We were lucky to catch up with Elizer (Elly) Morcillos recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Elizer (Elly), thanks for joining us today. Earning a full time living from one’s creative career can be incredibly difficult. Have you been able to do so and if so, can you share some of the key parts of your journey and any important advice or lessons that might help creatives who haven’t been able to yet?

I’ve been working full time in the industry as a concept artist/visual design developer for five years and have tackled many different projects along the way.

It took me a bit to get here, and I feel incredibly lucky to be doing this job from day one. It is sometimes a tasking work, but I enjoy every bit of it.. Knowing what I know now, I wish I could have started sooner.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

My name is Elizer Morcillos Cabais. I am Visual Design Developer/ Concept Artist. I also play in a rock band called Zircon Tribe as their vocalist and guitarist.

I am inspired by movies, video games, cartoons, anime, manga, comic books, and “art of” books. I was that kid who always got scolded by the teacher for drawing at the back of the note books in the middle of class. I took an interest in performing and joined an after school break dancing group, which trained me how to have good rhythmn. I later started skateboarding and the friends I made there introduced me to different kinds of music and bands. This lead me to learning how to play the guitar and sing and eventually formed my very first rock band.

At the time, I didn’t know that this was something people got paid to do. I grew up in the Philippines and entertainment is a huge part of our culture, however it is not a typical career path that many can pursue. I just enjoyed them because it was fun. After highschool I moved to Canada and started working at a meat processing factory. I was there for 2 and a half years pushing freshly processed pork into freezers, and another 2 years as a telemarketer. I realized that this was not something I wanted to do for the rest of my career. I always found myself revert back to drawing and singing during break times. My co-workers took notice and encouraged me to apply to animation school. I quit the job shortly after and enrolled myself in an animation program during the college orientation day. I didn’t know what concept art was until I was 6 months into my animation program. From there, I started researching more about it and slowly acquired the skills and knowledge to progress myself towards this career.

Around the same time I was introduced to a couple of musicians, we had great chemistry together and started our band.
We rehearsed some songs and entered a Battle of the Bands. We won 1st place in that competition.

As a concept artist, my job is focused on the early stages of a game development to design key arts, environments, characters, creatures, weapons and vehicles. I worked on projects such as Paranormal Pest Patrol, Waking Wonderland, Dungeons and Dragons, (Unanounced) Transformers, and Nerf Ultimate Championship. Ocaisonally, I would also work on product posters for marketing. I work with art directors to figure out, world build, and provide visual designs solutions by making iterative art work based on the vision of the project. We get these design to a final and cohesive vision. During the development period these designs will be use to reference and inspire the project.

As a musician, my band has been lucky enough to open for famous Filipino touring rock bands during their stops in Toronto, Canada. We recently released our EP (extended play) on Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube and other platforms. We frequently play at music venues around Toronto, and it has been a surreal experience to be able to play our original music in front of crowds.

Juggling both creative paths have offered me the opportunity to expand unsolved ideas and find the right medium to express them. What I can’t show visually, I can write musically and vise versa. My goal is to one day be able to combine both mediums and tell a story with a music video.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

While enrolled in school, I was afraid that my portfolio and skill was not going to be enough to break into the industry. Over the summer, I researched and found websites that can connect artists to clients and used this service to gain experience. One of my first freelance jobs was working on a hundred board game illustrations that was due within a month and a half. I worked very long days to meet the deadline and was compensated $2000 for the whole project. At the time I thought this was great, but coming back to school my teachers were shocked how severely underpaid this was. While I was grateful for the experience, I took this as a hard lesson. After College, I found myself a full time job in VFX converting movies into stereo 3D. I worked on films like Doctor Strange, Black Panther, Spiderman Homecoming, Thor Ragnarok, etc.

I spent two and a half years working with amazing creative people that inspired and pushed me further as I continue to improve on my art skills. I had the opportunity to join the Ubisoft NEXT concept art competition and was placed 2nd during the award ceremony. I enrolled myself to a private concept art school by the name of Talent Tree, lead by Frank Hong and was able to reinforce all my fundamental art skill through his guidance. Shortly after, I was finally able to start my career in the industry as a concept artist.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

For me the most rewarding aspect is the experience I get. I look forward to learning something new from peers, performing at different venues, sharing an energy or a vibe. Being able to see and share the fruits of your labor is a magical feeling.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://artofelly.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/elizer.morcillos
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elizer-cabais-b9963a106/
• Other: https://linktr.ee/zircontribe

Image Credits
Band Photography Credits to Archell Vergara