My Letter of Intention
Do you know that nagging feeling?
You know, that nagging feeling of something that is just there, but you are not sure
what it is, where it’s coming from and why it is there. That feeling you just know, is
the one right thing.
My name is Max, I’m 23 years old and I’ve wanted to do this all my life.
I would assume most people would write something along the lines “I’ve been drawing as far back as I can remember” etc. but that’s what everyone writes. Not to say that I haven’t, because I have, just mostly in fragmented periods scattered about in my lifetime. I knew that I lacked a lot of fundamentals, and for a long time just taking an object from life and drawing that seemed troublesome, with all the videogames I could play instead.
That is, of course, until I did one of the best things in my life and applied for TDA.
Your friendly resident Russian taught me a lot. Three things in particular.
Firstly, I learned to be my own second worst critic. It’s a bit annoying to be honest, because I usually think everyone is doing better than me. This thankfully causes me to work more instead of just giving up.
Secondly, I learned that there are a countless most important things about art. There are many aspects you have to consider each time you work, but truthfully, I think they can be hard to get down each time.
And thirdly, I learned that everyone can learn how to draw, but in order to do so, you would need to want to.
I knew that there were no easy methods to learn everything quickly, and that dedication was paramount.
In the few months after TDA, I’ve been experimenting a lot, mostly to test myself and to see what I was currently capable of, both with pencil and tablet. In my portfolio, I have been trying to keep the style as varied as possible, which, I believe, I have achieved to a certain degree.
Since I graduated with an STX back in 2008, I’ve learned Adobe software; mainly Photoshop, Illustrator and inDesign. I am also familiar with Corel Painter, Sketchbook Pro among others and I poked a bit at Maya.
I have also graduated with a degree in Multimedia Design, which let me put my focus on the creative part of graphic design. I have been working with projects in groups for a very long time, so I know it’s very important to have a functional group set up beforehand. At the moment I’m at the Medieskole in Viborg in preparation for things to come, where I plan to learn what I can of Adobe Premiere and After Effects.
The reason I choose to apply to CG over CA is partly because of my great interest in concept art, but it was also very much my fascination of the story or stories even, a single picture can tell on its own.
While I am in love with animation, in particular the emotion and story it can tell with very little, I find me, while working, going into the details more often than not.
While I learned a lot about myself from Artem, I learned quite a lot making this portfolio too and teaching myself the basics of digital painting. All in all, I just had a lot of busy good time fun making it.
It felt right. And that, I believe, is the most important thing.
Please enjoy my portfolio for what it is, and ideally, for what it is going to become.
Yours truly,
Max Jarl Christiansen
