.

00:45 Meet Tori Sharp 02:59 Tori's First Comics 05:19 Do You Consider Your Work Nostalgic? 09:24 Coursework Vs. Conversations 11:46 Understanding Passion 13:15 The Challenge Of Creating Honest Art 17:25 A Quick Note From Future Chris 17:44 Continuing Education 19:37 Passion Is Past-Tense 21:17 Rediscovering Her "First Love" 23:02 Tori's "Scariest" Project Yet: Just Pretend 24:36 Managing Panic 25:32 The Unique Challenge Of Sequential Art 28:57 Developing A Visual Style 30:48 Discovering Synesthesia 31:45 Imperfect Perspective 33:06 The Emotional Process Of Pitching 36:52 Pitching Multiple Projects At The Same Time 40:32 Next In Part Two 40:45 Credits

https://howtobecomeaprofessionalartist.com/

Animation visual development artist and background painter Amy Lewis shares insights about the vitality of professional networking, balancing perfectionism with self-acceptance and the attitude she expects from her students and crew.

This is the second in a two-part series.

Get clear, relevant feedback on your work and personalized career guidance in our mentorship: The Clockwork Heart: https://howtobecomeaprofessionalartist.com/clockwork-heart/

Subscribe to this podcast on any of the major platforms and join our email list for notifications about future episodes, courses, and mentorship opportunities. It’s 100% free and we will always respect your privacy: https://visual-voice-llc.ck.page/688dccdf68

00:00 Introduction

01:42 The Struggle Of Self-Critique

05:52 Growing Confidence - Brass Bands And Bullies

09:13 How Amy Beats The Odds

12:11 The Vitality Of Networking

14:21 Happy Little Trees

15:14 Amy's Current Mindset

16:37 Evaluating Amy's Old Portfolios

18:26 The Mindset Amy Recommends For Her Students And Crew

19:38 The Best (And Worst) Advice Amy Ever Received

22:29 The Magic Feather

25:30 Anything Else?

26:41 Credits

https://howtobecomeaprofessionalartist.com/

Animation visual development artist and background painter Amy Lewis (SpongeBob, Moominvalley) talks about establishing a freelance animation career from Europe, the most devastating rejection of her career and the amazing opportunity that followed.

This is the first of a two-part series.

Get clear, relevant feedback on your work and personalized career guidance in our mentorship: The Clockwork Heart: https://howtobecomeaprofessionalartist.com/clockwork-heart/

Subscribe to this podcast on any of the major platforms and join our email list for notifications about future episodes, courses, and mentorship opportunities. It’s 100% free and we will always respect your privacy: https://visual-voice-llc.ck.page/688dccdf68

Next, In Part Two: Amy shares insights about the vitality of professional networking, balancing perfectionism with self-acceptance and the attitude she expects from her students and crew...

00:00 Introduction

00:39 Meet Amy Lewis

02:11 Amy's Early Influences

05:03 Frustration With University Art Programs

07:02 Experimenting With Illustration

08:05 "I've Found My People..."

09:49 Amy's First Big Break

14:08 Another Year Of Skill Building

15:33 Moominvalley & Art Directing In Lockdown

16:45 Knowing What You Don't Want

18:50 Amy's Dream Job Disappointment

21:33 SpongeBob SquarePants

24:13 The Brave Locomotive

25:52 Amy's Artistic Development

32:17 Next In Part 2

32:31 Credits/ Hidden Track

http://HowToBecomeAProfessionalArtist.com

*At the time of this recording, Chris' mentorship The Clockwork Heart is accepting applications. Email [email protected] to schedule an interest meeting and apply.

*IN THIS EPISODE:*

In this episode of “You’re A Better Artist Than You Think,” Chris Oatley, founder of The Magic Box Academy and Visual Development Artist for Disney, DreamWorks, and Sony Pictures Animation, helps artists identify what to look for in a creative mentor.

...and he shares a personal story about the time one of his music mentors helped him overcome a fear he didn't even know he had.

This is part one in a series.

0:01 - Introduction 0:21 - A Potential Mentorship Gone Wrong  2:20 - Collaborative Mentorship 4:08 - Defining "Mentorship" 6:08 - Our Definition 6:52 - Great Mentors Help You Help Yourself 13:10 - Homework 14:44 - "Autonomy" by The Bright Sigh

In this episode of “You’re A Better Artist Than You Think,” Chris Oatley, founder of The Magic Box Academy and Visual Development Artist for Disney, DreamWorks, and Sony Pictures Animation, helps digital artists and visual storytellers de-stress their creative process through the revival of classical workflows.

You’ll find guidance in the timeless methods of legendary illustrator J.C. Leyendecker and modern examples like The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild, Aliens, Up, and Cuphead that will reduce overwhelm and frustration in your workflow while also boosting your efficiency and confidence.

Get clear, relevant feedback on your work and personalized career guidance through Chris' mentorship at HowToBecomeAProfessionalArtist.com

Pixar Animation Studios was always known for quality storytelling, but in the early years of CG feature animation, they also set the standard for design.

CG feature animation was considered by many (even mainstream audiences) inherently inferior until the turn of the 21st century. 

The fur and lighting effects in Monsters, Inc. were remarkable in 2001 (and they still hold up) but in 2003, Finding Nemo’s visual art finally and fully transcended the technological limitations of the new medium.

When interviewed about how they created such stunning imagery, the Pixar artists often cited their meticulous research.

Whether it was sketching professional ballet dancers in preparation for Fantasia’s dancing hippo sequence, living in Latin America for months at a time during development for Saludos Amigos and The Three Caballeros or hiring legitimate apex predators as models for The Lion King, Disney artists were willing to do whatever it took to achieve their characteristic verisimilitude. 

…so why wouldn’t Pixar?

They got the Nemo art team certified for scuba diving. The Up artists flew to Venezuela to paint the world’s tallest waterfall. The Cars team went on an epic road trip across the legendary US Route 66, the Ratatouille team wined and dined at fancy restaurants in Paris…

…and the Toy Story 3 team toured… 

…landfills.

That’s right…

The Nemo people swam around a coral reef.

…and the Toy Story 3 people swam around in literal human garbage. 

…but the movie probably wouldn’t have created a cultural phenomenon it did if the artists hadn’t been so committed to authenticity.

This is the second in a three-part lesson for artists who are ready to develop effective professional practices upon which they can depend for efficiency, consistency and quality in their work. 

Today we’ll talk about the importance of working from reference - even when it stinks. 

We’ll bust five common myths about reference.

…myths that if left un-busted put your portfolio at risk of landing in the trash.

This is “You’re A Better Artist Than You Think.” I’m your instructor Chris Oatley and this is part two in my series titled “Why Artists Need To Slow The Hell Down.”

Get clear, relevant feedback on your work and personalized career guidance through my mentorship at HowToBecomeAProfessionalArtist.com

There you can also subscribe to this free course via email and get every new lesson delivered directly to your inbox as soon as they become available.

Next, In Part Three:

We’ll explore the relationship between practice and projects by applying a product design concept to the process for developing our visual stories.

One of the most important mindset shifts in the career of any professional artist is a shift in focus from performance to practice.

Our culture has a very bad habit of promoting performance while obfuscating the practice behind it.

This habit skews expectations, scatters attention and stifles patience.

So this is the first of a three-part lesson for artists who are ready to develop effective professional practices upon which they can depend for efficiency, consistency and quality in their work.

Today, we’ll begin by busting six common myths about practice.

…myths that, if left UNbusted, can lead to physical injury, damage to our mental health, wasted time and energy, burnout or rage quitting.

NEXT, IN PART TWO ::

We’ll rethink a classical practice for improving your art and, in part three, we’ll explore the relationship between practice and projects.

In parts one and two of this series, I emphasized that most artists will never find a financially sustainable career until they develop a complete, professionally viable skill set.

…but why invest the time and energy necessary to develop a financially sustainable art career if you don’t love the work?

…or at least like it?

We saw how Mary Blair struggled to pay the bills with her passion for fine art, then settled for a steady paycheck in animation.

…but got bored with the work just a few years later.

If she hadn’t given animation one last chance, by joining Walt Disney’s visual development research trip to Latin America, she might never have discovered the skill set from which she derived creative fulfillment, a steady paycheck and her legendary career.

Today, in part three, I’ll share how and why I wasted a lot of time pursuing a career I never loved and three steps you can take to avoid the same mistake…

In part one of this series, I posed a mostly rhetorical question:

Are professional artists (whether aspiring or experienced) foolish to believe that their work could be both financially sustainable and creatively fulfilling?

Then we observed a struggle between these two extremes in the early life and work of Mary Blair, a genius of color and design who became one of the most influential artists in the history of Disney animation.

…but before that, she quit.

…after just fourteen months at the studio.

…and then abruptly changed her mind.

Today we’ll learn that, after her return to Disney, Mary Blair discovered, in effect, one crucial question that led to an elevated role in which she soon found the work to be both financially sustainable and creatively fulfilling.

…a crucial question that led her transformation from versatile mimic into the marquee artist of Cinderella, Alice In Wonderland, Peter Pan and the animatronic wonder It’s A Small World.

…a crucial question that every professional artist (aspiring or experienced) would be wise to apply.

To pursue a career as a professional artist is to expect a lot from your job.

…more, it seems, than most people expect from their own.

Professional artists and those who aspire to the same status expect the work to be both financially sustainable and creatively fulfilling.

Some people seem satisfied, simply, to find a day job they don’t hate and compensate for any lack of creativity with hobbies.

…and others view their vocation as a tolerable compromise that buys time for the art they place at the center of their lives.

Regardless of which takes priority, it often seems that we have to choose: Art or a steady paycheck.

But why would it have to be one or the other?

Why couldn’t our work be both financially sustainable and creatively fulfilling?

Are we asking too much?

Is it even realistic to imagine?

In this first lesson of a course titled You’re A Better Artist Than You Think, we’ll introduce a crucial question that could save your art career (even if you don’t have one yet) and rethink a common belief that often prevents artists from becoming professionals.

But, as with every lesson throughout the course, we’ll begin by looking to history for answers. (History always has answers.)

Today we’ll hear the “origin story” of Mary Blair, a mid-century Disney artist whose “renown in the company,” writes historian Nathalia Holt, “was second only to Walt’s.”

In her life and work (which is on display throughout this post) we’ll find a more vivid picture of what it means to make a living from one’s creative passion, what often blocks many of us from a similar experience and how this fundamental shift in the way we think about the art vs. money conundrum can affect the quality of our work, whether we find it fulfilling, our sense of self, of belonging, of motivation and inspiration.