We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Eugene Moon. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Eugene below.
Eugene, 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 first truly knew that I wanted to pursue a creative path professionally was when I started working at a special ed school. I have dreamed of doing a visual arts career when I was younger but I was shook from it after graduating. There were various mental, financial, and existential reasons that made me doubt my creative path until I began to work at that school. It changed or rather reawaken my creativity. I used my drawing skills to motivate students to do work and they make requests on what to draw for them. It was through that that it reawaken my purpose and the reason why I love drawing. Having rediscovered the type of art I enjoyed as a child, I continue to draw characters, scenarios, and illustrations in my spare time that eventually I felt a pull towards a visual arts path. I contemplated for a long time on which path to go: illustration or animation. I have researched the fields by looking up information online and even on artist forums. I asked someone who works in animation and even showed her samples of my work. She suggested choosing between storyboarding or color design. I was more familiar with the former and looked into it. I was somewhat familiar with storyboarding as it was the one animation job I was most interested around the time I graduated. I even asked a friend I know who is a storyboard artist and she suggested to me to take a course at CGMA. I enrolled a storyboard animation course there and I became hooked on it. It was from that course that I learned what and how to do storyboarding that it motivated me to take more courses and to meet up with other animators and artists. It was there that I knew storyboarding is the path for me and I continue to pursue opportunities in storyboarding.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I am a storyboard artist and have made storyboards for a couple of projects, but I have not broken into the animation industry yet. I studied and graduated from Calarts not in Animation but in Fine Art. I strayed from the creative path after graduating. I was thrown into a world of confusion and a sense of loss. That loss shook me from that path as I faced the reality of post-graduate life and the struggles that ensues, both real and abstract. Though I have to say, I think part of what shook me from that path is my social anxiety and not making strong social connections with the wider artistic community as well as suffering from depression. I have worked on various jobs while creating art on the side. However, the work I have been making were not satisfying and were directionless. It was when I started working at a special ed school that reawakened my love for drawing. I always love drawing stories and illustrations based on books I have read, historic events, and even fan art. I moved away from that in college as I believed doing so would make my work more mature. But it did not make me feel satisfied and hollow. I do not dislike making the work I made in college as I enjoyed experimenting and creating new types of visual work and exploring different mediums. But I could not connect the purpose or reason to continue making those types of work besides for myself or as “art for art’s sake” kind of idea.
I eventually felt a pull towards a visual arts path. I researched and asked around about artistic paths that would suit me and I eventually landed on storyboarding and stuck with it. I would say I am still fairly new to storyboarding and have a lot to learn but I thoroughly enjoy it. I have been told by many that it is the most difficult path in animation/film industry and I agree with them. It takes a lot of time to draw multiple sketches of panels for one or several scenes and trying to decide every visual aspect and camera shots in those scenes. It cost a lot of my sleep time, but I enjoy it. I kept going back to it to create more stories, put my voice out in a way that I feel can express myself, and also to contribute my work and skills to a team to make stories. I have yet to break into the animation industry but I have been told it takes time to get in. I might have doubted myself and my skills if I tried to break in after graduating from college, but now I am not too worried about it. Whether I get in or not, I have found an artistic medium where I can express myself and tell stories in a way that I am proud to tell and will continue to use it as an expression of my creative path.
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
As of right now, my goal is to break into the animation industry as a storyboard artist. It motivates me to create visual stories that I enjoy and want to share, and pushes my skills to make clear and enticing storyboards that can draw in the audience that makes it easy for them to follow. Entering and working in the animation industry would be a wonderful thing that would feel like I earned a badge of honor that says, “I did it.” Since I discovered storyboarding as an artistic medium of choice, I would love to continue making visual stories and boards of my own outside of studio work. I could tell stories that are meaningful to me and open up the audience to stories they may not be familiar with. I would create boards that would be like pitches to a tv series or short films that could be shared with the audience.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
It is hard for me to say what is the most rewarding aspect as there are many things I find rewarding to being an artist almost equally. The most rewarding things I can think of is the act or process of creating art. It is there I can input my voice and ideas into action or on (digital) paper. It is probably the most subtle because the process is slow and not immediate but it is something I can feel while I draw out the characters, backgrounds, and camera shots that I am gradually expressing my voice through the boards. Like a writer contemplating and writing out each word for a chapter. The other rewarding thing which is most obvious is finishing the work. When completing a board, I feel a sense of pride and joy that all those tiring sleepless nights were to create this story (and of course to finally take a break). It is a very satisfying feeling to complete something I have been working on for so long that I feel euphoric to share the story I have put in to my friends, family, and audience.
The third rewarding thing that I wish I have known or practiced earlier is having friends and being part of an artistic community. Having friends and a community is the most valuable thing for an artist to have. I have not been sociable for a very long time which I wished I have done. You get to spend time together bonding over many activities that could be artistic like art meetups and figure drawing sessions, or something simple like game nights and movie nights. Another great thing is that they can support you and help you find a job in the industry. It’s kind of like networking but I see it as community building as having friends outside of work related things is one of the greatest things anyone can have.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.eugenekmoon.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kc.sketches.3/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eugene-k-moon/