We were lucky to catch up with Carlos Campos recently and have shared our conversation below.

Carlos , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Are you happier as a creative? Do you sometimes think about what it would be like to just have a regular job? Can you talk to us about how you think through these emotions?

Short answer is Yes! The actual answer isn’t quite concrete. Especially having attended school with fellow creatives, I’ve adored being an artist above partaking in typical lines of work. But of course, without going too much into it, being an artist under capitalism has its caveats, both systematically and within contemporary society. That being said, I do think a major part of being artist is having worked a regular job, monetarily compensated or otherwise. This is especially true for creatives whose art revolve around storytelling, because since the beginning of time, experiences have always defined stories. Regular jobs are ripe with experiences an artist can use to define whatever work they want to implement those experiences in. The more specific and detail orientated the artist gets, the more intimate and soul-speaking it is to the audience they present their work to. But to answer the second question more straight forwardly, no I don’t wonder what it would be like to have a regular job, because I’ve worked (several) regular jobs and they always make me want something else!

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I’m Carlos Campos, and I’m a freelance Story Artist and 2D Animator! I’m still only at the start of my career, but I’ve done a few commission pieces, a still in-production pilot film called “The Time Trio”, and some collaborative community “Re-Animated” projects! My earliest inspirations are from numerous independent animators on Youtube, Japanese animation that would air on Adult Swim’s Toonami, and eventually videogames.

As a young child I had a need to show off to impress people enough to want to interact with me, so naturally(?) I drew comic books that I shared with my friends in elementary school about fantastical versions of ourselves. Whether that’d be as super heroes, anime-inspired swordsmen, or just pals living on an island house going on wacky adventures totally not ripped off from the tv we watch, haha. From there I graduated to digital art in middle school, joining an online art community that opened so many doors for me creatively, that eventually led me to realize in high school that I could apparently tell stories as a living! The sequential storytelling in comics I did early in life, accordingly made me qualified to animate comedy cartoons, inspired the likes of the late Edd Gould. Many, many rudimentary animation projects later, I learned about storyboarding and my line of work has only gotten more fun since then.

Storyboarding isn’t as widely recognized as Animation is, so to simplify it as much as possible: It’s basically rough comics you illustrate based off scripts, to use as visual drafts for TV and movies so directors know where to place actors and props in a scene, and how to move the camera in it. Storyboard Artists in Animation are specifically referred to as Story Artists. as more often than not, they have some expectations to be writers as well. That’s my main craft next to making pretty drawings move! All in all, I’m a storyteller with a passion to make people smile with silly characters or wicked action sequences.

I’m most proud of how far I’ve come since making those comics as a kid. It’s often that artists feel imposter syndrome, and that they aren’t where they want to be in their career. But if I showed my work now to my younger self, I know I would be excited and inspired. Storytelling, and especially Animation is very rewarding. Seeing a project go from one bad drawing to a fully completed collection of moving parts, makes me incredibly proud knowing I was the one responsible for the work. It’s one of the best feelings in the world despite how grueling the work itself is. Major plus if people around me are astounded and happy with the work I make!

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

One goal was to prevent myself from working jobs I hated, where I felt my presence was not necessary and that I wasn’t making a meaningful difference for the people I was serving. The other goal piggybacks off that last part, I wanted to make some sort of impact on people’s lives with my work. I’m not good at a lot of things, but I was at least pretty decent at making doodles that made others smile. All of my favorite films that put a grin on my face impacted me emotionally in some way, and changed my view on life. So animated film was the avenue I took to try and make a meaningful difference in people’s lives.

Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

Tumblr and Pinterest! I was on the former already, but I didn’t know how to effectively look for the appropriate resources, that would have really made my artistic journey more clear and easy. On top of that, I wish I used the resources I had then as well.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @thelovelytony
• Twitter: @thelovelytony