We recently connected with Corey O’Brien and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Corey, really happy you were able to join us today and we’re looking forward to sharing your story and insights with our readers. Let’s start with the heart of it all – purpose. How did you find your purpose?
I can best answer this question by not answering as I do not believe in an individual’s ‘purpose’; and if I did it would be the last thing I’d want to discover. Blame my cynicism but I don’t believe anyone is put here, let alone put here with a destiny in mind. I think we are all cosmic burps created as the result of millions of years worth of universal indigestion.
I know people tend to be wary of this type of — for lack of a better term — nihilism, but to me pointlessness and the lack a cosmic purpose is what makes life beautiful. After all, when there are no blueprints you can build whatever you want; without a destination you can go wherever the hell you’d like.
The one goal I’ve always had in life — after finding out entomology required a lot of schoolwork and that I was too much like Marcus to be Indiana Jones — is to tell stories and have my audience excitedly ask: “What comes next?!” From the first time I put pencil to paper at age three I realized I could create anything and everything and so much more on that blank canvas. It was like discovering a magical power. I kept at it, not so much drawing as creating, building worlds I wanted to visit and characters I so wanted to meet. My pencil was my wand and I kept practicing my magic. Art classes were like attending Hogwarts. Hell, at one point in my life I could tell a paper’s weight just by rubbing it between my thumb and pointer.
Drawing every day, attending art school, teaching and tutoring art eventually cumulated into my career as a freelance illustrator. Now introducing my worlds to the real world and my characters to real people pays the rent as well. I’ve developed my interests into a career where I’m almost constantly at work yet I haven’t worked in a decade.
But even looking back on that time when I was three and just discovering my passion, I don’t think I ever once attributed it to a purpose or the result of a cosmic plan; I think both these concepts hammer away at the human soul and, to some degree, rob us of our accomplishments. I discovered magic simply because I found it enthralling.
Life has no meaning and therefore it can mean whatever we’d like.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
I am a freelance illustrator specializing in visual storytelling. My areas include storyboarding, character design and development, creative writing and comic books. I’ve created for video games and short films but mostly for independent comic books and visual projects. Though I have clients from all over my schedule leaves me ample time to work on my own personal stories and projects which have led to a considerable following on a platform I spend most of my time disparaging: social media.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
STUBBORNNESS Sure, I could’ve said ‘determination’ but that’s not as amusing. Plus it’s cliche.
I think, at the end of the day, this is what’s going to lead you to victory. Life loves to throw obstacles at you, to the point where it’s hard to believe God doesn’t have a sick sense of humor. Hard-headedness, perseverance…call it what you like but the most important thing is that you keep going, keep sloshing through the mud because, as a deceptively wise Simpson once said: “It’s nothing but wet dirt”. All the naysayers and haters and heart-breakers and break-ups and bills and family drama are nothing more than imaginary obstacles. You probably don’t believe that now but one day you probably will.
Something else to keep in mind: everyone is on their own journey, writing their own book. You’re going to run into a lot of people who think their book is the only book but what works for them won’t necessarily work for you and vice versa. Let them write their own book and listen to the notes they give with an open mind; but at the end of the day your chapter should only be written by ONE person.
KINDNESS
Yeah yeah, this is cliche but cliches exist for a reason.
Be kind to people, or at least considerate; I learned this from my Mom. Kindness is important on a professional level but, and more importantly, on a human level. We are all fellow travelers on this journey so the ride’s gonna’ go a lot smoother if we treat each other well. You don’t have to like them, you don’t even have to hang out with them, but you should be civil to them.
It’s going to be difficult, you see impolite and disrespectful people all the time and it’s easy to want to vomit their rudeness right back in their faces, but before you do stop and ask yourself: “Is this person a dick, or are they just having a bad day?”
APATHY
Let me explain…
I don’t mean in the sense that you shouldn’t care about anything, but you shouldn’t care about MOST things because most things you can’t control. Obsessions and worry will eat you alive, trust me; I spent most of my life worrying about things that either never happened or weren’t worth a second thought. And I’ve spent MORE time obsessing over things that happened in the past which is so stupid it physically hurts to admit. You can’t spread your care and attention over too much or there’ll be nothing of you left.
Remember though, this is just MY book.
We’ve all got limited resources, time, energy, focus etc – so if you had to choose between going all in on your strengths or working on areas where you aren’t as strong, what would you choose?
At least from a professional standpoint: I think it’s better to play to our strengths. In art school one of my best instructors taught us that one day. He said if a client wants a matte painting they’re going to hire a matte painter, not someone who matte paints AND does stop motion.
It’s been my experience that, for the most part, he was right. If you like matte painting go all in and be the best damn matte painter you can be. Client’s are sooner to come to you before someone who does matte painting while juggling photography and pottery.
I just think there’s a difference between a ‘jack of all trades’ and someone who can’t keep a job because they lack direction. When you spread yourself that thin there’s not much left for skill or pride in the job.
I’m certainly not saying you shouldn’t dabble in other fields, artist or not; but from a professional standpoint it’s better to pick a primary.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dragoneyeproductions/?img_index=1
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/corey.obrien.509/
- Other: https://coreyobrienillustration.blogspot.com/
Image Credit: Kyle Asher
