Meet Kaya Dzankich: Animation Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Kaya Dzankich and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kaya, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking
I’m a believer in the saying ‘The greater the risk, the greater the reward’. If you are in a position in life where you don’t have to chose the ‘safe’ option, sometimes the riskier option can lead to more exciting learning experiences and successes. For example, moving from a hometown to a big city like L.A. might feel like a risk to some. To me it was an exciting new chapter that fed my motivation even more. If you take the riskier route, it’s important to follow your intuition along the way. Go with your gut on every decision. A turning point in my career was when I chose an exciting part-time job over a corporate full-time job. I knew I would learn more at the part-time job and that it could be a stepping stone to something bigger. The full-time job was the safe option, but I knew it wouldn’t be challenging and there wasn’t any creative freedom. My gut told me to take the risk. The part-time job quickly became full-time, I learned a ton, made new friendships and eventually it led to a new career in animation.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Professionally I am a Color Supervisor on the animated series “Bob’s Burgers”. My years as a background painter and color designer eventually led to this opportunity. I’ve worked at Fox TV Animation, Cartoon Network, Disney TV, Dreamworks TV and Warner Brothers Studios. Working in animation was a big dream of mine when I moved to L.A. so I still pinch myself when I see my name in the credits. Making an animated show is a huge team effort, with a lot of moving parts, so it’s a constant learning experience and I love soaking up all the knowledge. The challenge for myself and a lot of artists is finding the time and energy for our own art. Working on an animated show is somebody else’s creation and vision. You have to check your ego at the door and separate your personal work from the professional work. My personal work is the most important to me so I have committed to making time for it no matter what, even if it’s just a little sketch at the end of a long work day.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
This question makes me miss pre-pandemic times even more! We would definitely explore DTLA. There is a lot of good food, old whisky bars and historic buildings to check out. I’m a big fan of ‘hidden gems’ and places that would surprise people about L.A. I love nature and L.A. has a surprising amount of wildlife reserves where you can find a lot of beautiful bird species. Sepulveda Wildlife Reserve has recently suffered a fire, but it is usually a hot spot for all kinds of birds species. There is also a Japanese Garden hidden away in the same park. Franklin Canyon is another beautiful spot. There are also spots along the L.A. River in Atwater Village and Burbank where you can find all kinds of wildlife.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I want to dedicate my Shoutout to all my K-12 teachers that encouraged me to pursue a career in art. I was a painfully shy kid and they helped give me the confidence and courage to stay committed to the art life.

Website: https://www.kayadzankich.com is my personal work, https://colorbykaya.com is my animation work.

Instagram: @kaya_dzankich

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kayadzankich/

Other: https://dzankich.tumblr.com