1. Why?
1.1. To relate to the audience by telling stories they may have experienced from their childhood
1.1.1. Are there monsters in my closet?
1.1.2. Do toys come to life when I'm not around?
1.1.3. Do bugs have their own little world?
1.2. To bring families together
1.2.1. Families go together to watch these movies
1.2.2. Parents fall in love with the characters almost as much as their children do
1.3. To tell tell great stories like the ones you have made
1.3.1. Great stories are timeless, able to pass down from generation to generation
1.3.2. Wether it made from very little dialogue like Wall-E or an action packed story like the Incredibles
1.4. To bring happiness to people
1.4.1. Kids have always loved animated movies and knowing I've added my part makes me somewhat a part of their childhood
1.4.2. Like kids adults too enjoy watching animated movies, so in a way you have as well introduced them to something new in their lives
1.5. To create emotion wether good or bad
1.5.1. It's no secret that not everyone will like your work but your the reason behind that controversy and that alone should be worth something
1.6. Bringing a character to life
1.6.1. How a character looks on screen is how well you can sell it
1.6.2. Not only are you an animator but also an actor
1.6.3. When you see people imitating a certain character you have great pride if you were the person who helped create the character
2. What?
2.1. Creativity
2.1.1. Get ideas from anything, theres no limits
2.1.2. Use your imagination, the same stories you learned or experienced as a child
2.1.3. Open to any story no matter how far fetch
2.2. Attention to Detail
2.2.1. Your brining characters to life you want to make it believable as possible, learn how things work, notice everything
2.3. Drawing tools
2.3.1. Pens
2.3.2. Pencils
2.3.3. Paper
2.3.4. Colors
2.4. Computers
2.5. Software
2.6. Gratitidue
2.6.1. To be allowed to bring a cherished story to life is priceless
2.7. Patience
2.7.1. All great work takes time, even more so as animator if your trying to make the audience believe in your creation
3. How?
3.1. Learn from the greats
3.1.1. They are legends for a reason, learn their story
3.1.2. How they overcame adversity and we still talk about them to this day
3.2. Always a student of the craft
3.2.1. There's always someone that has came before you and done it better, so keep learning
3.2.2. Technology keeps improving so it's important to remain up to date
3.3. Willing to learn
3.3.1. No matter how old the other person doing the teaching is, knowledge is power and learning more only enhances you
3.3.2. Never feel like I know more than I do, alway remain humble, try to learn something new everyday
3.4. Keeping up with the fundementals
3.4.1. Before computers and tablets animators used paper and pencil, don't lose the skill, practice your fine art skills
3.4.2. Sculpting
3.4.3. Painting
3.4.4. Photography
3.5. Passionate
3.5.1. All avenues of art inspire me. I make sure to notice everything. There's no wrong way to approach a project as long as it's successfully completed.
3.5.2. Take notice to the world around you, everything leads to something else
3.6. Persistent
3.6.1. Despite all the roadblocks we continue to follow our dream
3.7. Collaborate with other artist
3.7.1. Gain knowledge by working with others and bounce ideas off each other
3.8. Practice daily
3.8.1. As cliche as it sounds practice does make you better, repetition leads to progress
3.9. Unique
3.9.1. Use your own life experiences to set you apart from others
3.9.2. Being in the military I learned to be a follower and a leader
3.10. Read books
3.10.1. Let your imagination take you on an adventure
3.10.2. Let your mind come up with the characters and story you think the author intended
3.10.3. How to books are essential to learning your craft
3.11. Watch videos
3.11.1. Watch tutorials on anything involving creativity that you can get inspired from
3.11.2. Watching a great movie motivates you to want to do the same