Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Ellie Martin. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Ellie, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

I think I’ve always known that I was going to be an artist. By chance, I was born into a small lineage of artists, including a couple of grand-uncles who made their names in children’s books and wildlife art. Because I was a budding artist in my immediate family of left-brained entrepreneurs, I felt an expectation that I would follow in my grand-uncles’ footsteps and build an empire like they did, and then I would garner just as much success by branding myself as “the grand-niece of renowned artist…”. Frankly, I didn’t have interest to write and illustrate children’s books, nor did it feel right for me to ride their successes as my own. Not to mention there are no other women artists in my family tree that I’m aware of, so I inherently knew I wanted to blaze my own trail. As for what kind of artist I wanted to become, that wasn’t as clear until my early teens.

When it came to what I enjoyed watching or reading, I’ve always been drawn to stories that leaned into drama and mood. My earliest fascination included Disney’s “Fantasia” (1940); the film struck a chord with me because of its marriage of visuals and music to create an engaging story (I’m sure my Mom still has a stack of my “Pastoral Symphony” centaurs somewhere in the attic). It’s a format that I’m still attracted to today. In fact, I originally pursued my degree with the intention to animate music videos as my focus, before changing gears elsewhere.

To coincide with the family’s VHS collection of old cartoons, I started to follow a number of artists on Livejournal who were already in art school (and who are now established artists at Disney, Laika, and more). It was inspiring to witness their development, so I mimicked their methods by spending endless days in my sketchbook, weaving little emotive vignettes between my own characters. Eventually, this mimicry evolved into self-discipline towards my own practice.

I would also glean inspiration from European and Asian artists via websites like Catsuka. Despite what little French I knew, Catsuka led me to a variety of short films, music videos, and names of animators and graphic novelists that influenced my artist journey (including Kerascoët and Marjane Satrapi). I rounded out my interests by attending a pre-college art program at Oregon State University called JumpstART, where I would be first exposed to figure drawing, oil painting, and idea generation. I’m grateful for how the program expanded my worldview on the art world, and how it helped shape my approach further, especially figure drawing.

But of all things, a high school class called ‘Career Ed’ would solidify my decision to pursue art seriously. The primary focus of the course was shadowing someone in your dream job, so my teacher scheduled me a day with Liz Holzman, a former animator on ‘Pinky & The Brain’, and then a professor at the Art Institute of Portland in 2007. She showed me the ins-and-outs of the animation pipeline, and then shared her professional wisdom – which included setting me straight that 3D animation would never replace 2D animation, regardless of the shifting landscape of traditional vs digital art. Holzman spoke with conviction and passion about her craft, and it instilled in me how important animation is in all its forms, and that it permeates all genres. So after I graduated in 2009, I packed my bags and left my small town in Oregon to attend The Savannah College of Art & Design for a BFA in Animation.

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.

I’m an artist with a specialty in character design for animation and games. For the past ten years, I’ve collaborated with local and remote animation studios, as well as individual clients. My most notable credits include Lead Character Designer on the Marvel series, “Hit Monkey”; animation artist on the Adult Swim short, “Too Many Cooks”; and illustration work on the Emmy-award winning series, “Archer”.

I’ve dabbled in multiple roles in the 2D pipeline, including character & prop design, graphic design, concept art, storyboards, animation, layout, puppet rigging, etc. I suppose I’m a master of none, but I like having variety. It has also made me a valuable asset on projects because my skills are versatile, and I’m able to anticipate the needs of the next phase of production. Because of my experience in animation, I was able to exceed expectations of my last role on a mobile game, by producing pencil tests and storyboards to accompany my concepts.

With the nature of my profession, much of the art I’m proud of is behind an NDA. However, for the past few years I’ve been developing a personal project revolving around a nomad in the Old West named Nolcha. She was born out of a period of burnout during the pandemic, when I wanted to draw something that didn’t demand my critical eye (i.e. I just wanted to draw a gothy cowgirl). I originally intended her to be an exercise to play with color, nature, and fashion, in lieu of any solid narrative. But Nolcha has changed a lot since her first iteration, and I’m slowly piecing together her story. I’m excited to see where she goes next.

As for my story about breaking into the industry, it isn’t really inspiring if I’m honest. It was a result of patience and aligning chess pieces just right. I was living in Houston, TX after I graduated art school in 2013. On top of sporadic freelance gigs, I picked up part-time work at a paint & sip franchise that was near my apartment. It wasn’t ideal, but I’m grateful for the experience leading me to where I am today. I took advantage of the time to improve my portfolio, before presenting to recruiters at the SCAD Career Fair in Spring 2014. A week after I attended, I was painting on stage at the paint & sip job when I found an email from Bento Box Entertainment, asking me to join them the following Monday to work on their Hulu series in Atlanta. Within a few days, I started my animation career in a brand new city.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

A lot of non-creatives attribute artists’ talents as divinely given gifts, or assume that our craft doesn’t require a lot of painstaking thought. Many artists I know have heard the phrase of, “I can barely draw a stick figure!” – as if it’s somehow an appeasement to an artist’s natural prowess. What’s funny to me is the dichotomy of some non-creatives both praising our “gifts”, and then reducing our passion as a simple hobby. Or worse, they suggest their ideas are more profitable/interesting than our own. AI is a very real threat to the working artist, as they may soon find their craft to be considered obsolete, because a non-creative was able to spit out a generated image close enough to their vision (never mind the data scraping or extra arms and fingers).

Truth be told, I’ve put in everything to reach where I am today. No one gave me the skills I have, but myself. I’m competent at what I do, and it required a lot of consistency and patience throughout my journey. Additionally, being an artist has honed my problem solving skills and attention to detail, which have aided me in multiple areas in my life. Art is at the core of who I am, and the one thing I return to over and over again. It’s a tool to tap into my inner world. It’s an amazing feeling to construe my life experiences into something tangible, in hopes that another person will relate, or find beauty in the same things I do.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

I feel rewarded by the fact I’ve made it this far. It’s easy for me to fall into bouts of self-doubt and think I could be a better artist if I did X-Y-Z, but when I zoom out and look at the big picture, I have to acknowledge my growth and successes. I often think about what my younger self would think of the version I am today, and I think she would be proud.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://martinellie.com
• Instagram: @martinellieart
• Linkedin: in/martinellie
• Other: Cara: @martinellie