Letter of Intention

Letter of Intention

Portfolio link: http://michellerivas2015.blogspot.dk

My name is Michelle Rivas. I am currently living in Aarhus where I am finishing my bachelor’s degree in Japanese Studies with my minor in Digital Design, and I would love to apply to the Graphic Storytelling program at The Animation Workshop. I am 23 years old and my birthday is August 6^th.

 I have always loved to draw, but never really been interested in learning how to animate. So when TAW opened up the program of Graphic Storytelling, I knew it was what I wanted to do. However being in the middle of my bachelor’s degree in Japanese Studies, I decided to wait until I had finished that before applying to this one.

While I was in the US I took comic classes with Mark Sparacio for a month, and also got acquanticed with the owner of What The Flux! Comics, and for half a year I got the chance to work on a webcomic called Buster Drake by Mick Beyers. I did flats and shadows.

I love comics have always done so, and as I discovered the world of Japanese comics and cartoons, my interest did not fade away, but on the other hand it grew stronger. 

In addition to that I’ve been attending conventions where I have sold my drawings and offered commissions.

In the future I want to publish comics. Starting with webcomics and then self-publishing it, hopefully. I’m thinking that my main income would be from going to conventions and selling it there once I have gotten a sufficiently broad audience. If I wind up being able to live from my comic-making that would be absolutely perfect.

My main influences from the artistic world is the art nouveau of Alphonse Mucha, the art of Gustav Klimt, the Japanese art of Uki-yoe and various comic artists like Peter Madsen of the Valhalla series, Rumiko Takahashi of the Inuyasha series and Hiromu Arakawa of the FullMetal Alchemist series. As one would assume, there are several big names that have had a great influence on me, such as Disney, Dreamworks, Pixar and Studio Ghibli.

My favorite movies are amongst others Prince of Egypt, Aladdin, and the Jurassic park trilogy. I am a big fan of sci-fi and adventure movies in general, and Prince of Egypt also covers a story that I adore. I am not particularly religious myself, but the way they conveyed the story, and looking at their process just leaves me with no words.

When it comes to games I have always been a fan of Pokémon. I love how creative in a way the game can let you be, if you just look at it a bit wider. I also quite enjoy games from the Legend of Zelda series, Journey from ThatGameCompany, Dragon Age: Inquisition by Bioware and Ookami by Studio Clover and Capcom are some of my favorites. Specially Ookami that combines the traditional art and folklore/mythology elements from Japanese culture, because it combines the subjects that interests me the most about Japan.

I have always been drawing and can never see myself stopping doing so. Although admittedly I lack some skills in some departments, including the digital experience, I think of myself as a fast learner, and if I get the chance to get familiar with the different situations, I believe that I will be fairly quick at catching up with it again.

I have been on two trips that have been major inspirations for me. One was when I went to the USA for 9 months between graduating Gymnasium and starting at the University. I was living with my dad, and as it was a gap year, most of my time was dedicated to drawing. This was also when I got the chance to go to my first convention, and sitting in the Artist Alley. First at Shadowcon 2010 later at Megacon March 2011. Since then I have tried to at least go to one convention a year, where I apply for the Artist Alley. I have had a spot at Genki 2011, SVScon 2012, Genki 2013, SVScon 2014 and got my spot reserved for SVScon 2015 as well.

The next big travel was in 2013 where I went to Japan for 5 months. This was a boost in confidence and in my abilities of speaking and writing Japanese. Here I participated in an ‘anime club’ where every Monday we would meet up and watch animated movies, and on Thursdays we would all sit and draw. I arranged there a ’12 hour’ comic day, unlike the 24 hour comic day since we wouldn’t be able to have the classroom for so long, but it was a lot of fun, and it really made everyone get together and be social, while drawing. That half year was probably also the time where I drew the most, managing to fulfill the challenge I gave myself of finishing 30 drawings during the month of June, and social-wise I made so many friends and got much closer with one of my current classmates.

List of Software Knowledge and user level:

Photoshop Elements - Adequate

Manga Studio 5.0 - Adequate

For the first two years at the education I will have my financial aid via the SU. After that I have savings of around 30.000 that  will be living off, but also hopefully I will be able to make by offering commissions or having a part time job. My parents have also offered me financial help because they know this is what I really want to do.

This is my first time applying to the Graphic Storytelling Program.

I hope to hear from you.

Sincerely,

Michelle Rivas
Phone no. +45 21 28 06 11
mail: michellerivas91@gmail.com
CPRnr: 060891-3130