Hokay, now time for a serious entry!
I’ve bit my cheek and mulled this question over in my head, gaining nothing but a headache from it. Catherine posted the same thing a number of entries ago on the topic. “Why are you interested in animation?” And, synonymously, what got you interested in it? Why do you do it? Why? Whyyyy?
I don’t think I can come up with a solid answer besides.. what else would I be doing? Certainly, I could have fallen back on something with English, or general university courses, with my marks. But that, I know, would not have satisfied me. No, I have felt more personally connected to the characters I’ve created, the ones who live in my head and evolve into more complex beings, more so than I did anyone in high school. It was college that brought me out of my metaphorical shell - perhaps a TMNT-esque one, hehe - and revealed the person I might have written or drawn, but never imagined I could be.
I essentially taught myself how to draw humans after drawing animals for years. I just felt them easier to formulate. It didn’t hurt that Neopets was my main source of entertainment. I was awful at humans. Not that I was much better at animals, but at least I could fudge their anatomy. Humans.. we’re used to looking at them every day and therefore know all the flaws associated with them. I could imagine them fine in my head, but the biggest heartache, one that remains to this day, is that I can’t put them to paper as beautifully as I can picture them and their scenes in my head.
I’ve strayed from my point, and into a self-demeaning rant. How like me to do that.
Animation. It’s bringing life to still images. It’s putting me on the same playing field with others who supposedly strive for a similar goal as mine: to bring to life the images in one’s head, to share with others what is wonderful, what is perplexing, what is downright strange.. that which is art come to life. Living, breathing imagination.
I suppose that is my driving force. I’m disheartened that I don’t have an epic spiel of the life altering events that led me down the path of becoming an animator. Perhaps the actual animating isn’t even what I’ll end up being best at, and instead I’ll find a calling as a storyboard artist, layout artist, design, lighting, or, hilariously, a concept artist. Whatever happens, I’ll never forget those who were with me in those darker days, the ones who are, for the time being, nudged into the shadows of my thoughts, cast aside in favour of school work and all that entails. I speak of my beloved characters, from the tips of April’s skull-pinned black and orange hair to the scuffed bottoms of Ink’s boots to Dare’s stickered guitar case and Suds’s ever cheerful laughter.
I’m not sure what else there is to say. Have I answered my own question? No, I feel as I did before; confused and slightly disheartened. But, mayhaps, a faint bit lighter.
[Crossposted from my LJ, but I figured it was relevant.]
Love and limes,
~Phoo!