Sandra Loke

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What is your name and your current occupation?
My name is Sandra Loke and I’m currently working as a freelance Layout Artist and Background Painter at Chuck Gammage Animation.

Haha Well, I used to work at a Golf Course doing maintenance. I got to cut grass on some crazy machines. I also had to watch out for golfers cause some of them liked to aim at you!

The first thing I got to work on was a DC Nation’s short. I remember when I was in my interview they were like “so can you do layouts?” and I said yes. Then they were like “well you get to do Batman.” It was totally a dream come true. The little girl inside my head was like OMG BATMAN YAY!!!

When I was five years old my cousin was marrying a guy who was working at Warner Bros on Tiny Toons and is still at Warner Bros today. I would ask him to draw me pictures of Tiny Toons characters and then I asked him to draw me Batman. Ever since then I was always drawing and I just knew when I got older that animation was the career for me 🙂

Where are you from and how did you get into the animation business?
I was born and raised in Canada. I got into the Animation program at Sheridan College after completing their Art Fundamentals program. I was working really hard to get into animation and was super excited when I got the accepted. I couldn’t imagine myself doing anything else now.

What’s a typical day like for you with regards to your job?
I usually wake up early in the morning and start doing some stretches and exercise. It helps me feel more energized for work.  After that I put on the headphones and get to drawing.  I like to research things and then it’s draw, draw, draw. Usually meet up with my supervisor to show how things are going. It’s a pretty relaxed work environment.
What part of your job do you like best? Why? 

I really like the fact that there are so many amazing projects going on. I get excited when I get to start something new and see it through to the end.  Recently, I got to work on storyboards for a MAD TV parody of Mythbusters that has now aired. It was super cool to see what the projected looked like in the end.

The thing I like least about my job is that sometimes, being in a small studio and being freelance, there are months where you don’t get any work.

At work I draw and paint using a Cintiq. At home I have a large Wacom tablet. There are pros and cons to both. The one thing that bugged me about the Cintiq was the glare I got on the screen. I tried everything, but nothing helps when you have a light directly above you.

I would have to say the job security. It’s very hard to find a full time position. Most of the jobs seem to be short term contracts.

Yes. I’ve met many amazing people at conventions 🙂

Well as an artist you always question yourself if you’re good enough. It can be a good thing and a bad thing. In my case I find that it’s a good motion for me to strive to do better. I just keep pushing myself to that next level.

In my spare time I generally like to sketch and work on personal pieces. Need to keep on drawing 🙂

Hahaha I actually can tie a cheery stem with my tongue.

You’ve got to love what you do. It’s a lot of hard work, but it’s so rewarding in the end. Just keep drawing and don’t give up!