Meet Elizabeth Thach

Today we’d like to introduce you to Elizabeth Thach.

Elizabeth, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
Oddly enough, I wouldn’t have considered myself an artsy kid growing up. I did like drawing, but I never thought of it as a professional option for myself. I originally assumed I’d become a doctor, but my grades in high school quickly proved that assumption wrong. At this point I still didn’t draw much, but I did participate in my school’s theater shows and I enjoyed writing a lot. At some point, I read about CalArts’ animation program and watched a ton of the incredible student films. I literally decided, at that moment, that I was going to go to CalArts. I remember working my ass off hours into the night every night for two years, until I was finally accepted. From then, it’s just been a crazy journey of learning new ways to tell stories and enrich myself as an artist. I feel super lucky to be where I am and have support and inspiration from tons of insanely talented individuals around me.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Some parts of the journey have definitely been easier than others. I’m very lucky to have the opportunities and resources I do, and I know it’s a lot harder for many others to work in animation due to circumstances and disadvantages. For me, it was fairly smooth until the third month of my second year of college. Something had happened basically overnight one night and I began feeling ridiculously anxious and fearful all the time. Art got put on the peripheral as my mental health struggles caught up to me. I eventually reached out and I was diagnosed with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. A lot of misinformation on the disorder is put out there, but it essentially causes endless self-doubt and uncertainty for the sufferer. Recovery was a long and extremely difficult period; I dealt with feeling a lot of instability in my life, but my art was something that remained consistent for me and made me feel good. I felt like I had a breakthrough and was slowly able to put more of myself into my art. It was something I could control and be proud of, despite the insecurities and uncertainties I was dealing with otherwise.

We’d love to hear more about your work.
Currently, I’m still learning as much as I can. I’ve been loving building myself up as a storyteller and storyboard artist, as well as character design. I’ve fallen in love with character-driven storytelling, and communicating different relationships through film. I hope to write and develop stories that simply feel honest and entertaining; I think there’s something about someone being sincere that can be funny, sad, and heartwarming all at the same time. My instructors and mentors have been really generous and given me a lot to work with, so I’m looking forward to continuing to improve my storytelling and artwork!

What were you like growing up?
I was such a weird and annoying kid. Honestly. I remember being very romantic and imaginative, but also super awkward. I was really into acting throughout middle and high school, and I participated in some of my high school’s theater productions. While I definitely wasn’t a prodigy, I’d often imagine I was an actress playing a role in a story I’d make up in my head- something angsty and dramatic but still romantic with some sort of a happy ending. I spent a lot of my time in my head, but I think that’s true of a lot of young artists growing up. It’s nice to learn you can put your imaginary stories out into the world.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://elizabeththachportfolio.tumblr.com/
• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carniversal/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/carniversals

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