Artist Spotlight w/ Glenn Thomas
May 23, 2023
First, can you tell us a bit about yourself?
I'm an illustrator by day (and more recently animator by night) who lives down-under in Melbourne, Australia.
On my off days I'm kept on my toes with my 3yr old son and we spend a lot of time out in our garden with my wife (those weeds aren't going to weed themselves!). I'm a basketball, animation, nature enthusiast who has been freelancing my entire professional career.
I try to live by a simple philosophy of always trying your best, being honest and kind and good things will happen.
I try to live by a simple philosophy of always trying your best, being honest and kind and good things will happen.
Can you tell us about your experience and the role you are primarily filling?
In my freelance career I have contributed illustration to everything from explainers, short films, picture books, beer labels, editorial and lots of odds and ends in between. The exciting part is never knowing where a brief might take you, what new style you might explore and what problem needs solving.
Most of my work though is designing styleframes for animation, which typically involves character designs, backgrounds and storyboards in more narrative and character driven work. Recently I have had some spare time on my hands to start '23 (see below on work droughts) so have been beefing up my animation skills focusing on cel and specifically character animation and directing.
If you could speak directly to the resourcing gods and powers that be, what would be your ideal project?
As a video game obsessed kid growing up I was enamoured with the cinematics to promote games or the cut scenes between gameplay (most of them probably made by Blur!) and more recently there has been a trend for 2d animated trailers. Getting to direct, paint backgrounds or animate on a project like that would be incredible.
The same could be said for a music video and the recent wave of anime inspired beauties!
Do you have any dream clients?
I am lucky to have already worked with so many wonderful clients and studios - IV Studio, Polyester, Kneeon, Remade among others have been instrumental in my career who empower artists and push creativity.
But, as a father to a 3yr old, and very aware of the environmental crisis we face now and will face in his future I am very drawn to projects that highlight this, technologies that will help and promote awareness.
Lastly, do you have any memorable stories, life lessons, or tall tales you can share from your adventures as a freelancer?
It will inevitably be full of ups and downs. It's easy to get discouraged when work is quiet for a week, or in challenging times, even months so I fill those gaps with personal projects and skill development and eventually a project will come down the pipe. I have always found the opposite to be true — 'when it rains it pours'. After you weather those droughts, you will soon be juggling multiple holds and projects and all that time spent on personal projects will pay off with future work (and hey you just got some new skills!)
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