Meet Ellie Copeland | Visual Development and Background Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Ellie Copeland and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Ellie, why did you pursue a creative career?
I pursued an artistic career because art was something I grew up with and eventually knew it was something I could spend my whole life doing. As a kid, I had two amazing role models, my parents. They always encouraged my creativity be it drawing, painting, jewelry making or even ceramics. I grew each year into new mediums and honed my skills into a hobby that I was proud of. As I started to consider colleges in high school, I asked myself the main and only question about what I wanted to do in life. Did I want to sit in a lab all day pursuing a career in Biology, or did I want to sit in a studio all day pursuing a career in Animation? The answer was simple, I wanted to do Animation. From there my path was set. Having two parents that encouraged my passion, as well as pursued a creative career in industrial design, made me subconsciously recognize that it was possible to achieve a career in art. I never felt that fear of choosing a creative career because both my parents have achieved it before me, and I knew I could too, as long as I followed what I loved to do.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
My art is such a big part of my life that it ebbs and flows as I’ve grown up and developed as an artist. I have always had a hobbyist outlook in a lot of my work. I would pick up sewing one summer, and then get halfway through a project and realize that I had found some other medium more exciting. But I always circled back at some point to finish those projects. One of those hobbies that I look to expand more on, in the next couple months, is my jewelry making with selling on my Etsy store. I opened my shop for the first time in middle school selling prints of my work (sold none, mind you), and then sporadically opened it in high school when I had a zines or earring designs that I had created and wanted to sell. Since college, I opened my shop less and less as the stress and demands of my course work grew. But now since graduating, I have been able to immerse myself back into that hobby, creating earrings in bulk, to sell, and hopefully make a profit from. This aspect is only a small portion of the art I want to create. Being fresh out of college, I have yet to establish myself in the larger entertainment industry. Even with having two internships under my belt, it’s difficult to know how soon I can do that. I aspire to enter the animation industry working as a concept development artist on animated shows and movies. Since graduating, I have been conversing with industry professionals to get their stories and their insight on how I can improve my work and how to break my way in earlier. One of the strongest pieces of advice I’ve received is, every day, do something for your career. This can be applying to a job, tweaking your portfolio, or sketching while going out to a cafe. Anything that keeps you focused, creative, and driven to improve yourself you should do. Another, more humble piece of advice I’ve received, is that you will break into the industry later than you want to. This is true on so many different levels that it’s slightly depressing. However, that though can never stop you from reaching you goals. Rather than let this thought drag me down, I look to gain inspiration from it and prove it wrong. I am so excited to see what I can do next and how I will grow over the next years, to make that dream of working in animation, a reality.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Being a current Minnesota local, there is a ton of spots that I would love to take my friends. The only annoying thing is that there is so much to do around the year that it’s hard to settle on just one week. Let’s say, for right now, it’s at the end of August. The first main thing that I would take them to is the State Fair. We would eat our way around the grounds, stopping at anything and everything that struck our fancy. That, in itself, can take the day. Some of the little quaint cities I would take them to are Excelsior, Stillwater, Taylors Falls, and Duluth. These cute cities are always fun to go to when you want to go window shopping by some water. But what’s window shopping without some food? Some of the best places to eat are scattered around the Twin Cities. My favorite is Yumi’s Sushi in Excelsior. Some of my other favorites are Pho 79 on Energy Park Drive in St. Paul, the Poke House and Tea Bar in Plymouth, Adele’s Frozen Custard also in Excelsior, George and The Dragon in Minneapolis, and Owamni by The Sioux Chef also in Minneapolis. There are an additional thousand places to go eat that are just as good, but it would take much more than a week to go visit them all. If you were looking however, for something quick and culturally significant to our Midwest roots, hit a Culver’s or Caribou Coffee. Lastly, there are a ton of hidden gems in the Twin Cities. At the top of my list are Buffalo Exchange where you can find the coolest thrifts in town, Buffalo Nickel closely named to Buffalo Exchange but instead of clothes it’s a massive barn filled with antiques, Cossetta which doubles as an Italian eatery and market, the Asian Mall in Eden Prairie where you can find any snacks when you’re feeling peckish (my favorite tea brand is here), and of course, we can’t forget The Mall of America. If you’re looking to immerse yourself in art and science, there are a ton of museum and art show options. The Minneapolis Institute of Art, the Wiesman Art Museum, the Minnesota Children’s Museum, The Uptown Art Fair, and the Stone Arch Art Fair are always a blast to visit. Finally, after the end of a tiring week and you’re just looking for some relaxation and time in the sun, there are over 10,000 lakes to choose from that you can’t go wrong with.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I think the biggest support in my creative journey has been the professors and friends I learned from, and learned with, at SCAD (Savannah College of Art and Design). My professors’ wisdom, constant encouragement, and demand for the best of my abilities, pushed me to prove myself and aspire to new heights. Their knowledge about the industry, and good practices, has set me up for success down the road. My friends, in all of the late nights working, kept me sane. Their growing skills along my own, made for an exciting environment as we learned and improved together. They were there at every aspect, for every class, providing critique that sparked new ideas and the desire to keep going. When the hours ticked on, and the deadlines piled up, they were the ones that reminded me that it was all worth it. Through late nights brewing tea to stay awake, tearful moments fueled by stress, afternoons playing volleyball in a gym, and Thursday nights in a dorm watching a movie, they are the friends and the connections I will remember for the rest of my life.

Website: https://www.elliezcopeland.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elliezcopeland/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ellie-copeland-424175209/