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What I Learned About Breathing Life into Characters at My New Job

And Why Lifelong Learning Might Just Be the Secret to Better Art

They are so curious that when you explain something to them, they often become bored.

“The best art doesn’t start with ‘I know.’ It starts with ‘What if?’ — and the courage to keep asking.”



Setting the Stage


When you reach a certain age, you feel like you’ve seen it all.


You’ve paid your dues, survived enough deadlines, client revisions, and sleepless nights.


You’ve got your tricks, your shortcuts, and your “I-know-how-this-goes” gut instinct. But here’s the uncomfortable truth I’ve come to accept:


The moment we stop learning, we start dying.


There’s a Japanese saying I love that roughly translates to:


“A day without learning is a day closer to death.”

Morbid? Maybe. But painfully true.


This hit me recently while juggling game development work with an international studio—an experience that cracked open what I thought I knew about animation.


It reminded me how even the smallest tweaks in your process, inspired by new perspectives, can elevate your art to a whole new level.


And strangely enough, that same week, I found myself learning something… from my new job.



Delving Into the Problem


Working with a studio outside my home country gave me something I didn’t know I needed—a better standard.


I wasn’t just being asked to animate. I was being asked to understand.


Not just "How does this character move?" but "Why do they move this way?" Not just "Find a reference," but "Do a deep dive into who this character is."


That meant researching personality traits, backstory, psychological nuance—even how their past traumas shaped their posture. It wasn’t just a reference anymore; it was performance.


Animation as acting.


And it made me realize how much of my previous work, while technically sound, lacked that emotional core. I was animating motions. But this process? It was animating motive.


Meanwhile, on the home front…


My daughter was peppering me with questions about everything.


“Why do robots have eyes?”

“Do unicorns get tired?”

“Can you draw a monster that only sleeps when you sing to it?”


She doesn’t Google things. She asks. She imagines. And then she gets bored.


But that act of trying—of showing up to wonder—is something even we professionals forget.


She reminded me that the best art doesn’t start with “I know,” it starts with:


“What if?”



Resolution Through Action


Here’s what I’m applying now in both my studio and personal projects:


  • Character Research ≠ Reference Gathering. Think of your character like a method actor would. What’s their childhood trauma? How do they respond under pressure? This helps you animate not just a walk cycle, but a walk with intention.


  • Get Uncomfortable with What You Don’t Know. Step into creative cultures outside your own. Ask why they work a certain way. Borrow what works. Drop what doesn’t.


  • Stay Curious. Always. Whether it’s game design, comics, or your kid’s random questions, keep your eyes open. Curiosity is your best weapon in staying creatively alive in a world that rewards autopilot.


  • Teach While You Learn. I find myself explaining concepts to my daughter in the simplest ways. It forces me to clarify ideas in my head, and that helps me lead my own team better.



CLOSING THOUGHTS


Some lessons hit you in an international Zoom call. Others hit you when your 5-year-old tells you unicorns probably have nightmares too.


Wherever they come from, take them.


Because as artists, the only way we stay sharp—and stay human—is to keep learning, keep asking, and keep emotionally investing in the work we do.


Even if that starts with asking why robots need eyes.



Have you felt stuck in your creative process lately?


Try this: Take one of your characters and write a one-paragraph backstory for them.


What are they afraid of?


What makes them laugh?


Then animate that.


And if you want more creative tips from the trenches of animation, game dev, comics, and fatherhood, subscribe to the Scribble Media newsletter.



Let’s learn, unlearn, and build a better art practice—together.








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