Today, we’d like to introduce you to Mel Milton.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I decided to go down the path of becoming a “professional” artist. I was about 30 when I made the decision and 3 years later, I got my foot in the door with a company in American Fork called Saffire. They were working on the Van Helsing game, and I started as an interface designer.
I had a web design background prior, so it helped to get that position, but I loved characters and animation. I’ve drawn my whole life but never formally trained with it. So, after a couple of years there I decided to go to Animation Mentor, an online animation course brand new at the time. That led me to land an animation job at Avalanche (Disney Interactive) in Salt Lake, where I worked on a Narnia game, Toy Story 3, Cars 2, and a brief stint on Disney Infinity.
At this time my daughter was born, and I ended up being a work-from-home dad spending as much free time drawing as that has always been my happy place. I started posting my drawings online and was surprised to gain a following. Through that, I was fortunate to work with companies like Disney, Netflix, Nickelodeon, DC, and Image, and landing a character design job with Marvel Animation (at 50 years old). I currently work on variant comic covers, and comic conventions as well as vis dev for games and animation.
Can you talk to us about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Nope hahahaha. I was a high school dropout (10th grade), spent some time homeless, and had no real love for myself. I didn’t think I lived past 30. I let a lot of my past keep me from moving forward in my life. When I met my wife, I realized I had nothing to offer and the only thing I knew I could focus on was art. I told her my plans (to get on a company and have them train me as I couldn’t afford to go back to school).
After I got my foot in the door, we could get married. I thought she would think I was silly, but she said go for it. Once that happened, we got married on our 3rd Anniversary. During crunch time, I just got married in the county building and had no real honeymoon. My foot in the door was as an interface designer, which I hated as I saw what the concept artists and animators did.
People would say, “But you’re good at design. It’s a good job. Why not just hone that skill even more…” I felt like I got my foot in the door, but the door kept slamming on my foot hehe. There were plenty of days I wanted to give it up, but in my mind, I had no other choice. I had to be something more.
Thanks – so, what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I consider myself a “Professional Hobbyist. ” Work is something you check out of at 5 o’clock. Whereas a hobby, whenever you get free time, you are called to do it. I’ve done everything from interface/web/graphic design to storyboarding, 3D modeling, 3d character animation, VVD, and character design.
I’m mainly known for drawing portraits and Wonder Woman hehe (my go-to subjects when I’m art-blocked). Online, I’m known as Mel made dooks… dook is short for “dookie,” which is slang I used as a kid meaning “poop”. I’m never happy with where I am (which I find a good thing). I celebrate all of my art as each piece was/is a step in my journey as an artist. I’m grateful to my past self for making a decision to become something better. I know it wasn’t easy for him, but I know he would be amazed at where it’s taken him.
What I’ve learned from art is I’m not separate from others. As an animator and character designer, I’ve learned how to observe others and myself. I can see myself in other creatives as well as people in general. My goal has always been to become the artist I would have loved to have met.
Opportunities like this show me I’m going in the right direction.
Before we let you go, we’ve got to ask if you have any advice for those who are just starting out.
The advice I would have given, I wouldn’t have understood it. It would be to learn to listen to YOU. Your goals are going to be the most important to YOU. The best advice will come from YOU. So, this advice is just words on a screen, the individual who reads it and interprets it as good advice is the one who sees it as important to their goal.
Other than that, it’s just fonts stringing along in a line… The more you define what you want, and set specific goals towards that, the more answers you will have. If they don’t come right, always show yourself how important it is to you. Your mind will work on it if it’s something you need to attain that goal.
You’ll see the people you need to see, and you’ll hear the info you need to hear because you’ll understand the steps that will get you to your destination. Also, have fun. That’s why I wanted to be an artist in the first place. So, I didn’t have to grow up.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/melmadedooks/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mel.milton.927
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbjdVxvxmMZZ-R5-YDYIUdA
