Awhile back I found a very specific tweet that reminded me of my Art Theory class, and this time I have idea about the answer:
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His name was Giorgio Vasari , the renaissance painter, and I, personally, f-cking hate that guy.

He was the one silly man to bring to modernity (well, to the more modern times in the 1500s) the idea that artists had this “natural creative divine talent”. It is his goddamn fault that the artist is given the Born Genius treatment. Not sure he invented the myth, but he did the whole bit of “this poor little shepherd kid is drawing fruit so realistic with a stick in the mud flies are drawn to his scribbles, God gave him the innate artistic skills to fool nature with his Gift so he must follow his true calling as an Artist” and brought it back to the public imaginary.

You see, back in the more medieval days being a renowned artist was not common or looked after, but then many things happened, the printing press and money flowing to different classes in society, the pictorial interest shifted to imitating nature, blablabla, and, within the renaissance, Giorgio wrote this cursed thing: Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects. A selected group of biographies of artists that created this narrative that artists are born and that talent is necessary to be an Excellent Artist.

Long story short, this collection of biographies was for a long time, the primary source of the biography of many Renaissance artists and the base for writing about artists since “the guy who wrote it was an artist himself so he must be right ”, making it the be all end all in terms of who is who in the history of art… And well, it is just full of Florentine and Roman artists that Giorgio liked very much himself. Leonardo, Michelangelo, Giotto, etc, some contemporaries of him, but it also included the ones that lived before him, and he knew nothing about it. Girogio did his research and wrote his book filled with his personal heroes.

My guy Vasari basically invented Art History as a Subject with capital S, but, as all guys set in a historical period, his views were painfully biased. Filling his book with anecdotes that were closer to gossip and in line with the idea of the renaissance at full speed, remarking the existence of this set progressive timeline where art evolves to imitate nature, elevating artists to an exceptional born-talented person who was put on this earth because, "the Holy Spirit illuminated them to partake in the adoration of God’s perfect creation from the moment they exited the womb by drawing perfectly" Not sure, I read it long ago. still, you get the point of mixing full-on religious beliefs with the principles of the Renaissance to appeal to The Church and Academics (historians, theologians, philosophers) alike.

But, as we gotta do from our postmodernist perspective, we gotta ask about the context, the point of view: who was writing those biographies and why. And Vasari, helpfully, in his book of Most Excellent Artists… included himself.

He positioned himself among his heroes, placing himself in the middle of his own narrative. He said, “Look at them and look at me.” He had the political pseudo nationalistic agenda to set his homestate (Florence and Rome ) and himself as the cradle and centre of the Good Arts and “not like those barbarian others. ” from different latitudes with influences from other cultures.  Even if this belief of antique Roman excellence was widely spread at the time, having it in print solidified it as some kind of undeniable truth. He was the first to write about it, widely publish it, establishing the lives of artists as this mythical born-genious person...and subsequently, he fucked up how people wrote about artists for the next centuries.

And if you ask yourself, “Who invented the idea that artists are jealous of each other and compete to get the attention of the rich and powerful and are nasty and cocky about it?” it was also him.

Exercises for anyone who wants to have a long career drawing.

The true problem with being an artist and drawing all day (as I wanted my whole life) is that human backs are not designed to hold that position, so it is very common for artists and designers to have really stiff shoulder blades, creating a chain of muscle strain towards the arm AND the back… and a lot of pain.

These are some physical exercises for artists and honestly anyone who works at a desk.
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(all credit to my physiotherapist)

I got interviewed by Toon Boom about my work in animation and my career as a storyboard artist! (the interview is in Spanish) I’m very passionate about storytelling and I’m always so happy to share some of that with others <3
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ES: Hace unos meses Toon Boom me hizo una entrevista acerca de mi trabajo en animacion y carrera como storyboard artist 🌟

This year I am also part of the Ambassador Program!

AND--
I'm also the winner of the Animation category!!

I steel feel amazed that I get mentions in my professional career. I know it is very common for artists to feel very insecure about their work, and the Impostor Syndrome is very real and ingrained in all of us.  

I understand our need to try to do better in what we like to do, but I try very hard to trust in the people that see my work and like it. That is the basis of this profession, after all, we have to do our best and trust the rest of the team is also doing their best.

My recommendation is always to hold onto this opportunities and just TRY, if they happen it is amazing and validating, but when they don't. happen, and trust me, I have a fair amount of those as well, then  it is not the right moment and not the right skills, and the worl keep going and you have time to try again in a different way.

hi!! I'm glad to hear you are working on things! And That is a very good question I ask myself the same very often. for me, it depends on who is gonna use the board. If there is no need to be more specific about the buildings (because sometimes there is nothing said on the script or background designers are still working on it) you can just show the angle and do boxes, maybe throw a couple of small windows  to make it very clear it’s a building but that’s all. In my job i could get away with something like this because the layout and background artists are the ones making it very pretty for the final thing. It is clear that i want a city full of buildings for this shot. and I usually just don't have the time do it more detailed tbh.

But if you want to show  light sources, and  since it’s the opening shot and maybe you want to be very clear about the kind of city it is you can do it more detailed with shading like 

​or  in the style you are using for the board, very cartoonish  or only with black lines etc.! (I’ve seen boards that use concept art for backgrounds and it also helps a lot) The idea of a establishing shot is to give an specific mood and place, and if you are the one designing you can throw that there.

​This twitter thread is very good in showing the difference between storyboard and layout, with the second tweet having how the board looks! 
https://twitter.com/Lowtwait/status/1300934567067484161 

Hope it helps, and good luck with your project! 

Hi! This is gonna be a bit long but I hope I can help. I’m from Colombia and I first did an undergrad in fine arts and then decided to go into storyboarding. But here the animation industry is only starting, which means there are 0 places to study it and a LOT of people are self-taught with all the problems that it has. SO.. when I decided to go into animation as a professional I chose to get a masters degree in Animation in the UK. I was looking for that sweet experience from a place with an established industry. (and that is way cheaper than the USA, and  I also knew the language) That’s how I went to become a storyboard artist. 
If you are still unsure of where to start or if it is more convenient for you, start studying in your country something that has to do with visual arts, that way you can develop solid drawing skills while also focusing on storyboard, visual narration, and animation.
In the end, these are means to have a good portfolio you can use to show directors, producers, or recruiters what you can do and start working in animation anywhere. Since I don't really know how the animation industry is in Morocco, I would think that you have to do a lot of work yourself to be part of it. Being really observant of the animated shorts produced in your country or how small studios or just people already working in animation are doing. While also working on your storyboarding skills. Have in mind that at the end your artwork is what’s backing your dream to work in animation.
I think there are 3 paths on how to become a storyboard artist, depending on what you want to do with your life...for example, if you want  emigrate to another country, you need to have a degree for visa requirements and stuff. But sometimes it is not required to work on animation. 

•  Self taught: There are many resources online that can help you with this. Nowadays there are easier to find, like in youtube or just online that tell you about the basics, also by studying the work from professionals, from the ones that are only starting to bigger names. By looking at their portfolios you can see what they do and how they organize their work. And what the standard for the industry is. This one requires more self discipline and, for me, it is the most difficult since starting can be really confusing 
• Study online: There are some great courses about it, I think I heard good things about the ones from storyboardart.org or many others, where professionals explain and give direct feedback and you can find from basic to advanced levels. These are paid but you can do them from home which can be really convenient. These usually last a couple of months.
• Get a degree: This one is the most expensive, so it is a big decision if you go for something like this. you can study an Undergrad in animation where you learn a bit about everything  and can focus on storyboard, or if you already have a undergrad you can do an MA ,( usually shorter and more focused on the area you are interested in) this can be from 1 year to 3 years depending on each course.

You said you got storyboard pro and wips, right? first thing is...complete at least one of those wips so you have something to show!. The second you say to someone looking for a storyboard artist  “hey I’m looking to work as a storyboard artist, let me show you the storyboards I have” you have the advantage of showing people that you, in fact, are a storyboard artist (even if a very new one). And that’s the first step tbh.

I know some things about studying animation in the UK, or...if you want to ask something more specific, my askbox is open :) i know it’s very hard to start somewhere and ’m very glad i can help somehow. Thank you so so much for asking!

(no worries, en español esta bien :> Nunca he encontrado mucha informacion de storyboard en español, asi que aqui va un poco de mi conocimiento) 

Para comenzara hacer storyboards tienes que  hacer storyboards. No importa  lo mucho que leas o mires como se hacen, al momento de hacerlos es que comienzas a aplicar y a realmente entender todos los consejos.Para comenzar a hacer storyboards lo mejor es saber que el storyboard es una herramienta para planear todo el resto de lo que va a aparecer en pantalla. Es el que dicta los layouts, los fondos, el timing de la animacion..todo lo que compone la historia. Y es lo que otros equipos como el de arte y animacion y compocicion van a estar viendo. La idea del story es comunicar claramente a todo el equipo lo que se esta haciendo, asi que no tiene que ser bonito como tal, tiene que ser util... uno de los puntos mas importantes de trabajar haciedo animacion es que es un trabajo de equipo y todos quieren que salga bien y esto es solo posible si todos saben que esta sucediendo en el guion.Asi que para hacer story la meta es ser claro visualmente en la intencion de cada escena y de cada plano.

Generalmente al hacer story uno comienza con una idea vaga de lo que quiere que se trate y se comienza por dibujos sensillos , generalmente que entiendes tu y nadie mas, lmao. Esos son los thumbnails. esos te dan una idea de que quieres que suceda, y puedes cambiarlos facilmente si no te convencen.Lo siguiente es pensar y dibujar como quieres tu o el director  que suceda cada accion. Esto incluye compocision, fondos, angulos y movimientos de camara y acting de los personajes. 

Como storyboard artist, uno tiene que estar conciente de todo esto, pero realmente se logra con practica y revisiones, muchas revisiones sobre el mismo story , pero pues, eso es lo normal.La practica en story va hacia dos lados, 1. Habilidad artistica. Es practicar mucho dibujo con modelo y dibujo  rapido en la calle de personas y situaciones. Un dibujo expresivo ayuda muchisimo a que una accion o un sentimiento de un personaje se entienda y generalmente un storyboard artist tiene que ser rapido y efectivo al momento de dibujar y esto se logra es practicando dibujo. y 2. Cinematografia.  Necesitas entender como funciona  el lenguaje audiovisual, saber como componer movimiento o situaciones para que la audiencia siga la historia como tu o el director quiere (entienda al personaje, sus motivaciones etc) 
Un ejercicio interesnte es coger escenas de peliculas o series que te llamen la atencion y sacarles el storyboard. Basicamente cada vez que cambia un plano, lo dibujas, asi uno comienza a entender que esta comunicando cada escena y como lo comunica. Y asi comienzas a analizar todo lo que ves y luego puedes usar eso en tus storyboards.De lo mejor que puedes hacer es buscar storyboards y ver como estan hechos, asi te puedes dar una idea de como funcionan.

En general no hay una forma unica o un camino correcto para hacer storyboards y cada produccion requiere cosas distintas. Unas necesitan que el storyboard sea casi los keys para animacion y otras veces un storyboard puede ser mucho menos especifico. 

Aqui hay unos links de cosas de story pero todo esta en ingles :’)
https://samanthavilfort.tumblr.com/post/155063885215/hi-im-hoping-to-become-a-storyboard-artist-but-imhttps://5-30am.tumblr.com/post/161106107152/kingofooo-by-storyboard-supervisor-erikhttp://www.floobynooby.com/comp1.htmlhttps://www.khanacademy.org/partner-content/pixar/storytelling

​Y si tienes animo de mas ingles, este es mi blog de animacion. con parte de mi procesos: http://www.linipik.net/animation-blog 
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Mucho animo, y si quieres saber cualquier otra cosa no dudes en preguntar .u.

Oh Style! the greatest question in an artist life (maybe)

I am part of that group of people that says you gotta look for other things and style will come on it’s own. If you force it, it won’t really…work. Style depends on what you do with your art what you like in it and how it helps its final purpose. And that is a thing that overall, takes time and practice.

Style is just a bunch of art shortcuts.
You do a lot of something until you discover a way to make it easier for yourself and that still works with what you like. A style is supposed to feel comfortable.

It is when you stop thinking about style and start thinking on how to make, idk, that the line you like looks good with the thing you are doing.
You can study some other artist shortcuts and check if it works with what you are doing more than force them into what you are doing. And the moment you adapt it as your own because it helps your own process that detail is now part of your style. Most artist get to their signature style by having to meet deadlines and using what they find easier to do, to do their job.

My tip is that if you like something a for your style, you try using it a lot and try being really perceptive if it is really working or not. Just look at it and be objective and completely sincere with yourself, and if it ain’t working, it ain’t working. It happens. You can also be stubborn and work harder to make it work. and change everything else so you like how your art is going.
ALSO, divide  the style (any style) in parts: Composition, outline, colour palette…even something specific like an eye shape. Anything. so you are able to change that specific thing or you are able to identify it on other’s art.

The thing with style is that it is ever changing...and that is perfectly alright. You evolve as a person and you find other interests and it influence what you do all the time. You can even have various styles and mix them. 

Hope I am being clear and if you have any other question, I am here to help :>

WAO MY PAL, MY DEAR NONI, I helped in that decision?! 

 With career choices, I'm completely serious and if you have any other questions, shoot ahead, I will always be as clear as I can because as much as I love art and studying and the academy, it is a big personal and monetary decision. I am going to go there and say it, I did a masters degree in animation, in storyboard, and for the hell of it I wouldn't change it for anything even at the times it is more of a burden than a  blessing for me.

OKAY then, let’s do this!

My best advice to be a storyboard artist is to do storyboards. (now let me elaborate)It means to draw a lot while thinking and doing it BECAUSE of the story you are telling, I can never stress enough that it is the most important part of storyboarding even tho having good draftsmanship is also very recommended. 

Storyboarding is something you learn while you are doing it, it is about making mistakes and you always learn how to do it better every time you finish a board. Studying visual storytelling is a must  (tv shows, movies, books…) sometimes you sit there and instead of just watching something and start actively  noticing why a shot is good or bad or why is it there in the first place. For being a good storyboard artist you have to keep in mind how everything in frame helps the story. You can’t improvise experience and learning from other storyboard artists and directors is one of the most important parts. 

Right now you can find SO MANY storyboard artists and proper boards from excellent movies online it is a blessing! but most of their advice or what they say only clicks when you start to need it and use it in your own storytelling. One advice i would give to anyone wanting to do story: learn to think with a pencil in your hand,  think while you are drawing. Make mistakes and then think why those are mistakes, and correct them on the go. I am assuming you haven’t started studying yet and you are preparing to enter uni. GOOD, you are of to a head start if you already feel strongly inclined to something specific. At the same time it is important for you to learn many other parts of animation. And one of the biggest things that fuels for your own stories is to do something else. You get inspiration and learn equal important things from everything else in your life. It will always reflects on your art.
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I love sboarding, I would die to keep doing it the rest of my life, but it took me years to figure the goddamn obvious and accept it was something I liked so much. But as much as it is a passion it is also a job. It is something you want to do professionally and an art career is something that usually demands a lot of emotional energy, working with people, and projects you might not like and in this industry, you probably won’t start directly into boards. If you find along the process something you see you enjoy most or are better suit for it, don’t hesitate in also try it. 

OH DEAR!

I am glad you want to get into storyboard :’) You are starting and what I am telling you here is a broad view for the 3 years or so you are going to spend in college. I do not have a single idea what kind of program you are in, and each has its own variations and links to the industry and stuff like that. Anyway!

Storyboard artists work with composition,  storytelling continuity and establish relationships between characters and assure the flow of the sequence. They balance “strong drawing skills with good knowledge of anatomy, staging, acting and the ability to think quickly” .All must come naturally to the storyboard artists. and that is why you better try different types of stories, techniques, and audiences, as well as study composition and narration in finished products like movies, ads and TV shows.  

The main issue is that getting started with storyboards is not exactly easy, since there is not just one way to do storyboards, no 12 principles or specific rules and it can go from mainstream to completely experimental. Some projects will require reworking one scene several times or drawing into the model and others will be great with roughs…

Your aims are to be adaptable because you never know where you are going to end up working or in what kind of projects…And when you are starting, you want to figure out what are your strengths and what you are not so good at. 

What kind of courses?

• Life Drawing is a must, illustration and design is also good, i will say painting is great since it could helps a lot with color composition and of course, animation. From my experience, it is better if you know how animation works,so your boards wont be a mess for the animators and designers. Also to really understand your place in the whole process. 
• Also, anything to do with visual storytelling, or storytelling in general, from children’s books to cinematography. 
• There are many books that are amazing about cinematography and storytelling for animation. it is good to watch how others work, from the roughs and thumbnails, the internet is your friend to find this.
• Learn your softwares, this comes with time and is not a No. 1 priority but in the long run, it is important.. For storyboarding it goes mostly to photoshop and storyboard pro (and sometimes tv paint, i’ ve seen it) . Even when some professionals may tell you that it is not that important, and that if it is a good board it doesn't matter, it does matter for studios and junior position jobs.

Have in mind that internalizing any of this takes time and practice, but it is worth it when you are boarding you want to be thinking if the framing is dramatic enough or the expression funny as you want it to be, not much about the drawing (but you still want it to be clear and good)

And do not be afraid to ask questions.  Many of the animators and storyboard artists are really happy to answer any questions about being part of the animation industry, and they are often more accessible through their own social media. 

things to avoid?

• Not giving yourself time to learn the basics (in animation, in life drawing…in storytelling and in working on groups) 
•  Avoiding feedback…if you want to imrpove, then this is the only way. Sometimes you are so much in your head that it never ends on the drawing :\
•  Being  attached  to your drawings. Storyboards are a tool for planning. they are not supposed to be pretty (i absolutely love them but that is just my opinion..). And most importantly, while boarding you discard drawings, whole scenes A LOT of them. and that is perfectly okay it is all of the planning process.
• taking any kind of feedback and criticism too personal. Kinda difficult BUT everyone is there to make the final thing better. If something can be better, then…you can make it better or you can learn to make it better. 

how to get job experience?

create a portfolio and talk to people. but do not exploit yourself

Tell your teachers and fellow classmates that you are looking for industry experience, and this one come in hand with being able to demonstrate it with your work. If they see you are a good part of the team, they will let you know if they see something available.

Remember that you start from the beginning (as revisionist and assistant ) and it is a great way to improve while working with other professionals AND to show them you are a person they want to work with. You do not have to start as a storyboard artist and that is okay too. There are many many ways to get your foot on the door. …i would say the most valuable thing for ANYONE working in animation is to be a good person. for people dealing with deadlines and last minute changes, you want to work with someone reliable and just plain nice.   

When you want to be a storyboard artist and your goal is to work at an industry level a big part of it is about working on teams and relying on other people’s  abilities to get the most of a project, big or small. and having a broad understanding of various parts of the project is an advantage so do not be afraid to net involved in other aspects of animation.

And finally, i would say a good tip is to find something that fuels your fire and practice with it and enjoy it. Not all will be perfect but you will learn about your own way of doing it. IMO  posting your work online is good, since you learn what form of storytelling is more effective and you start being okay with sharing your work, but take this with a grain of salt because the social media world  is messy and does not reflect your actual worth as an artist. Just if you find it fun to share your stuff, do it. We all love to see more art.Finally, and after a big wall of text I hope it is helpful, I will link you to my MA animation blog…because it has everything form my MA including my final reflections on the industry and portfolios for sboard.

The only way to become good at telling stories visually is by doing it. And screwing it some times, all is part of a process.
If you have any more questions, i’m here to help
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Make mistakes.  Take feedback. Improve. 

heya! 
no problem! i love answering questions that may help!

yes i do have an art degree, but since it was not close to animation, i got an ma in animation too
I got my gigs as storyboard artist by making a story portfolio i would be feel comfortable showing around and applying, and keep practicing… it means by making storyboards all the time, lots of them..and by also taking part of other parts of the animation process, after all it is a team sport :O
The path to become a sboard artist is really different for each person, and for me, it mostly depends on where in the world you are, if you can work in big studios or move close to them , if you get into your local industry…that kind of stuff, if it is a small studio you may need to know other aspects of production such as design and actual animation.

Most people won't need an ma, BUT it is necessary for you to have storyboards to show for applying to jobs. Also, you gotta think about starting from the beginning (aka as a revisionist or assistant)…
..but mostly, for being a storyboard artist you gotta truly focus on  the story part of it. “why things happen and how to show it the clearest way possible”
Most senior storyboard artists and directors i have talked to do not care much if you have AMAZING illustrations if they cant see the potential storytelling…still It requires drawing A LOT so it is a plus if you are clearly comfortable with it
i am here to help! if you have any more questions about any part of it, it’s cool!
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 i can talk all day about storyboards …, since..it is my big passion :>

With any new software, my best first approach is with a step by step tutorial.
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The ones I found more helpful were the ones by Jake Bartlett in Skillshare and for a week I dedicated myself to rigging puppets, and understanding the basic commands and timeline on a software I was running away from the beginning of my animating career.

In conclusion:

• After Effects is a box of wonders and being able to understand what can be done with it is crucial for animators.
• There is not a single way of animating with after effects and the best way is to try what is the most comfortable windows arrangement, at the same time as animating understanding the easy in, easy out and curves is by doing tests.
• If this kind of software are not your strong suit, there is amazing people out there who you  can ask for help.
• Even if it is not my principal way of animating, understanding and being able to use with ease this software, center of the modern animation world, is extremely important. 
• Done is better than perfect, even more when you don't really get what the limits of what you are trying to do are.

Having drawing as a central point in my practice, and not limiting myself to only learning about storyboarding but being able to adapt this existing illustration skills in different projects.  I’ve been involved in layout, and editing my own animatics and final projects, also and more important, develop other set of skills to further my career in animation: I was able to learn about visual narrative and storytelling into a much deeper level. This skills I developed in different projects can be adapted in different aspects I am interested but was not sure how to develop during the MA, like comics and children stories as they all share the principles of drawing and storytelling.
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Although it is clear that I still have room for improvement, nowadays I can say that I can perform professionally as a storyboard artist. I have gained and applied my experience adapting several skills to new environments and performing different roles in various projects while obtaining a better idea on what aspects I need to improve. A big part of the industry is about working on teams and relying on other people’s  abilities to get the most of a project, big or small. and having a broad understanding of various keyponts to not feel at lost in different situations that may occur is a personal advantage since  part of the storyboard artist job as someone who  extinguish fires before they happen.

Drawing is still the axis to develop my career, and being able to develop skills that are useful in more than one way is important in the industry to keep the job, but also to develop a creative voice in personal projects. Storyboard artists work with the composition, storytelling continuity and establish relationships between characters and assures the flow of the sequence. They balance “strong drawing skills with good knowledge of anatomy, staging, acting and the ability to think quickly” (Levy, 2006) A storyboard is the drawings that illustrate a narrative momentum and it is after all a tool to help visualize the film, and like that, they are often discarded to create a stronger point in a story, it is, after all, thinking in terms of visual storytelling and quickly translating those thoughts so they can be pitched, revised and dissected.

​For the story.

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Francesca and Lizbeth – Puzzle Pieces
Storyboard Pro - TVPaint
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​Direction, Production and Storyboard: Luisa Cruz (2nd year MA Animation)
Animation and Character Design: Vasilena Kavanozova (Level 3 Animation), Victoria Povey (Level 3 Animation)

What the animators say about the piece:
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"The conversation between the two mothers gives us an insight about their experience and after sharing their points of view it leaves us feeling uplifted.
As we aimed to show precisely this in the animation we made the little birds complement each other and at the end fit perfectly under their mother wings as they shared a warm and fluffy hug."
​http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05mww3n

The animation industry and creators have a need to share their work since it is the only way to get feedback from it. Online presence is beneficial for networking and may be useful to nail freelance commissions and/or studio jobs. As a visual storyteller, it also helps to build an audience that eventually could support personal projects. The animation industry has changed in recent years thanks to artists now being able to share their work online at all time,  generating an audience and hopefully also captivating the interest of specific directors. This article from  Anime News Network is one of the most interestings since it reunites the experiences of american, european and australian animators that have gotten into the industry by animating and sharing what they do in social media." Learn animation. Post your work online. Take feedback. Improve. Be recruited onto a high profile project as a key animator."  The feedback from the public is as enriching as watching what other professionals are doing, which can develop the critical eye on own productions. And even further, having my work organized online can contact me with studios in other countries and widen my career possibilities.

Getting in contact with people in the industry is often the most important way to get relevant feedback and sometimes even the smaller tip can change the way of approaching  the same work I was doing before. The only way to get into a dialogue with people in the industry is having some work done and be able to show it, even a little. Many of the animators and storyboard artists are really happy to answer any questions about being part of the animation industry, and they are often more accessible through their own social media.

​It has been the tips from storyboard artist looking at my board that have gave me a big breakthrough on the job. More than often, as storyboard artist we are so focused on the board we are doing that those small tips, like paying a little more attention to the foreground or using the negative space in a character design, are often seen as tricks and are the most difficult to see when immersing in a specific script, but they speak more about the experience of working on different type of boards and having someone reviewing them directly.

​

​Most of the artists I reached work on projects or have online platforms that I have followed for a while. Others were recommended to me. I wrote to fifteen people and received answers from eight of them.

After speaking with them, the main lesson was an obvious one: storyboard artists work in all of the fields of visual media. Adaptability is necessary to work on the field, because the size of the crew, the production needs and the resources vary wildly among short films, tv shows, feature films and advertising for different media. Even if my main goal is to be able to work in a studio based job, I know I must learn about the characteristics of freelance jobs, since they make up for a great percentage of the offer.
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The questions I send to them where:

•What was your first job in the industry? How did you get to work as a storyboard artist?
•What kind of technology do you work with on a daily basis?
•What kind of additional skills may help a storyboard artist working in animation?
•How do you approach scripts? is it any different for short projects than for big ones?
And in the case of the directors: how their role as storyboard artists influence their role as directors.

Key points I found are:
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•Each project is unique, therefore it must be approached with a brand new mindset. The job of a storyboard artist is to figure out the specific requirements of the story and the clearest way to satisfy them visually.
•Each director approaches projects in a different way and the crew operates differently according to this approach. The storyboard artist must be able to adapt and take the best of every new experience.
•Type casting is a real thing in the industry. In some features, the storyboard artist is picked to plan a specific scene that requires high skill in action or drama expression, other times, it is more about the general feeling of the entire project.
•Related to this, it is vital that the storyboard artist and the director understand each other.
•Storyboard is all about planning and a storyboard artist needs to keep all the aspects of storytelling in mind for being able to deliver. Acting, colour, composition, cuts. All must be clear in the storyboard and come natural to the storyboard artists, which is why having experience in several projects is important. Storyboard notes come very handy.
•It is important to question everything that is going to be shown to the audience: why the director wants it to be like it is, which is the best way to show it, how will the material get clear enough to make the cut.
•The simpler the better.
•Mastery comes from practice and experimentation. It is essential to try different scripts, techniques and audiences, as well as studying composition and narration in finished products like movies, ads and TV shows.
•Most of the interviewees work digitally, using mainly Adobe Photoshop and Toon Boom Storyboard Pro. Some of them consider the proficiency in the latter a requirement to work as a studio artist in the industry.
•The length of a project can go from one or two days for advertising, to two or three years for feature films.
•Newcomers normally get jobs as revisionists, where they help tying up the storyboard artist’s work with the director final needs. It is a great way to enter the industry because one can see the storyboards from professional artists and listen to the director’s commentary first hand.

I looked up for the requirements big studios have for their storyboard artists, what do they want to see in a portfolio and which skills they appreciate in an animator too, because I got from the interviews that several storyboard artists also work as animators or even concept artists and character designers.

They definitely need that the storyboard artist understands the pipeline and commits to make it flow, since a production is a team effort to put a finished product on screen and the storyboard artist is one of the critical pieces in the functioning of this mechanism. The pipeline is the tool to understand the whole process and define who needs to work at every step of it. With it, the storyboard artist can manage to make the blueprints to all the departments in time and assure everything goes as planned and the studio can be sure their money is not going to waste.
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Behind the scenes documentaries for feature films are great to see this in detail, since they show how the work of the storyboard artists intertwines with the rest of the crew and how different studios approach the challenges of production. Cartoon Network, Pixar and Dreamworks have information about this online for everyone to see

Friend! my my!! many thanks for asking!
What I am going to say is totally my opinion tho, so, Just.. yeah, have that in mind.
I am not going to go into the should you go to art school or not, I am going with the idea you want to get an art degree :O

Let’s see:  Money is pretty important in the matter of living :’’)) and i know Calarts and the big usa schools can be hella f expensive, even more for ~~internationals~~ SO, yeah that is a big factor why i never choose to go there..
But also here in the UK can be really good schools and studios  imo. One of the reasons to even spend money going to study abroad is, by far, the options of getting real experience from studios and animators and is a good idea to go to a country that actually produces animation you know?
My decision was something like:  if you are going to invest THAT much money (as any art school is)…it is a good idea to be realistic about how much you can spend, and later how you are going to pay for a loan if you need one. and a place that has an animation industry is the best option.  
Here is the thing: california has A LOT of the animation industry BUT also is way too expensive. 
For me the option will always be something rational about paying in the future bc drowning in debt is NOT a good thing to enjoy my career…
The other thing is if you want to go to calarts for the sake of going to calarts or if you want to work in places like cartoon network  or anywhere where the calarts graduate ppl go. Calarts have all the good connections and netwroking in this industry is like big part of the success… but also there are a lot of good artists that end up working in the same places because they are good, and not necessarily  by studying in calarts
one of the things my mentor said to me is that is your personal work the one that matters, and that I should be looking at the portfolios from ppl from gobelins and calarts bc that is what the industry is looking for and aim for that level of professionalism. he never said style or anything like that, just that my portfolio should be able to compete with theirs… bc we will be aiming for the same jobs. 
At the end is something that you can do by studying them from anywhere in the world. 
Having good mentors and teachers you can ask the basics and that can sit down with you and really help you develop your skills is what you want and there are so many good teachers in the UK it is amazing tbh, i really like it here in that aspect :> 
(you know, most teachers really want to share what they know, and finding some student that really want to learn is what keep them alive. vivan los profesores tbh)

Sorry for the long answer, I hope i t helps: but yeah, in conclusion:
I would not recommend  drowning in some debt just to go to renown school and maybe better aim for a mid term goal of working alongside them, since you dont really need a specific school to develop skills, but what you gotta do is study what they do, recent graduates, portfolios, that kind of thing. you can do that and end up working with them and even better have also a different perspective in some things, and that may be the things that lands you a spot with them.
remember that animation is a team industry and you work with many many artists in a single project, and that is great imo <3

good luck tho, this is such a big decision, if you have any more questions about it or just need someone to bounce ideas, yeah, im here to help ;v;