When I was younger I used to make funny faces in the mirror to play and pass the time. Now as an adult I’m learning to draw those faces, and having a lot of fun doing it.
Last month I began my yearlong journey to learn storyboarding with storyboardart.org with The Storyboard Mentorship.
I have found there is something really enjoyable about using my imagination to act out and create a scene. To visualize something and then put it down on paper to share is a really satisfying process. At this point, I don’t know if I’ll get to the dream end goal of becoming a pro story artist at Illumination or Pixar. Of course, I’d love to work around talented and bright people, to be a sponge off them, and to have the strengths that would come from working at such institutions.
But I also know I need to keep working on my own and keep pushing to tell my own original stories. So many teachers or people get too sucked into doing their jobs, they forget to do what is truly going to make them… well I dunno, I can’t speak for everyone. Maybe some people are happy and content with working for others on other stories... and within set systems. I dunno. But personally, I think have stories and ideas to share. And getting those out could ultimately feel more significant.
My point is, storyboarding puts me on a path to learn and grow mroe skills to get into film, but the end result isn’t guaranteed. I’m confident and I trust that if I put myself through this process I’ll get better on the other side. The mentors (all vets from Pixar, Lucas Films, Illumination… etc…) their advice and tips and ideas, and mindsets will all seep in. On the path to becoming a director, it’s another skill set and tool to have. I love the way storyboarding combines things I love to do. Cinematogphray, storytelling, drawing, communicating ideas and emotions. It’s a big basket of all things I love about creativity.
What I do know is that I’ve always loved creating stories and then communicating the vision for them. It’s also interesting to work with a cohort of others learning too and seeing what other people see in their brains and how they tell the same story. There are millions of ways at it.
This first assignment was to storyboard a few pages of script from Little Boy which features Ben Eagle The Magician. Below is the first pass of my first assignment. Lots of rough sketches, flat staging, and rookie moves here but hey it’s my start. I think it’ll be fun to look back on this in a year’s time and (hopefully) see some improvement.
For me, it feels like a slow process and there are several things in drawing I need to have as fundamental skills to make this better. An understanding of perspective, dimension and depth along with figure drawing and understanding how to draw anatomy better. Learning staging tricks and cinematography language is also going to be helpful.
Lastly, I want to mention an idea I keep hearing that this should be fun. Is it fun? Well, some of it is fun. There are parts I enjoy and parts that challenge me in fun ways. Learning to draw is awesome. but when it gets difficult, it’s natural that difficult things aren’t really all that fun at the moment. But I do think I can' shift my mental state to enjoy the process. To know that if I take a break, go work on skills and come back to it, when it gets easier or the idea unlocks the second time around and seems so obviously clear… that IS fun. It’s amazing! And it lights up my mind and imagination with possibilities. That is the joy in doing the work. Those little moments, of “I’m doing this!”
Learning to draw to me is very much like learning a language. Would you expect to know the Italian language right away and be perfect at it off the bat? No. I see drawing a new language, and learning the ins and outs of it takes time and practice. Every bit of that journey isn’t fun, and the measure or lack of fun shoudln’t be discouraging. Sometimes there is a struggle and pain to understand. It makes me think of a quote by Einstien about the “the struggle to understand” I can’t remember where I heard it or exactly what is was about, and that’s probably now a useless waste of words to even mention it here… but the essence is that struggling to understand something is just part of the process, the pain in your brain is part of the challenge. When you suck at something it’s frustrating, but you have to know that you’ll get better. (Believe it or else…)
