AnimatorIslandTV

With a heavy heart, I have to announce that I will be stopping all content production for Animator Island... probably for a while... probably for years.

I love animation, I love teaching animation, I am sure I will be back making animation content at some point. I have to... it has been my passion for so long. It's something I very much enjoy. But right now, my life is going in a different direction.

You might be wondering what is now different from how it had been, since I've barely been posting any new videos on YouTube or new articles on the website in the last… well… several years. The difference is: I will stop trying.

I have many drafts, half-finished scripts and videos on my hard drive. But I got unfocused. My day job ate up my time, I abandoned old ideas for new ones, was undecided if live streaming or tutorial production was the way to go and ended up doing neither in any meaningful or consistent way.

There is no one to blame for this other than myself. I was given many opportunities, but I blew them by spreading myself too thin. I am truly amazed how anyone can handle running a YouTube channel, a webcomic, a podcast... anything in addition to a day job. That's a truly amazing feat. I commend anyone who is hard-working, focused and disciplined enough to pull it off and play their cards right to make something sustainable out of it. And to do this without neglecting their own health... that is a balance rarely found. I like to believe it can be found... but I haven't managed to for myself, thus far.

I am very proud of the content that JK and I produced over the years. The first post was in 2011. Can you believe that? Sometimes old tutorials surprise even me when there is stuff in there that I have forgotten about.

I feel honored that so many people read and watched. And I am beyond grateful for your support, which I often felt like I neither deserved nor could possibly repay. You can be sure that it mattered and helped me very much to put out the content that made the cut. Thank you all! Thank you to all the people who have followed me for years. I thank you, even if you only liked, shared or learned from just one piece of content. Every gesture was very much appreciated and will always be.

The reason why I now truly feel like I no longer have the resources left for Animator Island is this: I've decided to fully dedicate my time to bringing people in my local community together.

Independently from any specific political belief, it seems people are, in theory, more connected than ever before - but at the same time, incredibly divided and lonely.

My small hometown used to have many art clubs, movie screenings, game nights, bars where friends and strangers could meet - now there is almost nothing left.

I want to change that. Over the past few months I have started putting together weekly drawing sessions, monthly board game nights, language courses, and I am planning a silly tin can knockdown competition for next year. For now, all in my small town... because cities already have this stuff, but so many people in the countryside don't. I am excited that art will still be a part of this, but for now it will be in a very local circle.

At the same time, I am running for a position in local government to help simplify and strengthen some of these local structures.

Alright, so that's what I will be doing now aside from my day job. Maybe it will work, maybe it won't. But I have to try. If it makes life less isolated, more friendly and more inspiring for just a couple people, I will be happy.

Only the Group Mentoring will continue as long as people are signed up. So there is still a chance to get my input on your art and animation. We will switch from Patreon to another platform in the near future.

Unfortunately, the only way to permanently stop billing Supporter members is to take the entire Animator Island Patreon Page offline. Before I do that, I will manually pause the billing for the next three months so you still have access to any content you might want to watch or download before it vanishes. The website animatorisland.com and the YouTube channel will remain online.

If you feel like you haven't gotten your money's worth from your Patreon Supporter tier, please contact me and we will figure something out.

I still very much look forward to meeting with my fantastic Group Mentoring members every month, for as long as they would like.

Thank you all so very much! Thank you JK for letting me join this project so many years ago. Special thanks to some of the most loyal mentoring members Maria, Cathy, Julia, Matt, Víctor, Ego, obfsGREEN - and the people from the early days Colin, BluishDot, CluelessGameArtist, Nick. I also very much appreciate the long-term supporters Pierre, Alex, Jp72, Tesran who made the live streams possible and my loyal live stream regulars EidoEnd, Jp72 and so many more who popped in every now and then. My apologies if I have forgotten to mention anyone, this is a very emotional moment. So many interactions with all of you were so rewarding and fun and I will miss those moments!

I hope to one day announce the revival of Animator Island. Until then… keep on animating!

Wishing you all the best for your projects and life in general,

Ferdinand

3 months ago | [YT] | 109