MANILA, PHILIPPINES — If you tell a young boy who makes robots out of clothespins that, one day, he would actually get to build that and more, his eyes would light up, and the gears in his mind would start whirring faster than any robot imaginable.
That was the case for Ryan Serrano, a 3D character artist working with New Zealand-based visual effects studio Weta FX, who took the stage as one of the esteemed guest speakers of Graphika Manila 2024, held from February 17 to 18 at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City.
Ryan kicked off his talk by addressing his roots. Born and raised in the Philippines, his passion for drawing and creating things started very young. Drawing dinosaurs and creating robot-like figures out of clothespins were some of the ways he exercised his creativity.
Fueled by his passion for creating art and modeling sculptures, Ryan spared no detail in sharing his creative processes and production workflows — a result of a rich, 12-year-long career that gave him the privilege of working on projects such as Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Marvel, DC, Transformers, Disney, James Cameron’s Avatar, and many more.
Ryan then attributed his career success to grit, growth, and gratitude, which he called the “art of achieving goals.”
“Grit is a force that can get you to the top,” Ryan shared. “I kept working on my skills, kept thinking positive that someday, somehow, I’ll be given a chance. And if that opportunity comes, I’ll nail it.”
“Our goals lie beyond the fear zone. If you don’t try to cross that part of your journey, you’ll risk getting stuck in the comfort zone. Nothing grows in the comfort zone,” Ryan emphasized. He added that it is essential to understand your strengths and weaknesses and highlighted the importance of improving one’s networking skills to get where you need to be in your career.
Ryan concluded his talk by thanking his supporters, associates, and mentors — or “SAM” as he prefers to call it — a reference to Samwise Gamgee from Lord of the Rings, to whom Ryan stated as an important and ideal companion to have in your journey as a creative.
adobo Magazine is an official media partner of Graphika Manila 2024.
