Thane Kri-otter. Now in color. #masseffect #procreate #ipadpro...

Thane Kri-otter. Now in color.
#masseffect #procreate #ipadpro #thanekrios #applepencil #ipadart

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Thane Kriotter. Another Mass Effect otter to go along with...

Thane Kriotter. Another Mass Effect otter to go along with Miranda.
#masseffect #otter #thanekrios #procreate #ipadart #ipadpro#applepencil #bioware

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Dustin! #strangerthings #dustin #ipadpro #ipadart #procreate...

Dustin!
#strangerthings #dustin #ipadpro #ipadart #procreate #applepencil

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I felt like I should do better. Revisiting an old technique....

I felt like I should do better. Revisiting an old technique. Some of the rest coming soon I hope.
#strangerthings #eleven #procreate #ipadpro #applepencil #milliebobbibrown

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The red panda from my Wood Comic, looking dapper and sketchy....

The red panda from my Wood Comic, looking dapper and sketchy.
.
#redpanda #woodcomic #ipadpro #ipadart #procreate

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Kitty. . #tinkerbellecat #ipadpro #procreate #ipadart...

Kitty.
.
#tinkerbellecat #ipadpro #procreate #ipadart #applepencil

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Playing with procreate and feeling better about myself....

Playing with procreate and feeling better about myself. #redpanda #procreate #ipadpro #ipadart #applepencil

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I like red pandas, what can I say..? Inspired by...

I like red pandas, what can I say..? Inspired by @dailycatdrawings and some artistic self loathing.

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artofstevetownsley: 7/27/16 - 207: Stranger Things....

artofstevetownsley:

7/27/16 - 207: Stranger Things. #366Drawrings Put this show on your summer viewing. Season 2, please! And the soundtrack–Waiting on that! These kids are heroes. #StrangerThings #Eleven #WillByers #80s #JulyIsForHeroes

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I’m in love with Stranger Things and this kid is awesome.

I’m in love with Stranger Things and this kid is awesome.

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laikaworld: Tyler Oakley reveals the magic behind ‪Kubo and the...

Process video? Cos why not.

Ghostbusters fan art. 💚 I adored this part. . #ghostbusters...

Ghostbusters fan art. 💚 I adored this part.
.
#ghostbusters #ipadpro #applepencil #ipadart #procreate

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I painted a place? I dunno, I’ve never done this before....

I painted a place? I dunno, I’ve never done this before. It’s Aral’s cabin from the book Shards of Honor by Lois McMaster Bujold. Because I’ve read that book like a hundred times.
#loismcmasterbujold #vorkosigan #spaceship #maybealittlemasseffect #ipadart #procreate #ipadpro #applepencil

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This is the loveliest fellow I’ve had the pleasure of...

This is the loveliest fellow I’ve had the pleasure of meeting recently, and if you want to be an animator you should watch this.

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Hi!! I'm really interested in making stop motion animation films or just animation in general as a career and I was wondering if you would be willing to share your story with me. What schooling do you have and how you were able to get a job working for Laika? I hope you're doing well and creating amazing art ❤️

Well… Work really hard.

I went to art school later than intended because of Life Things, and school was so much fun! But also incredibly difficult. I worked nearly full time most of the time I was there and still took 15 credits a quarter. I didn’t sleep much sometimes.

I went to the art institute of Portland, and intended to go for cg animation. I discovered to my horror and dismay that I was terrible at cg animation upon first trying it (like come on, is anyone instantly good at it?), but I took that a little hard. I was also taking a 2d class at the time, and was kind of terrible at that too.

Before I could despair further, my 2d teacher (Yer Za Vue!) told me to ditch the keyframes and try animating straight ahead. Suddenly it was easy and I was so excited about it.

Not too much later, they offered a stop motion class and I did everything I could to be in it, because by necessity stop motion is straight ahead. Ish.

I had a blast and fell in love. I ended up being the lead fabricator on our student film my last year or so, and because Paranorman was coming out soon, and my mentor had animated on Coraline, we decided to do 3D printed faces.

So I designed some puppets, worked closely with the modeler who oversaw the 3D printing of the faces, and generally made stuff like crazy. Invetween working at a company that did video game assets and keeping up with other classes, I also did a bunch of animation on the short. I also did a huge bit of the vfx work on it. If school is for anything, it’s for learning about what you like and what you don’t. There were several people that decided they didn’t like the pace or how hard that student film was, and decided to pursue other things (and they’re rocking them!), and there’s no shame in that. Better to learn in school that you dislike it rather than find out after you graduate.

Because of that short I got an internship working on the animated episode of NBC’s Community, “Abed’s Uncontrollable Christmas.” The studio that did it (Starburns) was run just like we’d run our student production, and the group of us that went were able to step in pretty easily. I learned a ton and had a blast, met some great people, and got to animate a bit. I did a lot of the building of the mountain that collapses.

After that, and before I finished school, I worked on a couple more Christmas specials for the Hallmark Channel up here in Portland and really got to cut my teeth. Being a small studio and also doing tv work, meant I had to fulfill a lot of roles. My time not sleeping in school really prepared me well for it I think. Heheh. (Seriously, there was a time there that I was working nearly full time grave shifts at a hotel, would go sleep in my car for a couple of hours, then go to Bent and work a ten hour day filled with puppet fabrication, rigging, animating, and puppet hospital. I’d go home and sleep another five hours and go back to the hotel. It was crazy. It lasted two or four months maybe.)

When Paranorman finally came out I applied to Laika because I was just so excited about stop motion. I applied to seven jobs and heard nary a peep.

That November (six months later?) I applied for another six or so, but one of them I wanted badly and I was super qualified for: the Rapid Prototyping fabricator. I was still working grave shifts at the hotel, and got a call in the middle of my sleep day. Somehow against all odds I was able to pull it together enough to get an interview and the job, which took about a month. The job was pretty much what I had done for my student film except on a bigger scale.

And everything was bigger. When I first saw the stages it was a bit magical. They are huge!

And my ego was happy that I managed to get hired here on my own merits, in a job that wasn’t so much entry level. Now I’ve ditched the “junior” from my title, and much of my time is spent testing the new heads and faces and some light animation.

So! If you want to get into stop motion, practice. Seriously: it’s so easy these days. Get an iPhone and some Legos and there are some sweet free and cheap apps out there that will let you shoot practice shots.

Second, do some reading. If you want to animate, soak up everything by the masters. The Illusion of Life, The Animator’s Toolkit, etc.

Third, school is expensive. Don’t take the short route by signing up for some year certificate program through a school like Full Sail, they’re a meat grinder of a school. Do some serious research on schools that do well for the direction you think you want to go. Then realize you’re going to be crippled by student loan debt if you don’t put serious work and research into scholarships.

Fourth, don’t go to school if you don’t have to. They don’t care if you learned to animate in prison, as long as you have a good reel.

Fifth, school is great for getting to feel it out and try a lot of different things, as well as meeting people that you will love and work with the rest of your career. But if you’re sure and just want to animate, I hear good things about animation mentor. But you can look at their YouTube channel and learn a lot. Also try the 11 second club, who does month long animation practice competitions. You can submit any format you like and there’s a wealth of knowledge there.

Sixth, learn to take criticism.

Seventh, work really hard at getting better than yourself, not anyone else.

Eighth, practice, practice, practice.

Ninth, go out and make friends that want to do the same thing! Nothing is created in a vacuum and friends to work with and challenge you will help. School forces this sort of community, which is good. It can be hard to find that without it, but look for animation groups in your area like Siggraph and ASIFA. My dear friend Becky has been with me since that first day of stop motion class, and while we’ve done a couple of small things without the other, we’ve worked all the same jobs together. She forces me to constantly up my game, and says I do the same for her. We kind of thrive on the others successes. She’s totally my hetero life mate.

And tenth, because I didn’t say it enough: practice practice practice.

I hope this helps. It’s already longer than I meant, but I think I got everything you asked.

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A shot from work! Me with a pair of Beetle eyes I just...

A shot from work! Me with a pair of Beetle eyes I just made.

This was found in a yearbook that the studio gave all of us that worked on Kubo.
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We did the thing. 💚🏃🏻

We did the thing. 💚🏃🏻

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