Today we’d like to introduce you to Gabi Villegas.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
First of all, hello! I’m originally a San Diego native but currently reside in Pasadena, CA. I grew up in a Hispanic household, venturing between Tijuana and San Diego frequently. I grew up as an artist, drawing on the walls of my Mexican home, doodling silly cartoons of my friends and family all throughout high school. I always knew I wanted to do something with art, one way or another, either for video games or animation, but I wasn’t entirely sure what I wanted.
Upon graduating, I took a small summer job at the San Diego Zoo as a caricature artist. I don’t think I’ve ever drawn so much in my life till that moment. I was a terrible employee honestly. My skills weren’t up to par with everyone else’s who had been there much longer. I would often feel like a failure, struggling to perfect myself. But I knew I wanted to get better, I wanted to improve. I decided to quit working for them within a few months because we were both aware I needed time to improve.
Around the time, I started attending Community College, I was stumped at what I wanted to pursue. My parents weren’t 100% into the whole idea of me graduating as an art major or even attending art school. They heavily pushed the idea of becoming a Business major. So, I kind of went with that throughout my time at San Diego City College.
However, I kept taking lots and lots of classes on the side. I kept attending nude Figure Drawing sessions, sketching people in the trolley, doodling silly drawings of my friends, anything! I didn’t want to let my talent go to waste. I think with a lot of perseverance, during my last year of Community college, I met Alex Leon. A talented artist who had worked at Pixar and Nickelodeon for a while decided to mentor me into showing me the pipeline of the animation industry. He taught me and opened my eyes to a lot of the harsh realities and expectations within the industry that it only made me even more so excited.
I worked heavily on an art portfolio to get into art school. I made a deal with my parents, that if my portfolio didn’t get me accepted anywhere, I would transfer to San Diego State University and obtain my Bachelors in Business Management.
To my surprise, I got into Art Center College of Design for Animation/Entertainment Arts with a stellar scholarship that hovered around 90% of my expenses.
I’ve been attending Art Center for the last three years and I plan to graduate in the Summer of 2019. Recently, I had the opportunity to take a tour of Disney Television Animation and obtain a mentorship through Titmouse Animation INC. I know the name sounds funny, but it’s the studio that brought you Rick & Morty, Motorcity and Big Mouth just to name a few.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Ha! NO! It’s been a bumpy road, as life should be. Prior to art school, it was always an endless battle between my parents and I. They wanted me to pursue what they saw as a profitable profession (business, medicine, law) while as I didn’t really see myself in that position. They would always try to persuade me to leave art only as a hobby and nothing else. There would be times where I’d worry if art would indeed not get me anywhere, so I doubted myself. I lasted three years with my parents after graduating high school, unsure whether to take that big leap or not. It wasn’t till I did, that I felt relieved. However, within the three years, I was studying for Business Management, I was also making time for myself to keep exploring art in every possible way. I attended every figure drawing and multimedia class I could afford. I would also look up YouTube tutorials, drawn from books I would check out from the library, ANYTHING!
For the longest time, I wanted to prove to my parents, but also myself that I could achieve a fulfilling art career. I worked tirelessly on it, often giving myself an unhealthy amount of criticism and worrying endlessly about improving, but alas I did it. I obtained an excellent scholarship on behalf of the school which covered 90% of tuition expenses.
I think the biggest advice I can tell anyone that I wished someone had told me from the beginning when I was struggling is to always be persistent. No matter what it is you want to pursue in life, stay determined and work hard. Back in my city college days, I would always get a gut feeling that art is what I needed to do. That gut feeling MEANS something. It’s like that sixth sense that tells you when something is right or wrong. If you feel that what you’re doing is right, then you should definitely go for it. No matter what it is that you want to do, become a doctor, an artist, ANYTHING, it’s always going to be a bumpy road. But I say, embrace those challenges that life throws at you and get to that goal. I saw a lot of my friends who were afraid of taking chances or pursuing something that they really wanted to accomplish. And instead took a different path that would be considered a ‘safer’ option. I think it’s natural to have that worry from time to time, no one is sure what life has in store for them, so why not give it a shot?
Please tell us about your work.
I’m currently a student in Pasadena, attending Art Center College of Design and majoring in Entertainment Arts. I recently had a mentorship opportunity over at a studio named Titmouse, who’s in charge of certain shows such as Big Mouth and Rick & Morty. I’m currently a teacher’s assistant in one of the Character Design classes for renowned Storyboard and Character Designer Ricardo Delgado who’s worked on The Incredibles, Wreck-It Ralph, and TMNT to name a few. It’s been a rough couple of years but I hope to get out there and make it as a storyboard artist or as a character designer.
Funny enough, before attending Art Center, I had my own small business on the side named NEONVISION, where I sold prints and shirts at Anime Conventions. I had this huge backup plan that in case the art of school rejected me, I could live off attending and selling my fanmade merchandise at comic conventions and such.
What advice would you give to someone at the start of her career?
The most important piece of advice I could tell a young woman just starting their career, either as a student or as a young professional, is to never back down. The animation industry is a tough industry with high expectancies. I’m often told things from other people, whether it was back in my old San Diego Zoo days or at studios, “You’ll never amount to anything in the animation industry” or “You’re just wasting your time.” I heard that a lot from different people, whether it was my parents, co-workers or even just strangers. People aren’t aware that there are different areas of art that you can have a living out of. People usually think that art is just becoming a fine artist and nothing more, but there’s a lot to it out there. You could have a job in animation, video games, Virtual Reality, Screen Printing, Surface/Textile, ANYTHING! However, a lot of people aren’t aware that those industries exist because not enough people talk about it or their industry is very reserved or small. I usually encourage other women who are interested in the arts, is to research as much as they can in the different areas available in the workforce. Find something that interests you that you see yourself doing for the rest of your life and work hard for it. Take chances. Be ambitious. Never stop learning and always keep growing.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.neon-visions.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/neonvision/
Image Credit:
Gabi Villegas
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