Author: James Chiang

Announcement: Retirement

Taking effect immediately, I will no longer be accepting any new students or any requests for studio or group based animation instruction.*

I love animation, always have and always will. For years, I’ve kept teaching and lecturing, staying on the sidelines of the industry, despite being offered various opportunities to return to it either as a head of department or director. I have always resisted going back to it full time. The industry was changing (and has changed) and so have its demands. But in all my years animating, directing and teaching, perhaps what I have enjoyed more than anything else was teaching (both online and onsite). Most especially though, it was coaching and mentoring students privately on a one-on-one basis that has been my greatest joy. I think it brought out the best in me and each student’s own passion for learning — I don’t believe there is any substitute for it. Studying, learning and doing this marvelous craft together with fellow artists — regardless of skill level — is what a lot of what being in animation is all about. And having witnessed so many of my students go on toward solid careers and, more importantly, mature into fabulous people, makes me incredibly proud. Unfortunately, the time has now come for me to end my involvement with the animation industry altogether. In order to further an overdue commitment to my own art (painting) and to leading a healthier and saner life, I must move on. It’s been a difficult yet necessary decision. Whether this choice is permanent or not one can never say, but that is the intent. As for this blog, it will go on, at least for now, and perhaps with even more openness and frankness regarding this craft and the issues that plague it or what might save it. So, to my former colleagues and students who have helped make my life so enjoyable within the confines of this wonderful craft, I wish to thank you all. It has been my honor and blessing to have worked with so many wonderful and passionate people.

*Current students will, of course, remain under my tutelage until they are ready to move onwards and upwards.

Mistakes

Conscious design and style or flawed perspective and anatomy? Perhaps an early happy mistake led to the beginnings of genius for Modigliani.

Mistakes. We all make them. And more often than not, the person hardest on himself is the one making them. What’s important is putting any mistake into proper perspective and see it for what it really is: benevolent feedback.

“We learn from failure, not from success!”
― Bram Stoker

I think that when we make mistakes it’s quite natural to be upset or disappointed. And it’s okay to feel that way, at least for a while. As artists, we’re always trying new things. Thus, it’s a folly to expect to meet our challenges with immediate success yet everyday, each one of us laments and complains about failure, often times attaching to it financial implications. Contrary to our current socio-economic culture, mistakes or “failure” should not be viewed all the time in such terrible and unnecessary light. It’s all too easy to deny responsibility or assess blame for a particular outcome, but rather than defining a culprit, it’s far better to look at the situation at hand, see what actually is, study the results and ask why. We need to be proactive about it and let the mindset of learning take over. Nothing is more important than understanding, especially the understanding of ourselves.

“Mistakes are, after all, the foundations of truth, and if a man does not know what a thing is, it is at least an increase in knowledge if he knows what it is not. ”
― Carl Jung

Here is a small list of thoughts about making mistakes. (I apologize for another listicle but this is done for the sole purpose of shortening your reading time):

  • mistakes are honest feedback, they give us direction as to what and where to focus next.
  • in making mistakes, we are quickly humbled. It raises our level of attention to the matter.
  • failure after repeated effort strengthens our resolve, we build on one of the most important virtues necessary for mastery: persistence
  • a mistake can help us think outside of the box, forcing us to innovate or re-invent.
  • mistakes can make us feel very lonely but know that the gift of solitude is silence and reflection, both of which helps us see better, wider and wiser.
  • a common error is losing one’s intent or workflow; big mistakes tend to follow such misadventure.
  • never forget that other people make mistakes too.
  • mistakes always sting a bit, yet the answers often lie where the pain is.
  • making mistakes means we’re trying something we’ve never done before. That’s an act of courage.
  • mistakes can happen for many reasons but having expectations and rushing towards them are regular culprits.
  • mistakes amplify effort in the serious artist; it tests his love for his craft.
  • mistakes guide us forwards rather than backwards; it challenges old thinking.
  • only after failure do we learn how to succeed. Namely, we learn what NOT to do.
  • mistakes force us to ask questions, sometimes as obvious as why or what are we’re actually doing here?
  • a mistake is an alarm, it’s telling us something is wrong, that we’re out of alignment. That’s a fantastic discovery.
  • continued adjustment and re-adjustment is how we gain skill in our craft. Seeing mistakes is also a skill.
  • failure is a bow towards humility and good humor. It’s beneficial to the soul to be able to laugh at oneself.
  • sloppiness and carelessness is not a good mistake to make.
  • many things that lead to mistakes/failures are outside of our control, we only have agency on our attitude, attention and action.
  • it’s easy to forget that happy accidents were once mistakes.
  • armchair critics, who love to point out mistakes and condemn those who actually do work, are the truest failures — people who won’t risk failure.
  • mistakes are often a reminder to listen and follow one’s intuition
  • life outcomes aren’t always rational; it would be a mistake to think otherwise.
  • the idiot blames others for mistakes, the better man blames himself, the wisest sees no reason for blame.
  • we’re all human. If we can appreciate mistakes rather than curse them, we might begin to live happier and wiser.

“Freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes.”
― Mahatma Gandhi