Today we’d like to introduce you to Kayla Degennaro
Hi Kayla, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
So I started my art journey when I was really young. I always had a notebook or drawing pad with me because it was a way that helped me when I was having bad anxiety or bad thoughts. I opened my journal and started drawing! And that snowballed from there and I always watched cartoons and anime growing up so being surrounded by all of this art was what inspired me the most to keep going because I was always saying, “Oh I want to draw that character!” or, “This cool moment from this show is playing on loop in my head time to redraw it!” But what really got me into the Animation Industry the most was a little show called Gravity Falls. I found Gravity Falls from a small little post on tumblr. It was a funny clip of Mabel being a goofball and I was like, “I should really watch this show. I only heard good things about it.” And then I watched it, and watched the creator Alex Hirsch draw and explain how some scenes were animated and decided this is the path I want to go in!
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has not been a smooth road which is fine there will always be challenges along the way it helps us learn! Unfortunately there was a period where I did not like anything I created. I ended up comparing myself to very highly trained and older artists thinking why doesn’t my art look like that? And a lot of personal life stuff happened between all of my middle and highschool years and even though drawing was comforting and was a way for me to escape I ended up pushing myself too hard and it made me burnt out.
And I also swapped majors when I got into college, I started with bright eyes wanting to go into Animation and ended up getting my first degree in Comic book art. I was crushed because I wasn’t always fond of some of the professors in the Animation department pushing me to see my friends and fellow classmates as competition and we always had to be ahead of one another. It was not something that I was interested in because I would rather collaborate and share ideas and help one another than hide secrets and not congratulate someone if they got somewhere good. So it was a bumpy road and it will continue being bumpy but if I got through all those pot holes I bet I can get through a bunch more haha!
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am a Visual Development Artist and Background painter for entertainment (such as Movies and TV)! I focus a lot on painting interiors and exteriors of environments of different stories and giving them personality and making them fit the style that I am given to work with. I also create props for stories as well. There are always 100’s of different small items that need designs and colors and I am always happy to draw those 100 if needed haha! I am mostly known as the artist who can draw in perspective but break it at the same time. A lot of my work has misshapen buildings, vehicles that are stretched and squashed, and props that absolutely look like they popped out of toontown. I do it because it’s almost like I’m giving each piece of art a piece of me with it when I’m painting.
I am proud to be honest because I used to be very scared of Perspective and drawing backgrounds. They were so intimidating to me because Perspective is sort of technical and you have to be precise about horizon line placement, and placing vanishing points but once you learn it and read about it you really get comfortable with creating those lines. So I’m very proud that I was able to overcome that and turn it into something I love doing! I feel being able to break perspective is what helps me stand out from everyone else because it shows that I am confident in what I am doing.
Are there any important lessons you’ve learned that you can share with us?
That it is absolutely okay to not be perfect. When I would always paint and draw I was always so particular about things like this had to be a certain color and my lines had to be perfect or something. And art does not have to be perfect, nothing will ever be and that is okay! I also had to learn that everyone learns at a different pace, some are faster and some are slower and that is fine because you will get to your desired place which is all that matters! So keep going at your own pace and to stop being perfect are some of the MANY lessons I learned on my journey.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://kdegen20.myportfolio.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anartdweeb/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kayla-degennaro-7a7b33209/
