Author: James Chiang

Image from James Cameron’s 1989 science fiction epic, The Abyss, a film about exploring the unknown beneath the earth and within ourselves.

“The rule for all terrors is to head straight into them.” — Alan Watts

We all know that in order to do something new and exciting, or to find true fun and real meaning in whatever we’re doing, we’ve got to face our fears; fears of the unknown, fears of rejection and the greatest fear of all, that of failure. But if we don’t take that plunge, our lives are bland. Empty of challenge and devoid of curiosity, life loses its significance both inwardly and outwardly. Mankind’s creativity is what makes us so distinct a species.

“Change is not a threat, it’s an opportunity. Survival is not the goal, transformative success is.” — Seth Godin

But sometimes the problems we face, both in art and life, seem too grand, too complex and impossible to overcome. There are times when effort alone isn’t sufficient. We need mental fortitude and steadfastness. We have to keep trying and keep digging away at it, even when it appears futile to do so. Why? Because failure is the strongest step towards success. Each time we make mistakes, we discover another way of how NOT to do something. Failures reveal weaknesses in our game and expose (sometimes deep) inadequacies. Setbacks are nutrient-rich experiences; like seedlings, they serve a purpose only to be seen much later. We must be careful to attend to them with thoughtful analysis and reflection.

Setbacks are like tiny seedlings but ones that we don’t consciously plant. It’s easy to mistake them for weeds. So in all likelihood, we don’t notice them or the benefit that they will bring in the future. And if we ignore them, nothing valuable will sprout from those experiences.

Only by pushing beyond our current limits (risking failure) can we find alternative solutions and, more importantly, greater insight. Doubt and difficulty then, drive our spirit upwards and outwards. Then events turn and fortuitous accidents occur. We don’t get those things for free. Because when we continue our battle into the field of the unknown we trigger all sorts of forces into play, such as unexpected visions or chance interactions with significant individuals. Determination invites serendipity.

“We can not win unless we learn to lose.” — Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

It ain’t just genetics. Perhaps the greatest basketball player ever, the 7’2″ Kareem Abdul-Jabbar stills leads the NBA in all-time points scored (an astounding 38,387 points) and has had more individual and team success than any other player in league history.

No one likes to talk about hard work because it sounds boring. It lacks the sexy appeal of the individual who was born special — the “prodigy” — or the artist who was “only” creative because he was high on drugs or alcohol, the so-called price of greatness. In reality, none of those stereotypes have more than an ounce of truth in them. Substance abuse and extreme behavior destroys clarity and creativity while many who are gifted never develop their abilities beyond the ordinary.

“Do not envy those who seem to be naturally gifted; it is often a curse, as such types rarely learn the value of diligence and focus, and they pay for this later in life.” — Robert Greene

At the end there is only one commonality for excellence, that of tenacity and open-mindedness. All the greatest feats of humanity were accomplished in such manner. No one ever talks about the years of emotional struggle and hard work. I can only presume that editors think it doesn’t sell. But I do remember a billboard I once saw while I was living in Los Angeles, and although I don’t remember the featured athlete, I haven’t forgotten the quote:

“You train so hard, people think you’re lucky.”

The official trailer for the animated biopic, Loving Vincent. Each frame of the animation, incredibly, has been hand-painted by hundreds of artists creating in total over 56,000 individual oil paintings all done in the colorful and visceral style of Van Gogh’s artistry.

Hard work doesn’t have to feel awful. Once incorporated into our being as part of what defines us — discipline, dedication, fortitude and persistence — we begin to take pride in the blood, sweat and tears we put into our cause, whatever that may be. Our practice of mental and physical determination becomes our ritual. Excellence, then, translates into an approach to life that in turn becomes habitual. Continually putting in the hours, learning and unlearning, exploring new ways to expand and enrich our knowledge and abilities comes to define us as individuals who care about what they do. The ultimate destiny, mastery, is achieved in such manner.

“The artist is no other than he who unlearns what he has learned, in order to know himself; and the agony of the artist, far from being the result of the world’s failure to discover or appreciate him, arise from his own personal struggles to discover, to appreciate and finally to express himself.” — E.E. Cummings

The road to mastery, is a long and unpredictable one. That’s its nature, that’s the road that the gods of have built for us. We only have to choose to take the path or leave it. But once on it, we must endure; self doubt, financial struggle and ridicule must not be allowed to distract or divert us from our journey. We need to keep in mind the the power of repetition. Choose what you tell yourself; make it up if you have to.

Bart Simpson borrowed from Matt Groening’s hit TV series, The Simpsons.

“Perceptions can make us or destroy us.” – Billy Mills, Olympic Champion

Frequency is more powerful than sheer force. If we repeatedly tell/show those whom we love messages that convey kindness, respect and sharing as a means to greater happiness, the odds of sustaining meaningful relationships is greatly enhanced. Same too, applies to our relationship with ourselves and our work. Being an artist is hard enough; we needn’t add further strain and doubt on top. If required, we must alter our perceptions. Some of us (like myself personally) have to do that regularly having grown up in an environment of full of doubt, harsh criticism or bullying. Reality is what we make of it. There are theories abound that show that the link between the scientific and the spiritual/intuitive is not as distinct from each other as we’ve come to assume.

A Black Hole seen via x-ray, optical and radio light. Does this feel real to you? You can’t touch it or see it without the aid of modern technology. Looking out into space is a gentle reminder of how much we don’t know that’s right in front of us the whole time.

Therefore, we mustn’t be scared of the challenges ahead. We need to grab hold of our whole being and direct it towards the positive — focused on excellence, dignity and determination. With the world being so complex today, creative thinking is the best (maybe only) way to get ourselves out of our current predicaments. We have to explore, drive hard and aim for the stars. And, love what we do.

“Working hard for something we don’t care about is called stress: Working hard for something we love is called passion.” — Simon Sinek

Painting by Alex Kanevsky, a modern yet classical painter from Philadelphia who produces some of the most beautiful and expressive figurative portraits today. Kanevsky is an artist who admits to working very fast but at the same time, takes the time, sometimes months, for a painting to evolve into its final state.

“I prefer to arrive at the painting with some sort of clarity of intent and purpose. It’s sort of like a dialogue. You do things to it and it does things to you. At this point, I think I’m done doing things to it. It’s doing things to me and I have to respond.” — Alex Kanevsky

Style is a funny thing. In animation, some favor it, even worship it, others dislike seeing it, fearing it takes away from the essence of a piece of work or genre, especially in our field, where consistency and continuity of performance is more important than an individual scene that draws too much attention to itself by sticking out from the others. In general, I’ve always believed that in films and theatre, the project’s vision belongs to the director and hence, any decision on style belongs to him/her alone. After that, everyone else has to come on board. They have to support that vision for it to all work as one.

Woody and Buzz are both the foundation and the heart of Pixar’s Toy Story movies. Each film individually, and together as a series, defines a unique and particular world view where toys live, prosper and struggle. Pixar, since its inception, has done a great job submitting all its creative talent to serve the greater cause of the story and style of their individual projects.

The style of a group of artists’ work, like that in a studio, attract like-minded individuals. The old school Disney has long claimed ownership of the princess/classic western fairy-tale — no one does it better. Both a set of preferences and fundamental skills are required to meet those particular demands for consistency and appropriateness. Style carries with it no influential power if there isn’t substantial weight and substance behind it. As animators, our roles are always to serve that greater purpose with our energy and our unique individual talents. If the mastery of the craft isn’t there, the story no matter how good, can falter. But neither can good visual artistry and technical wizardry save a badly told story.

Artists from Bill Tytla to Glen Keane all helped define and distinguish the Disney style, founded on the solid artistic principles of physical reality, visual appeal and magic. Disney’s latest film, Moana, directed by old school artists, Ron Clements and John Musker, carries that same charm with great success.

As artists, we’re always conflicted between doing the new and staying with the old. If we don’t try new things, we get stale and the environments (in both the studios and cities) we work in will reflect that.

New York City has been, for the longest time, the beacon of creative activity due to its plethora of museums, galleries, street scenes, and festivals all boosting its art, theater, dance and music scene. And despite its rich foundation and history, it still continues to birth new and exciting talent, unafraid of finding new ways of saying things.

In personal work, however, individual style couldn’t be more important for it defines our artistry in its time and place. Our personal history, environment and preferences all play a huge role in our development and ultimately the execution of our craft. New and exciting work often finds it source from individuals, even within an artistic movement or group collective, such as what we see in modern day animation or design studios. Hence, individual creativity must always be encouraged to allow environments, which consists of both veteran and new artists, to grow and push boundaries, to come up with new stories to tell. If such risk is not taken, both the artistic spirit and the studios/companies themselves die while those that continue to embrace change and exploration, break new ground and commit to something greater. Serendipity — the unexpected and inconceivable that surface spontaneously — must be allowed to take place. There must exist imagination.

“The things that do not fit the paradigm — the anomalies —tend to be ignored or explained away. In truth, anomalies themselves contain the richest information.” — Robert Greene (from his book, Mastery)

Travis Knight’s 2016 directorial debut, Kubo and the Two Strings from Laika Studios, is one of the most magical and emotionally moving film in years. The beauty compiled by both digital and stop-motion artists (who are as famous for their artistry as much as the hard physical labor they put in) has created a film of remarkable beauty while carrying a story full of wonder and meaning.

Furthermore, we must be always be careful not to let theory or preconceived ideas of excellence or “correctness” dominant a piece of art. The vision of art — its desire and its purpose — must supersede that of its foundation. The ideas direct the collective effort while the foundation of hard work, creativity and solid skills supports it. The audience should only see and feel the ideas presented.

“The work of art in which one can see the imprint of theory is like a present on which the price tag was left.” — Marcel Proust

I’ve been showing people this “Pyramid of Priorities” for as long as I’ve been teaching animation. The fundamentals — in this case, the understanding and control of the body mechanics and graphic artistry of our animation — serves the one and only top goal, that of performance; acting that moves an audience, action that tells the story. The size and proportion of the three definitive sections is not accidental. Much of our time as creatives is spent building that two-layer base that supports the main idea.

This is why it’s so important for young artists to spend adequate time and energy learning their craft. We must be patient. Without any real knowledge and practical ability, there is no way to tell any story — at least not one anyone will sit thru and listen. This perhaps explains why so much dubious “modern art” has lost much of the public’s interest. Real good, fundamentally strong and thoughtful work has real weight, personal history and energy (effort) behind it, regardless of visual style.

The great John Coltrane both defined and transcended his art, influencing artists the world over. Jazz is one of the most distinctive forms of art ever created (and one that was uniquely founded in America). Strong on style and fearlessness, it’s also arguably the hardest, most technically challenging of the musical art forms.

So to sum up, if we want to express our greatest “self” and push beyond our own boundaries, never mind that of any particular craft or industry, then we better muster up the goods and become as rock solid as we can with the fundamentals. For visual artists, it means mastering things like line, shape, color and composition. And for the animator, it means things like pose, space, timing and choreography will be paramount to any kind of success.

Frank Thomas’ rough sketches for Hook and Schmee from Walt Disney’s 1953 classic, Peter Pan. Frank Thomas was one of the ultimate “actors” in Disney animation history. Always thoughtful, creative and expressing the most personality out of his characters. He could do this because technically and graphically he was an outstanding animator and artist.

The fundamentals are the springboard — the substance. After we’ve learned them, they become part of the many tools in our toolbox. We never forget about them, but they stop being our focus or fear. But without a solid foundation of skill and knowledge, things like serendipity can’t happen and our efforts will be limited in its power. Only with enough grasp of our craft can we open up the possibility for our minds to focus on higher challenges. We must not be the painter that can’t draw or the animator that doesn’t understand weight or timing. Because then we won’t — can’t — say anything important. We cannot let laziness or indifference hold us back.

“Chance favors only the prepared mind.” — Louis Pasteur