Get It Movin’!

I have been an artist all my life. Growing up in Florida I had the advantage of going to Disney all the time. I am the product of a ‘Disney family’, which means that we would experience all things Disney several times a year. As a child I enjoyed all of the things that your typical Disney-Goer would (the characters, the rides, etc.), but there was one thing that I always made sure to take time for, and that was to tour the animation studios.

Now, I know that two-dementional cell animations are like ‘so 1998′, but as I was growing up, I KNEW that I would be a Disney animator as my career. This was not a secret, mind you; I shared this information with anyone who would listen (mostly my parents and family)! In 2nd grade I began nurturing that passion when I met Clay Verge, a retired art teacher, who–every week for 10 years–taught me how to hone my passion with the right skills.

Fast forward to 2003, I have made the decision to take my talents into the ministry. (I am freshly out of high school and have just begun my first year at Florida Christian College when the news breaks that Disney has closed the Orlando Animation Studio indefinitely, thus crushing any possibility (or perception thereof) of me making my career as an animator. That was also, coincidentally, the same year I picked up a copy of Adobe® Illustrator®. I started translating my years of formal fine arts training into the digital realm.

Now, 8 years later, I have become pretty well proficient in the trade, and have developed my own style and aesthetic. So, now it is time to go back to the roots. I have just begun learning how to take my wide knowledge base of graphic design, and get it in motion. After Effects® is another Adobe production application that is specifically designed for animation. I started learning this app last week, in an effort to push myself to the next level in my design. I just started messing around with the application, custom graphics, and an original song by my good friend Robert Coleman. Check out was I was able to come up with… Hey who knows… Maybe I can be an animator after all!