"....Yes, when your dream seems far away, you might experience discouragement, overwhelm or even depression. I know what that's like.

However, "Will my dreams ever come true?" is not the most important question you can ask yourself right now.



The bigger question that bad news reveals is this:

" IF MY DREAM DIES, WHAT WILL I DO?"

It is wise to decide how you'll respond to failure and seemingly insurmountable obstacles before you face them" :

READ MORE HERE: [link]

STAY THE COURSE!!!

Here's some of the most amazing and invaluable advice you'll most-likely ever get from one of my good colleagues and legends in comics/gaming, creator JOE MADUREIRA. It's what i've been preaching to you aspiring artists since i arrived on DA, but i think his POV says it perfectly:

*WARNING: SOME MATURE LANGUAGE*




"DO YOU REALLY WANT TO BE A SUCCESSFUL ARTIST?


Or a successful WORKING PROFESSIONAL?



Believe it or not there is a difference. I'm not usually a soapbox type guy, I don't like instructing people, and I think I'm a terrible teacher. But hey, it's Friday and I'm in a strange mood. So here goes:

I've noticed that a good number of my fans happen to be aspiring artists themselves. This is for all you guys. I get asked constantly: "Where should I go to school?" "What classes should I take?" "What should I study for anatomy?" "What pencils and paper do you use?" "Should I be working digitally now instead of traditionally?" "How do I fix my poses? Learn composition? Perspective?" "When am I going to develop my own style?" "Who were your influences?" "Teach me how to draw hands!" The list goes on…




Here's the deal. All of that stuff *is* important, and it may nudge you in the right direction. A lot of it you will discover for yourself. What works best for one person doesn't work for another. That's the beauty of art. It's personal. It's discovery. DON'T WORRY ABOUT ALL THAT CRAP!

Instead I'm going to answer the questions that you *SHOULD* be asking, but aren't. These are things that have only recently occurred to me, after doing this for 20+ years. These things seem so obvious, but apparently they elude a lot of people, because I am surprised at how many ridiculously talented artists are 'failing' professionally. Or just unhappy. The beauty of what I'm about to tell you is that it doesn't matter what field you're in or what your art style is.




In no particular order:
1) DO WHAT YOU LOVE. If you are passionate about what you're doing, it shows. If you're having fun, it shows. If you're bored, IT SHOWS. Some guys are able to work on stuff they have zero interest in, and still pull off great work, but I find that when I do this my motivation takes a huge hit. And Motivation is key. Money is not a great motivator. It's temporary like everything else. And honestly, I've gotten paid the most money for some of the shittiest work I have ever done. That may sound awesome, but it's not. And here's why…

2) You MUST stay Excited and Motivated. Have you noticed that there are days you can't draw a god damned thing? And some days you feel like you can draw anything? It's 4am but you don't notice because you are in the ZONE. Your hand is racing ahead of your mind and you can do no wrong?! Maybe it's some new paper you got. Or a new program you've been wanting to try out. Or you just found some amazing shit on DeviantArt, or watched some movie that just makes you want to run straight to your board. This relates to the above because while it is possible to involve yourself in projects you aren't excited about—maybe you need the cash, or think it will look good on your resume, whatever it is—it's not going to last. You need to stay fresh. Expose yourself to new things. New techniques. You should be getting tired of your own shit on a fairly regular basis. Otherwise other people will.

3) Check your Ego. If you think you're the shit, you're already doomed. You may be really, really good at what you do, but there's someone better. Sorry. There's always plenty to learn, even for us old dogs. So when I meet young upstarts who have this sense of entitlement, or a know-it-all attitude, I just have to laugh. Some of the biggest egos I've ever witnessed were from people who have accomplished the least. Meanwhile, most guys who are supremely talented AND successful, and have EARNED the RIGHT to have an ego and throw their weight around, don't. Why is that? It's because…



4) RELATIONSHIPS ARE IMPORTANT. This may be one of the biggest lessons I've had to learn. Early on, I didn't value my relationships with people. Creatively or otherwise. I felt like I didn't need anyone's help and I could figure everything out on my own. Let's face it, many of us become artists because we are reclusive, social misfits. We'd rather stay inside and draw shit than go outside and play. We like to live inside our own minds. Why not?! It's awesome in there! And sometimes we don't want to let other people in. But like I said—you can't do it alone. I can honestly say that as much as I try to stay current, as much as I try to push my work and draw kick ass shit that will excite people, I would not be where I am today if it weren't for all the other people I've met and learned from along the way. Guys who pulled strings for me. Took risks on me. Believed I was the right guy for the job. You need to manage your relationships. You need to network, and meet people. Drawing comics is still a pretty good place for reclusive types—but if you want to work in big studios—Making games, Films, animation, basically any other type of job on the planet, you'd better start making some connections. Be likeable. Be professional. That doesn't mean be an opportunistic ladder climber. Fake people lose in the end. Be yourself, but be professional. It's no secret that when people are hiring, our first instinct is to bring in people we know. It's human nature. I don't like unknowns, even if their portfolio is awesome. If we have a mutual connection, if they have great things to say about you, you're in. If you have AMAZING artwork to show, and I call your last employer and they tell me what a pain in the ass you are to work with, you're done. Talent and skill only get you so far. I am literally amazed at how often I meet guys that are total assholes and think they are going to get anywhere.

5) Here's the BIG ONE. The greatest obstacle you will ever have to overcome IS YOURSELF. And the Fear that you are creating in your own head. Stay positive. Stop defeating yourself. There are artists I know that are so damn good they make me pee my pants. I look up to these mofos. I study their shit and I want to draw like them. And they are almost NEVER working on their DREAM project. And—big surprise, they aren't happy in their job. "Why NOT?! WTF is WRONG WITH YOU?!" is usually my reaction. And the answer is almost always "The market isn't great right now" "Other stories/games/comics like mine don't do very well" "The shit that's hot right now is nothing like mine, It's just going to fail." "I'm not sure I'm good enough." "I need the money." "Too Risky." "I tried it before and failed. " It doesn't matter what words they use, they are afraid for one reason or another. I know. I've been there.

But here's the deal. YOU NEED TO TAKE RISKS. Guess what? YOU ARE MOST LIKELY GOING TO FAIL. If you want it—REALLY want it, that won't stop you. You will learn A LOT. My good friend Tim constantly jokes about how I jump out of planes without a parachute and worry about the landing on the way down. You may think that I'm lucky, that it's easy for me to say because I'm already successful, that I'm in a different situation than you all are. But it's not true. Risk is risk, no matter what level you're at. If you're already successful, you just take even bigger risks. But they never go away. Everything in life is Risk vs. Reward. Not just in your career. LIFE. You'd better get used to it.

I didn't know what the hell I was doing when I got into comics. I left the #1 selling book at the time ( Uncanny X-men ) to work on Battle Chasers during a time when 'Conan' was about the only fantasy comic people knew. And no one was buying it. I wanted to work in games, so I started a game company. I had NO IDEA WTF I was doing. I just wanted it, really bad. We tanked. It failed. No big surprise. But the people I worked with got hired elsewhere and rehired me. I started ANOTHER game Company. We had 4 people and a dream, and some publishers wouldn't even meet with us, because their 'next gen console' teams had 90+ people on them. I literally got hung up on. "Stick to handheld games, it's smaller, maybe you can handle that…" one MAJOR publisher told us. I don't blame them. But we didn't let it stop us. Thank god we didn't listen to them. Vigil was born. Darksiders happened, AND we got to make a sequel. It stands shoulder to shoulder with the best games in the industry, and the most elite and experienced game dev studios in the world. How is that possible?!!! Hardly any of us had even worked on a console game before. I'll be honest, I was thinking we would fail the whole time. I just didn't care. If I had to play the odds on this one, I'd bet against us.



Why am I telling you all this shit? This is not me patting myself on the back. It's just stuff that has somehow only dawned on me recently when it's been staring me in the face for so long. I feel like I need to wake you guys up!!! I've been limiting myself. I've gotten afraid. I've taken less risks. I saw my career going places I didn't want to go. I wasn't happy and I wasn't excited. And I've realized, that all that stuff I just talked about is the reason I am where I am today. Not because I have a manga style, or I draw cool hands, or there's energy in my drawings, or all the other things people rattle off to me. There are other guys that do all that same shit, and do it better. And amazingly, those same guys constantly tell me "Man, I wish I could do what you are doing." "SO DO IT!!!!!" PLEASE listen to me—because I want you guys to make it. I want to look to one of you people for inspiration some day when it's 2am and I need to keep drawing. Stop worrying about all the other stuff—the pencils, the paper, the anatomy, all that shit. It will only get you so far. You've already got most of what you need. I hope this helps some people. From the bottom of my heart, thank you for all the support over the years. You are all one of the greatest motivating forces in my life and my career. Sappy but true. Ok, let's go draw some shit!!!"

By being an exceptional artist/animator FIRST. Flash is just a very limited vector-based, digital graphics program. It's just a TOOL, just like pencil and paper. It's the artists using them that bring out its quality.

Here's an example:





Got it?

Good luck on your projects!!!

"The advice I like to give young artists, or really anybody who'll listen to me, is not to wait around for inspiration. Inspiration is for amateurs; the rest of us just show up and get to work. If you wait around for the clouds to part and a bolt of lightning to strike you in the brain, you are not going to make an awful lot of work. All the best ideas come out of the process; they come out of the work itself. Things occur to you. If you're sitting around trying to dream up a great art idea, you can sit there a long time before anything happens. But if you just get to work, something will occur to you and something else will occur to you and something else that you reject will push you in another direction. Inspiration is absolutely unnecessary and somehow deceptive. You feel like you need this great idea before you can get down to work, and I find that's almost never the case." - Chuck Close

Good luck on your projects this year!

L

Top Chinese animation house, Studio Wolfsmoke ( Batman of Shanghai: Catwoman/ Kung Fu Cooking Girls), has teamed up with Top Korean animation studio, Studio Mir (The Legend of Korra, The Boondocks Season 4, Black Dynamite: The Animated Series Season 2) to produce the 2d portions of this orgasmic promo for the online game Asura. Jesus.

Step it up America!!! lol!!!!

Finally, season 1 of the PeabodyAward-winning animated series that started it all is available on NetFlix. Please support original animated content. Also, i was Co-Director/ Lead Character Designer of this season.



Order here:

 [link]

New adventures in April.


Good luck on your projects!

- L

Katsuhiro Otomo, creator/director of AKIRA, MEMORIES, STEAMBOY, FREEDOM is back to grace us with a new entry of his vision. Very excited about animation this year!

Happy Birthday to one of my inspirations & one of the most important voices in tv animation and comic books of our generation, brother Dwayne McDuffie. Your impact on me and what you stood for still remains. Godspeed, big bro. R.I.P.

"One of the things people say to me ' Can you do it? You know, i don't really have a budget, It won't take you too long, right, you can just whip it out, right? NO. For me, in order to do that drawing, even if it takes me 10 minutes to do, the reality is it's taken me FORTY YEARS and 10 MINUTES TO DO, because of all of my EXPERIENCE, and that's what's so important to understand that this is YOUR energy and this is YOUR time... These people who are asking you to do this stuff for free, you think they're getting paid? OF COURSE they're getting paid. This happens and this why people do this. This is why there's so many STARVING ARTISTS out there."

Directed by John Kahrs, Disney has just posted the complete film online. Pretty much the greatest blending of 2D/CGI compositing i've ever seen. Brings back the feel of how powerful 2D is ( when it isn't being talked down next to CGI). Brilliant stuff!





The Making of PAPERMAN:

[link]


Young Justice and Green Lantern: The Animated Series will both end when their current seasons, which were interrupted more than once in their runs, end later this spring. Announced through their exclusion on Cartoon Network's "new and returning shows" press release for fall 2013, the series both suffered from broken-up seasons, including a sudden and unexplained pause in the fall of 2012 after only a few episodes of each. A representative from Warner Brothers Animation confirmed to Newsarama the cancelation. Cartoon Network's only official stance is that the new episodes already produced will continue to air.

Newsarama article here : [link]

Warner Brothers Animation is looking for High School graduates interested in a career in animation production who are about to enroll in college and are offering those students an opportunity for paid internships and scholarships. If You're a senior in highschool enrolling in an animation college and this is something you're interested in, click on the link below and apply!

Link: [link]


GOOD LUCK!

Disney Animation has cancelled both TRON: UPRISING as well as MOTORCITY animated series from their programming block DISNEY XD. Truly innovative-looking shows. 2012 was an insane time for animated television content with all the new shows. It's a bummer these got cut.  More info below:

Motor city cancelled: [link]

Tron uprising cancelled: [link]

" I haven't reached the point where I think I'm good at this. that's the drive. i know that its in me to be really good at it. and i think i've come close a few times, but i don't usually look at things i've completed and feel content. Which that means the next thing you start, you go in with that attitude that 'this time, I'm gonna get it right.' it doesnt mean you hate everything you do, but i'm never content. And maybe i never will be but i secretly know that that's what makes you grow." - Jamie Hewlett

WE'RE BACK!!! SOYYII!!!!


Press Release here:

[link]

"From creativecontrol.tv comes Episode 3 of Seoul Sessions, "Finding The Hero." TV animation Producer/Director/Artist LeSean Thomas (Black Dynamite:The Animated Series, The Legend of Korra, The Boondocks) travels across the city of Seoul in South Korea to visit Sunmin Animation Studios to look at Character Designs for an animated project in production."





"Creative Control TV is an online TV network which features coverage of talents in music, fashion and the arts. It has collaborated with artists like Curren$y, Ski Beatz, Mos Def, J. Ivy, Big K.R.I.T., Smoke DZA, the London Souls, Locksmith, Genesis the Greykid, Erykah Badu, and Terri Walker."

Good luck on your projects!

Hey all, i have a Tumblr now.

[link]

hope this is fun! Lemme know any pros and cons about Tumblr if you have any!

- LeS

SO EXCITED!!!!!!!!

One of my best colleagues and one of the greatest mangakas working today, Felipe Smith , has returned to deviant art!

Felipe Smith is known for his work on his own titles "MBQ" and  Kodansha's " PEEPO CHOO" in Japan ( and now english translated ).

Be sure to go say hello!