Today we’d like to introduce you to Chloé Elimam.
Chloé, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I grew up in a small town in Oklahoma. I always liked drawing, ever since I can remember, I have a million and one memories of drawing as a little kid. When I got older, I started to try out different interests, but when I was a sophomore, I remember I wanted to take an art class, but I wanted to switch in the middle of the semester. I was able to test into the 2nd year class and my teacher and I got along really well. She entered a painting of mine into a state competition with one other girl which was already a huge honor to be picked out for something like that, and she drove us to the city, and we got lunch and drew a still life and gave them our best work, and I was runner up. For me I knew I liked to do art, but I didn’t know if I was good at it or if it was something I just enjoyed, and I enjoyed a lot of things. I was in a ton of extracurricular activities; I don’t know how I had time to do anything.
I remember all throughout high school I had this blue binder that was my most cherished possession, I would take it with me everywhere. It had a bunch of loose white printer paper, and I would draw mermaids and fairies all the time, and I would keep it secret from everyone except my mom. I just loved drawing, I loved a painter named Selina Fenech, and thought she was just amazing. I would try to draw what she painted, I would draw Disney characters, I was obsessed with drawing in that binder.
When I got to my last year of high school, I remember a day where I panicked and sat outside trying to decide what I was going to try to major in. My dad is an immigrant, and the thing about immigrant parents is that they are very “practical”, and simply studying art was never going to fly with him. He would have preferred I study engineering. I finally decided maybe I could double major in Graphic Design and Marketing.
I remember writing my college scholarship essay on how inspired I was by Winnie the Pooh, and I still am. I wanted to make something that wholesome someday, and something that would comfort kids and inspire them someday.
College was a mess for me. I was depressed, I had an eating disorder, I was friendless, I was a barista, it was the first time I was away from home. I never even took a marketing class before deciding that it wasn’t what I wanted to do. I switched majors a million times. If you want an easy way to get into a lot of debt, switch majors all the time. That made my dad really happy (no, not at all).
I was trying to make him happy while trying to do what I loved, every time. At one point I was really interested in Gray’s Anatomy (the book full of bones and muscles, not the medical drama). I have pages of sketchbooks trying to copy the illustrations from that book, and I thought maybe medical illustration was what I wanted to do. My dad insisted that I figure out exactly what to study to get into that before I just start signing up for art classes. We called schools with master’s programs in medical illustration, most of them didn’t answer. We did somehow reach a person. I think it was a school in Georgia. We didn’t get a recruiter though, a professor named Mike answered. I wish I knew more about him, but all I know is that it was the most influential conversation I’d ever had. He told me about how I could get into medical illustration, told me as an undergrad I would probably want to study biology instead of art. I said, “not even a figure drawing class,” and he said that he would teach me all the drawing and animation I’d need, it was more important to know the science behind it. Then he told me he used to be an animator on Curious George and Blue’s Clues, and it’s like it unlocked something in my brain that told me that people made all the cartoons and animated movies that I had ever seen. I didn’t realize it until then, but I told my dad I didn’t want to draw spleens from every angle, I wanted to be an animator now. He wasn’t happy about how rapidly I was switching plans again though.
Oklahoma didn’t have an animation degree in the state, unless I wanted to go to a private school. So, I started double majoring in Computer Science and Studio Art at the University of Central Oklahoma while fervently studying frames of Glen Keane pencil tests in my spare time. The summer after that I was at a community college having lunch with my boyfriend at the time and there was a flier for a degree called Digital Media and Design, and it said, “Do you want to be an Animator?” and suddenly I was triple majoring. After a lot of tears and fights I finally dropped my computer science degree and the studio art degree.
I was studying animation at Oklahoma City Community College, I was a teacher’s assistant, to one of the toughest instructors I’ve ever had, and he for some reason saw something in me when I thought I needed to quit. I learned so much while I was there, truly the animation program there was the best schooling in the country as far as I was concerned. I met my best friend; I found an unexpected mentor and friend in the professor of 3D animation. I started a club, called Pixels and Polygons, and we tried making an animated short film together, though we probably could have been more organized. Going into this degree I had never touched photoshop, the closest thing to digital art at that point that I had ever done was MS Paint. I finished my associate’s degree knowing how to use 3D modeling software, tutoring Photoshop, with a little animated short capstone film, and my first children’s book, Evie and the Forest.
I don’t think I would have known what I was capable of before making that book. It was funded by Kickstarter, and the printing company I used even made my prints into advertisements for their service.
If you want to be an animator, if you want to do college in general, I highly recommend getting your associate’s degree and transferring into a 4-year degree. Your credits transfer easier with a degree, and you get more experience with multiple schools, different teachers, and community college in my experience really did emphasize community.
After I graduated, I tried Animation Mentor, and I got a job at a construction company doing 3D models and graphic design. It was the first time I had experienced racism to me and my dad. My boss there told me he believed everyone from the middle east was a terrorist and politics in the US was so heated at the time. I was stressed at my new job, I hated my boss, and I failed my Animation Mentor class. I quit and was unemployed for a few months. I found a new job on Indeed as a Ballroom Dance instructor, which was the best job I’ve ever had. While they trained me, I did their graphic designs, and ran the reception desk. It was almost heaven until three months into it when a pandemic told us that we couldn’t be breathing each other’s air, hand to hand, chest to chest anymore.
Unemployed again I randomly applied to an art school I heard Chris Oatley went to in Ohio of all places and I got a scholarship. My boyfriend and I moved to Columbus in the middle of a pandemic and that Fall I started a 2-year journey to finish my bachelor’s degree.
I was so excited for art school, and to be surrounded by people that loved art as much as I did. But Zoom classes were not exactly what I was anticipating. It was hard to connect with other students. I’ve always been talkative in my classes, and I became friends with my professors just because I would get to know them the most in virtual office hours. I was balancing working in a pharmacy, the world ending, and getting my projects all in on if not shortly after their deadlines.
That Spring I had an opportunity for a recruiter from Disney TVA to review my work. I was sweating and shaking. I was so nervous, but I took all of her advice like it was gospel. Going to Columbus College of Art and Design, I started off trying to be a visual development artist and character designer. She was the first person to tell me that a colorist was a role in the pipeline, and that I had a really good grasp on color despite not having taken any color theory courses. The 20-minute call ended, and I had a lot of work to do. It’s hard pushing yourself to do things without any certainty that it’s all going to be worth it in the end. That Summer I got an email from her asking me to apply to a colorist position at Monster’s at Work. Spoilers: I did not get it. But that gave me so much hope that if I kept working as hard as I was, I could make it someday. Spoilers: I still haven’t… yet.
My first year of art school flew by, we elected a new president, developed a vaccine, the school was opened, and I finally got to go to my first orientation on a campus I lived 15 blocks away from for a year. I accidentally volunteered to lead the Illustration Student Collective and thank God I did. I met some of my favorite people in that orientation, who all decided to make the club happen. We did our best, but mostly, it was just amazing to finally have those friends that felt like art was their native language. I was amazed and humbled at the work I was seeing other students doing in person. Then my lease was up, and we moved an hour away from Columbus. I commuted every day. I started working on my second children’s book. Professors helped calm my anxieties about the future, and if I would be good enough. I was back to being a barista. I was working on a capstone of 50 color scripts of an adaptation of Stardust. I applied to Netflix’s Early Artist Career Opportunities program, and I was moved to the second round! I think I blinked and suddenly I graduated, I finished my second book, and I was staring down the longest Summer of burn out I think I’ve ever faced.
Most of the time when I hear about people graduating art school, I hear about them talking about how the next summer they worked their ass off improving their portfolio. But I barely drew that summer. I was working full time at Starbucks, homesick, and wasting my time. I took a leave of absence at work to go home to take care of my grandma after she was diagnosed with cancer. To see my cousin, get married. To see my little brother, graduate from basic training. I needed to see everyone moving forward with their lives, that was enough to inspire me to make some changes. When I got home, I started another book and funded it through Kickstarter again, it was successful! I started a sole proprietorship; I started another book. And finally, I am working my ass off to build my portfolio. It will never be perfect, but that’s where I am right now. I kind of became a professional freelance children’s book illustrator without realizing it, and I’m still trying to break into the animation industry.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I think I’ve had a smoother path than most. It was a longer road than I thought it would be, but these things happen. I struggled with my dad when I wanted to study art instead of engineering or computer science. I knew that this was what I would be doing for the rest of my life though, and I wanted to make sure I wouldn’t hate all of my time spent at work. I struggled with work, I constantly go between being too prideful, and too nervous that I might need to give in and find an easier career path, but the more I drive myself down this path the more I’m grateful when I get past those fears. I’ve given myself no other options than to get good at something that will make me happy, I just have to not give up. I’m glad it had some bumps on the path, it let me know I can get past them, and more importantly, it showed me that I wanted to.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am a freelance children’s book illustrator and visual development artist. I specialize in character design and color scripting. I work almost entirely with digital art; I’ve moved from Photoshop to Procreate mostly now. I think my work is really vibrant and colorful, and it pays a lot of respect to the 90s Disney movies I used to watch as a kid. I’m most proud of the books I’ve made. I recently finished a book called The Mouse & the Lonely Watchmaker written by my friend Nathan Ashley. I think I’m always trying to make the wholesome Winnie the Pooh stories that inspired me so much. I want whatever I make to remind people to celebrate the good in our world, to lift each other up not tear each other down, and to inspire kindness and positivity, and I think maybe that sets me apart from others.
What has been the most important lesson you’ve learned along your journey?
1. People aren’t given just one shot at success. There will be lots of opportunities, you’ll get lucky multiple times. Do everything you can to be ready when those chances come, but don’t give up if you don’t get it on your first try.
Bonus Lessons:
2. Help your friends to reach their dreams, it will help you too.
3. Go to community college.
4. Don’t EVER Triple Major.
5. Art isn’t everything, but everything is art.
6. Sometimes taking a step backward can give you enough perspective to step forward
7. Watch the power of yet.
8. Make friends that like art.
9. Try ballroom dance if given the opportunity.
10. Don’t be too hard on your dad for those 2 weeks of majoring in engineering. He came around eventually.
11. Copy artists you love as much as you can while you’re still learning, it’s the best way to learn.
12. Apply to everything, it helps you not to be nervous about applying anymore, you won’t get all of the jobs, you might get none of the jobs, but it teaches you to apply.
13. You will have many art styles; they will come by synthesizing the things that you love.
14. Don’t give up.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.chloeelimam.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chloeelimamillustrations/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ChloeElimamIllustrations/
- Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/chloeelimam
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@chloeelimam9469
- Other: https://www.twitch.tv/ChloeElimam
Image Credits
Chloé Elimam
