Running Toward Creative Danger
How Embracing the Unknown Unlocks Your Best Work As A 3D Artist
I've always been risk-averse by nature, constantly weighing risk against reward. As a child, climbing a giant tree was unthinkable—the potential injuries far outweighed the brief thrill of reaching the top. This cautious mindset has followed me into adulthood. Buy a motorcycle? Not a chance. I'll stick with my Subaru, with its government-issued five-star side-impact crash safety rating, thank you.
Given this, you might be surprised I felt such a solid connection to a recent episode of This American Life called Swim Toward the Sharks. The episode explored the theme of running toward danger and featured stories of people confronting their fears head-on. One story particularly stood out: two swimmers in San Diego who rushed toward a shark attack to help save someone in peril in the Pacific Ocean.
Did this story fundamentally change me? Am I ready to dive into extreme sports, wrestle a crocodile, or even—gasp—eat a mysterious tomato-looking fruit from someone’s front lawn in London? (Quick pause to note Alicia Silverstone’s near-miss with mild poisoning, but don’t worry, she’s fine now.)
Absolutely not.
I’m still a nervous nelly in my daily life. But when it comes to my creative work, I’ve learned to run toward danger, embrace uncertainty, and challenge myself in ways that once seemed unimaginable.
This shift didn’t happen overnight. As a young artist, I clung to what was familiar, creating safe, predictable, and, frankly, boring work. It wasn’t until after art school, when I began working professionally that I was forced out of my comfort zone. Facing real deadlines without knowing how to complete every project phase pushed me to gain confidence. Each time I figured out the unknown, my resistance to it lessened.
When I started working on animated films, I noticed a pattern: every film began with at least one element that seemed impossible to the entire studio. Almost every major animated film released in the early 2000s involved doing something never done before.
The Incredibles wanted an action sequence of characters running through an entire jungle? Moana had how many water simulation shots? How long are we starting Wall-E without a single line of dialogue? And we’re making the light shine through how many balloons in Up?
Time and time again, I watched my colleagues in the field tackle and overcome seemingly impossible tasks. This wasn’t without resistance—many artists and producers tried to persuade directors that these ambitious ideas were unachievable. Yet, despite the pushback, the directors and executives always managed to get what they wanted in the film.
But somehow, the team always found a way to make it work. That experience was a revelation for me. I realized that the projects worth pursuing, the ones that truly resonate, push us beyond the limits of what we believe is possible.
Running Toward the Creative Challenge
This willingness to embrace creative danger doesn’t come naturally for most of us. There’s no secret formula for making it happen—you must start. If you’re holding back from creating something you’re passionate about because you don’t know how to execute every aspect, I urge you to push forward.
The real magic happens in the process of figuring it out. With each challenge you overcome, you gain confidence, a sense of calm, and even a little swagger. You begin to think, “I’ve done this before. I can do it again.”
Building Creative Resilience
Once you’ve developed the habit of running toward danger and finding solutions, it becomes one of your most powerful tools as a creative professional. It eliminates the fear of being unable to create, replacing it with the confidence that you can find a way to make it work no matter what challenge you face.
So, the next time you’re confronted with an overwhelming creative challenge, I encourage you to run toward the danger. You’ll be amazed at what you can achieve when you push past your fears and embrace the unknown.
Ultimately, this willingness to confront the difficult, the uncomfortable, and the seemingly impossible will set you apart and allow you to create your best work.
The 3D Artist Community Updates!
This week, we are thrilled to have Heather Brown joining us for an AMA! Heather is a Look Dev Lead at Weta and an accomplished Houdini workflow innovator with 20+ years in photorealistic fabric rendering. Expert in optimizing workflows and bridging creative and technical priorities across animation, live-action, and post-production.
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3D Merch is here!
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 The 3D Artist Community on Skool and this newsletter.
www.michaeltanzillo.com
Free 3D Tutorials on the Michael Tanzillo YouTube Channel
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