Daily Inspiration: Meet Cole Finley

Today we’d like to introduce you to Cole Finley.

Hi Cole, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today. 
It all started when I was a wee babe… no, I’m kidding, but I was really young when my grandma introduced me to the incredible world of arts and crafts. It was something that I loved instantly, and while my brothers were off doing sports and stuff like that, I was on the sidelines with my mom drawing and making up stories. It was a great hobby! And then everything changed when I saw a little movie, I don’t know if you’ve heard of it, it’s called Frozen. It was from that 1 hour and 42 minutes that I realized what art could be, especially when used in animation; It could be anything. From as big as sharing stories and cultures that are typically underrepresented to smaller stories about true love or the importance of friendships. It’s stories like these that can influence any and all generations. It’s such a powerful genre that is entirely underestimated. BUT I DIGRESS. After seeing Frozen and the visual development work behind it, more specifically Brittney Lee’s works, I was obsessed. From that moment on I knew where I wanted to and had to be. And that was the animation industry. So, I worked hard, pushed through high school and community college until I could transfer to a CSU to get my BFA in Illustration! And now we’re here! Workin’ on getting that first gig, all the while building up my portfolio. 

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Has it been a smooth road? If you consider a dirt road that’s full of boulders and potholes that then turns into an old-fashioned French cobblestone street, then yes, it was smooth. No, it’s been very rocky. The animation industry is very similar to any other entertainment industry job. A lot of times, it’s a project-by-project based job, so one minute you’re booked and busy, and the next you have no leads on a next job. It’s also not very easy to get in. Especially right now. We have people undervaluing animation workers and cutting teams down to the bare minimum. This leads to more artists looking for work and fewer positions for them to apply to. Simply put, this industry is not for the weak of heart. Choosing to work in the animation industry means constant self-work, constant networking, and constant rejections. But I truly cannot see myself in any other line of work. I’m incredibly lucky to have a great support system behind me that’s been rooting for me through every application and trying to figure out how to better my chances after every rejection. I don’t know where I would be without them. 

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I’m a Visual Development artist currently looking for my first animation gig! I love and dabble in all aspects of preproduction art and visual development, but I specialize in character and costume design, as well as background design. My style is known by my friends as being colorful and fun. When making a piece, I want to make the viewer feel like they’re seeing something special. It sounds weird, but I want them to almost feel like they’re looking at something magical. Like when you see the animation done during Cinderella’s dress transformation from Disney’s Cinderella (1950), I want that sense of wonder and imagination to come across. In short, I want to leave a lasting impression. I do so by really doing the research on whatever I’m creating, whether it’s studying the architecture of whatever period/ style I’m working in or (quite literally) weaving storytelling elements into a garment that a character may be wearing. These parts of an animated movie are so much more than just backgrounds and costumes; they can tell an entire story on their own. They essentially become their own characters and so I try to put the same care and attention that I would for a living character. Outside of animation work, I’ve been known for my pieces that I do with cut paper as well as my illustration work that I’ve done for fun! Like mentioned earlier, I love to play with color and shape, so that’s a huge focus in my work. I’ve drawn huge inspiration from artists like Brittney Lee, Joey Chou, and Ian Truong. I like to say I bring magic, fun, and flair into any piece I make and any room I enter, and I like to think it sets me apart. Making people laugh is my second love, and it turns out it works out great in team settings! Who knew?!? 

What am I most proud of? *SAPPY CORNY ALERT* But I’m really proud of myself and the fact that I’m still going and still trying. It’s a complicated thing to take a hobby you love and try to turn it into a career, but I truly do love art and making art. These past few years have been really rough in the industry, and I know so many people, including myself that are out of work or are still attempting to break in. And it’s so tempting to change directions and turn to something more stable. It’s actually completely understandable to do so. It’s a rough career to take on mentally. It’s like choosing instability as a career, and it’s scary as all get out. And it comes back to making a hobby into a career. It can so easily ruin something that used to be so fun. But I, myself, do not see any other way of living. If I have to work for the rest of my life, I’m going to do something I enjoy and something that has the ability to produce good things to send out into the world. 

Risk-taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
Risk taking is something that has been really tough for me in the past but is something I’ve had to become comfortable with, especially in the business of animation. Growing up, I struggled with really bad anxiety and OCD, so making any choice that wasn’t comfortable was really stress-inducing. As I grew up and went off to college (where I was essentially on my own for the first time in my life), I had to begin to make tougher decisions for myself and take risks. Over time, it became easier and easier to take those risks, especially when my friends or family were involved. (Those people can get me to do so much; just being around them makes me feel at ease and like I can do anything.) Some of the risks paid off, and others didn’t. But that’s just the nature of it all. Since graduating and really embarking on this journey toward a career, I’ve learned to almost always take the risk. I am not going to be the one to tell myself no by not applying for that job or not reaching out to that professional. By not applying for that job, it’s automatically a rejection because there’s no other option. But by simply applying, you better the chances of getting the position. You never know until you try, and the worst they can say is no! Rejections are never going to be fun, but they do get easier to handle as time goes on. But in the wise words of Chili Heeler, “Have a cry, pick yourself off, dust yourself off, and keep going. The show must go on!” 

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.colefinley.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/make.mine.magic?igsh=YzAwZjE1ZTI0Zg%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/coleman-finley

 
Image Credits
Pokémon