Student artist and designer, Gabby Felio doesn’t mince words when it comes to her plans for success. As a recent graduate from Algonquin College’s Pre-Animation Program, Felio went ahead to sign up for Ottawa Comiccon 2013.
“I went last year to Comiccon,” she says, “and I thought it was really great to start looking into being an entrepreneur because the earlier you start, I feel the more opportunities you have.”
Where most of her peers would tread lightly, Ms. Felio decided that now was the best time for her to take the plunge.
She worked her application hard and finally got in. “The night it opened, I stayed up until like 3 a.m. hitting refresh,” she recounts with a smile.
Although she shares half her table with another artist, it is undoubtedly the best choice she could have made at this point in her career.
This September, she will start her proper animation training at Algonquin College. An intensive three-year curriculum, Algonquin’s Animation Program has produced alumni that have risen to the top of their field. Algonquin’s School of Media & Design has a reputation for preparing students for the industry by challenging them to succeed despite a rigorous workload that starts on Day One.
Although most of Felio’s training will come this September, she won’t forget past professors who taught her the basics during the Pre-Animation Program.
Fellow Ottawa Comiccon 2013 artist, Rich Lauzon, was one of her instructors; she credits him for being a role model for artists who believe in combining their entrepreneurial drive with their love for drawing.
“(Rich) was a very good opportunity to see exactly what kind of posters you could make,” she explains, “He has a lot of entrepreneurial characteristics that you can look at on top of being a teacher.”
Her favourite drawings are fan art. Her posters and designs are inspired by her favourite sci-fi television shows as well as current fantasy releases such as the Game of Thrones. Drawing posters for Ottawa Comiccon 2013 gives her the feeling that, in a small way, she’s part of the show.
“I added my little part in the form of fan art.”
Check out Gabby Felio’s artwork at Ottawa Comiccon 2013 as well as the rest of her work @ Art by Gabby Felio.