We recently connected with Brad Lewis and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Brad thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?

I attended a now defunct art school for Media arts and animation from 2009-2013. The program I was in taught a broad variety of subjects pertaining to the animation pipeline, but in no structured order. I very quickly realized that the “animating” part of animation wasn’t for me and what I found really interesting and fun was the character design part. Unfortunately , there was no class on character design at the school I was attending. I took it upon myself to learn character design from resources I found on the internet.

One of the most integral resources on character design I was able to find was a book called “Cartoon Animation” by Preston Blair. Preston was an old school animator for MGM and Disney and his book really breaks down classic cartoon animation/character design methods in an easy and digestible way. I highly recommend it to any aspiring animation artist (preferably the first edition version because it still has all the licensed MGM characters in it haha). I studied the book and applied what I learned into my own personal drawings over the years. Having worked in the animation industry a while now, I have learned things on the job that I would have never considered doing independent studies. Experience has been a great teacher!

Brad, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I am a character designer who has been working in the animation industry for 10 years. Some of the projects I’ve worked on have been the Cuphead Show, Final Space, Velma, Hoops, Spongebob and Praise Petey.

I am influenced and inspired by all sorts of things that I’ve consumed throughout my life including but not limited to: Anime/manga, cartoons, video games, horror movies and other artists I am inspired by. I feel like that can be seen in my personal drawings.

I’ve always had a love for drawing, specifically, drawing characters. Once I found out I could make a living doing that, I made it my goal. I studied the craft and applied for jobs left and right for several years until one day an art director discovered me on instagram and reached out to do a character design test for Final Space. I was about to make the drive out to LA to further my animation career and the day I left my home state of FL I received the formal job offer.

Being a character designer is a dream job for me. Designing character’s I’d say is about 50% drawing and 50% problem solving. If you design a really cool looking character there is a chance that it might not work for the animators, whether it be too much detail or the proportions being too drastic. etc. When designing characters I try to think of how I can make something look appealing while also providing an animator with something they can effectively work with.

When it comes to character design, there is nothing I’d rather do. Seeing character’s I’ve drawn, on a screen dancing, moving, yelling and living is a very cool feeling that still excites me to this day. It brings me such joy and I think that shows in my work and the positivity I tend to bring to productions.

Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

Honestly there are so many haha. I feel like there are more resources on the internet now pertaining to developing specific skills when it comes to animation. I wish I had these when I was first starting out and learning. That was only in 2009 too so it wasn’t TOO long ago. I had some resources like random blogs from animation veterans or Tumblr pages that showcased production art from various animated shows. but now you can get an entire animation education on the internet. Say you wanted to learn character design, there are THOUSANDS of videos on the subject on youtube, tutorials on pinterest, and even small and affordable online classes you can take where you’re taught by and given feedback by industry professionals. I may not have had these resources back then, but I definitely use them now to continue learning.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

Being able to do what I love and getting paid to do it. I mean, getting a paycheck for drawing for 40 hours a week? That’s awesome! There is something very rewarding about something I created being valued and appreciated by others. It’s a feeling I never got working in retail.

Contact Info:

• Website: bradlewisdesign.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sideburn_city_sketches/?hl=en