PK 204: Strategies for Starting an Art Career with Allan McKay

Allan Mckay

Allan McKay is an Emmy Award winner for his outstanding work in visual effects. He is a Los Angeles-based visual effects supervisor and technical director. Allan is responsible for the visual effects in Game of Thrones, Avengers Endgame, Evil Within 2, The Equalizer, Blade, Star Trek: Into Darkness, and many more. He has over 20 years of experience working with different studios, such as Blur Studio, Whoodoo Studios, and ProMotion Studios, early on in his career.

Allan McKay is a graduate of Queens College of Art, Griffith University, South Bank Campus. 

PK 215: The 4 Life Stages When People Get Serious About Their Art | Apple Podcasts
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Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn: 

  • Allan McKay talks about how he got started in visual effects
  • How to present your best art the first time?
  • What Allan means by “attack with urgency and fail fast”
  • The value of abiding by the 80/20 of productivity
  • How can you organize your time for efficiency and collaboration?
  • The benefits of measuring your progress
  • Allan talks about keeping focus and creating time for your goals

In this episode…

What does it take to follow your dreams as a creator? The irony of pursuing your dreams is that you may fail and yet that failure does not indicate the end of your journey but rather, a possible beginning. Allan McKay, an award-winning visual effects supervisor and technical director in Hollywood, California, explains how he started to pursue his dream at the age of 14 and discovered his interest in visual effects and the expansion of the field.

In this week’s episode of Pencil Kings, Mitch Bowler talks with Emmy Award-winning VFX supervisor and technical director in Hollywood, Allan McKay, about visual effects and his desire to explore it further and share his passion about film and design with other people. Tune in as they talk about the importance of putting your best work forward, the benefits of measuring your progress, and how embracing failure can quite possibly lead to your success.

Resources Mentioned on this Episode

Sponsor for this Episode

This episode is brought to you by Evolve Artist, a breakthrough online training system that aims to inexperienced talent to become world-class artists.

If you’re interested to explore and expand your artistic nature and to maximize your potential as an artist, there’s no better way to do that to sign up with one of the many courses offered by Evolve Artist.

We’ll provide you with all the materials you need to enjoy a do-it-yourself study at home. The premium oil paint we use is supplied by Old Holland, and everything will be shipped right to your doorstep no matter where you are in the world.

To learn more about our coursesvisit our website or contact us to find out how you can be the artist you were meant to be in your own home.