To officially kick off the blog, let's first talk about the project itself. Around 2012, I discovered a YouTube personality called Professor Elemental. He's not just a steampunk hip hop emcee from the UK with a monkey butler, he's probably the most influential steampunk hip hop emcee from the UK with a monkey butler.
Probably. I haven't seen any official data for that claim, though.
I always enjoyed the imaginative world he created through his songs -- weird villains like his time-traveling great great great great great great grandson; weird situations like starting a rap battle with another "chap hop" artist; and of course, all this tomfoolery having to stop at 4:00 for afternoon tea. It's all so splendid.
However, all this was merely entertainment until his 2018 album, School of Whimsy. The track titled Make Good Art part 2 sampled parts of Neil Gaiman's commencement speech in 2012 (coincidence to the year I first heard about the Prof??). The message of the song rang loud and clear. So I set about making some 3D models and put together a pitch for a cartoon. He sent back a lovely email after seeing it, and said we should definitely collaborate! To top it off, about a week later he was set to do a show at a steampunk convention in Tucson. It's a 14-hour drive, but we couldn't pass up the opportunity to meet face to face.
We bought tickets to the convention, found a place to stay for the weekend, packed some camera equipment, and were off...to our destiny. Over a cup of gin-spiked tea, and a quick bribe with a Battenberg, we revealed that we were the ones from the cartoon pitch and he was blown away. Now, we already had agreed on collaborating, but going the extra mile to show our excitement and dedication for the project didn't hurt. For those looking to pitch a show, there's a big lesson here. Sure, the circumstances are a bit extreme. If you're pitching to Nickelodeon, you're not likely to catch an exec at a convention of cosplayers, impressing them with vegetable steamers glued onto VR goggles. But I knew my audience and knew it would pay off.
Finally, who is this blog for? In a sense, it's for artists who are or were in my position just a few months ago -- stuck in a job they hate, not getting to create the things that make them feel alive, and looking for some confirmation that it may be okay to follow your bliss. One part of the blog will be a sort of behind the scenes look at the production of an animated short. The other part will be tips, tricks, and tutorials in the various software that I use.
So until next time, remember to make good art.
P.S. There is a rumor going around that this blog entry is a couple weeks late. I, however, submit the following response: