We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Amanda Julina Gonzalez a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Amanda Julina, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. 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?

The pandemic ended up being the catalyst for me to freelance fulltime. I graduated in December 2019 and my plan was to get a ‘safety net’ job. A library hired me and then lockdown happened, so I really had to scramble and a friend got me picked up as a cleanup artist for a commercial animation studio. That got me a few more gigs, which buffed my portfolio enough to get hired onto an indie film. I was working on a comic at the same time and supplementing with voiceover work on the side; I had about three projects in rotation for two or three years straight. Saying yes to everything eventually paved the way for me to both branch out from animation and to be more specific with the projects I said yes to, and I’ve been at a game studio for close to three years now.

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 Amanda Julina Gonzalez, and I’m an animator and voice actor. I got my degree in traditional animation, have worked as an artist in comics, animation, film, and games, and have been voice acting for about ten years. I’ve recently illustrated my first book cover, Fat Witch Summer (which is available now!), and am currently working on my next comic project.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

Pay artists. Pay them. Pay them!

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

Not touching grass is very terrible for you no matter how much you think you don’t need to go touch grass, because you do, and touching grass is a skill that has to be practiced. Source: I touched grass today and it felt nice, and I was probably nicer afterwards for it.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @amandajulina
• Twitter: @amandajulina