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“If there’s something out there you want, you should go out and get it!”
~ Eliot Min
How does an artist get started making Manga art and video games?
In this week’s podcast, we talk to Eliot Min, who’s just launched his first video game, Cerebrawl.
During this fascinating interview, he reveals what inspires him, and why he feels it’s still so important for artists to hustle for work and seize every opportunity that comes their way.
Eliot Min grew up in Boston, but currently lives in Seattle where he’s just started work at an ad agency. He describes his work as “pop surrealist anime-style art”, and his current big passion is Cerebrawl, an indie street-fighting game which he’s been working on with several other creatives.
Previously, he worked at Disney Interactive, where he worked on Facebook apps and other projects, but he’d always had a dream of creating his own video game.
So, having saved up enough money to take a year off and devote time to his own projects, Eliot decided to quit his well-paid job and take the plunge.
He says: “By the time I quit my job, I was just so hungry to show the world what I could do!”
And so, he decided to combine his love for Manga art and video games and spend his year off productively…
Eliot on Making Manga Art and Video Games
Eliot had dreamed of making his own video game since college, but he dismissed this as a pipedream while he pursued a more stable career as an illustrator.
However, the ideas behind Cerebrawl kept percolating away for 10 years, until Eliot found himself in a suitable position to start turning his dreams into reality.
You can watch the trailer for Cerebrawl below:
But doesn’t he ever worry about failure? Not really. For Eliot, the reason behind the success of some of the world’s most popular artists isn’t always their immense talent for making art – it’s often more about their ability to market themselves and hustle for new opportunities.
He explains: “Even the greatest artists need to work that hustle. People don’t just come to them. So there’s nothing wrong with it! If you think you’re good enough, you should go out there and do it!”
Listen to this week’s show and learn:
- Why your fans want to see you develop as an artist
- How to hustle for new opportunities and promote yourself as an artist
- Why you don’t have to be the best artist in the world to have success
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Thanks for listening to our show! We’ll be back next Wednesday morning 8AM EST.
Cheers,
Mitch
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