Visual Development

Creative Bravery: Why Animation Pros Sarah Marino and Jenn Ely Thrive In A Challenging Industry :: ArtCast #102

This month, Sarah Marino (Color Supervisor at Nickelodeon), Jenn Ely (Production Designer for House Special, Visual Development Artist for Dreamworks) and I are teaching a new online workshop called First Flight: How To Create Your New Career In Visual Development.

I invited them both to join me here on The ArtCast to promote First Flight and talk about how they achieved such significant success in their animation careers…

Episode Highlights include:

Turning fear into faith.
Becoming more professional by de-emotionalizing your creative process.
Why we stopped caring about job titles.
How fear cost Jenn a a big opportunity (and why she’ll never make that mistake again).
Why Sarah had to climb through a human hamster wheel. (That’s not a metaphor.)
Inspiring gumball machines and the healing power of ice cream.
Is a successful animation career worth the cost?

Interview with Animation Art Director Ryan Carlson (Part 2) :: ArtCast #101

By Chris Oatley

In the previous episode, we met Ryan Carlson – my Disney mentor and the person without whom The Oatley Academy may never have happened…

Now in part two, Ryan talks about:

Working on The Iron Giant and what he learned from Brad Bird.
His advancement from Assistant Effects Animator to Art Director.
How to lead a team of creative professionals well.
The greatest gift an aspiring animation professional can offer an Art Director…

PLUS: The ArtCast: Behind The Scenes with the OA Team!

Interview with Animation Art Director Ryan Carlson (Part 1) :: ArtCast #100

By Chris Oatley

In many ways, I owe my career to Ryan Carlson.

He played a key role in giving me my first break at Disney, taught me more about painting than any other individual and he, more than anyone for whom I’ve worked, has intentionally helped to advance my career.

…and considering that The ArtCast probably wouldn’t exist without my time at Disney, and The Oatley Academy only exists because of The ArtCast, The Oatley Academy might not exist without Ryan…

In this episode we discuss:

Why failure is a necessary part of the creative process.
What makes a good Art Director?
Ryan’s process for creating a Color Script for an animated feature film…

Interview with Animation Layout & Visual Development Artist, John Nevarez (Part 2) :: ArtCast #99

By Chris Oatley

In part one of our interview, John Nevarez (Sony, Illumination, Pixar, Disney) gave us a masterclass in gesture drawing technique.

Now, in part two, John talks about:

What that first day at Pixar is really like,
Sneaky ways to get your work noticed,
And the secret to staying sane in this crazy business…

Interview with Animation Layout & Visual Development Artist, John Nevarez (Part 1) :: ArtCast #98

By Chris Oatley

John Nevarez approaches his art and his relationships the same way. Whether he encounters a new, blank page or a new person, John sees the opportunity to freely explore new and inspiring ideas.

The whimsical energy in his sketches combined with his delightful personality has made him one of the most reputable professionals in the animation industry.

His stellar career spans from storyboard revisionist to visual development artist, with stops along the way at every major animation studio, including Disney, Sony, Illumination, and Pixar.

Today we discuss:

John’s iconic, visceral drawing style…
Just saying no to your eraser…
And what two dozen rejection letters gets you.

Visual Development

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