Meet George Ahlmeyer

Today we’d like to introduce you to George Ahlmeyer.

Every artist has a unique story. Can you briefly walk us through yours?
I am currently a motion graphics artist at Riot Games in their esports department but am actively working towards becoming a concept artist or illustrator. Despite me holding down a full-time design job, I am always learning and giving myself new projects to stay focused. Right now, I am learning to sculpt to better my understanding of form as well as making my figures feel more solid when I apply them to paper. The class is being taught by Simon Lee, who is an acclaimed sculptor and concept artist and has been involved with the development for many of Del Toro’s films. You can see some of his latest work in the upcoming Godzilla film.

While I currently live in Los Angeles, I grew up in North Jersey and as a kid, I used to draw a lot of my favorite cartoon characters and anything I was a fan of. I was thinking of my own ideas for Pokémon and all sorts of shows or games during my childhood. However, where I grew up, there were not many people who were into art and there were some who gave me a hard time, which resulted in me giving up art – I tried to be accepted during my younger years and turned to sports. I developed a passion for baseball and learned a lot about how much dedication you need to put into something to become great, which truly stuck with me. Through my experience of sports, I’ve learned aspects of how to make figures feel alive and in motion.

I did not attend an arts school but attended a liberal arts school in central New York, Ithaca College, to pursue a degree in video production after participating in a high school program. While at Ithaca, I held an on-campus job which required me to learn Adobe After Effects to make promos on the school’s TV station, which led to other classmates wanting to work with me for motion graphics projects. Ithaca offered a program allowing students to go to Los Angeles and intern in the industry for a semester and during my spring 2012 semester, I was interning in the post-production department with Bandito Brothers on their documentary about skateboarder Danny Way titled Waiting for Lightning assisting the editors but also doing title animations. The director of the film, Jacob Rosenberg, who has become a dear friend, recommended that I should invest in learning more art principles to benefit my motion graphics work. When I returned to Ithaca for my senior year, I began taking up drawing again and unlocked my original interest during my childhood.

After graduating from Ithaca in 2013, I moved to LA and started working in a design firm called Cake Studios, who specialized in sports and visual identity for motion graphics. A colleague of mine who has become a close friend of mine, Bryce Collins, was interested in becoming a storyboard artist. We shared an interest in art and cartoons, which motivated me to keep drawing. He recommended some classes at the Animation Guild and began learning more from Disney instructors such as Mark McDonnell and Karl Gnass who helped enforce a love for the craft.

Please tell us about your art.
Most of my art can be seen on my Instagram (@georgerahlmeyer) and am currently revamping my website. I love to draw animals a lot, which could be stemming from my childhood fascination with them. I’m always getting out to various figure drawing workshops to study humor figure and implement story. I tend to treat my Instagram account as more of a blog to show some process techniques about how to simplify and break subjects into shape or something that I’m learning since art is a journey of progression. The biggest reason why I like to keep my Instagram as a blog is to communicate that we are not going to get there immediately and that there is not necessarily an endgame, it’s on-going learning cycle – just keep creating and enjoy the journey. More polished pieces tend to go on my website as a portfolio and professionalism. This is being revamped with all the other projects I currently have going on.

We often hear from artists that being an artist can be lonely. Any advice for those looking to connect with other artists?
Yes, loneliness is something I will experience every so often and it is a thing as ironic as it sounds when I happen to live in Los Angeles – one of the biggest US cities. My advice at an immediate standpoint is to attend figure drawing sessions and try to make conversation with the fellow artists during break. I regularly attend the Gallery Girls LA workshops and the figure sessions at Riot where I have met many artists who want to draw and unwind but want to get out of the house. Drink and Draw workshops I find are a good solve, even if you don’t drink, you’re still doing something you like but can be in the company of fellow artists – just be sure to converse a little. Classes are always good places for community building. I have taken several classes at the Concept Design Academy and have befriend classmates after the class so we can meet up at a café or a museum to sketch and catch up.

How or where can people see your work? How can people support your work?
My work can be seen online, mostly on my Instagram account (@georgerahlmeyer). I am in the midst of doing a live stream set up so people can drop in, hang out, ask questions and provide content to other artists. I will provide animal breakdowns or showcasing my process during commissions pending the client’s approval. For support, watching live streams once they are up and running and giving a follow over on my Instagram. I will be looking to set some more things up in the future but am putting myself out there as the first step of many.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.georgeahlmeyer.com (currently being reworked)
• Email: george.r.ahlmeyer@gmail.com
• Instagram: @georgerahlmeyer
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/george.r.ahlmeyer

Image Credit:
League of Legends Pizza Delivery Sivir Fan Art, Captain Marvel Fan Art, Photo in the Barn Owl Breakdown

Getting in touch: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.