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

Hi Kayla, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

Currently I am in the works of finishing my thesis. At S.C.A.D the Illustration M.F.A students get to have an opportunity to create an ‘Art Book’ like the ones you see after animated movies have been made like, “Art of Spiderverse” “Art of Big Hero 6” etc… And honestly getting to not only show off so many pieces of my own but telling my characters story and my own personal story just feels so incredible. It feels so meaningful to me because I get to own a physical copy of this book when I am done and I get to show off all my hard work that I had spent months and months on. It’s also meaningful because it means I made it to the finish line of my Master’s degree and I actually made so much artistic development in my life it helped mold me into the type of artist I am today whether it be through tips and tricks I learned from professors or mentors or even other peers of mine. It helped put me exactly on the path that I wanted to go and it helped guide me to potential employers.

Kayla, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

So I’m Kayla, I am originally from New Jersey and I am a visual development artist! I have a BFA in Sequential Art (comic book art) and got my degree at SCAD. After taking a year off, I returned to pursue my MFA in Illustration. I got into visual development by basically learning the pipeline of animation on my own. Initially, I wanted to be an animator and pursue a career in animation, but I realized I wasn’t interested in the actual animation process. I knew I wanted to draw and create for the story. so I did some research and learned what concept art / visual development was and dove right into that. In concept art, I began with character design, which I found enjoyable. However, I wasn’t satisfied with it, until I discovered prop design, which felt like a breakthrough, followed by environment and layout. And that was where I found out I can do all of the above but pick which one I am more comfortable with.
I mostly work digitally and know several programs like Clip Studio Paint, Photoshop, and Procreate on the iPad. But I am not against working in acrylic or gouache paint; it helps me know my roots when I paint digitally. My work is a combination of different styles and I also do this really fun style where I distort my perspective to push the more cartoon look to my work. But I do it in a way where you can tell I know perspective enough to break it. However I am great at working in different styles to fit the story that is being told!

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

Support Indie creatives and artists! There has been a huge uprising in Indie animation, whether it be shows, movies, short films, etc. A lot of them are made by artists and creatives that have been in the animation industry already, and they know the pipeline of how these things are made. They put so much time and effort into making their ideas come to life without a big studio or studio exec breathing down their neck telling them to change their work to fit a specific mold. Indie folk have been keeping the animation medium alive and well by churning out fun shows with interesting characters and storylines. The industry is currently struggling due to the rise of Artificial Intelligence, which is not only stealing people’s work but also being exploited by studios as a cost-effective alternative to paying their artists. Additionally, CEOs are writing off movies and TV shows, which means they will never be released, and all the hard work the artists put into them will be wasted. Also, be sure to check if your favorite artist has a personal shop selling merchandise! For them, a small purchase often helps cover bills and groceries for the month.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.

We artists start from the bottom and build our way up. We all start out not being the best, but it’s something we train ourselves to improve at. Whether you’re pursuing it for fun as a hobby or as a career path, it’s important to follow your passion. Artists are not born into this world immediately drawing insane portraits and landscapes with oils; we start with crayons and mechanical pencils, doodling in our notebooks and on printer paper. It doesn’t matter when you start; personally, I began drawing as a child, as it helped calm my anxiety disorder, and I eventually decided to pursue it as a career. I have seen teenagers and adults start out in this field. They get better as they continue to practice and learn. You need an open mind when starting out; it’s frustrating at first because what you see in your head didn’t come out exactly the same on the canvas, but that is okay because the more you practice, the more it will turn into that image you saw in your head.
My artistic journey was not a straight line; it in fact looks like a bumpy road with some weird twists and turns. I started at a young age. but I started out drawing cartoon characters from my favorite television shows, then I got into my anime phase, then I started finding my personal style, and then it kept snowballing from there. Creatives and artists always have an interesting journey, and I highly suggest asking how everyone started because there are some really fun stories that get told, and you learn not everyone had the same path.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://kayladeg.myportfolio.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anartdweeb/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kayla-degennaro-7a7b33209/

Image Credits

All images are created by me, Kayla DeGennaro.