Congratulations to animation student Jessica Aparicio for being named Student of the Term for the January 2012 term!  She was nominated for her exemplary work ethic and general awesome-ness.  Jess is amazingly cheerful, imaginative, and responsible, which make her a positive leader, a helpful teammate, and an enthusiastic learner.  A little over half-way through the program, she’s had enough experience to know the challenges of being an Animator, and she has great plans for the future!  As always, I asked a few questions.  And as expected, Jess responded joyfully and thoughtfully:

What do you surround yourself with visually, musically, creatively, or even just for fun?

“I love this question! There are so many things I love to surround myself with that make me feel creative. For instance, I love the beach, the ocean, anything summer, so I usually have something that reminds me of that around. Summer comes very slow to Chicago, so I always need a picture of the summer sun to help me feel warm. I have watercolor paintings of sea shells in my room and a jar of seashells and rocks on my shelf. I also make sure I have some of my favorite books around, which currently are my Harry Potter books–I adore the series! For music, anything dance or upbeat. I don’t want to listen to sad and slow songs while creating something; it will make me lose my energy.  But if I have some really good, upbeat music that has me wanting to dance, then I can create for hours. I also love to read short stories online. For me, that gets my imagination running, and I start thinking about my own projects and  what I can do with them.”

Here are some of her short studies in 2D animation techniques:

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What is your favorite step in the process of making an Animation?

“My favorite step would be coming up with the idea. I love being able to discuss my projects with friends and teachers to get another person’s opinion. It really helps me grow. I may like my character to have something specific, but another person would disagree with me. It’s a process of trying to find a balance with your idea. As I talk to more and more people, I find new ideas to add to my story and old ideas that could be added to a new story. It’s almost like a journey. It’s you and the character running around in circles trying to understand one another. We’ve all had that one character who has told us what they do and don’t like. Every animator has an imagination, and with an imagination comes a whole lot of different worlds.”

This animation she made, called Imagination, perfectly illustrates this:

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Learning animation techniques can be tough, especially in the 3D world.  What’s your secret to overcoming the tough stuff?

“I don’t let myself get down about these things. I may complain and scream in my pillow and want to kick a wall in but I keep moving forward. I think of it like this, every single animator, whether one is new to animation or a professional in the industry, has had or is currently having a problem with learning a different animation technique. No one is perfect, I have had instructors who have been teaching these skills for years forget how to do something. It’s totally normal and it happens. I just tell myself, “I will get it the next time and if I don’t then I just have to keep trying, keep practicing, keep believing. If you lose faith in yourself then you lose faith in your skills. It’s new and it takes a while for something new to sink in. You’re just starting to learn these things, it takes practice and ambition to learn. Never give up hope.” Smile, laugh, take a break, watch Doctor Who, like I do, and then go back and see what you can do.”

A 3D animation sketch:

A 3D model:

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Once you finish school here, what’s next?  What do you have in mind for your future?

“Well, at first I wanted to try my hand at 2D animation. I love 2D so much, and I would love to be able to work in the industry and do that. But I found something so much better for myself. I found my calling, what I’m meant to do. I want to teach. I want to teach art, teach 2D animation, and reach out and help those who want to expand their imagination like I do. I have a lot of patience and I love working with children, so I think I could do it. I’m going to start off small. I would like to teach children and teenagers how to draw and use simple programs. After a while, I think I will go back to school and aim for my Master’s, so I can work with college students. That way I can work on some of my own work and not feel so closed in. I’ll be free to do my own thing and still help out. My dream, ever since I was a kid, was to help make people laugh, smile and just be happy. I can do that with my art, I can do that helping kids learn, I can do that by being a positive influence in a child’s life and helping them grow.”

Yay, Jess!