Prop and background artists should show samples of everyday objects in their portfolios. This is a lamppost as sketched by Carlos Ramos. © Nickelodeon.

Background Painting:
Know the difference between the gray-blue of a stormy sky and the blue-green tones of the ocean's depths? Can you paint with water colors or acrylics, control a wash and use an airbrush? Can you reproduce the texture of stone or the translucence of glass without resorting to a computer program? If you answered, "Yes!" to these questions, this might be the job for you.

Portfolio Requirements:
Color, color and more color. Most background paintings are done "on the clock" so fast-drying mediums are the norm. Acrylics are the paint of necessity. If you are able to "paint" by computer that's "nice" but it must be an additional skill, not the basis of your work. Slides of your best work are okay but I prefer to look at good color copies or original material.

Color Key:
Originally done by the Background department, it is now a separate job. This involves choosing the colors of the characters and props, sometimes changing the palette between day and night. The colors of the backgrounds must be considered carefully when choosing the character palette. This is a hard job to get "right outta school." I usually hire professionals with examples of production work. A solid graphic arts portfolio with lots of examples of the good use of color in layout, background painting and character designs might get you a starting spot as a back-up artist.

"The best professional artists are those who can't stop drawing." These sketches by Carlos Ramos were made while observing a Tai Chi class. © Nickelodeon

Tips of the Trade
When bringing in a portfolio, make a selection of your best work. Don't bring in everything in the hope that my worst taste may lie somewhere in your drawings.

I like to see "napkin" portfolios. A sketch book tells me more about your ability than the senior project you spent six months perfecting. I like to see what you draw when you're having fun. Bring the doodles you do when you're riding the Metro-Rail or waiting to be served at a restaurant. The best professional artists are those you can't stop drawing. They draw well, they draw fast and they draw all the time.

However, I need to see that you have a range. Life drawings are useful but so are animal sketches. If you have more than one style, show it off. I'm not interested in seeing various techniques so important in publication art. Save the scratch-board stuff for the weekends.

I don't run an art school so you'd better know the basics of proportion, anatomy, perspective, vanishing points and the "golden mean." I hire artists and train them into specific, marketable goals in animation, but I don't teach life drawing.

Animation is booming. Talented, hard-working artists are in demand. A solid portfolio is the first step to getting a professional gig in the industry. Good luck. I hope to be seeing your portfolio soon.

View additional drawings from the sketchbook of Carlos Ramos.

Larry Huber is certainly a veteran of television animation. He started out in 1969 as an assistant animator at Hanna-Barbera, then worked for 15 years as a producer at Ruby-Spears, after working on features with Ralph Bakshi. He returned to Hanna-Barbera in 1990, and this year, moved over to Nicktoons, where he is executive producer on a new pilot series of animated shorts.