So as some of you know already or may have seen on my linkedIN, I have decided to move on from my job at IUGO Mobile Entertainment and I now find myself back in the animation industry working as a Character and Prop Artist for DHX! I've only been at my new job for 2 days, but I can tell that I am going to love it! Alfie came to work with me yesterday and will be coming in again today and I can't tell you how nice it is to be able to bring your dog with you to work. If I need a break, BAM, puppy cuddles! It's so wonderful. The people are awesome so far! Everyone has been really welcoming and helpful! The job itself is so good. I'm already learning so much and I woke up this morning super eager to get going (about an hour earlier than I needed to hehe). The biggest change for me is my new work schedule (I used to get off at 4pm and now I will be getting off between 6pm and 6:30pm) which has been a bit sticky, but I think I'm slowly figuring it all out. Anyway! I just wanted to post a quick update, since it's been a wee while since my last update... Yes I do have new art to post, but you are gonna have to be patient because I am devoting all of myself to getting up to speed at work and want no outside distractions this week especially. I hope you are all well! Cheers! Courtney
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BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Is there really such a thing!? *cough cough* Yes, indeed there actually is, but you need to look at what that means to you and why it's important. This is actually a pretty huge frustration for a lot of us. People will work night and day for hours and hours AND HOURS on end and not bloody well let anyone above them know. Then the assumption is made by the higher-ups that tasks that are actually take a huge amount of someone's time (and life) aren't and then deadlines get blown way out of proportion for what is actually reasonable. This industry is anyways a bit of a gong-show when it comes to deadlines and expectations. Everything is always in a rush and you need to be juggling five or ten things all at once to keep your head from flying off your shoulders. The thing is, if you are honest about how long things are taking, chaos can avoided. Let me clarify this though. If you are a slow artist, that's on you. If you are the only one struggling with keeping up, that's totally on you and you need to take it upon yourself to pick up speed. I like to be really organized with my work. I keep an agenda (just like I did in high school) I mark down all my due dates, make a note of how much time I have versus how much time something is going to need and I also make note (because I know how long things take me as I keep a record of this too) of where I can shuffle some time around. When you are first starting out in the industry you are just going to have to make peace with the fact that you aren't going to have much of a life until you are good enough and fast enough to get things on track and keep them there. Overtime is a fact of life in this industry. You will have to do it, trust me it is going to happen. It might not even be for your own work. You might be fast and efficient, but you might get called to help someone else on the team who is falling behind or maybe someone was sick and a bunch of you have to pool your resources and work for a few extra hours at the end of your day. I suggest you experiment with different schedules. Making sure you are getting some form of physical activity is really important as well. We sit all day, every day for many MANY hours and it can take it's toll on our physical and mental health. Even if you just get up and go for a walk around the block it will help, trust me. There really isn't a magic formula that works for everyone, but you do need to know what your limits are and how to best get the job done while still being able to function like a somewhat normal human being. Good luck and if you are successful, I would love to hear about it! ♥ TweakFox First of all, Pride and Prejudice the book is AMAZING. Second of all, pride and prejudice in the animation/gaming industry is not. Never let your pride get in your way. You need to be as open to new ideas and humanly possible or you will never get anywhere. You might think I'm kidding and what do I know, I'm not even that great of an artist. Well that's pride and prejudice at work right there, because I know things you don't know and you know things I don't know. It goes both ways. And for the record I am totally aware that I am not the best artist, I actually covered this in an earlier post. I work really hard to pick the brains of the people I work with. I'm not perfect by any stretch, but I'll be damned if I don't give it my best shot to improve with every task I complete. People won't want to work with you if you let your pride constantly get in the way. If you can't graciously accept feedback and put it to good use, not only are you going to tick people off, but you are doing yourself a huge disservice. The main thing you need to know, and this info is based on a true story, is this: Two artists, artist A is really talented and artist B is good but a little more average. Artist A is arrogant and thinks very highly of themselves and artist B is more mellow and enthusiastic to be part of the team and fit in. It doesn't even matter that artist A's portfolio is gorgeous, their attitude is not and they don't get a second interview. So take a look at yourself. If you are finding industry life to be a bit difficult, ask yourself if you could be part of the cause and then take a moment to change your perspective. Just something to think about! ♥ TweakFox What do artists do when they have to draw, but they don't want to draw? Is that a loaded question or what? When you are in school, sure there is pressure, but it's not quite the same as when absolutely everything is on the line because it is when it's your job. So what happens when the inspiration and motivation runs out? Artists just whip out their trusty "easy" buttons right? You know by now I love people who think that... Here's what I learned at my first job in the industry:
Those are just a few of my standard go-to moves when I get a bit unmotivated to draw. It's still a challenge, but one of the most important skills you are going to acquire over time is the ability to draw when you don't want to. If you aren't an artist, this might be a bit of a foreign concept, but trust me that nothing feels as lousy as not wanting to draw. I hope this helps a few of you out there and if you have more to add, I would love to here what some of your techniques are for overcoming motivational issues! See you next post! ♥ TweakFox Hey guys! It's my birthday today so for this post I wanted to do something extra special since it's such a big part of who I am and how I do things in my life that I really want to share it with you all! Happy Birthday to Me! |
Howdy!Hi! My name is Courtney and I am currently working as a character designer in the animation industry! Categories
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