We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Elissa Gonzales a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Elissa, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What do you think matters most in terms of achieving success?

I think it takes, more often than not, extreme motivation. My preferred phrasing is “to be hellbent,” because hellbent implies that you can power through the inevitable “no’s” and “failures” that will most definitely arise along the way. In the very non-linear journey that is success, I’ve found that the most authentic tales come with a questioning of one’s self at one point or another; that being your own abilities, if you really want this, etc etc. This is when you know if you truly have the motivation or not. For example, it was personally a long journey to get into the animation industry- counting and tracking every single submitted application. I didn’t hear a single reply until somewhere around the 50th application, and continued to get ghosted much past the 100th application. Around 150th application, nearing a year of scouring studio postings, shameless self-promotion, strategizing algorithms, and endless portfolio work in between, I was exhausted. I was questioning if I had made a horrible misjudgment that I could actually get into this industry of my childhood dreams. Privately, there were a lot of tears and anxious thoughts for the future as I slogged through more dead ends and the stress of a dwindling bank account. I had no network but was fighting hard to build one remotely (this is was 2020 after all), and get eyes on my work. Truthfully, deep inside, not only did I feel like I couldn’t quit after 5 years of school; I genuinely didn’t want to. The vision of contributing to a film was too strong. Hellbent. And almost like a gambling addiction, this internal fire kept aflame: each day being a fresh start to find a new job application, because every submission came with a “what if this is ‘the One?'” I had logic-ed out to myself that the occupational world is a fight to get into regardless, so you may as well do it for a job you’re passionate about. This. Is. It. I posed myself the question of “do I really see myself doing anything else?” The answer was a genuine “no,” and I knew that this was what I had to be doing, and and I found that being “hellbent” can pay. At my 182nd application and 11 months of relentless efforts, I was eventually found on LinkedIn and hired into not only my first industry job, but first feature animation.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Hi! I’m a character designer/visual development artist in animated feature film. My biggest goal (dream) through college was to get into character design. I had been drawing people and inventing little character profiles all my life – one incomplete sketchbook at a time. However, I was told this was an incredibly difficult place to want to be – everyone wants to draw characters, making it outrageously competitive. But still, had that itch to be there and wonder if there was something that I could offer to it. Acting through a pencil was my preferred; FAR from the camera…And you would never know unless you tried. When I landed my first gig, I was started out as a visual development artist and hovered there through most of our pre-production. But as we neared production, I was lucky enough to have a production designer look at my work and say “this girl is a character designer.” And just like that, it launched me into the character-path before I even fully realized it. Now, one year since, I’ve worked hard to not only listen to character needs, but also explore beyond that in how they stand, move through space, and how their skeletal structure effects this. Even as small as how the design one’s teeth effects their speech, as a single example. I enjoy the deep detail of getting to know a character to its umpteenth degree and studying how every line sketched effects its final look. Artist’s are never done learning, I’ve come to find out. Characters are very special to me and I love incorporating little details of myself – childhood me, or adult me – that I can call back to throughout the process. If that doesn’t apply, then it’s finding little characteristics that make them who they are, just as how we with one another. I feel that the more personal you make a design, the more likely it is for someone to connect to them as well. Your own care will always show though. I’ve learned that it’s not always about how cool a design is, but really what makes them human and connectable.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

The biggest thing I’ve had to unlearn is to get out of the built-in imposter syndrome. They say it never leaves, and I fully believe this. But to not let it overtake you to an overbearing extent, because it will start to ooze into your work. Learning to acknowledge the imposter syndrome but find enough confidence to have fun is what I’ve found to be most valuable. For example, I was told that I would never get into feature right away, let alone get to work with characters. When I happened to land in exactly that, all the past voices in my memory amplified x100 that I shouldn’t be where I had landed. None of these voices had malicious intent, but a year-long search with lots of voices in between can be an difficult thing to push past as well. You suddenly become keenly aware that lots of people are working hard to get into the industry as well, and it almost makes it hard to celebrate when you finally catch your break. But I have come to learn that this industry is not linear and though it may seem impossible, you never know where you may end up. Be open-minded and ready for anything. We’re all working hard to further ourselves, so celebrate when the time is right and pay it forward when the time is ready.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

My mission here is to simply be a part of something that people can connect with. I’m not naive to the fact that this is small in the big scheme of the world, but I also know what it is to be a kid and going through tough times. Or feeling alone and small for that matter. I know the power held in wrapping yourself into a blanket to watch your favorite comfort-film with the intention of laugh and to be swept away into a universe far from your own. That’s a powerful relief to people, and to be able to be a part of a project that can provide that for 2 hours for someone in the world is all I could really ask for.

Contact Info:

• Website: gonzartist.com
• Instagram: @gonzartist
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elissa-gonzales-3a4505135