So... things have been happening... and after a summer of wandering, unemployment, and a side of freelance, I am happy to announce that I have a job! In animation! And also an apartment! All in the same week! And if I'm using perhaps too many exclamation points it's because I'm fairly sleep deprived and probably the most busy and frazzled I've been in months!
Some context: over the summer I'd been doing scattered temp work and test assignments for a new show called The Wingfeather Saga. It's a fantasy adventure show based on a series of books I loved as a kid, and crewed by a team full of familiar and friendly faces. And now many emails, several sketches, and brief stint PA-ing later, I'm a Production Associate for the design team! Still kinda figuring out exactly what that means, but right now it's been a bunch of meeting scheduling, asset organizing, and macaroon eating. I'm told this last task will not be a permanent part of the job :(
I'm not getting to do much art in this role (yet), but I'm hoping to be able to sneak in a few designs when our team gets overbooked. Wingfeather is made by a pretty small studio with a lot of artists in production/admin roles, so there's a chance that could happen (which would not be the case at a bigger studio.) Of course, my PA responsibilities come first, but it would be a delight to point at the screen, declaring loudly to the whole audience gathered in the theater: "I DESIGNED that MUG!!!" (To which, they would jubilantly respond, "SHHHHHH.") I guess after more than a week of having no time to draw I'm chomping at the bit to figure out how to bring that discipline back into my life. The really cool thing about being in production is that I am getting a really good sense of how people are hired and how to make yourself competitive as an artist. I also get to sit in on all the art review meetings and soak in all those notes and knowledge. Now I just need to figure out how to put all that into practice, in a schedule that now has drastically less free time.
This is my first ever 9-5 (8-5 in this case) job, and so it's been a huge adjustment to pivot away from the self-styled living of a freelance/mostly unemployed artist to a schedule that is largely already set each day. Adults, how do you do this? How do you accomplish all the many things you get done in the hours from 6PM-12AM? Because I have not figured that one out yet. So far, I've figured out how to hang out with friends and occasionally make dinner. But reading? Practicing music? Watching TV even? No idea. This maaay be because I also got an apartment the week before I started my job, and dang do you need a lot of things for an apartment to function. I thought you just need a table and sofa or something. But it turns out you need at least: silverware, wifi, a real mattress, floor lights, and a shower curtain (all of which I did not have upon moving in. I will not soon forget that first night...)
However, each day, my apartment is getting a little more livable, and I'm getting a little more capable at my job. This is a picture from my first day ever working in The Industry and it DEFINITELY captures the fact that despite having a job, you might still be just as clueless, awkward, and amateur as you were in school (or in my case, more so.)
boy does this guy look ready for an exciting career
I remember reading somewhere that as you advance through life you'll often go from the very top to the very bottom of the ladder. High school seniors go from ruling the school to being freshmen again in college. I had gotten really comfortable being a college senior, but this is my freshman year of studio work. Things aren't going to go perfectly, my ego will be crushed quickly, and my footing may be shaky. I definitely feel like the nerdy freshman I was four years ago, and four years before that. But through the process, I'm rediscovering a bit of that freshman zeal and eagerness that I had ashamedly forgotten as a jaded senior.
So here's to going back to school - I'm just glad my new classmates are the best (and that there are sometimes macaroons.)
-dh
