Meet Mark Anthony | Visual Development Artist

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

Hi Mark, why did you decide to pursue a creative path?
I pursued an artistic career because I enjoy creating images. Ever since I was a kid I wanted to work in animation and it turned into a reality as I grew older and pursed it as a profession. Though it was a difficult road I enjoyed growing my skills as an artist over the years and still learn new things as I continue along my career. I love capturing moments from everyday life and turning them into art as well as creating make believe ones. I also enjoy making content for kids. I have two daughters now and it is a great pleasure seeing their reactions when they see my work on screen or their excitement for a new animation movie/show in general. With art there is endless possibilities to create alternate realities or a reflection of life itself. This is mainly why I decided to turn my passion into a career.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I am a Visual Development Artist that specializes in Background Art and Moment Paintings for Animated film and series. Currently working at Nickelodeon Animation as a Color/Designer Supervisor on an all new Ninja Turtles Series : Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, which comes out this summer. As a color/design supervisor I’m responsible for managing a small team of highly talented artists as well as establishing the look and color for background paintings on the show to name a few of the many tasks. Throughout my career I have worked in both Feature and Series productions in both 2D and 3D. I tend to bounce between two main areas of specialization. Visual Development and Background Painting. I believe this helps set me apart from others as it allows me to be more marketable in the demanding industry of Animation. With so many talented artists looking for work I feel its always important to be able to fill multiple roles to expand future job possibilities. Along with that I feel it helps me build experience in multiple areas as I work towards the goal of being an Art Director. Leading up to my current role I mainly worked in Visual Development and Background Paint. Some of my previous previous projects include DC League of Super-Pets, Lego Marvel, Ice Age, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, Hotel Transylvania 3, Inside job and Storybots to name a few. Each project helped mold me into the artist I am today. All shows had a slightly different style which helped me develop my own set of skills and versatility within design and paint. With this comes a lot of challenge. The need of one show maybe different then the other, while another show may have a steeper learning curve then the other. I found these things difficult at times and often looked at them as growing pains as I worked through improving my skills. With the various projects I have worked on, I have learned along the way to stay versatile and open to new aspects of design, as well as allow yourself to have a break from your own art to enjoy life. This has allowed me to absorb my surroundings more and bring it back into my own art with a fresh look. One thing I am most proud of thus far in my career was being selected as a Jury Member for the 2023 Emmy Awards. This was a great experience judging all the talent in the industry and seeing so many amazing projects side by side currently on air. Aside from my professional career I like to do art on the side with subject matters that most interest me. One being the urban environment of LA. I love the variety and culture in the city which often inspires the paintings I do on own time. Something I’m looking to build a library of so I can create my own Art book in the future.

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?
I would take them to the beach, probably multiple times, different locations each time for a quick coastal tour. Eating along the coast line at various restaurants would be fun as well. Depending when they were visiting, I would also say a Lakers game and then enjoy a bit of DTLA in the core area, visiting Grand Central Market and various shops. One of my favorite restaurants I always recommend is Quarters Korean BBQ. I also enjoy hiking and have been to a few cool areas I would bring someone visiting along to see the sites. Santa Monica mountains offers some great hiking trails that can lead to amazing coastal views. Griffith Park also offers a lot of trails along with access to see the iconic Hollywood sign and LA zoo which would be a fun day out. I would also spend a day going to Universal Studios as there is always fun to be had on the various rides in the park. There is always something going on in LA, so while a guest is here I would also look up concerts, festivals and night markets that might be going on while they are visiting. Being new to LA I am still discovering things to do as well.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My main growth as an artist comes from my industry experience and learning outside of work. All the art directors I have had in the past have contributed to my skill building as they all taught me something different. One of my first projects I’ve worked on was Lego Marvel. When I first joined the project my Art director Andrew Woodhouse @andrewoodhouse1965 had created these very cool moment paintings of various scenes. They were rendered like a final CG frame with all the details you would expect to see on screen. This sparked my love for moment paintings and to this day is my favorite task when working in Visual Development. Each project I have worked on has allowed me to grow as an artist directly from learning from my Art Directors. Richard Chen @richardchen.draws was my Art Director directly after Andrew and continued to inspire my growth as an artist. His amazing ability to paint color keys and moment paintings with such speed and quality has further inspired me to push my skills. With Richard I learned so much about color and light while creating appealing design. It has been such a great privilege having such amazing artist directly above me to learn from while getting paid as a profession. As I progressed in my career and worked on more projects I had the pleasure of having more amazing Art Directors to push me along my journey. Jesse Winchester Schmidt @jwinchesterart is such an amazing painter. I had the pleasure of having him as an Art Director on some development work for DreamWorks animation. I learned so much about painting from him and still carry that over in my day to day work and personal work. His ability to capture environments with such mood, color and design has always blown me away. Mike Yamada @myamada1979 was my next Art Director/Production designer that taught me a lot working on Back to the Outback at Netflix Animation. Mike is top tier designer in the animation industry and it was as great experience working under him. His eye for design has taught me to be more critical about my own work in the design stage. After this project I rolled onto a cool show called Inside Job as a Background Painter with Jeffrey Thompson as my Art Director @jeffrey_m_thompson. Jeff is an all around amazing artist with great direction. What I loved most about having him as an Art Director was his ability to creative such beautiful final images with such speed. Jeff always gave direct feedback which pushed me as an artist to improve on my weaknesses. Following this project I moved on to Storybots: Answer Time where I stepped into my first Lead role as Lead Background Painter. Romney Caswell @Romney76 was my Art Director. Romney is an all around great designer and Art Director that I worked more closely with on the show. He taught me a lot about being an Art Director or Lead with his direct feedback and keen eye for great design as well as managing a team of artists. On my latest project I was fortunate to take on another lead role as Color/Design Supervisor on an all new Ninja Turtles series. As supervisor I work closely with Art Director Andrea Fernandez @pepperfernandez on the show. She is an amazing all around designer and Art Director who has taught me a lot thus far about working in a leadership role. This for me is super valuable as I pursue my goals of becoming an Art Director myself one day. All of these Art Directors have contributed to my growth as an artist in different ways which has molded me into the artist I am today.

Website: https://markanthonyvisdev.com

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

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-anthony-5267037b

Other: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm8012524