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

Hi Adam, why did you pursue a creative career?
I’ve always loved animation and character design. You can really tell any kind of story or depict any kind of character you want, and I find that freedom incredibly inspiring. There’s always something new to try, new style, new tone, new medium, each one able to unlock something different from the story you want to tell. It’s just such a complete creative expression of an idea, and once I learned that you could be apart of that there was no plan B. Plus I’ve always loved to draw. Before animation I wanted to be a comic strip writer, making my own rip-off comics of Peanuts and Calvin and Hobbes, but was eventually drawn to the (potentially) more stable path of working in a larger industry with like-minded individuals. Seemed like the best of both worlds.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Character is always at the heard of what I draw. Who is this character? How do they carry themselves? How would they dress?Kinda obvious for a character designer, but over time each designer tends to define that a little differently. For my designs I always try to push the expressiveness as much as possible, while still giving the characters structure and anatomy. That combination of grounded feelings with big expression is my favorite way to work. I’m very proud of how I was able to apply that to Velma in particular. It was the first show I was really able to bring a lot of myself into stylistically, and it really pushed me forward as an artist.
Most of the time in the industry you are following someone else’s vision, someone else’s style, but through that you learn how other creatives think. It then becomes an interesting experiment to try and fit your specific skillset inside a framework that someone else has built. But I think pushing yourself within those limitations is what really helps you define your own style and voice as an artist. You learn what you like and what you don’t like very quickly.

I started in the industry in 2012, getting an internship at a small studio that worked on mobile games, and have been trucking along ever since. I think one the hardest part of working in this industry has to be consistency. I’ve had 5+ year stretches of consecutive work, and then industry droughts where theres nothing going on for months on end. It can be hard to stay positive, but the best you can do is try to plan ahead as best you can, and keep at it. Everyone I know in animation is there because they love it.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Well I mean, the most obvious thing would be Disney Land. That’s the most fun with people from out of the area. We’re spoilt being so close by. The Academy museum is great for film buffs, the Getty is and LACMA are also great.

LA is also an amazing food city, so that would pretty much be 90% of what I would recommend doing. You can go to any part of the city and find some amazing food or drinks, from any type of cuisine.
Koreatown is a must, Little Ethiopia, downtown is full of higher end places and Little Tokyo, basically every neighborhood will have something delicious to try. I’m also a big craft beer guy, and the brewery scene has blown up over the last 10 years. Definitely worth trying all the good local spots.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I’d like to shoutout my family for encouraging me in perusing a career in animation. It’s not every parent’s dream to have their kids want to support themselves creatively, but then again my mom is a classical musician, so they had to at least let me try.
I also want to shoutout my wife Stasia for always supporting me wherever I try to go. She’s also the first person I run my ideas by, so I always value her input.

As far as what works inspired me to get into animation: The Emperor’s New Groove, Justice League Unlimited, Samurai Jack, Rocko’s Modern Life, Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, Psychonauts.
Each of these shows, movies or games showed me something different that could be done with animation and design, and made me want to be apart of it.

Website: https://adamfayillustration.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adamfaysketch/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamfay/

Image Credits
All images made by me.
Velma promo art made for Warner Bros Animation. All others are personal works/fan art.

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