Inspiration versus motivation.

Hello, second day of blogging, and good evening.

Today the SVA Career Development department held a session with five recent animation graduates, talking about how they got into the industry and what their jobs are like, and how to find a job. It was kind of inspiring, and kind of scary. I talked to my computer animation teacher afterwards - it was his idea to have this panel; he's quite amazing - and..I don't really know what to say. He's really cool. I'm nervous about this career path, but I'm so in love with it at the same time.

I love going to art school. It used to piss me off that people thought that I should only put my intelligence 'to good use' in things like math or science or something. Without artists this world would be nothing. Now that I'm here, though, I feel valid. I am surrounded by fantastic (and some not-so-fantastic) people. Everyone's here because they want to create things. The environment is like..I don't even know. It's like I'm living inside my own brain.

It's not that the people are better here. They're still human. They're still shallow or judgmental or beautiful or kind or pompous. But life here is wonderful. It's such a great place for me. I wish my whole life had been like this, but if it had, I wouldn't be able to appreciate where I am right now.

...

I said in my last post that I'm trying to get myself to stop sitting on my ass, to get ambitious and work it off instead. I used to think that I needed my 'relaxation time' to stay sane, so I would lie around reading books when I could have been writing them. I still think the relatively mindless activities are important, really. But I want to do stuff. So I've decided that this year, I will do the NaNoWriMo. I probably won't finish. But I'll try as hard as I can. The animators' panel this evening made me think about what I should be doing right now. I need to keep my ideas flowing, not just in the visual arts but also in storytelling. I haven't really written anything in such a long time, and I need to practice. So maybe I'll just put down short stories or ideas or scraps.

One of the men my dad used to work with has a son who's helped to make nine of ten currently-released Pixar films. (He wasn't there for Toy Story.) This man's name is Wendell Lee, and we look for him in the credits under the Animators section after every movie. But his roommate from college has gone farther. He was one of the animators as well, but he had an idea for a short film and pitched it. He directed Partly Cloudy, the short that preceded Up in theaters, and now he's rising in the ranks. I think it's great that anyone can produce a concept and make it into something real. I want to be this person. This is why I need to keep myself writing.

...

I didn't really finish my midterm. I was planning out three drawings of Molly, my wonderful wonderful cat, but I only finished one and a fifth; my only white charcoal pencil broke to the point of uselessness at two in the morning, and nobody who was awake was able to provide me with a replacement. My drawing teacher liked the finished piece, but I am going to do the other two this week. I will take a picture of the first and post it some time soon.

Now off to my sculpture homework. Tonight I will make the tea in the teapot instead of dumping the leaves straight into my mug. Last night they floated at the top and I didn't want to drink it because I didn't want the leaves. I had no straw..

Inspired but tired (story of my life),
Olivia