We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Andrea Sipl. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Andrea below.

Andrea, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with 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?

Yes, I have. I’ve been working as a full-time artist for the past 12 years. I pursued my BFA in Media Arts & Animation thinking that I wanted to be a Storyboard artist like you see in the “movies.” But once I was in school and learned about pre-production and pipeline of the animation world, I realized that I had a different calling.

During school I fell in love with pre-production and environmental design for videogames. With this passion in mind, I built my portfolio focusing on 3D environment design and texturing. After graduating, I received a scholarship from SCAD and pursued a MFA in animation. A year into my program I discovered my love for illustration and decided to double major in Animation and Illustration. I spent all my classes focusing on becoming a better illustrator and merging that with my videogame background, which led me to become a Texture Artist.
Shortly after graduation I got a job as a background artist/illustrator at Floyd County Productions on the FX’s channel animated tv show, “ARCHER.” This was my first professional job as an artist in the industry. Floyd County was looking for new artists, and some of my graduate school friends already worked there and recommended me. Soon after, I passed the studio’s art test, and I got the job.

I worked at Floyd County for 6 years. I started as a Background artist and later became the Lead 3D texture artist for the 3D team, where I ended up creating my own department. I accomplished this by using my texturing background and specializing in UV unwrapping (something that most artist hate doing, but I enjoy). So, my position acted as a bridge between the Background Illustration team and the 3D team. This guaranteed my job security and position in the studio, since the nature of this industry can be very unpredictable, given the cycles of layoffs and show cancelations.

Knowing what I know now, I wish I specialized sooner. I would have made a specific portfolio for niche job positions instead of developing my skillset as a 3D generalist. I also think artists can get most of their education online now if they are dedicated. It’s not entirely necessary to go to college and accrue massive student loans. Most of this information is available for free or for 1/10 of the price of going to a university. However, without college, I wouldn’t have made the connections and the network that helped me get started, so that is a difficult conundrum.

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

Alright, let’s do a quick summary! Shall we? My name is Andrea Sipl, I am a professional illustrator and painter. I am from Venezuela, and I have 2 masters in animation and illustration. Currently, I work full-time for Casino gaming. During my free time, I paint personal illustrations for galleries, collectors, and art shows.

I create oil paintings depicting elegant mystical animals and ethereal female figures, painted in a classic traditional style but with a twist of fantasy and surrealism. Most of my clients are pet owners and fantasy art collectors. Additionally, I am working with Wizards of the Coast, illustrating card art for Magic the Gathering.

I think my clients love to work with me because I am able to capture the animals’ essences and their majestic side in my paintings. I am able to make clients’ pet portraits and animals feel very special and like they have a unique background story. I enjoy capturing the female spirit, and the bond they share with their familiars. My paintings typically depict scenes of women caught in an intimate moment that the viewer was not ever supposed to witness. These moments emphasize companionship, trust, and innocence.

Have you ever had to pivot?

Yes, sure thing! After working on Archer for 5 years as a lead 3D texture artist, I wasn’t finding fulfillment in it anymore. My life goals and priorities changed and I wanted more economic stability and job security. My animation job was hourly and couldn’t guarantee 40 hours a week, while also having a salary cap. I was getting burned out working in 3D and wanted to pivot my focus to painting and illustrating full-time. My personal paintings started to take a bigger role in my life! So it was time to move on. I decided to leave 3D and the animation industry and shift to a career as an illustrator in the Casino industry. This career shift allowed me to have a reliable and rewarding job, while also granting me the time and peace to peruse my passions in gallery work

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

After leaving Archer, I was able to find the job and company that I wanted to work for but didn’t have the right portfolio for it. I had the referral, the qualifications, the skills, and the interview went well! However, I didn’t have the specific portfolio requirements for the position. I knew I could do the job and I had the skill set, but I had no portfolio pieces to prove my capability to the art director, so I didn’t get the offer.

Despite this setback, I was determined! I went home and worked really hard, I pulled 3 all-nighters over Thanksgiving weekend and made a completely new portfolio. I built a mock casino game to prove my qualification to the art director. I sent my new portfolio to them and days later, I got the job offer. I have been happily working with them for the past 5 years!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.andreasipl.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/andrea_sipl/

Image Credits
my bio photo was taken by “Sam Spicer Photography”