TEN MISTAKES YOUNG PEOPLE MAKE

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     I've been there and done that. We've all made mistakes and that isn't news. The sad part is when people make mistakes and don't realize it. They then ask why weren't they given a chance or why did they get fired. You don't have to make these mistakes just to learn and build character. I made a list of a few to help you out! Take a look at this list and learn from the mishaps that others have done before you. 50% of the fight for finding any job is how you hold up as a person, the other 50% is the quality of your work. Always keep that in mind

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1.  Acting entitled
Do you feel your work is going to revolutionize the art world? Do you feel your work is so unique that you can't see why anybody WOULDN'T want to hire you? IF so don't act like everyone should treat you like a king or queen with out proving yourself first. ALSO If it's your first day, Don't ask to leave early to get an oil change for your car. Hopefully it'll dawn on you that it's inappropriate and sabotaging to your career

2. Starting the process too late
In a perfect world, college students should start looking for meaningful internships for summer break after their freshman year. Most students assume they will get a job after they graduate with out too much effort and wait too long to begin the process.

3. Under-utilizing the alumni network
"Yea Danny, I know a friend who knows a friend that has a sister who he met once... that'll totally hook me up" Though parents and their friends can provide good contacts, the network of professionals that comes through a college or university should be one of the first places you tap.

4. Using a resume that’s sloppy and too self-centered
Resume basics: like clear, tidy layout, careful proofreading for grammar and punctuation, and use of keywords from the job description. don't make it about what you want from an employer but rather what you could do for them. For example please do not say this, “entry level position where I can use my skills, ideas and enthusiasm and I can learn a lot.” Instead, the emphasis should be on what they can contribute to the employer.

5. Writing cover letters that repeat the resume
Don't regurgitate your resume. Make it short and to the point and say something about yourself that your resume does not.

6. Doing poor research
Know who you are applying for. Read everything on their site, search for news clippings about the company, and track social media information, like Twitter feeds and Facebook pages. Get a look at their culture and vibes.

7. Failing to clean up their social media profile
"BUT DANNY! They need to know i can be fun too!" lol, All of those piss drunk, yolo pictures on Facebook should be kept on the low with privacy settings. Everyone needs a polished LinkedIn profile. We're in the future now, adapt! 

8. Not showing enough appreciation for the interviewer
Say thank you for your time! Always thank the interviewer in person, make it clear you would consider it a privilege to work at the company and ask about the next step in the process. Then follow up soon. 

9. Failing to show generational deferenceNow this one is debatable but maybe that's because I'm still in my 20's but it is important. Be respectful to how things are done and go with the flow. Its a very modern concept that all parties have a voice and that's a good thing but tread carefully. Its very natural for us younger ones to want to just go up to the boss after our summer internship is finished and say,  “Could I give you some feedback on my internship?” We are are so used to being included in conversations, we fail to grasp our position in the pecking order. PLEASE don't think I 100% agree with this note but it is a reality and you will find yourself in workplaces that love their pecking order. Choose your battles carefully.

10. Relying too heavily on listings and job fairsThis habit is an epidemic, almost on par with "the thirst." Whether its looking for a job or looking for an apartment. Spending too much time applying to online listings, and through anonymous job fairs wont cut it anymore. Remember: Most people find jobs through people they know, rather than through advertisements. People find jobs by looking up companies and searching for their 'contact us' webpage. If you see a listing for a job, try to find a personal connection to the employer and use that as your entry point.

Thanks for reading! Hope that it helps you out!

INSPIRATION: Letters From Creative Minds

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Leonid Afremov - 'Winter Park' (A painting that inspires me)

      A new year equals new beginnings and with new beginnings one usually needs new inspiration. I'm going to share that with you today something I found while ago that I found very inspiring.

      Sometimes we get inspired from other peoples work, and sometimes we get inspired by how they think! When you learn how a professional looks at a problem or thinks about life's obstacles, it can be educational as well as inspiring. Here I have 8 artists and their letters. Their letters are from two websites called 'Animator Letters Project' and 'Letters of Note'. Both of these sites have an awesome collection of letters are worth reading! Do a quick search and check them out.

DISREGARDING THE ODDS
Aaron Hartline - Animator The full letter can be found here
"When I took a tour of Disney right out of high school, I showed the guide/animator my work. She said, "It's easier to get a job as a professional basketball player than getting an animator position at Walt Disney Studios... I knew if I worked hard then one day... some day.. I could do it! I took me 14 years of trying but it happened."

DO WHAT YOU FEEL YOU WHERE BORN TO DO
Steve Vai - Professional Guitarist The full letter can be found here
"The desire to play an instrument must come from with in you. You should not waitr a letter or an approval from anyone else to decide that you should play. Either you don't want to or you have no choice because your heart compels you to."

STAY FOCUSED AND BE YOURSELF
Ray Bradburry - Author (Fahrenheit 251) The full letter can be found here
"Fall in love with the future! I did just that. And after that never listened to one damn fool idiot who doubted me! what did I learn? To be myself and to never let others, prejudiced, interfere with my life. Kids do the same. Be your own self. Love what YOU love."

PERSISTENCE
Austin Madison - Animator the full letter can be found here
"Work through the 97% of murky abysmal mediocrity to get to that 3% which everyone will remember you for!"

DETERMINATION 
Christopher Reeve - Actor (Superman) The full letter can be found here
" I am not going to preach to you that you should stay in school. I do want to tell you that you can do ANYTHING you want in this life if you have the determination and drive to make it happen."

CREATE FOR YOURSELF
(me!) -Animator The full letter can be found here
"As long as you take your desire and never stop improving your technique, you will never be less than what you want. It's not about where you end up, what studio you work at, how much money you make. It's whether or not you are happy with what you are creating." 

HOW TO BE AN ARTIST AND A PERSON
      The best letters I have ever read are by Rainer Maria Rilke. If you ever need to be inspired sit down under a tree or lie on your bed and take your time through her 10 letters. I read them once a year just to never forget them. she wrote these letters to a young man who was 27 who wanted guidance and a critique of some of his poems.
read all ten letters here

ARL: ANIMATION RESEARCH LIBRARY

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       If you are an artist.. no let me say that again, If you are Disney Fiend AND an artist the animation research library is the place for you. What is it this you ask?

       Every piece of art made by the Walt Disney Animation Studios goes to this place and is stored. I'm talking about original Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs concept art, original animation cells from peter pan and more! This is our in-house resource to a wealth of art that almost spans a century. They are entrusted with the responsibility to conserve all this cool art!

 

This is where decades of magic are stored. Imagine all the art that never see's the light of day!! 

         With millions of pieces of art at their finger tips they use their access to create great books and projects like the one below. The animation Research library are responsible for installations all around the world such as Walt Disney world and cruise lines everywhere. If you guys have not checked out the new Ipad app DO IT. This is a must have and here's a video of a guy going through it if you aren't familiar with it. This app is a gold mine with hours upon hours (nay, i say MONTHS!)  of fun! the video shows off the app better than I can ever do. So enjoy!

All The art from this book is from the ARL

       The ARL is located in Glendale California. I do not know the status and conditions about visiting the ARL if you are not a cast member. but I don't see any reason why you can't look them up and call! The ARL tries to make itself very accessible. They have their own Facebook page that they update frequently with cool facts and images! Here is the link DISNEY_ARL_ FACEBOOK. Here is a sample of knowledge they like to drop from time to time! They also have a twitter: ARL Twitter URL and a YoutTubeChannel: ARL Youtube Channel Check them all out! 

 Did you know, that one of the early songs of The Beatles had something of a Disney connection? John Lennon explained:

"My mother was always... she was a comedienne and a singer. Not professional, but, you know, she used to get up in pubs and things like that. She had a good voice... She used to do this little tune when I was just a one- or two-year-old... The tune was from the Disney movie - 'Want to know a secret? Promise not to tell. You are standing by a wishing well.' So, I had this sort of thing in my head and I wrote it and just gave it to George [Harrison] to sing."

That was how "Do You Want To Know A Secret?" came to be written.

"Gawrsh!" Remembering performer Vance DeBar Colvig (though we know him better by his childhood nickname, "Pinto"), born the 11th of September 1892.

Best known as one of the actors who performed the voice of 'Goofy' (a role currently performed by Bill Farmer), Colvig did voices and sounds for other characters in the Studio's animated productions, including both 'Dopey' and 'Grumpy' in SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS, the 'Practical Pig' in "The Three Little Pigs," and 'Pluto.' Pinto was honored posthumously as a Disney Legend, in 1993.

Outside of the Studio, he worked for studios such as Warner Bros. and M-G-M (which included the voice of a 'Munchkin' in "The Wizard of Oz"), and he was the first 'Bozo the Clown' for television.

In this photo, Pinto (left) is shown with director Jack Kinney, along with the storyboard from the 1945 short, "African Diary." (Story is credited to Bill Peed [Peet].)

I did this post because a lot of people don't know that these places and people exist and their efforts to preserve and keep the Disney Heritage going is remarkable. 

Note Taking During Critiques 101

NEW names on the right hand side! check them out if you haven't already, they are friends such as Alex Alvarado, Jeffrey Engel, Andrew Chesworth and more.

   Staying organized Mentally while working on something is hard for some people. Sometimes things can distracting and take you away from your work: such as friends, internet or even yourself! There are times I feel that I have been working on the same part of my assignment for 3 hours and have gotten NO WHERE...

      This is a bad thing, and the solution (my solution) to avoiding such a situation is keeping your mind organized and being aware ON WHAT YOU NEED TO DO NEXT.

-NOTE TAKING-
     Everybody takes notes differently, but the bottom line is that everybody SHOULD be taking notes when their teachers, mentors, or even some friends are critiquing their work. At work we have dailies every week (When the animators and us get together to look at everyones work they have done during the week.) When it's my turn for my work to be reviewed everybody, they just start shouting things out or go into a very detailed explanations one after another. Before you know it, someone else jumps in with an EVEN better note... If you could imagine, it can go pretty quick and nobody will wait for you to finish taking a note.
      So my strategy is to write EVERYTHING I hear down really fast and messy. By the time every one has commented on my shot, my 2 pages of notes look similar to what a nasty, one legged, charcoal footed chicken would look like tap dancing on my sketchbook... But as soon as I get back to my desk I reread my notes and rewrite them. If I don't do that right away I will not know what these notes mean later.

The page thats cut off, thats my regular handwriting, the big writing would be my messy handwriting :P

    I do not know about you but I get excited after I get some really good notes, there's an energy to knowing you just got information to make your work even better. Some animators use this energy to dive right back into their work and others bask in it and take a break to clear their mind to start fresh later.

-THE CHECK LIST-
      When I rewrite my notes I make a list of things I have to do so that I have something to check off. Not that doing this is necessary but it's a way to keep track of your progress and it feels good to cross off a note with a big fat marker and feel like a boss bc your TO-DO list is shrinking.

     (organizing the priorities on the check list: you are not going to fix your finger arca before you fix that major major hitch in your hips. So aim for the things that stick out like a sore thumb and is killing your shot.)


-THE CIRCLE-
     This is how I stay mentally focused..  everybody needs their strategy bc we all could get stuck noodling the same nose arc for 3 hours.. The Circle is something I came up with that visually breaks down what I need to do and what I have done (while showing me the time I have spent doing each task)

 -How does it work DANNY???? ok here is a step by step of how I do this:
You draw a clock, and you plan your day on this clock with general words.

Then as time goes by you shade in the appropriate section on the clock when ever you can.

      Then when you actually finish a task that you aimed for you mark how long it ACTUALLY took you to finish that task.

     Then you continue and adjust the rest of your schedule accordingly (like cancel those movie plans you made that night!!)
     With the circle I can easily see what is taking the most time to accomplish and where my time is going. I like the circle visually much more than a linear system like a bullet pointed list. This is how I get my work done when I am in crunch mode. I do not do this all the time. Here are some of the circles from my sketchbook so you could see how they really look (unlike the fake one I used to demonstrate above)

  

     That's all I got for today. hopefully it helps out who ever needed the help and If you didn't need the help, I hope you enjoyed the insight. Happy NewYears! Oh and one more thing...

PS:
     REMEMBER to not compare how fast you do your work with how fast your peers do theirs. Some peers might be insanely faster than you naturally but like wise do not take comfort if some peers are a little bit slower than you. Do not think that means to slow down and start to take comfort that you are a little ahead. work hard ALL THE TIME.

Traveling and Art

                                   

   


      So sorry for not being able to post recently. Things have been busy here at the studio in so many ways. Cars 2 is about to come out, I've seen it and the kids should love it. On top of that I have been getting ready to go travelling abroad. I leave this Monday the 27th of June! Where am I going? Belgium, Germany and Amsterdam. So if you are in the area be sure to send me an email, I would not mind meeting up!

      So I want to talk about drawing materials briefly.. And since I'm travelling, more specifically materials on the go. Sure you can make art out of anything and make a drawing with any sort of thing that makes a mark.. but should you? I'll say no, not all the time. Just like a soccer player can not be the best player they can be while playing with a mango shaped ball, neither can an artist release their full potential with with the wrong materials..

First off-  The Sketchbook/ Pad of Paper
Find the size that's write for you.

     -You want to work on details and become free to draw without the edge of the paper restraining you? Go for the big sketchbook. (my preference)
  
    -You want to draw people discreetly and work on catching quick gestures and in the moment expressions, go for the small note book

    -You just want to put your self through drawing boot-camp and not treat every drawing like it's precious and just focus on form and skill? Go for the cheap newsprint like drawing pads that have like 300 pages in them and get your self some permanent markers!

     The kind of sketch book you choose will greatly effect the way you draw. Imagine you buy a leather bound notebook and you are just learning to draw. You might feel like you have to make every drawing worth it and it has to be the best.. this kind of thinking is bad, you'll find yourself too timid to even draw in it. How will you EVER improve your skills when you expect yourself to make good drawing right away? As a rule never treat your drawings as gems. I say, the first GOOD drawing you draw, have your mom, or sibling draw over it or rip it up. You have to learn to treat your good drawings like nothing and think of your self as being capable of drawing EVERY drawing that good. And make that your goal to be able to draw EVERY drawing that good when ever you make a pencil touch a paper...
     If you are in architecture, how are you suppose to draw the grandness of the building on a 3x5" sketch book????? No way you can draw the masonry or the details around the windows! You would be much better off with an 11x14" sketchbook...

So enough about sketchbooks, you get the point.

-The Pencil
Lets start with the basics. If you do not know the hierarchy of pencils.. LEARN THEM..

    In school you usually use an HB pencil or a 2B pencil. which are pretty common. Ideally you want to use a dark (they are referred to as soft) pencil to draw and sketch quickly. Especially for figure drawing you might want to even go up to a 6B pencil. It's harder to erase and it'll force you to live with your mistakes and see them, learn from them. Very good at learning how to make your lines correct the first time you put them on the paper.
   Now and then I'll come across someone trying to draw a full on landscape with a 2H pencil. Your making life hard when it doesn't have to. Keep the light (referred to as Hard) pencils for details and tinier feats. When going out, my combination of pencils are 6B, 2B, HB, and H
(Eraser to use: White eraser)

Here I used a many different types of pencils to achieve the desired shading the drawing required

This was the finished piece, my favourite sub picture would have to be the lower left.

-Wax Pencils
    I almost forgot about these. Wax pencils are usually thicker and you have to peel to expose the tip after it gets dull. I like these a lot. Use them for quick drawings and figure drawing! There are also wood-less pencils that just plain look cool :)

-The Charcoal Stick
    Perfect for life drawing and figure drawing. Charcoal is messy and fun. You can not take charcoal and be serious with it. Most likely you will see artist do fast 30 sec. or 15 sec. model studies with charcoal. Charcoal allows you to manipulate lines and clearly see your mistakes. And the only way to fix mistakes with charcoal? Is to not do them in the first place! Over time you will see your lines loosen up and you will see your hand eye coordination greatly improve. Most likely you'll see me using huge Biggie pad of newsprint paper that doesn't cost much. Huge means like a 2 foot pad. You need a huge pad so you can learn how to use your WHOLE arm when you draw, and not just your wrist. Very good thing to learn for painters.  (Eraser to use: kneaded Eraser)

A very fast one minute contour drawing of a flower

     Charcoal CAN be used for great detailed art pieces. There are no rules. I am just saying what you can do with these materials to get the biggest bang for your buck.

Still Life of hanging clothes with charcoal

Just because you don't have the right colours of charcoal doesn't mean you still can't do what you want...

-Color Pencils
   If you use any color pencils, use Prisma Color. Think: go hard or go home, they might be expensive but they are worth it. Prisma Color will get you the most vibrant richest colors out of any brand. Have fun with color pencils! I always carry a few just to inject some life into my drawings once in a while. Because page after page of black and white drawings just doesn't do it for after a while.

-Markers
    There are 2 kinds of markers I usually use. There are the grey gradient story boarding kind, these are always good to have for any sketch artist. Good for practising tones and light studies.

    And then there are the Crayola markers and Sharpies. if you make a mistake, make something out of it. work with it. do not waste paper! Go with the flow, CREATE! Do what you need to do to save the drawing. Markers teach problem solving. You will find yourself saying, "Shit Danny! I drew that line in the wrong spot, what do i do with this line?"  ..um.. make it into a cloud? FIGURE IT OUT.  I love markers. make sure you use them with paper you do not care about. You will go through a lot.

-The Ball Point Pen and Ink Pen
    I have grown fond of these. It's a nice mix in-between a marker and a pencil. You have to learn how to do things right the first time or learn how to solve the problems you create. I've learned to be patient and learn how to shade with them and draw pencil like drawings with them. I figured out that they are very good for blind drawing and counter drawings. I like the lines the create and the aesthetic quality they give to the drawings. Try them out.

-Crayons..
   Do not act like crayons are for kids. Do not act like it wasn't THE CRAYON that inspired you to start exploring your creative eye at the age of 3... try letting loose with them and see what happens!

     So on my trip you can expect me to have some of these materials, and to be sketching on my train rides around Germany. I'll be sure to post pictures of the sketches :) I will be gone for two weeks and will be back the 15th of July! Still keep those emails coming, I do enjoy seeing all your work and reviewing them!

Go out and draw. and watch cars2.. at least for the Brave teaser in front of it...
-Daniel Gonzales

Animation 102: General Polishing Notes..

     So here is an email of a critique I wrote out. I thought it had some useful elements  to it and decided to share! Context: They is about to wrap up on this and has a little less than a week to finish. So I pointed out the major things that catch my eye and overlook the little things so they can make the best use of their time... enjoy

Hi _______,

     Lets get down to business shall we? I'll try not to be that harsh :)

     So, contrast... everything needs some sort of contrast, it just makes things look texturally more interesting, agree? So your animation is great, but as bad ass as it is, in the beginning it's still sort of, smushy, water smooth... (and I understand he's sneaking) but none the less the characters movement is a bit swimmy.

     The Culprit: The FLASH LIGHT. The flash light moves way too much and at the same pace and style as the body, if you would just view the flash light and hide the body, it will look like the hand of someone high, or drunk, or just someone waaay too relaxed. It has tooo much over-lap (up and down), the head and the body go up and down already, no need to go overkill and do the flash light as well, it's like you want me to watch your assignment while nodding my head up and down the whole time. if you're more a percentage kind of girl, I would tell you to take it 80% down...

     Solution: Hold it reletively still in the direction it is in now, towards the opposite wall where he is heading towards. and if you are feeling daring even put a lil frequency vibration in it to show shaking, but DONT MAKE IT look like he has tremors! This will contrast the slow cat like movement of the body. make it look like he's holding the Flash light with a purpose and not hold it as if it was a prop.

     POSES: On frame X78 is very natural and realistic. Not bad, but tell me one thing...  which one is better.... im just asking.. you know... just take a look and let me know...

        You see? Just always push things a little more and make sure you are selling the pose. Never forget to check if your silhouette value is the best and clearest it can be. Is it telling the whole story? is it appealing? What might it be mistaken as? how do i make it fool proof? And don't start saying that it's not physically possible with the model. "but Dannny, it wont let me, It doesn't want to bend that way, it's too hard..."  FORCE IT. Do not compromise with the computer, do not meet it half way, don't let it decide how far you can push your art. It does what you tell it to do, don't pitty it. The moment you start to let it tell you who's boss, that's when we all lose and then movies like Terminator 2 and the Matrix become reality. Always keep the computer in check. :) It's just waiting for you to let down your guard..... haha

Frame X78- X104
       After you hit that pose you start to turn, BUT EVERYTHING TURNS WITH EACH OTHER FAIRLY AT THE SAME TIME!!!!!!! You do have a teeny weenie bit of an off set, but that's only because I had to look for it. How about you hold the head staring towards Screen Left for a while longer and hold the flash light there too. Make the body turn first then around X92 start the head turn, try that out see if it feels right and adjust accordingly. Break it up, make it feel natural.

       Ok this next one is a big one, you might hate me but i can afford you to hate me, what you CANNOT afford is sub par problem solving skills!
-Flip through Frames X105 to X110.. then continue flipping to X115. Doesn't it look like he's bouncing off those boxes? Like in a bad action film sort of way? X110, that character definitely broke it's back on those boxes.. I drew something that might help you out:

 

      So you see what I did, I also moved your last pose a little screen left. This way not only is it a reaction, but VISUALLY he is moving away from the ghost as well. It makes the head ARC less spontaneous and it's easier to follow along with the eyes. But that means reworking the animation before and after it and making it work, re-look at the physics my pose change demands and make it work. it's going to be tough but try it out. It will definitely be challenging.

     Your ending, I'm going to acknowledge it's subjective. Because I too watched cartoons when I was younger I could recognize what you were doing (scared stiff and the fainting) but if I was living in a cave my whole life or from Antarctica, I would have no freaking idea what the hell was going on, "he stopped, then moves again and stops again... then he MOVES again to fall down... and then the ghost looks at me??" WTF is going ON!!!!!!????? lol. your animation is nice. I'm just letting you know you are relying on the audiences background knowledge of cartoons to sell your idea.

      So I hoped this helped you out, Let me know how it goes, your animation is very nice and it doesn't look messy at all. Good job staying organized. Notice how most of my notes were on choices and not fundamentals. That's perfect since you are in the polish stage. If you would like me to check it out again let me know and I'll gladly do it. Touch on these notes then I can look deeper into your timing and spacing after there is nothing to distract my eye. Keep on going!

-Daniel Gonzales

Animation: Boy with Fire

 

      And you can always see what kind of student some one is by looking at their work. I went to the California College of the Arts Animation Show last week and saw a lot of amazing good stuff. A little Stop Motion, a little modelling and rendering, some amazing 2D animation as well as some very nice 3D animation. But no matter the quality you can always kinda guess the students work flow. Just keep that in mind when you are hoping that you can fool your teacher by doing your work the day before it's due...

When ever an animation assignment is given to a student, there are three types of students that I have observed.

-The type that procrastinate. They start late, they have an epic short film and want to finish it two weeks before it's due..

-The type that over estimate themselves. That start early and they want to do a fifteen minute short in 5 months...

-And lastly the type that is right in the middle. They don't aim to be epic, and they do not procrastinate.

______________________________________________________________

Here is what I animated for the CCA Animation Show 2011. Hope you like it.
If the Video Does not play, here's the link Boy with Fire



      I was asked to make this 3 weeks before the show, so that gave me 2 weeks to animate. So a couple of all nighters here some Starbuck breaks there and this is what you get. Thanks to my friend for the special effects with photoshop!  I also Provided my Pencil Test version with no sound and no special effects so you can see all my notes and mistakes flash and pop in the corners of the pages. You will see numbers and drawings and those help me keep track of my drawings and planning when I am in the middle of animating. Do notice the fire! It was my first time animating fire and it was fascinating. I will have to do a whole post about just fire soon to share some stuff I learned.

(Sorry no Pencil Test, could not upload)

      I cannot stress how important it is to always do your own work on the side even when you do have a job animating. A lot of Artists NEED that certain type of freedom that allows them to explore, and there's no better way to do that than on your own terms.
      But if you do need some structure I want to tell you about SPLINE DOCTORS. They're are having a month long animation contest. It starts May 9th and ends June 10th. If you're gnna say that you wish you had time or that you are too busy, those are excuses. The hours from 10PM to 2AM I find are Prime animation time that any one can tap into to. No one bothers you, nothing on TV. It's golden. MAKE TIME to do art. The link to The Spline Doctors Web Page is on the upper right side of my page. They are offering Prizes for the top three best animated pieces they receive. Good luck!

-Daniel Gonzales

Animation Schools: Looking for Them?

Animation Schools... There are tons,
There are the The Art Institutes, up north is Sheridan College, Westwood, Academy of Art University right across the bay, Savannah College of Art and Design, ITT Tech for the gamers, for the eager Animation Mentor, and the big one with a lot of weight to throw around: California Institute of the Arts (Cal Arts)

But I want to Talk about one: California College of the Arts

     I went four years through their animation program and now I'm animating at Pixar. Yes I am 23 years old.. If you haven't guessed what this post is by now, get ready, I'm about make THE CASE of why you should go to California College of the Arts for animation. And since this is my school, hell yea I'ma go ahead and say this school is one of thee best, this will be hard-core juiced, ultra favorably biased, and VERY VERY DETAILED, the good the better and the best of CCA.

California College of the Arts: Is it The best Animation School?
     -Danny explain yourself..

     First I'd like to get to the point, It is unbearably close to Pixar :) I leave the parking lot of Pixar and can get to California College of the Arts in 5 minutes, Mapquest.com says it's seven minutes, but what do they know.
     And the consequences of being so close to pixar..  a lot of our animation faculty who work here lead double lives.. Pixar Animators by day, teachers by night. The student to teacher ratio is TINY. An animator teacher rarely has more than 12 students in their classes. They like the intimate face-to-face time, it seems to help the students learn more and develop better. Revolutionary.. I know..
  
Who's Teaching now at CCA? 

     We've got story artists, animators, directors, art and design... To throw a few names out there can tell you that Andrew Gordon is amiably teaching animation, director of future Pixar film Mark Andrews is teaching his brutal Visual Story Telling class, Anthony Cristov amazing drawing skills are also at work here, Brett Parker teaches in experimental animation and as well as Film based classes, Don Crum is on top of good old traditional animation and making sure the students are exposed early in their curriculum to the basics (His class I can say was AMAZING) I can not leave out Stop Motion! Doug Sheppeck is busy in those trenches teaching this fascinating style of animation and keeping it alive. I can go on and on with our faculty and the classes CCA offers.
      Do not get me wrong, Pixar is great but we also have other faculty that are also worth boasting about. They hail from Tippet Studios (awesome place) and other Animation studios that conveniently in the area CLOSE to California College of the Arts. (Tippet is located just up the street from CCA towards Berkeley as well.) We even have teachers who worked at Disney in their Second Golden Age that work here now. Yes CCA is spoiled when it comes to faculty... but it doesn't stop there. Connections baby..
      You want complete connection to professionals who still have their feet wet from the business, This is the place to be. With the small class sizes they are not only your teachers, they end up being your friends. I was going to save this juice 'till the end but I'll just spit it out now. -

Monday April 25th, Pete Doctor will be giving a talk at California College of the Arts. Why?

       Because he can. He's a boss. He can talk where ever he wants, and he wants to talk at CCA. (He was originally just going to talk to just a lucky class of students, but he ended up choosing to talk in our lecture hall.)
       This is open to the Public. And will be either around 6:30 pm or 7pm in NALL HALL (Right around the corner to the animation department) Be there, you know I will. *cough *cough.. It's only 5 minutes away.. Are you applying to CCA yet? Fine, ok here's some info on the Anim Department..

The Animation Department: 

       Has a lot of good things going for it. The Department is still in it's infancy (only barely on it's 3rd graduating class) and it's growing exponentially every year. CCA will supply you with anything you need. You need Down-shooters for your 2D short? We have a whole room for them. Animating on maya? They have rows and rows of spanking new powerfull imacs for you, each one with a Wacom tablet. Have you ever animated on a Cintique? Well you will here, tons of new Cintiques to use for animation (seniors get priority on these.. nice..), there's nothing like Animating 2D directly on a screen and pressing the arrow key for a new blank page..

      The facility got a make over with a new lay out that include new classrooms and a new sound recording studio included. The thing I always repeat about CCA is that they don't have any other agenda other than to make you the best artist YOU want to be. You just want to be a modeler or story boarder, go ahead, you only want to do experimental animation, fine! Character animation is your interest, CCA will help you be what you want to be. This is no cookie cutter Art College, these teachers will FAIL your ass if you suck garbage, or maybe they'll just let you know that your work is bad and then tell you how to fix it. But ultimately you are your own person and the Medium of animation is at your mercy. You will not be FORCED to changed, but you will be showed how to become great. 

     With all the improvements to the department, you are missing out on a great experience if you pass this school up. The sweetest addition to the department in my opinion was the Light Table bar that lines both sides of the whole entrance way to the animation department. It is open 24/7 you will always find some one flipping their animation there. 

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California College of the Arts:  

     CCA is over a hundred years old (1907). It didn't start out as an animation school but was founded during the Arts and Crafts movement. So this school is ARTSY. It has a very, very, VERY broad range of disciplines here. Here's a few:

Painting,

Sculpture,

Drawing,

Glass blowing,

Ceramics,

Printmaking,

Photography,

Furniture,

Stuff we don't even have names for!

        As well as.. Fashion Design, Graphic Design, Architecture, Illustration, Industrial Design, Jewelry and Metal Working, Tons of Drawing classes,Visual Studies, Writing and Literature, Fine Arts, Film, Community Arts, and more.

-CCA is an ART SCHOOL,

   ..no more no less. It's not just filled will tech heads or JUST animation students, you get EVERY possible kind of artist you could think of! (Fine art, Abstract, Impressionist, psycho, emo, hipster, introverted, bubbly, troubled, conscientious, yoga enthusiast, urban, B-boy/girls, activist, face value type, passivist, too serious, partyer that always has a funnel, the stoner, the straight edge, the coke fiend, the zen master, the liberal, the conservative (Very rare) the rocker, the gay the straight the in-between, black shades beat poet, promiscuous, nerdy, and All the internationality's you can think of..etc etc I can go on)
     Being an art school so close to University of California, Berkeley has history of being involved in social issues. Being so close to San Francisco and hippie lifestyle Oaksterdam University it comes kinda expected that The Princeton Review would name CCA one of the most 'Green Schools of 2011'. The bottom line is that CCA has a diverse population of artists. And you constantly get to see their work and mingle such as Spring fair help on campus for selling and trading art.

     HOLD UP. Don't think it's all fun and games. This school is accredited. You do earn a REAL bachelors that can be used to get a job other than animation or art.. you WILL have to to take english and science still. And being right next to Berkeley, one of the best universities of the world, we do get teachers from Berkeley teaching at CCA. (Art school producing well rounded artist?  whaaAA!?!?)

-CCA has two campuses,
     One San Francisco and one in Oakland (animation is in Oakland) There is a shuttle between the two campuses. Sometimes you might have a morning Life Drawing class in Oakland  and then Philosophy class on San Francisco campus. :) San Francisco offers the urban modern feel while Oakland keeps it Old school and full of nature.

 






Student Life:
       Hands down what CCA is good for is scholarships.. I wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for those scholarships. California College of the Arts might not be the biggest school on the map nor the most famous one, but it is one of the best. CCA has tons to offer. Your experience there will be one of a kind. Your first year you will most likely be in the Dorms.

 

     Dorm life IS the business..

 ..for like only a year. You could only handle so many dorm room parties haha, and with Berkeley down the street and San Francisco 15 minutes away, you will never run out of fun things to do. And Oakland has some fun spots as well. I've been here 4 years and am still finding new spots here in the bay. You can go hiking, bomb fire on the beach, drive to the snow, visit one of countless museums here, be a tourist, I can go on for a while and this post is already quite long.
    
      So I hope I made my case of why you should pick CCA as your animation school or just as your art school in general. I came from no where, a slummy, run down, druged out, hood banging neighborhood, single parent mom making under 25,000 a YEAR and Look at me now. You would of never known. Maybe it was CCA, maybe it's because I worked my ass off, maybe it's no ones credit and it's the way the cookie crumbles...

Either way, California College of the Arts a bad ass school and it's waiting for you.

-Daniel Gonzales