3/29/2013
Roundtable Meeting Recap
Is college worth it?
for some it is, and for some it's not
Investment in your college career is more than just money it
is time and passion. Depending on the person it can take a while to receive
payment in their investment.
Graham Erwin
2011 C.C.A.D Grad
Illustration Major
Focuses on Graphic designs
Does Editorial work and poster work
He works for Mondo and designs movie posters, like for
example ParaNorman and Nightmare Before Christmas.
He has learned to expect his employers to turn down his
work. For example with his Nightmare Before Christmas poster his first version
was turned down by Disney. He made the necessary changes and his next version
was accepted.
Graham has learned to work with tight deadlines. When you
work for a place like Mondo you have to have thumbnails and concepts approved
before you can move onto the final. Sometimes employers will not get back to
you for a week and you only have four days to complete a finished artwork.
These experiences will teach you to work with tight deadlines. As an artist we
need to expect that we have to redo things (many times in some cases)
Alex Lyon
2010 C.C.A.D. Grad
Illustration Major
Currently working in Visualization
As soon as he Graduated college he scrapped everything in his
portfolio and started fresh. After he created his Illustration portfolio he
started a Design portfolio, and after a few month of doing that he got a design
based job. He is currently a visualization artist, which means that he helps
clients envision what they are thinking. People rely on him to show the client
what a product would look like in 3D. He creates vector lines, brings them into
Photoshop and creates images. If you take the right amount of time in this
process you can create realistic looking things. One thing he stresses is that
clients hate surprises. Once they like something don't change it. He also
stresses not to let critiques hurt you personally and don't let them take you
off of the target/goal.
A side note is that he can also re-touch photos (which he
personally finds boring, but it pays well.)
A fun fact is that he does extremely rendered fantasy art.
He originally wanted to create fantasy art as a way to make a living but
realized that he would not at the current moment be able to.
Alex Alvarado
2011 C.C.A.D Grad
Illustration Major
Currently works at Disney Animation in Look Development
During his Junior year of college was got a summer
internship with Disney Animation studios. what he did was paint on the 3D
models (Texture Painting) and program the lighting effects (describes what will
happen). What got him the job with Disney Studios was the fact that he kept in
contact with his mentor at Disney. They wanted him to succeed, and helped him
get the job that he has. He also stated that he would not have been able to get
the Job without his illustration background.
Adam Watkins
2004 C.C.A.D.
Illustration Major
Currently a Children's Book Illustrator
Adam after graduating got sick of art, so he found a job in
construction. After a while of doing construction he worked on a few AD things
but he felt like it was just not for him. He was afraid of failure but he was
able to overcome it. He tells students to not be afraid of failure, everyone
has failures in their life's. You have to go through a certain amount of
failures before you are able to succeed. His Children's book Illustrations were
first published in the book "Stubborn as a Mule." His most
current work publish in a book is from "Literally Disturbed" (A scary
Children's book.) and he is currently working on the second book in that
series. Adam likes to work traditionally and likes doing portrait work.
Erika Steiskal
2006 C.C.A.D. Grad
Illustration Major
Works as an editorial Illustration
During her senior year she has worn herself thin and started
to make works that she was not necessarily proud of. She had lost her
confidence. After she had graduated from C.C.A.D. she went to the illustration
academy and practiced different things. She learned from them to keep a
sketchbook and draw in it as much as she can. The sketchbook allowed her to
help with her line work and line technique. When she went to New York she
showed her portfolio to an interviewer and he thought that it was not that
good, although he did like her sketchbook. He recommended that she combine her
linework and paintings together into a finished art piece. After this interview
she realized that she needed to rethink her work as a whole, what would sell to
businesses. So she combined her line work and painted underneath with a digital
paintings. People loved her work after she made these changes and she found
consistent work. It took her 7 years to get consistent work.
AG Ford
2007 C.C.A.D. Grad
Illustration Major
Works as a Children's book Illustrator
During school he worked extremely hard, he had worked during
the day on school and at night he would go to work. He had to have a great work
ethic to get his work done on time. When he attended C.C.A.D. he knew he loved
to work traditional and researched what jobs would allow him to work in
traditional media. So he decided to be a children's book illustrator. After
college he looked for an agent and sent his work out until someone accepted his
offer. When he talked to his agent he decided to create a whole new portfolio,
something that he would be proud to show to publishers. After he had finished
creating his new portfolio he showed it to some publishers and that landed him
his first Children's book Illustration job to create the artworks for the book
"Barak" which was about Barack's life. At the Current moment he is
working on his 11th book. His way of working is to draw on an illustration
board, do an acrylic under painting, and Finnish it off with oil paint.
Q&A
What was the first thing you did after you Graduated?
Adam: Worked in construction. He learned how to take
criticism (and talk like a sailer)
Alex Lyon: Was determined to replace his portfolio and
re-build on his skills. He also started to bounce back onto his design work.
Erika: Went to the Illustration academy and revamped her
portfolio.
Graham: Screen printed T-shirts, he had a smooth transition
into the field he wanted to be in.
AG: Moved back to Dallas, he allowed his fear to motivate
him to create better portfolio pieces.
Describe your school experience.
AG: School Full time and work full time. Had to stay
productive and use his time efficiently. He also used his school time
efficiently, did not mess around when work could have been done.
Graham: He had fun doing his personal work and gave himself
a lot of deadlines. Started to send things to blogs. They posted his work and
his work became popular. During this time he sent his work to Mondo (by
accident.) He used his time wisely, two hours everyday can add up.
Describe a typical workday
Alex Alvarado: He would get coffee at 9 and then open models
(computer Models) and start painting. Periodically he would show what he was
doing to the supervisor.
Adam: Had discipline throughout the day. He does not want to
get distracted. Goes to the studio and works during the day. His work is
flexible.
AG: 5:45 go to gym. 9-7:30 work on his artwork. He treats
his time like a boss is watching him.
Graham: If he is not doing paid work he treats his personal
work as if someone is paying him to do it. He suggests not to do work that your
not interested in.
What would you have Done differently at school or what
would you have wanted CCAD to do Differently?
AG: He wanted the teachers to ask for more personal work and
personal sketchbooks. AG would have learned more digital techniques.
Graham: He wanted the school to have more non art technical
classes. Graham would have taken classes that he was not comfortable with.
Erika: Wanted the teachers to tell the students how
important New York was, and also wanted the teachers to push sketchbooks more.
She would not have stretched herself to thin.
Alex: He had wished that the teachers would have told him
that there are a lot of jobs out there. Alex wanted to teachers to tell
students to research all of the jobs out in the real world. He wished he had
more fun in school instead of being obsessed with projects.
Adam: The Food (but it has changed.) He wished he had
started searching for jobs right after college.
Alex Alvarado: Wished he had the knowledge of the Skill
level of artists in the real world. Everyone is amazing and you need to be that
good to get a job.
You can get better if you work hard. Everyone will have bad
drawings, you just have to get past them to get to the good ones. Another
pointer is that you need to work in the right Direction if you don't your work
will get you nowhere. Find your Niche!
What do you do to keep yourself going?
Erika: She surrounded herself with people who had new tips
and tricks. She found new ways to challenge herself and look at the bigger
picture.
What Illustrators are you influenced by?
Graham: Kovach
Alex Lyon: Gray Manches and Howard Pyle
Adam: James Bennett and peter de seve
Alex Alvarado: Paul Felix and Mary Blair
How Hard was it to find a job after school?
Erika: very hard, after you get out of school it was hard to
find good critiques. So it was hard for her to improve her artwork.
Alex Alvarado: Not to hard because he stayed in touch with
his mentors at Disney. They wanted him
to succeed so they fought for him to get a job in the Look development
department.
Do you have any Advise for juniors and seniors?
Stay excited, do the research that you have to do, and be
patient.
Have your links (online Portfolio) available on your emails.
Keep files that your sending to employers under 5mb.
Always bring your portfolio with you to interviews (hard
copy version.) You can not rely on an online portfolio because you might not
have access to a computer.
Employers do not want to hear your life story, get to the
point quick and efficiently
Be persistent and do not stop trying. The more someone sees
your work the better.
Be brutally honest with yourself, there are always things
that you can improve on.
