54: Michael Buffington: What It Takes To Become A Successful Concept Artist

Michael Buffington Jr. AKA Drawaholic1124 was Born & Raised in the historic Mission District of San Francisco, Ca. He's been a professional Concept Artist doing pre-production artwork and design for over 18 years in the Video Game and Entertainment Industry. While Michael has worked on many projects in his career, his most notable gig was working as a designer on season 3 of Clone Wars for Lucasfilm Animation. For the past 17 years he's also taught at the college level. 9 years ago Michael accepted a full time job as an a College Professor and department head at a prominent University in The Bay Area. As a master curriculum designer, Michael went on to build the #1 Program for Concept Art in the US... from the ground up (BFA & MFA). It was also ranked #3 in the world in 2019.  Michael is the founder of Drawaholics Anonymous, an international drawing community with hundreds of members. Most recently he founded "Grind Before Glory", An art fundamental skill building programmed designed to help young artist develop their foundational skills before they get to College. In this episode, we discuss... How Michael got into drawing and art The kind of skillsets needed to become a concept artist How the concept industry works Balance life as a freelancer and professor Pricing your work as a concept artist And so much more! Social Media & Links: https://www.artstation.com/drawaholic1124 https://instagram.com/drawaholic1124?utm_medium=copy_link https://vm.tiktok.com/ZTd5BtYBE/ https://www.drawaholicsanonymous.com/ www.grindbeforeglory.com @devonastimpson devonastimpson.com artbydevona.com