Advice To Aspiring 2D Animators/storyboard Artists/concept Artists Etc.:

Advice to aspiring 2D animators/storyboard artists/concept artists etc.:

Don't go to expensive art school

Don't work for low pay indie productions in hope of boosting your resume

Don't do cheap commissions

Don't post traced or AI art ever

Don't make animation your career

Stop telling yourself artistic skill = money

If you are in high school right now, do not go to college for animation. I'm so so serious. The animation industry is crumbling right now, and the last thing you should be doing is racking up college debt for a degree that will fail you.

Here are some things that you can do:

Use your creative skills for jobs outside of the entertainment industry

Work on personal projects

Do not feel like you have to spend your time marketing yourself on social media if you don't enjoy it

Collaborate with other artists on projects you actually want to work on

Widen your creative influences

Try new mediums

Keep private sketchbooks/journals

Allow yourself to flow through periods of creative highs and art block

Even if you 'make it' in the animation industry. It is highly likely you will get laid off, be overworked, or underpaid. Most likely all three.

I've been laid off by two studios, underpaid by all of my animation jobs with exception of two, and I'll name them so no one thinks I am accusing them. One was a small short film called Emaho where I got to set my own rates and pick my workload. And the other is Wild Card, which was commission based and priced by me. I have had three animation studio jobs, and all of them have either not paid me or paid me very little.

The last studio job made me finally quit the industry. It was the largest most prestigious studio I had ever worked for. And, with exception of the studio that paid me nothing as I was an intern, this studio paid me the worst wages of any job I've had. I had calculated my pay, and it was less than minimum wage in my state. The studio had hired me promising part time hours, but would often leave me without work for days. The managers were hard to reach. I had little to no contact with the other animators working at the studio. But it was my first and only credit in an animated show, so that's something.

This expierience has been echoed by my animator friends and coworkers. It is not a sustainable industry. It profits off of worker exploitation. Don't feed it with your time, money, and creativity.

My PrettyDolls Redesign

Took awhile, but I finally got these designs done. Similar to my Uglydolls redesign, I didn't change too much from their original designs. All I did was added some accessories, and change up their clothes. Most of the pretty girls have golden earrings, and different size skirts besides Lydia.

Kitty is the leader of the Spy Girls. She makes sure that the other spies, and Mandy look top tier as they are the lead examples of perfections in the Institute. Because of this, Kitty is very strict on how the girls should dress, look, and act as she doesn't want to disappoint Lou. For my redesign, I gave her long white stockings, shortened her skirt a bit, and a cat hairpin. Kitty wants to look professional and up to Lou's standards. She doesn't wear to any thing that's too distracting, and keeps things simple. The cat hairpin is something she added to give her outfit some flare, and to show her love for cats.

Tuesday is a big fan of Lou and wants his attention 24/7. Kitty makes sure to keep her in lane, but Tuesday can't help it. Besides her obsessions of Lou, Tuesday's job is to keep track what's trending and whatever gossips that goes around in Perfection. It's how the Spy Girls stay ahead of the game, and have a bunch of dirt on everyone. For her redesign, I gave a big red bow, and a cowlick. The red bow helps her gain attentions, and the cowlick is to show that she can be a bit of an airhead despite her perfections.

Lydia is the defense of the group. She makes sure the dolls keep their distances from Lou, and defends the Spy Girls name. Lydia is not some doll you should mess with, and willing to stuffed anyone that gets in her way. The reason why I gave her long, flowing pants, because I kept imagining her with them, and felt like they suit her better than a skirt. I also gave her a bunny pin since she does have a bit of the soft side, and she mentioned that she loves bunnies.

Mandy's redesign is very similar to how she's looks in the movie. The only differences is that she's allow to wear her glasses around Lou, and the Spy Girls since in my rewrite. Wearing glasses doesn't make you ugly. That doesn't mean she's completely perfect as she hides something messier underneath. Besides that, Mandy pretty much act that same like she did in the movie, and have a decent, but neutral relationship with the Spy Girls. Though, she is pretty close to Kitty as Kitty tends to trust her with certain tasks, and helps keep the group organize.

For Meghan and Michael, they are background characters that appear once in a while, but I wanted to redesign them as well. Meghan skirt isn't as twirly like some of the other pretty girls' skirts. She takes her role as a lawyer serious, and doesn't mess around. For Micheal, I shorten up his jacket vest and have his shirt stick out a bit. He likes to keep his himself clean, and really dislikes the idea of going into the washer (Though, that is pretty much how all of the institute feels.) Both Meghan and Michael try to live up to Lou's standards, but aren't on the same level like Mandy and the Spy Girls.

Now for the doll himself, Lou!! The only changes I made for his design is that I added a "L" initial on his jacket. Other than that, Lou is leader of the Institute of Perfection, and mentor to all pretty dolls. He seeks out the best of the best, and is very harsh and judgmental when doing so. He only wants what's best for the pretty dolls as he knows that they can do better. Though, he doesn't have much hope for Imperfects dolls as he sees them as mistakes and wouldn't hesitate to recycle them if they refuse to do labor work. All the pretty dolls look up to him, and see him as this flawless doll can do no wrong. Despite wanting to forget, he constantly thinks about that one friendship he had with a certain ugly doll as that was the only time he felt something more genuine than admiration.

Note: I notice that I made Mandy, Kitty, Tuesday, Meghan, and Micheal's skirt and pants a lot lighter than I intended to be, so that's going to get fix in the future.

Advice To Aspiring 2D Animators/storyboard Artists/concept Artists Etc.:

More Posts from Flareheart8 and Others

My PrettyDolls Redesign