We were lucky to catch up with Nadine Promes García recently and have shared our conversation below.
Nadine, so great to have you sharing your thoughts and wisdom with our readers and so let’s jump right into one of our favorite topics – empathy. We think a lack of empathy is at the heart of so many issues the world is struggling with and so our hope is to contribute to an environment that fosters the development of empathy. Along those lines, we’d love to hear your thoughts around where your empathy comes from?
Nowadays, to me, empathy is what humanity needs more than ever. It could be debated whether or not empathy is taught or born with each individual but in my case, it was taught.
No one educated me on empathy, in fact, my childhood was filled with violent emotions and selfish thoughts, which fueled my insecure bully attitude. Coming from a family with five children, it was a handful to properly educate a ‘firecracker’ child, which is why I got constantly scolded instead of educated properly on the wrongs of my actions. The scolding would only get worst and the lack of empathy towards me started to make sense; a realization that painfully knocked me off my high horse.
Within time I became a bit of an insecure recluse in school and started locking myself in my bedroom with blank printing paper and a pencil. I’d always loved animation and comics and at this point in my life I wanted to see myself as the protagonist since I couldn’t be in the real world. So, I painted for hours and hours until sunrise, only to be taken out of the trance by my father who disapproved of my all-nighters during school weeks.
Little did I know that this obsession I had for creating stories and characters would be the key to my discovery and understanding of empathy.
Like puppet therapy, my characters would become different extensions of myself, allowing me to debate different aspects of my life using various points of view. My stubborn and selfish attitude started to dissolve as my characters explained to me the many reasons why things didn’t always have to go my way. Likewise, they taught me that regardless of my shortcomings, I deserved happiness.
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
Like previously mentioned, since my youth I’ve loved to tell stories with characters I’ve created. These characters have never left my side and have been the best teachers on a variety of life lessons. They have been my constant therapy and motivators – without a doubt I wouldn’t be where I am today without them.
I currently work as a storyboard artist for Disney Television Animation, which is a dream come true for my inner child – who never imagined I would be part of the magic behind the shows I grew up watching.
My dream is to continue boarding in both TV and Feature, as well as publish my characters’ stories and through their journey teach people how I learned to be the successful and empathetic person I am today.
The first story of the series has actually already been written and is being drawn as we speak!
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
Love for the craft, hard work and curiosity.
Everyone is different and has their own journey to live, but in my case I’m pretty sure I was born to do what I’m specialized in and I’m lucky enough to have had the opportunity to pursue it.
Setting that aside, if I did not have the love for animation and comics, I would not have developed the obsession for drawing non-stop, which is important if you want to be a storyboard artist.
Secondly, hard work is needed in every career path if you want to be successful, so regardless of the challenge and outcome, always try your best because the harder you try the closer you will be to your end goal – persevere!
Last but not least, curiosity is important if you want to tell responsible stories. You have to be curious about everything and everyone, how else will you be able to create realistic worlds or interesting characters? You have to get out of your cocoon, put your phone down and explore your surroundings. Inspiration is out there.
Before we go, any advice you can share with people who are feeling overwhelmed?
When I feel overwhelmed, I like to take a step back.
When I started working in the animation industry, it took me years to get back into my personal stories because I felt overwhelmed with keeping my job.
For a long time, I felt guilt over abandoning my characters but now I realize that’s not true. Due to the fact that my stories are metaphors based on my life and thoughts, they have just been brewing in my mind all this time, becoming more and more interesting as time passes. I’ve learned not to stress about it because they serve their purpose every day by keeping me motivated. Also, first and foremost, my characters are supposed to help me, not stress me out – I remind myself of that constantly.
Another thing that helps me is talking to my fellow artist friends who go through similar situations – sharing perspective and consoling one another is always helpful!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.nadinepromes.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nadinepromes.art/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nadine-promes-garc%C3%ADa-2a519963/
Image Credits
All images belong to Nadine Promes García.
