anime-backgrounds:

The Wolf Children Ame and Yuki. Directed by Mamoru Hosoda. Created by Studio Chizu and Madhouse

(via animationtidbits)

Source: anime-backgrounds

anthonyholden:

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.

(via animationtidbits)

Source: anthonyholden

I just received this question on my other blog, and thought to share it here. My answer: Hi, there’s an ongoing compiled art college list on my other blog, wannabeanimator. CalArts is the top 2D animation school here in the US, and Sheridan’s one of the best in Canada. What you should look for is the program you want. Are you more interested in the technical side of animation—3D (rigging, lighting, etc.), visual effects, 2D rigging, etc.—or the more artistic (not to say the previous aspects of animation aren’t artistic-they are!) side like visual development, character design, hand drawn animation, etc? Different colleges have different specialties. While CalArts is a great 2D school, Ringling is great for 3D. Many colleges give you an equal involvement in both. Some have great illustration classes which will benefit the visual development and character design jobs. I didn’t know /that/ much about animation, art, or the industry when I was college hunting. Through Google I was able to find a lot, and from visiting college fairs—visit college fairs! Portfolio days are also extremely beneficial. If you find a college you’re interested, you should ask them when and where they’ll be at college fairs and portfolio days. These will be the days when you can get honest critique from the college’s representatives and find out if the college is a good fit. Something else that’s beneficial is taking a tour. Often times you’ll get a feeling of whether or not the college is for you. I ended up picking Columbus College of Art & Design after visitng many campuses and really narrowing down my choices. CCAD was and still is the best fit for me, personally, both because of the atmosphere of the school, the course structure, the people, and the scholarship. ;) My suggestion to you is to figure out what you might want to specialize in/what your strength is. Look into colleges that teach what you want to learn. Look at student work and alumni. Visit campuses. Talk to reps. Even talk to people who go there! That list should be a great starting point for you. I hope it helps!
Pop-upView Separately

I just received this question on my other blog, and thought to share it here. My answer:

Hi, there’s an ongoing compiled art college list on my other blog, wannabeanimator. CalArts is the top 2D animation school here in the US, and Sheridan’s one of the best in Canada. What you should look for is the program you want.

Are you more interested in the technical side of animation—3D (rigging, lighting, etc.), visual effects, 2D rigging, etc.—or the more artistic (not to say the previous aspects of animation aren’t artistic-they are!) side like visual development, character design, hand drawn animation, etc?

Different colleges have different specialties. While CalArts is a great 2D school, Ringling is great for 3D. Many colleges give you an equal involvement in both. Some have great illustration classes which will benefit the visual development and character design jobs.

I didn’t know /that/ much about animation, art, or the industry when I was college hunting. Through Google I was able to find a lot, and from visiting college fairs—visit college fairs! Portfolio days are also extremely beneficial. If you find a college you’re interested, you should ask them when and where they’ll be at college fairs and portfolio days. These will be the days when you can get honest critique from the college’s representatives and find out if the college is a good fit. Something else that’s beneficial is taking a tour. Often times you’ll get a feeling of whether or not the college is for you.

I ended up picking Columbus College of Art & Design after visitng many campuses and really narrowing down my choices. CCAD was and still is the best fit for me, personally, both because of the atmosphere of the school, the course structure, the people, and the scholarship. ;)

My suggestion to you is to figure out what you might want to specialize in/what your strength is. Look into colleges that teach what you want to learn. Look at student work and alumni. Visit campuses. Talk to reps. Even talk to people who go there! That list should be a great starting point for you. I hope it helps!

Q:do you think a person can learn to be artistic? I wasn't nessecarily artistic as a child and I'm not an excellent artist even now as I've grown. But I love animation and it's my dream to be an animator but I don't know if its too late

Anonymous

I think you can do it if you’re passionate enough. A lot of people talk about “talent”, but I’ve seen multiple people late in life who start out with very little artistic skill, but end up able to make amazing art. My favorite example is Sam Carr. I think you should chase that dream if you really want it, anon.