Today we’d like to introduce you to Chuck Grieb.
Chuck, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
One of my earliest memories is watching the movie Jason and the Argonauts and my fascination with the living skeletons created by famed stop motion animator Ray Harryhausen. I asked my dad asked how the skeletons “came alive.” His answer, “They got skinny actors.”
By the time I was seven, I was building my first stop motion animation armature. Next, I met Bilbo Baggins watching The Hobbit animated special and then Star Wars! I saw it when I was nine years old, and it blew my little mind. Determined to be a part of creating this kind of storytelling magic, I studied art at the Edinboro University of Pennsylvania and filmmaking at the USC School of Cinema and Television.
I landed in the animation industry, beginning at Walt Disney TV Animation where I was hired into a storyboard artist training program. Disney was fun! I found myself a part of the Special Projects department, where I was challenged to take on various art and animation roles while exploring new technologies.
In addition to my work for Disney, I’ve worked for various other studios including Nickelodeon and Film Roman and partnered in the ownership of my own small studio. Animated shorts I’ve created have screened in festivals all over the world.
In 1997, I was invited to teach a class at the local community college. I’d never considered teaching, but my wife convinced me I should give it a go. And I am glad she did! I loved teaching and in 2002 took a full-time position teaching animation at Cal State Fullerton.
In 2015, I started to explore illustrative art and began writing my first book, an illustrated novel entitled The Goblin Twins!
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
I like the wording of this question – life can be very much like a road or journey. Every journey will have its challenges, and there are various routes one can follow, so not everyone will take the same route.
The technology and accessibility to information that is taken for granted today are marvelous in that they provide maps to help guide the aspiring artist and creator. I would have loved such a ‘map’ when I began. The entertainment industry is still fairly small and often localized in southern California. It was even more so in when I was getting my start.
My wife Wendy (who is also an animation artist and illustrator) and I planned an adventure one summer; committing to a month’s long visit to Los Angeles with the goal of finding work as artists at an animation studio. We flew from our home in Maryland to LA and rented a car with plans to make daily trips to studios, dropping off our portfolios.
The first day we arrived, we were struck from behind on Lakeview Blvd. Both of us were hurt and needed medical treatment. But I had an interview at Disney the next morning! I tied the trunk of the rental car shut and drove to Burbank while Wendy called around to find a medical facility that would accept our insurance. I couldn’t turn my head to the left as I had hurt my neck in the accident and am pretty sure I was in shock.
We both had to go through physical therapy, but we managed to continue with our plan. It was exciting and frightening. Bill Melendez (who’s studio animated the Peanuts specials) was incredibly gracious and spent an hour talking with us just to provide encouragement.
Friends put us up in their homes and we co-taught an animation class for kids at the LA Science museum to help pay for the journey. Somehow or another, we both managed to find our first jobs as animation artists via this trip. We flew back home and had five days to pack up, move back, and find our home in LA.
And that was just the start!
Art of Chuck Grieb – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
I create! Particularly stories. I also teach, and I sketch! It is difficult to place boundaries on how I like to tell the stories that excite me, but I love to involve the creation of imagery as a part of the stories I tell. Digital technology has changed the way we interact, the way we shop, build relationships, write, and create art. Exploring new tech is fun!
Right now I am excited about the use of Virtual Reality as a tool in creating animated and illustrative content, something I am just beginning to explore. I also love old tools and methods of art creation. I find it amusing when asked what software I used to create an image and have to explain that it was created with paper, paint, brushes, etc. I incorporate digital tech in my process, often sketching on my iPad, but love to finish with traditional media.
My paintings are most often created with oil paint or casein (an old, water-based media, kind of like a mix of gouache or acrylic). Wherever I am, I almost always have a sketchbook. And if the sketchbook isn’t handy, I’ll be doodling away on my iPad or phone (the Galaxy Note provides for a nice surrogate sketchbook).
Since 2015, I have been building The Garden Clan; a world, populated with tiny faeries riding hummingbirds and sinister goblins building steam-powered machines. The Goblin Twins (yet to be published) is the first story I’ve written which is set in this world, but I hope won’t be the last.
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
In 2004, Roland’s Trouble, an animated short I created, screened as a part of the Newport Beach Film Festival.
This was my first opportunity to watch the film with an audience, the theater was packed. As the end credits rolled, a child’s voice rang out, “I liked that one!” Success.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://chuckgrieb.com/
- Email: chuck@chuckgrieb.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chuck_grieb/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Art-of-Chuck-Grieb-270922193644291/?modal=admin_todo_tour
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/chuck_grieb
- Other: https://chuckimation.tumblr.com/
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