For this week I was tasked with looking into jobs within animation/art fields that I would be interested in.

One of my tasks was to research a junior/mid level artist working in a role I like. My ultimate goal is to be a colourist for comics, so I asked my friend Rebecca if she would be willing to answer a few questions for me. Rebecca Nalty started off doing background art for BBC’s Danger Mouse, before landing her role as a comic book colourist in 2017. She attended IADT and studied animation in Dublin.

Rebecca’s portfolio website can be viewed here. Her LinkedIn can be found here.

I asked Rebecca two questions which she answered for me.

Where did you begin your career?
“I started out training under Jordie Bellaire, who was taking on colourist interns at the time. I’d been interested in learning to colour comics for awhile and the timing of the internship just happened to work out perfectly, so I decided to apply. Everything I learned from Jordie has been invaluable, even to this day. I got some very practical insight into the industry as well as learning the basics of colouring itself. It really made me understand from the get go how important it is to have mentors and peers to learn from and look out for you in this industry, particularly because it’s all remote work. After about 6 months or so of training, I received my first work offer from Boom Studios and have been getting regular comic work ever since.”

How did you get to your current position?
“Mostly consistency! Skill and talent is very important of course, but I’ve learned over the years that good work ethic, reliability, communication and just generally being a nice person to work with matters so much more than talent. I feel being dependable is extra important for a colourist because we have a lot of hidden responsibilities, since we’re at the end of the production line. It’s very common for scripts or artwork to be late, but missing a printer deadline can be very costly for a publisher, so the responsibility of making up for lost time, very often falls on the colourist’s shoulders. Proving to your editors that you can still make deadlines, despite how little time there sometimes is, is so important and won’t go unnoticed. I think a combination of being reliable as well as good at what I do is how I’m able to stay in the industry and keep getting work!”

These are some examples of pages she has coloured from her portfolio.

From Transformers Wreckers: Tread and Circuits

From Sparrowhawk.

Where to look for animation related jobs? How to prepare for an interview?

From speaking with Rebecca, internships seem to be a great place to start when breaking into creative industries. Networking will always play a huge role in finding opportunities like this. I like to keep active on social media sites such as twitter and attend comic conventions as it’s a more natural and informal way of making these connections and getting my work out there. Aside from this, ArtStation is a good way to keep an eye out for creative jobs. – you can sign up for emails for job notifications that suit your qualitifcations from around the world.

How to prepare for an interview?

When going for a job interview, it’s always important to take into consideration the vibe of the establishment – when working in CEX, I dressed casually, but nicely, for my interview. Someone from the same round of interviews, who would eventually go on to work with me a few years later, showed up to the interview in a suit, and was not considered for the job. I always think of this example when going for job interviews now; I always consider who the employees of the establishment are right now and how would be best appropriate to act, dress, etc. around them.

I also keep the STAR method in mind for interviews; Situation, Task, Action, Result. Employers will usually ask you questions about situations that have gone wrong or unexpectedly, and how you coped with them. I always find it hard to remember exact situations on the spot, so it’s always good to take notes and keep a few in mind.