Today, it is possible for animation artists to pickup the skills of their trade without going to a special school to study animation. There are numerous great books that teach animation techniques such as Richard William’s The Animator’s Survival Kit. By following the instructions in these books, you can conceivably teach yourself the nuts and bolts of animated film making. Taking the home instruction idea even one step further, some books are now equipped with CDs and DVDs.

The Animator’s Survival Kit: A Manual of Methods, Principles and Formulas for Classical, Computer, Games, Stop Motion and Internet Animators

In a typical animation career you wear many hats. You may have a specific expertise, but chances are that just as often, you’ll juggle many skills and titles from job to job. Animation artists find most of their work via word of mouth. No offense to agents, reps, and recruiters, but to succeed in finding work in the business of animation is to develop and maintain relationships. We are, as Barbra Streisand sang it, “people who need people.”