Final PPP presentation 2017

Position Statement

When I first came to LCA I thought a lot about dropped out. I was terrified I'd never be as good as older students, that I'd never achieve anything and the idea of asking for a wage for my work made me feel uncomfortable. 

Looking back, I had no confidence in my work and as a freelance. However over the last three years of study and meeting the people I have outside of university, I've become a hugely confident, friendly and open minded artist. I've learnt so much about animation, a form of art I'd always loved but never imagined doing and LCA put me in a place where I could take the time to study an art form that I knew nothing about and in the end be able to base my own business off the skills I've learnt. I’ve learnt how to properly promote myself both for businesses and freelancing, including how to safe guard my own pay and work. I’ve learnt how to use software like Photoshop and After Effects, things I never thought I’d even be interested in as I was stuck in being committed to hand drawn and didn’t realize hand drawn digital animation was an option. And above all, I’ve learnt animation process going from concept, to script writing, to storyboarding and animations, to animation and finally promotion and publication.

I'm so thankful that I stuck to it and continued studying - because moving past that feeling of nothing under your feet and not knowing what you're doing 100% can be scary, but getting over that is the best way to learn and I've learnt so much as an independent artist and as a business woman. I plan to continue freelance work as an illustrator, animator and cartoonist. Although tempting studying an MA is, I don't want to drop out of the freelancing business now as I can feel it just starting to pick up. I want to say thank you to my tutors, who have (especially in my final year of study) been understanding and respectful of me and the issues I was having. Thank you and wish me luck.

When I first came to LCA I thought a lot about dropped out. I was terrified I'd never be as good as older students, that I'd never achieve anything and the idea of asking for a wage for my work made me feel uncomfortable. 

Looking back, I had no confidence in my work and as a freelance. However over the last three years of study and meeting the people I have outside of university, I've become a hugely confident, friendly and open minded artist. I've learnt so much about animation, a form of art I'd always loved but never imagined doing and LCA put me in a place where I could take the time to study an art form that I knew nothing about and in the end be able to base my own business off the skills I've learnt. I’ve learnt how to properly promote myself both for businesses and freelancing, including how to safe guard my own pay and work. I’ve learnt how to use software like Photoshop and After Effects, things I never thought I’d even be interested in as I was stuck in being committed to hand drawn and didn’t realize hand drawn digital animation was an option. And above all, I’ve learnt animation process going from concept, to script writing, to storyboarding and animations, to animation and finally promotion and publication.

I'm so thankful that I stuck to it and continued studying - because moving past that feeling of nothing under your feet and not knowing what you're doing 100% can be scary, but getting over that is the best way to learn and I've learnt so much as an independent artist and as a business woman. I plan to continue freelance work as an illustrator, animator and cartoonist. Although tempting studying an MA is, I don't want to drop out of the freelancing business now as I can feel it just starting to pick up. I want to say thank you to my tutors, who have (especially in my final year of study) been understanding and respectful of me and the issues I was having. Thank you and wish me luck.

- Molly Lester, BA(hons) Animation 2014-2017

3 years of study on BA(hons) Animation 2014-2015

Above is my final presentation given at Leeds college of Art, which documents the PPP work I completed in my final year of study. I spoke about my self promotion, the freelance work I'd finished, the events I plan to attend as well as future collaborations/jobs I'll be completing over summer.

Promotional Boards

Zines and Zine Fairs 2017

For this summer I'm releasing two new zines/comics I've been developing for the past month or so - as well as doing second prints of zines I sold last year that were successful. The two new zines I'm developing are quite a bit longer than the zines I created last year which are 'Depressed animals at the zoo' which promotes awareness about mental health in social situations and 'Deerick' (an old axed-animation I'm re-forming into a comic). The re-prints of zines I'm doing are for 'Bonk Dog' and 'How to be a woman'/'How to be a man' which all sold out quicker than the rest.

I've already set up travel for the year and payments, but here's a list of Zine Fest's/Fairs I'll be attending:

• Northwest Zine Fest
• Peckham Platform Press House: Zine Fair
• Small Press Zine Fair
• Hyde Park Zine Fair

This year'll be my second attending artists markets and promoting myself as well as selling my work - I'm hugely excited as last year I was completely underprepared and sold everything way before I should have. This year my aim is to promote my social medias, myself as a freelancer and earn enough money to pay rent.

Creative CV and Letter Head

Words:

Molly Lester

Animator, Illustrator and Cartoonist

Profile

Molly lester is a visual storyteller based in the North of England. Previously finding inspiration from social circles and communities around her. She current devisees inspiration from current political and social issues as well as aiming to positively represent LGBTQ+ identities and cultures and promote awareness/acceptance.

Skills

2D Animation

Story Boarding

Character Design

Visual Storytelling

Traditional Illustration

Watercolour

Screen Printing

Software

Photoshop

After Effects

Education

Nidderdale Highschool GCSE ART A* (2010-2012)

Harrogate College FINE ART EXSTENDED DIPLOMA D* D* D* (2012-2014)

Leeds college of Art BA(HONS) ANIMATION _______ (2014-2017)

Contact

Email   MOLLYPUKES@GMAIL.COM

Instagram/Twitter/Tumblr/Facebook  @MOLLYPUKES

Letter Head:

Showreel 2017

Above is my 2017 showreel that I've created to promote my work from my previous three years of study at Leeds college of Art. I selected a lot of the segments from my final year film 'a fox wants to play guitar' as well as a few examples of commissioned pieces. The soundtrack used in this showreel is also owned by 'James Grimshaw' and I have full approval of using the soundtrack so don't have to worry about copy right.