Today we’d like to introduce you to Owen Shackelford.
Hi Owen, 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?
My journey as a designer and motion graphics artist began when I was a sophomore in High School around 2015, back when I lived in Dayton, Ohio. I began to draw doodle characters in a sketchbook all day during class. Those doodles were inspired by my wish to be like my older brother Chad Shackelford, who has been a designer, creative director, and in a bunch of other creative roles. The sketches were also inspired by my want for integrating myself into the local skate culture at the time, so I took influence from Thrasher Mag, Toy Machine merchandise, and works from artists such as: Alex Pardee, Jeff Soto, and Greg Mike to create niche characters in my sketchbook. I would continue this path of specializing in illustration and character design while working as a plumber in new construction. It wasn’t until late 2016 where I began to become fascinated with music and video editing. I began to teach myself the software Logic Pro and learn how to mix / master my vocal recordings with free beats that I would find on Youtube from established and underground producers. Once I had some songs in my pocket, I then incorporated my illustrative skills into the mix to make the cover art.
The next step in my creative journey was to experiment with videography and video editing to shoot music videos for my songs. These began as your traditional homemade – low-quality stand in front of the camera and perform the music type of videos, but with the help of my buddy Jacob Heim, the videos began to involve more interesting angles and movement. The final milestone that was the most important for me was the decision to learn Adobe Premiere and After Effects to edit my videos and add some visual effects and what I didn’t know at the time was called “motion graphics.” I continued a rinse-and-repeat cycle of creating a song, cover artwork, and videos until late 2021 around Thanksgiving, where my brother had sat me down and had a serious conversation about me attaining a degree and career in the field of motion graphics. At the time I wasn’t content with how my life was turning out working as a plumber because I knew it wasn’t a profession that I would be happy in the rest of my life. Ultimately I agreed with Chad and made the move from Ohio to Georgia where I currently reside, studying and perfecting my craft as a designer and motion graphics artist.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I think the largest struggle for me personally was the realization that you have to get better on your own and that school doesn’t teach you every single thing in the field. This aspect kind of adds a ton of pressure on you because you now realize that you are the instrument to your own success, not the school and that can be terrifying no matter how skilled or talented you are. This has resulted in a ton of sleepless nights where I will binge software tutorials or listen to industry professionals give advice on podcasts.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
As a student in motion graphics artist and a designer, I’m currently still exploring various visual styles and techniques as well as different avenues that motion graphics applies to such as branding, title sequences, short animations, and other projects. I would say right now I specialize in illustrative motion as my illustrative skills currently are pretty decent, but I am slowly starting to branch away from strictly doing just that as I want to diversify my portfolio (hopefully to get a job out of school). Aside from the digital work, in my free time I have been exploring the creation of various sculptures and wall decor for my house to make the place feel a little more comfy. Right now I’m creating various 3d moss / flower canvases where I’ll take a cheap frame from Goodwill and hot glue moss and flowers to its canvas to give my walls a little more character.
After, I plan on creating things with yarn and possibly basswood. I think what sets me apart from others is my go-to aesthetic and color palette. I really love to incorporate anatomy in my work such as body parts rearranged on a figure and I also love just selecting one body part and repeating that part throughout a composition. My usual color palette consists of highly saturated blues, pinks, greens, and purples. The project I’m mostly proud of right now would be a motion graphic where I created a hypothetical advertisement for a brand collaboration between the brand YETI and myself. In this project, I chose to mix 3d and 2d animation along with some frame by frame animation. I was able to accurately translate my visual style as an artist into both the product design and the advert animation while learning new techniques and skills with After Effects.
Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
You don’t have to be perfect and you are not perfect. I think a lot of new artists and students including myself at a time believe we have to strive to be the best which in itself isn’t bad, but also recognize that it takes time. I’ve met industry professionals of 10+ years in the trade who tell me that they’re still finding who they are in terms of visual style and aesthetics and are continuously improving their craft. I think what’s more important is having fun on your pathway to learning more and experimenting with what you find interesting. Not everyone will end up where they wish to be at the same time, as we all have our different stories, so it’s important to not look at a fellow artist and use their timeline as what yours should look like; this will only result in insecurity and disappointment. Lastly, just continue creating. Continue working. Continue learning. Results will come, but only if you create the cause (creating artwork and projects) for that effect (lots of money and a big house). Haha.
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