Tieran’s Story to Studying Animation

Portfolio

Jun 16

Growing up, my parents were teachers at the same highschool I attended, so they knew just as well as I did — their son wasn’t meant to be a scientist. I’d had an interest in the arts since childhood, but going into the tenth grade (with discussions of university on the horizon) it was time to take things seriously. At the time I drew often, but my learning consisted of youtube videos (BAM Animation is a holy grail) and artists I followed on Instagram (At the time, an artist by the name of Koteri.ink had me floored). But I knew that if I was gonna pursue art as a career I had to be diligent and find a school that would secure me a job.

After deliberating between illustration and animation, I settled on the latter as my program of choice. It felt fitting, considering that was the content I consumed most of my life, from early mornings with Ben Ten, to doing ten push ups in the living room because… Naruto believed in me… Plus I’d always had an interest in drawing and making stories, so animation seemed the perfect medium. Although I didn't necessarily have aspirations to work solely as an animator, the program was broad, and its potential careers diverse. Fields like character design, storyboarding and visual development were just a few under the umbrella of “Animation”.

My family didn’t have the means to afford the “best” animation schools, (what with Ringling and CALARTS boasting a 70k annual tuition fee) but one name kept cropping up amongst them. Sheridan College. A Canadian community college not known for much except its acclaimed animation program which was known to land its students careers out the gate. Luckily for me, (being Canadian) I got the benefit of a domestic tuition, and when I discovered that my artistic idol at the time Soroush Bazaresh (better known as Koteri.ink ) had graduated from their animation program, I had my sights set.

I’d spend the next two years drawing with one goal in mind. To create a portfolio worthy of acceptance. See, the way it works in most art schools, is that you submit a series of works created under specified requirements for your program. Sheridan’s in particular was notoriously difficult. It asks its candidates to create a plethora of works; a character rotation, short animation, storyboard, detailed hand drawings and TV style layouts to name a few. On top of this, the program was extremely difficult to get into, only accepting 120 of the potential 2,500 applicants they’d receive annually.

In the spring of 2021, I finally received word from Sheridan…I’d been rejected. Despite my avid interest and commitment to art, I was still very amateur. Being self taught, I lacked the discipline to practice efficiently, and the eye to target my weaknesses. I just drew what I liked to draw. But not to worry, I'd planned for this. Knowing I was unlikely to overcome the odds on my first attempt I’d planned to take a gap year out of high school, to “discover myself” (insert corny reason), and take the entire year to prepare a portfolio that would surely get me accepted. Right?

That year off, aside from working to pay bills, I spent most of my waking hours drawing, studying. It’s important to mention, I didn’t think I needed help, I thought I knew my needs best. I was committed to learning, spending hours watching “Sheridan Animation Accepted Portfolio” tours. I discovered a well of fantastic artists that guided my artistic growth, from the impeccable draftsmanship by Kim Jung Gi, or the beautifully simplified portraits of Lucille Meunier, Ryan Pallett’s wonderful character designs, and the fluidity of Gillian’s gestures - I thought I had the references I needed to make a killer portfolio. My parents had suggested a mentor, to help secure a spot amongst the accepted, but I was stubborn - I knew I could do it myself..

It was only after my second rejection that I decided to heed their advice. I couldn’t afford a third. I felt a lot of things reading that letter- ashamed for disappointing my parents, embarrassed for being so blindly confident, but ultimately, angry at myself for wanting to “make it alone”. I had been three percent short of an acceptance. Three percent, that someone with a trained eye for art could have found.

That year, I spent meeting up with a mentor who I'd spent the previous year watching in the aforementioned accepted portfolio videos on Youtube. A graduate of the Sheridan animation program himself, Garth Laidlaw, The Animation Tutor for Portprep, met with me every few weeks, critiquing and aiding the development of my portfolio. This year, I’ve finally been accepted. With the help of my mentor, I surpassed the cutoff by, you guessed it, three percent. You can watch the acceptance video here (it’s all come full circle).

In the two years I spent away from school, I’ve had the opportunity to explore multiple avenues of creativity, and the time to delve into a variety of styles. For a period of time Hellboy creator Mike Mignola had me drawing everything in an angular, bold style, while Juanjo Guarnido, the artist behind Blacksad (and an animator on Tarzan) had me steering towards the classic Disney style.

You can check out my work on instagram, at tieranmakesart. With Sheridan on the horizon, I don’t know where my interests will take me in the future, but I'm eager to be in a community of inspired and talented individuals that may shape the future of animated stories to come.