Today we’d like to introduce you to Debbie Moon.
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’m Debbie Moon, a visual development artist, color designer, and background painter. The earliest memory involving picture making that I can think of is doodling fairies and girls in pretty dresses at the ice cream shop my mom worked at. I was around 6 years old back then, passing the time by imagining stories taking place in other worlds and having a lot of fun. Little did I know, this passion for designing worlds and stories would continue to fuel my creativity growing up and is still what I strive to achieve as a visual development artist today! I recently graduated from Art Center College of Design as an Illustration Entertainment Arts major, and it is both a daunting and exciting experience to step into the world as a fresh creator for animated TV shows and feature films.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Definitely not! It’s one thing to draw purely as a hobby and another to design as a career. Tailoring your portfolio to have unique sensibilities, while also showing your understanding of the pipeline is certainly a challenge. Having a fun, imaginative feel in my work is something I try not to lose within the process, both in part because it’s interesting to look at, as well as for my own sanity haha. Luckily, my parents were supportive of my pursuit for an art career! I moved cities during my later years of high school to attend an intensive portfolio prep academy before college, which was a rough road mentally. It was an environment where lack of sleep and infrequent social engagement was encouraged in order to draw more, among other things. Though that experience was tough, it was a start to get to where I am today.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
As of now, I am open to doing many things. Eventually, I want to focus on what I’m most enthusiastic about, which is color scripting! Color scripts are a visual map that shows the shift in color and mood based on emotional points of a story. It’s a quick way to look at the project as a whole and see where a scene can be enhanced to evoke the audience’s emotional response. Ever since I painted a couple color scripts for my friends’ thesis films during college, I fell in love with it. I’m actually in the middle of creating one for one of my own stories right now! There is an endless possibility for the types of color palettes you can choose for a certain scene, let alone an entire story. Having a little fun to deviate colors from what’s expected of certain emotions, while also keeping the mood working for the story moments is a fun challenge! It’s important to keep in mind that there needs to be a sense of cohesion throughout each scene transition so as not to break immersion. Even within fantastical settings, we want our fictional worlds to feel believable like they’re really happening in the moment. Unraveling a story through simple colors and shapes is such a joy, and I’d love to keep doing it with a variety of narratives!
Networking and finding a mentor can have such a positive impact on one’s life and career. Any advice?
This is something I’m still working on myself. Of course, it’s great to go to events and career talks when you can! But I think something I’m trying to keep in mind is making friends and being with the people around you. I feel that some people, including myself, often forget that there are plenty of opportunities you can find with people, communities, or groups that are already nearby and lots of fun memories to be had with them as well. Keeping in touch and actively planning activities to get to know each other better is something I really admire, and I hope to do more of it in the years to come.
Contact Info:
- Website: debbiemoon.portfoliobox.net
- Instagram: instagram.com/asteraws
- Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/debbie-moon-3818b71a4/
Image Credits
Debbie Moon
