Hello there! My name's Dan and I'm an animator and animation lecturer.
(I'm not normally as serious as the above picture makes out, I just liked my new haircut and decided to do my best model pose! )
I've been animating professionally since 2014 and teaching it since 2020, but I've been animating as a hobby since I was 13 in 1998.
Me as a naive 13 year old realising animation will be hard
Even before animating with a big VHS filming camera my sister let me borrow to produce a stop motion piece (results currently missing), I was even animating with flipbooks while at school. The below flipbook animations show a character I created (called Freddy) getting ended in various ways.
I studied animation at university between 2007 - 2010, got a few freelance motion graphics jobs straight out of uni, but I couldn't quite hang on to the flow straight away without having a job, so worked at a photography studio using Photoshop for 4 years before taking the plunge, saving up some money, and seeking out animation clients.
Further down the line, I got the bug for creating YouTube videos on video game animation, something which at the time had no real audience or output on the platform. This has been a fruitful endeavour, resulting in me claiming the Silver YouTube Play Button award and allowing me to connect with industry professionals.
This process of research led me to the idea of wanting to share what I had learned, and I sought a job at my local arts university for teaching jobs in animation.
Thank you!