Meet Dory, the Nelson | Director, Animator & Sequential Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Dory, the Nelson and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Dory, the Nelson, is there something you can share with us that those outside of the industry might not be aware of?
I think that one thing would be that you have to be willing to do it yourself.

So many of us in the creative industry rely on others to validate our dreams by giving us the opportunities to achieve them by working for them in studios or what have you. Not that we shouldn’t seek out these grand opportunities but to rely on them to validate the dreams we have makes us incapable of thinking for ourselves. Our dreams are who we are, so to rely on others to give us a sense of continuity on our way to achieve them creates a never ending gap between our skill and our true potential. Eventually after so long, your self identity as an artist is contradicted seemingly by the heavens themselves. Who you are and the dreams that come with that are no longer convincing to you and a number of things may happen, worst of all is you giving up.
It takes a lot of courage, hard work and sleepless nights but your artistic dream can’t live and die by the decision of a company or whomever else. If you have to do it yourself, then go for it. That’s what it means to have a dream.
Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?Well, unfortunately I’m not at the stage of my career where I’m doing this professionally or even for a living yet. I’ve been at this for about 11 years almost and it hasn’t been easy. There’s a lot that I don’t know and not from lack of preparation, which can prove to be extremely frustrating. What it all boils down to is having the tools to carve out a professional future but not the right ones and that’s a challenge a lot of us artists go through.

However, I wouldn’t trade the experience because for all of its bad times, it gave me the life experience I needed that I wouldn’t have gotten if I found a job right out of college like I wanted. There’s a level of resilience and “groundedness” that I’ve developed over that time where a lot of things that bother other artists within the world of business just don’t bother me.

I have no fear of my ideas being challenged because I don’t recoil at the thought of them being dismantled by opposing points of view. If they can’t hold and fall apart, then my reality has to be adjusted and all that does is make me better equipped to operate in the world. That’s extremely liberating and that mindset has really inspired what exactly I want the world to know about my story and ultimately what I want out of life.

I want to be the freest guy the industry has ever seen. It’s as simple as that.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?One of the best spots is Atlantic Station, hands down! It’s like a little small town and city mix with incredible places to shop and eat. During the holidays and cultural events, it’s decorated for the occasions with a lot of fun things to do for the people who go there to visit. Another great part about it is the view of the city of Atlanta you get, especially at night. Would totally recommend going there!Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shout out?Family and friends are the usual suspects with these things, right? I’ve been fortunate to have extremely supportive parents, mentors, coworkers and close friends that’ve made me into who I am now. I’m very different than what I was at the start of my journey. For the occasion though, I’d like to give a shout out to all of those who’ve made things hard for me and served as obstacles in my life up until this point. I wouldn’t have gotten as strong as I am without them challenging me to dig deep and unlock new levels of potential I didn’t even know I had.

Website: https://www.artstation.com/doryan_nelson

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

Twitter: https://twitter.com/DorytheNelson