Submitted by Eric Varakian on the 2019 summer session program in England sponsored by the Department of Art & Design…
I am sitting in the pub after a long day of meetings at the Art Worker’s Guild and minimal rest. London has been great so far. There is a lot to learn and a lot to see. I find London to be much more navigable than a city like New York, which is something I have come to appreciate in this first week or so. Our flats are in such a quiet area which is very weird because central London is only a few blocks away. I have found myself struggling to write my blog while here, especially because I have not been able to find a comfortable workspace for myself. I am normally someone who needs total peace and quiet to work in any efficient capacity, but I have struck some inspiration to write while sitting at the bar, so I figured why not? Art-wise, the trip has been incredible so far. Yesterday, we met with the world-renowned photographer Nadev Kandar, whose work was astonishing. I could tell how important he was to the world of art simply based off of the way he was speaking to us and from his mannerisms. We also had an animation workshop which I was extremely excited for because animation is my favorite medium of art. I think that everything is more visually interesting if it is moving. Jeff Le Fevre told me that animation is like heroin, you just have to try it even if it’s just a little at first. Interesting comparison so I’ll take it with a grain of salt. Aside from that, Jeff’s presentation gave me a look into the commercial world of animation. He told me that he never actually comes up with the ideas for clients and that they will always come to him with what they want. He is only asked to execute the work which was a bit disappointing since I want to have creative freedom in my career.
