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Marco Plouffe left a job he hated to follow his dreams of becoming a video game artist
“If you go into the industry, remember where you came from and what is fun to you”
~ Marco Plouffe
Marco Plouffe is now a successful video game artist and co-owner of Keos Masons – a freelance character design & modelling company for the video game, movie, and toy industries.
But it wasn’t always this way. In fact, he only decided to take his art career seriously in 2009!
In this week’s podcast, you’ll find out what prompted him to leave a job he hated, and follow his true dream of becoming an artist…
Marco Plouffe: His Journey as an Artist
Although he loved drawing as a kid, Marco Plouffe didn’t have many opportunities to take his art further in his home town.
And, after finishing high school, he decided to go steady and took a job in IT working for a government department.
There was just one problem: He hated every single minute of it. So, after a few years of being stuck in a job he didn’t enjoy (and a whole lot of soul searching), he finally decided to do something about it.
After eight years of not drawing at all, Marco Plouffe decided to get back into art and follow his dream of becoming a concept and video game artist.
It wasn’t easy, and Marco had to make all kinds of sacrifices to achieve his goal. He even spent his time at work watching art tutorials and getting his portfolio together in just two months.
But when Marco Plouffe enrolled at Ubisoft Academy in 2009, he knew he’d made the right decision.
An example of recent work by Marco Plouffe
Marco Plouffe on Coming Back to Art
Although he enjoyed playing guitar, Marco knew he didn’t want to become a musician. He had to ask himself some serious questions about what he really wanted to do with his life.
And, the more he asked these questions, the clearer the answer became.
So, by the time he came back to art, he was doing so with a new sense of maturity and certainty. He knew this was what he genuinely wanted to do, and he knew exactly why he wanted to be an artist.
As he says: “If you really want to go somewhere, you have to know why you want to go there.”
Listen to this week’s show and learn:
- Why it’s important to know why you want to be an artist
- How to break out of a dead-end job and follow your dreams
- Why originality will eventually come naturally in your work
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Cheers,
Mitch
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Awesome interview and hey I’m a fellow Montrealer myself. This episode really resonated with me, I am currently in sales which is the total opposite of what I want to do – be an illustrator. Just like Marco, I have put aside drawing for about 8 years and only now really back into sketching and fleshing out ideas. I too want to just quit my job and do what I have dreamed of since I was little. Time to focus on the fun & passion, the opportunities will come.
Hi Phuong and thanks so much for your feedback 🙂 I’m really glad you enjoyed this podcast and I hope we can help you take the first steps towards a fulfilling career as an artist. We’re always on hand to answer any questions, so feel free to drop us a line at any time if you need our help. Good luck and happy holidays!