Today we’d like to introduce you to Taylor Krahenbuhl.
Taylor, we’d love to hear your story and how you got to where you are today both personally and as an artist.
My story begins with the Spiderman 2099 comic that came out in the mid-90’s. It was the first comic book I bought as a kid. I felt like I had entered another galaxy when I found out that this world of make believe characters had been created by artists. I loved drawing then and I still love it now. That desire to look at a white piece of paper and try to find electricity in the end of your fingertips is still magic to me. Lightning in a bottle. It still eludes me, but the chase is what makes it a passion project for me over the years.
I fell in love with the art of animation in high school. I had great mentors in college and was fortunate enough to get my first job in the gaming industry in Salt Lake City, UT at a company called Avalanche. I started cultivating a love of design and storytelling in these early years.
As the years passed I took on opportunities in other gaming studios in Washington state, a talent development program at Disney Feature in Burbank, CA, and more recently I’ve had the chance to work on a few feature films that have a release date in 2020 and 2021. I’m currently working as a character designer and developing a new feature film at Dreamworks Animation.
My inspiration and joy is my family. They remind me to channel anything goofy, silly, and ridiculous into my storytelling. It keeps things original to say the least.
We’d love to hear more about your art. What do you do you do and why and what do you hope others will take away from your work?
I’d say that my passion in art resides in telling a good story as an illustrator. Attempting to capture a moment that leaves people wondering what that character will do next if given the opportunity to walk onto the big screen. I have always loved character design and I’m luckily enough to do that for a living. Sometimes the art is made as just an assignment for a director and other times the design is made simply for the joy of designing.
Have things improved for artists? What should cities do to empower artists?
From my experience, I see an industry that is growing and thriving over the last few years. 20 years ago the industry just had a few giants that could employee hungry artists. That has changed dramatically. Artists can now find opportunities in the gaming, film, and publishing industries with great variety. The ability to work remotely has created a global community of artists that would never have had a chance to collaborate together if not for the internet and the ease of transportation. This is a great time to be alive as an artist!
Contact Info:
- Website: taylorkrahenbuhl.tumblr.com
- Phone: 8019137324
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/taylorkrahenbuhl
Image Credit:
All images are personal work completed by myself
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