Am I Too Old To Be In The Industry
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- Опубліковано 6 бер 2023
- If you've thought, "I'm too old to get into the industry," remember that age is inevitable; aging isn't.
At nearly 50, Scott Thigpen has been a freelance artist in the illustration and animation industry. Even starting a little later in age, he has worked for Dreamworks, Sony Animation, The Wall Street Journal, Penguin, and Harlequin books. Scott's late start in his art career had many hurdles to overcome. His talk is aimed to give you some encouragement and motivation for the one thing we all can't escape but can embrace, aging.
This presentation is from LightBox Expo 2022.
Mascot animation by Nikolai Lockertsen
Post production by Write for Animation: / @writeforanimation
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I gotta keep reminding myself of these examples everytime i feel down about my age.
yeah man, age is a weird, weird thing for everyone. I sometimes get up in the morning, see my face dropping and think "who is that guy!?" I have found cutting yourself some slack, let age take it's course and saying to yourself "I'm gonna kick ass and rock these black calf-high socks while I yell at kids to get off my lawn, today"
@@ScottThigpen Yeah, lol. I do something like that first part. Sometimes forget how old I am cuz i feel and act young.
It's never too late to follow your dreams. I started a little late pursuing my animation goals because my folks didn't want me to do animation and wanted me to get a "real job" instead and I listened to them because I didn't want to piss them off because I want it to follow my actual goals. Took me a couple of years to convince my folks to actually let me do my goals when I was struggling to do well in that major I didn't want to do. I'm now 26 and I am almost done with my animation/3D modeling portofilo. Hopefully I'll be joining the industry soon.
I hate when people say "just keep at it!" like keep "at what!?". That said, establish goals, keep to them but leave a little wiggle room in case you need to pivot, There'll be about 600 failures to 1 win and being comfortable with that will get your brain where it needs to be to handle the turbulent waters of the industry. (oh, also... "keep at it" :D )
Keep doing your best and I really hope you get the position you're working after! I'm chasing the role I wanna do as well and I'm just a bit older than you. Hoping the next few years will be our time to mark our places in our respective industries 😁
@@user-ueh8hwcjg yep, I feel you. Just know plenty of people got a late start and that'll come with it's on set of hurdles, but like anything, hurdles can be jumped... you just may have to work a little extra to do it. Life is short, like really short and you're forgotten pretty quickly as time moves on (I'm only guessing no one thinks of the serf from the 1600 who wanted to be a bard but tilled the land. that person is gone now and never remembered and we all will be that way too. So given this short precious time we have, best to make the most of it
Feel you. Now I'm following a path through anatomy and character design. Hopefully to join the idustry soon too.
Feel you. Now I'm following a path through anatomy and character design. Hopefully to join the idustry soon too.
As someone who’s turning 30 this year I really needed to hear this. It can be so discouraging seeing others around you succeed and toy wonder “when is it my turn” ?
I hate that I missed you this time Carissa, let’s make a point to say hello if you come in 23!
I'm passed mid 40's and I live in a country where the entertainment industry is a spec on the map, I still dream to make it in the art industry, especially movies and video-games. Can I make art? Yeah. I'm I good at it?! Not as good as anything I've seen on Artstation (before the invasion of AI). Will I make it? Probably not (but maybe...). Will I stop trying?! Not while I live and breathe! Great talk. Thanks for the video.
damn man, thank you for this nice statement. Sorry it took me so long to get back to th is video. Really appreciate it and do you post your art anywhere?
really appreciate hearing this talk.
Thought I had no artistic bones in my body, at 30 went an saw a Laika exhibit at the Portland Art Museum and something changed in me. Started drawing from nothing, got some clay and made some (really) shitty models, learned 3d stuff in blender, learning animation. After 5 years I got an art job and was promptly laid off 2 months later.
I'm back to bartending for now but I'm not giving up. It's not a straight line to success but I'm going to keep plugging away.
You see like 20 year olds online who have been drawing since they were in the womb and have like 7 oscar nominated films and are retiring (slight exaggeration but still) and it feels like I have no chance. Maybe I don't but I'm going to keep trying.
not sure when you got laid off, but 2023 has been B R U T A L for a lot of us (including me). So sorry to hear that and would love to see your work!
Sooo inspiring, I am almost 46 and I can totally relate with your story, perceptions, feelings and thoughts, I used to be a generalist for most of my carrer and decided to focus as a character artist only 6 years ago, I was sooo scared but luckily things turned out much better than I could have imagined. It is never too late!
Thank you for this talk Scott!...I dont know how come I missed it in person at the Expo!
Responded to you on IG, I can’t believe how awesome your work is and wish I could model like that (not for any other reason than to make cool characters for fun… modeling is hard!!! Ha)
Such a honest and inspiring story - thanks a lot for sharing this journey with us! Shit happens to everybody and sometimes it's easy to forget our "art heroes" are very much human too.
I would wager that if all us artists gave our stories, we'd have a deeper sympathy for all of us. That's all the way to the person that can barely draw but is bit and determined to get there to the professional that just got fired from their job, because of a political move in the studio and they have kids at home they need to feed and are having a hard time finding work. Even if I were to ever make it to the level of Glen Keane, I'd do my best to always try to lift up other aritsts because damn, we chose the hardest thing ever to do as a career! :D
This was a fantastic talk. He was really funny. I remember Scott from ye old Drawing Board days. He’s a master at shapes and having pretty color pallets in his illustrations.
Thanks for posting this. I needed to here it. I’m over 40 now and hate working at my job at the bank. I wish I could do art instead.
OMG KRISTEN! What a blast from the past!!! How are you!?!?! I just followed you on IG (also thank you for the really nice words)
Loved the bit about intentions and being present. Good life advice.
it's simplistic, so simplistic but it's the hardest damned thing I've ever done in my life
Lightbox was a life changing experience for me, and it made me more motivated to enter the industry
Oh, I loved this. So much! Thank you!!
thank you Cherice, I appreciate that :) :) :)
Such an honest story! Great advice for any age!
Thanks man!
Great and inspiring talk1 thank you for sharing your experience with us all!
means a lot, thank you :)
Great talk.
thank you Ruben!
Lol this was entertaining and very motivating. Thank you Scott!
18:14 "I was mocked and laughed out of it" This is very accurate, in my opinion as a pro comic book artist. But when we buy comics, we see... hmm... THAT. MANY Eeditors are insanely critical during interviews and you remember that thing you saw when you bought a comic book. The thing that makes you wonder is, "how did this person get this job if they can't even draw something somewhat acceptable?" Honestly, the comic book industry is more about art compatibility with their product than skills (in many cases, I'm NOT saying all comics are like that).
Thanks for sharing your story, Scott! It's inspiring, and you have more guts than most people. If I suffered the same bad luck you had at the start of your career, I admit, I'd give up on the comic book industry O___o
I'm sorry, I just saw this @Ameilia_PC! Thank you soooo much for this awesome and sweet comment. Now I need to know what comic book you worked on!? Are you on IG?
@@ScottThigpen Wow! You replied to me!
I'm a Glass House Graphics artist, one of the biggest agencies around for comics. I've been working on long series since the beginning of my career. I did some minor work for Marvel and Dark Horse in the past, but I later focused on indie companies. I worked on the Mercy Thompson series (Dynamite... I was young, and my job was terrible, but the graphic novel spent 9 weeks in first place on the New York Times back then. Lucky bastard I was XD), worked with Kymera Press's Mary Shelley Presents (which won that fancy Bram Stoker award in 2020/2021), Bible 2 (action/comedy, from Trepidation), Sioux Falls, etc. My agent helped me stay busy, you know ^^. But I entered the comic industry to create my own thing. I recently finished a graphic novel, and now I'm looking for a publisher. (better later than never XD)
Again, your story is an inspiration for any artist. You're the kind of person that makes the world better just by existing.
I'm 62, and am now taking art seriously (meaning doing more than just random pencil doodles) after abandoning it for more than 20 years. I'm assuming animation is out of the question, since I'm so close to retirement age (Disney's is 70, I think). However, I do want to get into newspaper strips--is that also unlikely due to my age?
ngl his life left me with more anxiety than anything lol I don't think I have the drive to go through what he went.
You're not too old until someone your own age or older says you're too old.
A heart attack in your 40's???!!!! Why??? Is it family history? That seems way too young?!
The culprit was a piece of plaque (cholesterol) broke off and then clogged 95% of my right artery (so, not “the widow maker”). When the put the stent in me (while I was awake…fun times) the moment it inflated, it was like I had a new lease on life and could breathe again. If you’re a fan of the Clerks movies, Clerks III that just came out addresses this and Randall’s heart attack is almost exactly like mine (I just didn’t have Amy Sederis as a doctor which would have been super funny).
@@ScottThigpen I do love Clerks so I'll check the third one out! I'm so grateful that you've done this talk Scott! I broke into industry at 30 in 2020 and things like physical health and mental health have been challenging (although I embrace it) and something I want to improve on but hearing stories like yours give me so much inspiration and make me feel like I'm not in this alone. Thanks so much Scott❤🎨
@@XanStephP