Don't Take It Personally?!

About three years ago I returned to work after a restful vacation to the surprise that I had a new office-mate. He wasn't actually in the office at the time, being that he had just gone on his own extended holiday. As I examined his stuff that filled the back of the room, all sorts of thoughts went through my head. Who was this joker. Is he going to have all kinds of rules and odd behaviors that I will have to adjust to. Well, to make a long story short, little did I know that I had been blessed with the best office mate I could ask for. We hit it off right away and have become good friends. He's made our office (working environment) a very pleasant place to come to day after day. The atmosphere is very conducive to productivity, and although a certain level of professionalism is prevalent in the office (both us take our jobs very serious) it remains an extremely fun place to be for 8 to 10 hours a day. Our histories in the animation industry complement each other which in-turn helps us to produce our best work. 

Working in such a great environment has made me reflect on my past. I have worked in both good and bad work environments and it has made me realize how important it is to be happy in your work place. It is very difficult to get work done in an atmosphere that is not conducive to your needs on any give day. For an artist the work environment is even more import for they tend to feed off of the energy that is prevalent in the room. Like most artists it doesn't take much to upset the balance I need to be effective in my work. Artists can't just turn on their creative side like it's an on and off switch. Can they still be productive in a poor working environment you may ask, the answer is yes, but it will be far from their best work and surely it will not reflect what they are truly capable of producing. 

Recently, I've been asked to move to a new building, into an office that's half the size of my current space, with a new person that I don't. Here's my dilemma, besides the obvious already stated,  I really like the project and the people that I'm current working with, but this move will isolate me from the rest of the companies projects and it will lock my computer out from them as well, I am uncomfortable with this to say the least. I have refused to move at this point, desperately trying to maintaining my current situation. The professional in me wants to comply with their wishes but moving into a work environment that is inevitably  going to make me unhappy is a unhealthy path to head down. I'm good  at what I do and I love my career, but it can be difficult even on good days when everything is right with the world, so I don't need to upset it with something that can easily be avoided. So far, we have been able to work around this issue and I hope to be able to maintain my current situation.

Here is a statement that people make that drives me absolutely crazy. "Don't take it personally".  I find it offensive to say the least. First, let me tell you that this statement, "Don't take it personally" is one of the most stupid and apathetic things that anyone could say to another person.  Anything that effects them in any way is personal, so, when someone said to me something like "Don't take it personally, we are asking everyone on our project to do this" I of course took offense to this statement immediately. Personally, I think that it's a cheap tactic to try and make someone feel as though they are not a team player, just to get them to comply with their want. Blindly following someone does not make someone a team player. Truth is, I am loyal to a fault, but  I guess I'm suppose to disregard any of my own personal well-being, my family's well-being and my  career and go in the same direction that all the other sheep go without question. Who's to say it does or doesn't work for the others, and if it doesn't and they are willing to suffer through day to day,  that still should not have any bearing on my situation. Usually, when someone says to me "Don't take it personally" I can't help but to  return the statement "Would you be okay with this if it were you?" or "Would you be okay with this if it was one of your children?" They always get angry and say "Hey, let's not make this personal".  REALLY?! Decisions are made for many different reasons, many of them for reasons unannounced to me, but I can guaranty that none of them take into account my well-being, nor do they even care to when they are being made. I have learned the hard way that the only person looking out for me is me. So, let me inform anyone who might read this so that you fully understand my thoughts on this, anything that can effect my personal well-being and that is to include my family's well-being, I will take personally without reserve. 

Okay, I'm glad I got that off my chest.

MAGIC! 

This is an unfinished scene from a sequence jam 

packed with witchcraft. It would have been 

awesome if I could have finished the sequence.

 

This was an awesome project and a great experience  

 it was eventually canceled to my great disappointment. It was  a 

great example of having a conducive work place with great people 

all at the same time,  I couldn't get enough of this project.

These were ideas I sketched for some possible shots

 in a travel sequence for "TEMBO" I don't think I 

ever showed these to anyone.

I can say that "TEMBO" wasn't always

a conducive work environment. It made it 

hard to perform at my best.

This is a preliminary drawing that I will eventually

 illustrate for my good friend Eric. He is an avid CUBS

fan as well as his family.

This is a worked up thumbnail and below it are

 the finished story panels that came out of it. 

"MONKEYS" was a very demanding project, 

but I loved it, the challenges it presented from

day to day is what I liked the most. A story 

artist grows the most when he is being challenged.

  

This another thumbnail that I found. It is an example

of how ruff they can be, this was a small sketch I did 

for the director to see if this was what he was thinking.

 

More drawings from my time on 

"MONKEYS of MUMBAI"

Deepu drawings

 Thumbnails for a couple of shots featuring Ravana's Demons.

More Raj expressions.