Today we’d like to introduce you to Amanda Candler.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I moved out to California for college after I got accepted into the Character Animation program at California Institute of the Arts (CalArts), on my second try. I’d always loved animation since Saturday morning cartoons and it just never left me. I knew when I was growing up that I wanted to be “an artist”, I just didn’t know what kind. I think my parents thought I was going to be like Gene Kelly in “An American in Paris”, trying to sell paintings on the street. haha!
It was not until a single movie-going experience in 1999 that I understood what I wanted. I was sitting in a dark theater with my little sister, watching the credits of an animated film that was sadly NOT Pixar’s Toy Story (like all my classmates in school claimed is the film that inspired them!), but the Don Bluth film Titan A.E.- I’d always looked for other people named Amanda in film credits, but for the first time in my life, I realized that I was looking for MY name- in a film I never worked on. That sealed the deal for me, it was my light bulb moment- I wanted to learn animation. I managed to snag one animation class at my community college, but it wasn’t enough. I wanted to be around the best! If California was where the animation industry was- that’s where I’d go.
The first rejection letter was rough, but I pulled myself back together and started going to life drawing or the zoo up to three times a week while working full-time. Getting accepted was the dream come true! And then the HARD WORK started. First year in Char Anim at CalArts is not called “boot camp” for nothing! But I loved every second of it. My classmates humbled me and inspired me with their talent. CalArts gave me so many opportunities and friendships that have just been the most amazing journey!
One friend of mine from the Experimental Animation program, Sydney would invite me to her house in Beverly Hills & I got to meet her amazing family, including her dad, Andrew Frank. Andrew is a master potter and has a little studio in his backyard. He’d come up and ask us if we wanted to ‘paint’ some of his pieces while we hung out. One day, I saw a little brown pot that reminded me so much of an ancient Greek pot. My third year film had been about a master and apprentice in Ancient Greece, so he gave me the pot and I ended up glazing a three-panel ‘comic’ of my film around the pot. Andrew called me after I left the piece there for firing and told me that other potters he knew were curious about it. Next thing I knew, Andrew would make pottery to give me to glaze until my room was crowded with pots and vases! He can pop out pottery so fast, but my part of the process takes decidedly longer!
Andrew and I are still unsure who came up with the idea first, but he asked me to paint a “lebes gamikos” (an ancient Greek wedding vase) for his cousin who was getting married. That was about four years ago and I’ve been painting “ancient Greek-style” pots ever since! I even painted an animated cat onto a pot, inspired by my deep love of animation and my mackerel tabby cat, Artemis.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Haha! Is the journey worth it if it’s a completely smooth road? One of the things our Story professors taught us in school is that the hero has to go through trials and tribulations for the audience to support them- to want them to succeed! Who’d watch Snow White if she never had to suffer at the hands of the Evil Queen and just got the marry the neighboring Prince? Who’d care if Tiana opened up a restaurant if she didn’t have to work herself to the bone to get it?
Life here was rough. I was an employee at CalArts before I had my student ID in my hand. I needed a job if I wanted to pay my bills and stay, so the morning I got off the plane of my first-ever “one-way ticket”, I got hired at the Registrar’s Office. My second year in school, I got hired as a teaching assistant (TA) by the CharAnim dept. My third year, I became an resident assistant (RA) for the dorms. My senior year I got my fourth job- I added Character Animation dept special lecture photographer to my jobs. Every moment of every day was spent either in class or working. My assignments suffered, but if I didn’t make money, I’d have to drop out. My professors actually noticed and started asking when I slept! I could never attend the parties my classmates went to, I had very few real friends.
After I graduated, I got an internship at a major animation studio, but was let go early, which plummeted me into the deepest darkest depression of my life. I was a brand new graduate with no job, and nowhere to live. I couch-surfed with friends all over LA for three years- working any job I could get- but essentially living out of my car. Strangely enough, during this time, I got to briefly work with a LEGEND in the animation industry on a Simpsons Couch Gag. Life is funny that way!
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
While I usually work in animation production (but am sadly currently unemployed) as my day job, I make art in my free time. Mostly glazing “ancient Greek-style” pottery, made by my collaborator, Andrew Frank. Sometimes I get to incorporate my animation background into my pots, as well as fun “nerd references!”!
But I claim that I have “art ADD”, and frequently can be found taking stained glass workshops in Santa Monica, or painting watercolor, sketching at the Getty Villa, sewing my latest Halloween costume, writing a fanfic “novella”, or whatever strikes my fancy!
I am very proud of these Greek pots I make. Designing the piece, transferring it to the pot, and glazing them can take anywhere from a little “afternoon piece”, to over 100 hours for the more elaborate pieces. Sometimes you can count the hairs of the brushes I use to paint the teeny-tiny details on the figures. I love my Greek pottery reference books that I find at my favorite used bookstore in LA, The Iliad Bookshop (irony? I have no idea? Coincidence? I don’t think so!). I’ve broken the spine on one because it’s my go-to book every time I start researching my next piece.
I certainly feel like an oddity for painting “comics” in an Ancient Greek style on actual pottery. It doesn’t even feel like a “niche art” kind of thing- LOL! But my collaborator, Andrew, is the most supportive person on the face of the planet and he keeps inspiring me by making new and unique pieces that push my boundaries and make me want to make something else!
Before we let you go, we’ve got to ask if you have any advice for those who are just starting out?
You’re never too old. I was a clean decade older than all of my classmates at CalArts. They were all fresh out of high school, I’d been working at a library at NASA for five years, then as a sign maker of petrochemical companies for another four years or so before I sold everything I had to risk it all on the Dream. If you want it bad enough, you can do it. And you will meet some amazing people who can not only inspire you, but help support you, cheer for you, even catch you if you fall- and you probably will. It’ll hurt. But what matters is that we get back up and carry on. So maybe I didn’t end up doing hand-drawn animation on paper, but I LOVE working animation production! I love the crews on the shows I’ve worked on! And I still animate on paper! I made a 10-second film when Titmouse held their annual 5-Second Day, where people make whatever they want! Life may not go like you plan- but it’ll lead you on crazy byroads, twists & turns, and little back alleys that will give you experiences you never imagined.
When I was just starting out, I wish I’d known that I would be as strong as I proved to be when thrown into the fire.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/action_puddle
- Other: https://www.instagram.com/andrewfrankceramist/
Image Credits
Andrew Frank
