Meet King Alexander | Animator & Artist

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

Hi King, do you have a favorite quote or affirmation?
I think my favorite affirmation, or at least one of them, is “A million mistakes makes a great animation.” I, obviously, picked it up in my animation classes back at RCC but I can’t remember exactly if I got it from someone or it’s just something I made up, haha! Essentially, it’s just an affirmation to combat against perfectionism. I heard a similar quote during a developer live stream (I believe) of Deep Rock Galactic. I think they said something along the lines of “Get it out the door, if it’s broken we’ll fix it later,” and it stuck with me. I know a LOT of artists want to create something perfect but I’d rather just make SOMETHING and fix it later. We learn the most from mistakes, so I embrace making something wrong to get that learning experience from it, both in art and in life.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I think what sets me apart from a lot of other artists is my understanding of shape language. I’m not the first to do it, of course, but in a sea of mostly anime styles nowadays, my stuff tends to stand out more and more. Funny thing is I never really professionally was taught shape language, I just kind of fell into it!
As for how I got to where I am, I just kept creating. Kept screwing up, picked apart what worked and what didn’t, made something new with that knowledge, rinse repeat. Wasn’t easy of course, accepting that mistakes are okay to make is hard, especially when you’re raised with a “be perfect or worthless” style of parent. I overcame that just by doing it and stopped counting how many mistakes I made. I focused on what went wrong generally vs what I did wrong specifically and just kept making mistakes. It took years but I made it and that’s what matters.
For my story though, what I want everyone to know is that I’m just a punk who loves to create.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Oh I’ve thought about this more often than I should, haha! Definitely taking my homie to downtown Riverside. We’d get pizza from Antonious, walk around the streets a bit, hit the Game Lab, then the Food Lab, and catch a movie at the Riverside Plaza if we can! If it’s hot enough, we could hit the Coldstone in the plaza there. If we REALLY have the energy though, I’ll drag them to Universal Studios. I adore film and Universal is my go to spot for a much needed day-off getaway.
I think the most interesting things to check out is just what the locals like. If you’re visiting someone specific though, the best art of that is seeing what they enjoy within their own little corner of the world. Their go-to spots, their favorite takeout joints, etc. Getting to know someone through walking in their steps hits just right.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Definitely have to give a shout out to my boys, Max and Elliot. Those two keep me inspired and fired up to keep on going and being my best every day, especially when it’s tough. Also got to shout out to my animation professor, Will Kim, especially for getting me into storyboarding and helping me figure out my career path. My animation buddies as well, like Jade and Luke, Johnny, Jaq, and a whole bunch more honestly (there’s a lot) for continuing to inspire me with their own creations <3.

Website: https://cmdrkingwrath.carrd.co/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cmdr.king.wrath/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@cmdrkingwrath

Other: Cara: https://cara.app/cmdr-king-wrath/portfolio
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/cmdrkingwrath.bsky.social

Image Credits
All photos and art done by King