Self-portrait by Anderson Carman.
I was able to catch up with Anderson Carman, a sequential art major at SCAD Atlanta, and ask him about his artwork and upcoming college internship at Walt Disney World in Orlando. Anderson was accepted to be a character actor for five months and I wanted to ask him about his experience at SCAD and what he thinks the Disney internship will be like.
Kate Betts: What made you decide to choose SCAD? How did you find out about it?
Anderson Carman: I actually applied and visited the Savannah campus straight out of high school, but didn’t feel ready. I also wasn’t sure what career I wanted to pursue. I spent the next 18 months taking an online animation course, followed by 18 months of general education at a community college before returning to the idea of attending SCAD. I then knew that I wanted to pursue a career as a Sequential artist and SCAD is one of the few colleges that offer such a major. I chose Atlanta over Savannah because the campus is more consolidated with three main buildings.
KB: What’s your favourite part of being a sequential art major?
AC: The professors, visiting guests and required reading. Our professors have worked and are currently working as sequential artists in comics, storyboarding and publishing. This makes professional connections easy to make. Our visiting guests are the best in the business and since our business is so small, every connection we make will help our professional career. Our required reading, is comics. “Nuff Said.” (‘Nuff Said’ is actually an informal comic term for using only drawings with no dialogue to tell a story visually).
KB: What are some inspirations or themes that find their way into your work?
AC: The fine art of the classical painters Rembrandt and Van Gogh are inspirations to stay loose and keep the art alive. As far as the stories I tell in my comics, I usually create a bizarre situation with an random twist. I do like to tackle a darker tale occasionally. One of my projects from this last quarter was from a script someone else wrote about the mob and I felt that my art style really fit. One of my professors, Doug Dabbs, has been a huge inspiration, I have learned the most from him and can’t imagine how my art would look without his teaching.
KB: How did you find out about the Disney internship?
AC: My position at the Disney internship will be to be a character actor, as in a costumed character or face character. This doesn’t have anything directly to do with my major. But subliminally it has everything to do with it. To act well you have to understand story and character design, nuance and behavior anad all these things are aspects of the visual storytelling in comics. By playing them out in real life, it will remind me to consider these techniques when it comes to something hypothetical that I have made in my head. Also, there are artist-related opportunities at Disney world, obviously since its Disney, and I plan to put my feelers out during the five months I will be in Orlando and make as many connections as possible.
We wish Anderson the best of luck at Disney World and check out his artist Facebook page to see more of his sequential art.