The CTN Animation Expo never disapoints. This is my third year attending and every time I am amazed by the amount of talent, creativity and kindness of people in the animation industry. This is by far the best convention for networking and getting really good feedback about my work. I love talking to people about their work in the industry as well as their personal projects. So much good stuff!! My visit this year was probably the best yet, I feel my goals are becoming more focused every year. Here are a few of the people who made this years expo so amazing.
Chris Oatley is a Character Designer and Visual Developer who is quickly becoming the main go to guy for creative advise. I met Chris last year and immediately knew I had to listen to every word he said. I am a frequent listener to his podcast "Chris Oatley's Artcast" and "Paper Wings Podcast" which he hosts with the lovely Lora Innes. I owe Chris and Lora a great amount of gratitude for sharing their experiences and advise which have improved my work so much this year. I highly recommend following them.
Chris Copeland is a passionate, talented and all around super cool and friendly guy. I love meeting people like him who are willing to help and give very honest, helpful advise. I also got a chance to meet his brother Justin Copeland who is also an amazingly talented person. These two have such an inspiring story about how they got into the industry you can hear on the paper wings podcast. So happy I got a chance to meet these guys.
While I was chatting up Lora Innes she suggested I visit Doug TenNapel the creator of "Earthworm Jim". Besides watching the cartoon when I was younger I didn't really know much about Doug. Turns out this guy is a creative machine. I was talking to him about all the projects he is working on and all the other million floating around in his head. I was so amazed by how Doug's brain works I bought his sketchbook, which is filled with concept sketches and outlines complete with his own notes. I couldn't pass up access to such a creative mind.
Like I said there were just so many talented people and the awesome thing is everyone has their own projects going on. It's so inspiring to see. I want to thank all the people who took the time to talk and offer feedback.
