Meet David Mouery | 3D Animation Student

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

Hi David, why did you pursue a creative career?
Animated movies have always been magic to me. I started to pursue a career in animation after I was already in college about halfway through my freshman year. I had originally gone to school for Communication Studies, however when I got to the campus, I was immediately drawn in to the school’s animation building. I was absolutely blown away by the fact that animation was a skill people went to school for and seeing this building full of students collaborating with each other and pursuing a career in animation was immensely inspiring. I ended up sneaking into some animation classes throughout my first semester, those being a history of animation class and an intro to 3-D animation class. By that point, I was absolutely hooked and I decided to go all in and drop my plans of being a Communication Studies major and pursue an education in animation. I have been a student of the 3-D Animation track at AnimSchool for about half a year now.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
What I love about animation is that you are constantly learning and you will never stop learning. That aspect of the medium is so exciting to me. When I first began learning animation, I had to seek out everything on my own until I was able to attend a proper animation school. I started out by reading about animation as much as I could. Some of my favorite animation books would be The Animation Survival Kit by Richard Williams and Character Animation Crash Course! by Eric Goldberg. I used what I learned from those two books to do some animation exercises on my own and I feel like that set me up with a good foundation that I would take into my very first proper animation class. I now am a student at AnimSchool where I get feedback of my work from animators that have worked on feature films, video games, and advertisements. I could not be more happier at any other school. I feel like my path to animation is unique in some ways. I wish I had started learning animation sooner, I just absolutely love it! There’s a phrase I like that I hear again and again from my instructors and my fellow animation peers and that is, “Keep going!”

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.
I feel like I’m still the one “visiting” Southern California. There is endless things to do and I have only scratched the surface myself. I would love to take them to Newport Beach and grab food from one of the local restaurants along the beach. Later on I think a full day on Hollywood Boulevard is definitely a must do for anyone visiting. Whether it’s just people watching, finding your favorite celebrities on the Walk of Fame, or enjoying a movie at the El Capitan theatre, Hollywood Boulevard always is exciting. Really, I would just drive and see what we can find! I’m always stumbling on new places to visit every single day.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Doing a complete 180 and changing my career path was incredibly scary and uncertain, and I feel like I would have not have been to do it as easily if it weren’t for my amazing girlfriend, Ashley who inspired me to take risks and pursue animation. I would not be on this path if it wasn’t for her. Additionally I would like to thank my family for supporting my choice to pursue a career in animation. You guys rock! Finally I want to recognize my incredibly talented instructors that have given me the confidence that I can succeed in animation thanks to their mentorship and guidance.

Website: davidmouery.com

Instagram: www.instagram.com/davidmouery

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