Have You Ever Wondered What Stood Between You and say, Walt Disney? George Lucas?

Is it magic? Money? A random roll of the dice?

No. It's just painful determination.

As an artist and storyteller, I know all too well the struggles of making art. Your very first sketch is met with the resounding confirmation: "I am wasting my time." Eventually that’s partnered with "I am not good enough." If you somehow survive this double onslaught of internal doubt, you will meet the most vicious internal critic of them all: "No one will care."

 Our popular web series Ray & Clovis’ very first animation test.

Let me tell you a story. I had just finished recording a course for Lynda on Character Animation for Blender Artists, and was enjoying my triumph by sipping a hot chocolate at the nearby Starbucks.

During a moment of people watching, I suddenly heard a young lady exclaim that she was retiring from art. At the tender age of 17, she was done. Meanwhile, her mother was asking for help from a nearby attendee: a life coach. "She's won multiple awards,” her mother entreated, “But ever since her rejection letter from art school, she's just given up! She wanted to be an animator, now she doesn’t know what to do!"  The life coach took the cue and went on a long tirade about accomplishments and failures, journeys and trials, everything experienced by the pros. He referenced excellent books on self-help, and even finished his pep talk with a call to action to keep painting.

Our retiree had none of it. She slouched lower and lower in her chair, avoiding the encouraging phrases like bullets being fired at her. Her mom, restless over the lack of renewed enthusiasm, prodded her daughter, "You see? He's gone through a lot too, and he still made it!"

"Sure Mom..."

We All Suck In The Beginning

When you hit this point, and trust me we all do, there's only one way out -  through. You must get back to work. It's a grueling, painful process, doing the same thing over and over, hoping for a different result.

Yet, as artists, that is exactly what we have to do. You must practice your craft over and over again, because every drawing, every line, counts towards your continued growth as an artist.

Take a look Walt Disney's drawings for his early Alice Comedies shorts. They were awfully crude and simple, the animation hampered by a poor budget, little time, and novice technical ability. Nonetheless, these drawings grew Walt’s first studio, Laugh-o-Grams, into a business.

The early Alice Comedies by Walt Disney.

The challenges didn’t stop there. Failures, bankruptcies, and even a world war all hampered Walt and his studio’s ability to create animation. Yet from these very crude early drawings came some of the most beautiful, enchanting animation the world has ever seen.

A world without Walt Disney is practically unimaginable. Yet it was nothing more than Walt’s determination, his desire to go through those challenges, that ensured his entertainment legacy would still be standing today. 

Drawn by Milt Kahl, one of Walt's best animators.

Even At Your Best, You Can Still Fail

The earliest short films George Lucas directed were crude-yet-bold experimental attempts at storytelling. Following no distinct pattern, Electronic Labyrinth THX 1138 gave us a mish-mash post-apocalyptic dystopian future dominated by an oppressor. To make the short film, Lucas leveraged his professorship, employing his students, filming in parking lots, and using a camera that is put to shame by even the worst of smartphone cameras today. Completed painfully over 12 weeks, THX 1138 became George Lucas’ calling card.

This short film would go on to win accolades and would even be turned into a full-length feature film. With this milestone, Lucas knew he had made it. Success was all around him! Until the film was widely released and it bombed at the box office. This sent Lucas in a bit of a tailspin.

Rejected and dejected, Lucas moved to San Francisco to begin anew. Rather than starting a new career, he started a collaboration with his friend, Francis Ford Coppola, and took on directing a film that touched on his car-racing roots - American Graffiti. A smash at the box-office, American Graffiti’s success paved the way for another film - Star Wars - a few years later.

Making Magic Is No Easy Task

My point is that in the midst of all these failures, glories, and tribulations, one thing stands clear. As our fervent life coach so emphatically pointed out, all journeys are filled - even at the best of times - with the worst of circumstances. Your job as an artist is to keep going.

After the life coach tried so hard to convince his young pupil to keep pursuing the craft, I walked over and introduced myself. I told her my own story, how I was the top of my class as a high school art student and had won plenty of regional and national awards, too. Yet when it came to colleges, I didn't place among any art universities. I’d applied to all of them - CalArts, Ringling, SCAD, Ottawa - and got into none. Defeated, I had continued my education at a local university.

Fast forward ten years later, and I'm now running my own animation business. I've worked in film, video games, and even produced an award-winning web series. Yet even with these successes, every day I face the very real challenge of not being good enough, not being accepted enough, of all of it falling apart. Fear of not getting accepted into art colleges has been replaced by worries over pitches that don’t get accepted. Receiving awards has transformed to not receiving payment from clients. I’m surrounded by the grim reality that even the best of efforts could still land myself and my team into failure and bankruptcy.

Yet as an artist, a storyteller, and an animator, I cannot give up. Determination got us work on Fox’s ADHD. Pushing through challenges got us work on CBS’ The Good Wife. The daily pursuit of my craft freed me from the shackles of vicious internal critics, and set me apart from all those who just dabbled and gave up.

The young lady smiled, perking up in her chair as she asked me to tell her more. Inspiration, it seemed, was a lot easier to find from someone who has walked the same path, rather than from fancy books and emphatic speakers.

Let's Make Magic Together

Maybe you, too, want to be an animator. Maybe you have been enchanted by Disney animation, or thrilled by the special effects of the Star Wars films.

I have something special for you.

It's a course I've taught on the magic of animation. From beginning to end, I'll walk you through a simple scene, give you a character, and teach you how to make him move. And don't worry, I guarantee you'll pull your hair out every step of the way. Yet with just a bit of patience, diligence and determination, we can make something great.

Clovis is happy because his animation scene is finally done.

Nervous? Don’t worry, we all are, but I’ll be here, waiting, helping answer questions, and guiding you on your journey into the magic of animation. To start, I’ve included a short video.

Don’t give up. Keep going forward. Keep going through. Let’s make magic together. Learn more here.

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