Art Of Joho

It was extremely tough for me to break into the industry. I admit that I was a pretty terrible animator and designer, and like I said before when I graduated from CalArts in 2002, the animation industry was going through a tough spell — Disney wasn’t doing much 2D animation, and there were lots of layoffs at all studios. I couldn’t get a job even though I was aggressively submitting applications and portfolios. Out of work with nothing to do, I spent a lot of time at home listening to director commentaries on DVDs while painting and drawing things that I liked. It was a relaxing and creatively prolific time of my life, even though I felt like a huge failure since I couldn’t get a job. And a few years after graduating, my former story teacher at CalArts, Mark Walton, told me about a story internship at Disney. I applied and used a lot of the artwork I created after I graduated from school in my portfolio. Luckily, Disney liked my portfolio and gave me a story test, which I passed and I’ve been here at Disney since 2004. I believe it’s because of the many failures after school, the countless rejected applications and tests, that I got to a point where I didn’t care as much about getting a job and really focused on who I was as an artist. I felt that if I can develop my own artistic self and not give up, then eventually I would find my place in a creative field. Luckily for me, that place ended up being Disney Animation, the place I’ve always wanted to be since I was a kid.

Art Center Entrance Portfolio Spring 2016