|
Animation Mentor:
What's your story? A little background about you, for the readers. Patty Strulovic:
Then I started enjoying people watching, people's little mannerisms, and ways of expressing themselves through gestures; I never thought it would be helpful for the future. When I was 17 a good friend of the family, who lives in NY, came to visit and asked me what I wanted to do when I got out of high school. I had no idea! I wanted to do something related to art but didn't know what that was going to be. I mentioned the cartoons and people watching...and she just listened... A few months later I got a package with all the catalogs for all the animation schools in the U.S. I was stunned!!! I never thought I could be an animator, since there is no such thing as an animation school in Venezuela. So, I applied to a lot of schools, got into Ringling school of art and design, and graduated a year and a half ago. I am currently working at a video game company, animating for games in the bay area. Animation Mentor: What inspired you to learn animation? Patty Strulovic: What inspired me to actually come to the U.S and learn animation was the possibility to be an animator. All my life I've been a fan, and I had the opportunity to become part of something that I loved. Animation Mentor: How has your experience at Animation Mentor been? Patty Strulovic: My experience has been amazing. I have seen how much progress I have made since day one and I have learned so much in a relatively short amount of time. The type of feedback and attention you receive here is really amazing. Animation Mentor: What was your best memory of Animation Mentor? Patty Strulovic: Best memory… this is a hard question to answer… I think it would be the last BBQ… it was great to meet so many of the people I've met online. It was awesome to see how many people came from all over the place. Animation Mentor: What's one of the most important and/or interesting lessons you've learned while at Animation Mentor? Patty Strulovic: I think the most important lesson has been to learn how to be more comfortable about what I do. I think that before; I was very hesitant to animate because I wasn't so sure I was doing it right, I didn't have enough experience, and all that… but now I learned how to be a little more confident and just have fun with it, enjoy it no matter how hard it may seem at some moments; if it was easy it wouldn't be as rewarding. Animation Mentor: What would be your ultimate dream job? Patty Strulovic: I think the ultimate dream job would be in a place where I can be creative and have some sort of freedom with my work, but at the same time still have great challenges and opportunity to keep learning; because I believe we never stop learning. And at some point in my life I would love to direct. Animation Mentor: Who is your favorite animator? Patty Strulovic: One animator that has impressed me is Glen Keane because he creates characters that are very real, and you can relate to them. Many other people have said he creates memorable characters and that's the best explanation. That's what I want to do. Animation Mentor: What is your favorite animated/CG scene of all time? Patty Strulovic: I think there are too many great scenes that I love; it's hard to write down just one... I love the scene in Tarzan when he is gliding through the branches of the trees, but I also love the spider in the lord of the rings. Gollum, so much detail, so subtle... There are too many!!! Animation Mentor: Anything else you want to say to your fellow graduates, current students and prospective students of Animation Mentor? Patty Strulovic: Yes, never stop trying, it takes practice and persistence! Work hard and have fun animating!!!! |