We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Tony Hankerson JR a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Tony thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?
Since childhood, I always loved creating stories and sharing them with others, through art. Whether through doodles, small comic strips or full-blown graphic novels, I always loved capturing my ideas on the page or canvas, and watching other people experience them.
I went to college in 2009, and went the graphic, web and user experience design route professionally. At the time I didn’t know anything about the animation industry, or about the millions of artists with sustainable and fulfilling art practices, so I caved to the societal convention of finding a ‘stable office job.’
Fortunately, I kept drawing comics and character concepts in my free time at the office (sometimes to the annoyance of my more business-minded colleagues). While I excelled in my roles professionally, I developed a reputation as a doodler and a daydreamer.
One day at my second corporate gig out of school, I was drawing in my cubicle over lunch break, and one of my coworkers sat beside me and watched me work. They were observant, with the occasional question about the story behind the characters. I excitedly shared their backstory, with more energy that I probably showed for anything at work. They smiled and followed along with the story, adding in reactions intermittently.
After a bit of silence, they asked ‘Of all the cool stuff you could be doing, what are you doing *here*?’
That question haunted me for years to come. Luckily that was the push I needed to take my art practice seriously, and consider a broader change.
Finally, I took a chance. I quit my job there, moved from North Carolina to Los Angeles, and pursued education in storyboarding and writing, hoping to land a job in storyboarding for film and animation. Unfortunately, COVID hit a few months after I landed there, and all networking opportunities dried up. I moved back to NC, and took up an interesting and challenging position as a UX designer. The same question continued to haunt me, though I was learning a lot and enjoying my time as much as I could. Luckily, I kept drawing storyboards and studying the craft in my free time, both to nourish my need to tell stories, and to improve my skills. I gained a lot of great friends and mentors along the way, who provided feedback and support throughout my journey.
Fortunately, because I kept up my personal portfolio, I was able to find work doing storyboards for an upcoming series, along with some freelance pitch development opportunities. I recently left my job in design to focus on storyboarding and art full time!
Tony, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I am Tony Hankerson, Jr., but a lot of people know me as kingtenta! I was born in Florida, and lived in Japan for a bit, but I’ve lived in North Carolina for most of my life.
I currently work as a freelance storyboard artist/revisionist, though I also do freelance illustration and writing. My personal art style is a unique blend of Hip Hop, Eastern and Western cartoons, Video games, and cultures from around the world, though I pride myself in being able to adapt to different styles.
When it comes to storyboarding, I always mind the fundamentals, whether that’s maintaining consistent screen direction, considering shot flow, staging characters in a way that enhances the story, etc., all while serving the audience a meal they won’t forget! I’m also good at tracing story arcs, making sure that each narrative decision we make measures back to the core DNA of the story. Last but not least, I keep economy in mind, knowing that the decisions I make in the storyboarding phase will have an impact down the pipeline.
We’d love to hear your thoughts on NFTs. (Note: this is for education/entertainment purposes only, readers should not construe this as advice)
I don’t know if there’s a compelling reason for NFTs to exist yet, at least not for me. In my opinion, the power of digital files/assets lies within their ease of delivery and replication. Securing assets with a non-fungible identifier is like making an infinite asset finite, which (to me) kills a bit of the functionality. Maybe when we as a society are fully embedded in the digital world, we’ll have use for that sort of thing.
(Definitely take all of this with a grain of salt; I’m by no means an expert!)
Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?
Therapy! Artists tend to struggle with various mental health struggles (imposter syndrome, depression, anxiety, etc.), since we tend to be very inwardly-focused and emotionally involved. It’s hard not to be, since the act of creation is such a personal one! Arming yourself with the tools to understand, inspect and make peace with your emotions will not only improve your approach to art, but your approach to life.
Books! And not just how-to-draw books.
For example:
Writing books (Snyder’s Save the Cat! and Robert McKee’s STORY),
Director’s notes (Kojima’s The Creative Gene, Kazan On Directing, Mamet’s On Directing Film),
and Self Improvement books (Dweck’s Mindset, Clear’s Atomic Habits)
have all been super helpful in getting to where I am creatively.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.kingtenta.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kingtenta/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tony-hankerson-jr-20175498/