Finding a Mentor
Seeking Guidance As A 3D Artist
We have another reader-inspired post today! This one is from Shannon Thomas, a Generalist Artist Supervisor at ILM. Shannon was responding to my recent newsletter about the two main career paths for artists.
The Two Career Paths for Professional 3D Artists
When I first began my career as a 3D artist, I was ambitious. Sure, I was just a lowly Lighting Technical Assistant (glorified Render Wrangler), but I knew what I wanted—to move up. Not only to earn more money or make more art, but because that's just what you do, right? You get a job, you work hard, you get promoted, and repeat until you’re wearing a m…
Shannon says:
"However the thing that’s most helped me before, and still to this day is having a mentor, and/or a sponsor.
Not sure if you’ve written about these before but I think that’s the understated glue that holds the industry together, each of us supporting one another. This is a challenging industry to survive in, especially long term, I’ve been fortunate to have a well rounded long career thus far, thanks to a lot of hard work, luck and support."
Shannon was totally right. 3D Artists are great people and I want to take a breath to shed some light on my experiences and why I think that is the case.
Why 3D Artists Are Great (A totally unbiased opinion from a 3D Artist)
Anyone thriving as a 3D Artist had to truly earn it. At some point, the decision to pursue 3D Art as a profession let somebody down. A parent, a friend, a coworker, a guidance counselor, or a spouse said one of these things to you along the way.
"Are you sure that’s a good idea?”
"What if you just studied business and did art as a hobby?”
"Is there any money in 3D art?”
"Isn’t it really competitive?"
"Do you really want to be a starving artist?”
We all faced external and internal doubts. Because we heard this from people we trusted, we internalized those doubts too. Yet we fought through that, convinced this is what we want to pursue.
The fact that we now work in the industry proves we were right to overcome the naysayers. It takes grit and determination to get here. That filters out many and leaves behind talented, motivated people.
There are no nepo babies in 3D.
Nobody says “My father was a Look Dev Artist and his father before him was a Look Dev Artist and I just took over the family Look Devery.” This industry is a meritocracy.
Willingness to Mentor
And these incredible human beings know this struggle and are often more willing to provide mentorship to those going through it themselves. Like Shannon, I had some remarkable mentors along the way. When I was in school, Bridget Gaynor helped me find my calling as a Lighting Artist. Jina Kang sat in my cubicle with me almost every day as a Junior Lighting Artist and helped me become a better artist and Haji Uesato has given me years of guidance to hone my work and help me get to the next level.
Mentors exist in the industry. But for those still learning, how do you find one
Engaging with Potential Mentors
I firmly believe you must meet people where they are. For 3D Artists, this could be ArtStation, Behance, Twitter etc. See what online communities they engage in.
Approach them not with "Will you mentor me?" but by discussing their inspiring work. Ask how they made that cool piece. Talk to them like a human being.
When in doubt, lead with genuine optimism and curiosity. This mindset has led me down incredible paths.
You may not always get a response. Some personalities won't mesh. But put your guard down, tap into curiosity, and get out there.
For example, when co-authoring my book “Lighting for Animation,” we needed images. We had a great publisher who gave us a budget of $10,000 to fill the book with beauty. We started contacting major animation studios and discovered that licensing one image for a publication could cost up to $2,000. For one image. We had over 200 images slated for the book. That budget was going to dry up fast.
I explored recent animated shorts instead, and got genuinely curious about the gifted artists behind them. I asked if they would let me use images in the book.
.The response rate? 100%. Every artist said yes, just credit us. Why? Because they are awesome creatives who overcame doubt and want to share their art.
So engage with these gifted people. Despite industry changes, I am confident that talent and great mentors are here to stay.
3D News of the Week
Luma AI Goes Gaussian Splat - LinkedIn
Digital Domain Goes Into Machine Learning Mode for Blue Beetle - VFX Voice
Octane Render 2023.1 review: blisteringly quick - Creative Bloq
3D Printed Multifunctional Building-Facade - Potentials of AM in Architecture - Mesago
CGSociety Permanently Shutting Down Jan 8th - Reddit
3D Merch is here!
Click here to Get Your 3D Artist Swag!
Artist of the Week: Brayton Dickey - Material Artist
Open for Work!
A little twist on this section. I am going to try to focus these highlights on artists currently looking for work. So if you are hiring artists, nab these incredible people up!
3D Tutorials
3D Job Spreadsheet
Link to Google Doc With A TON of Jobs in Animation (not operated by me)
Hello! Michael Tanzillo here. I am the Head of Technical Artists with the Substance 3D Growth team at Adobe. Previously, I was a Senior Artist on animated films at Blue Sky Studios/Disney with credits including three Ice Age movies, two Rios, Peanuts, Ferdinand, Spies in Disguise, and Epic.
In addition to his work as an artist, I am the Co-Author of the book Lighting for Animation: The Visual Art of Storytelling and the Co-Founder of The Academy of Animated Art, an online school that has helped hundreds of artists around the world begin careers in Animation, Visual Effects, and Digital Imaging. I also created The3DArtist.Community and this newsletter.
www.michaeltanzillo.com
Free 3D Tutorials on the Michael Tanzillo YouTube Channel
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I like this post, but it feels very unusual (uncomfortable) to contact an artist you've never met and ask them to take an interest in me.
There may not be nepo babies yet, but nepotism does exist.