The speaker, an aspiring animator, shares their journey into digital art and animation. They emphasize the importance of continuous learning and self-development, and discourage relying on others for solutions. They also highlight the importance of building an online presence and developing business knowledge.
The speaker grew up in a poor family in post-communist Romania and began drawing as a way to escape from bullying. They discovered digital art on a website called deviantART and became fascinated with it. They started saving money to buy a Wacom tablet, which they used daily to improve their skills.
The speaker began looking for work as soon as they had the tablet, volunteering on other people's web comics and entering drawing contests. They started earning money in 2009 and continued to do so by working on indie projects.
In 2011, the speaker moved to Denmark to study web design, but dropped out after realizing that it was slowing them down. They started a YouTube channel in 2013, where they created fan art and animations. They were later approached by Philip DeFranco to create weekly animations for the SourceFed channel, which led to them working on over 200 animations for the channel.
The speaker also worked for Smosh for a year and did some freelance animation for other companies. However, they eventually decided to stop animating other people's stories and focus on their own channel.
The speaker advises aspiring artists not to expect solutions from others, to start by volunteering on small-scale indie projects, and to build their online presence. They also advise against the myth that one needs to go to art school, especially if tuition is going to put them in debt.
The speaker concludes by emphasizing that digital art and animation is a career that one is going to have for the rest of their life, and that one is always on a continuous learning journey. They also mention that Wacom sponsored the video and recommend the Wacom Cintiq 16 display tablet for beginners.
Here are the key facts from the text:
1. The speaker grew up in post-communist Romania.
2. The speaker shared a small room with their brother and grandparents.
3. The speaker's family was poor.
4. The speaker was bullied in school for drawing.
5. The speaker found an old computer they could use to access the internet.
6. In 2006, the speaker discovered the website deviantART.
7. The speaker learned about digital art and fell in love with it.
8. The speaker's goal was to become a comic book digital artist.
9. The speaker saved up money to buy their first Wacom tablet.
10. The Wacom tablet cost 200 Romanian lei, around $60 USD.
11. The speaker worked for free on many indie projects.
12. The speaker earned their first $5 for a drawing in 2009.
13. The speaker moved to Denmark to study web design in 2011.
14. The speaker dropped out of college and started working on their own projects.
15. The speaker started experimenting with fan animations.
16. Philip DeFranco reached out to the speaker to create animations for SourceFed.
17. The speaker worked for SourceFed for two years, creating over 200 animations.
18. The speaker worked for Smosh for about a year.
19. The speaker stopped working for other people and started focusing on their own channel.
20. The speaker's channel started gaining traction after creating a video about Kylie Jenner.
21. The speaker's first Wacom tablet was purchased when they were 14 years old.
22. The speaker is now 27 years old.
23. Wacom sponsored the video.
24. Wacom has released a new Cintiq 16 model, priced at $649.
25. The Cintiq 16 is a display tablet with a 15.6-inch full HD resolution screen and an anti-glare coating.