A: The answer to that is you should be drawing right now. There is no shortcut to improving in art.
In short, you shouldn't just be drawing cartoon characters, but should be doing life drawing constantly. You'll then find that being a real artist isn't just 'getting into Calarts' or 'getting a prestigious internship', its a way of living.
It's a way of seeing the world.
Everything stems from my passion for storytelling, not a passion for sucking up and 'getting' some 'perfect' job.This question gets a bit old. The answer stares everyone in the face saying: you should be drawing right now.
A: I can only speak from being a storyboard artist for animation. I don't know anything about illustration, concept art etc. Some people will dismiss 'breaking into industry' as always being about what connections you have, which is true to some extent, but also shows a petulant reluctance to work hard enough. It doesn't hurt to reach out to experienced animators you admire, asking for advice. Write a nice email, don't 'suck up' per say, but ask for feedback on a portfolio piece, listen and learn from them. But more importantly, you will have to prove yourself once you land a job. It never ends with getting hired, as working in animation industry tends to chew up and spit out many tryhards. There usually is an obvious reason however, for even many art school grads not surviving very long.
There is a massive infinate amount of people out there who like drawing. They may be decent at it as a hobby, or have a brilliantly unique illustrative art style, but they often lack in the actual skills needed to be hired as story artist. Also, sometimes it shows that they obviously don't LOVE LOVE LOVE characters enough. They also may not be driven enough to improve the quality AND speed/efficiency of their drawing. This means, taking drawing to the next level, seeking to capture real emotions, acting and storytelling! The quality of art skill you are expected to have to work on animated shows is a very high bar.
Take it from me, I attended 3 years of CalArts AND was selected for an esteemed Pixar Internship, but obviously still worked hard every day to meet the high quality of acting, cinematics and draftmanship needed to work as a storyboard artist!
So, what advice can I give? About the same as the above question.
Constantly draw from life! Try realism, try caricaturing. Draw from the work of artists you love! Try different styles (limiting yourself to one illustrative style is horrible, choose to be versatile instead!). But most importantly, never give up! It is not an easy road to finding (and keeping) animation work. Many people would give anything to work a job where they get to draw all day, so you'll be competing with some of the best in the world.
TLDR; don't blame it on other people 'having connections' you don't have. You need to not only be drawing smartly, but drawing constantly and consistently. Drawing from your own love of storytelling - and life!
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