SPOTLIGHT ON SUCCESS
The
ANIMATED
Life
of Nicholas
Cornell
H
ave you found that special skill, that incredible
talent, that is part of
you? Sometimes you may have
to search for it just a little bit,
but surely it is there, inside of
you.
“Of course!” A day or so later,
Artie at ARG! called Nicholas
and asked if he wanted to be
one of the animators for the
show The Adventures of Turtle
Taido that they were about to
create.
My autistic son Nicholas feels
fortunate because his talent,
and what he loves to do, surfaced in him at a very young
age. As soon as he could pick
up a pencil, he began to create
art.
Nicholas worked as a traditional animator on the show, and
he also created some “extras.”
It was such an awesome experience to work as an animator
on a show that was going to air
on television and to be a part
of the “pipeline” – one of the
many artists it takes to create an animated show. Turtle
Taido is a Nigerian produced
children’s animated show. It is
about a turtle with magic shell
powers whose travel adventures across Nigeria teach children about the culture, geography, and uniquenesses of that
country. The first season of the
show is now completed, and
it has premiered in Nigeria. It
was also one of three nominees
for Best Animation at the Abuja
International Film Festival!
Hopefully, they will soon begin
to animate a second season!
In the beginning he drew
cartoon characters using pencil
and paper. Once in school, he
explored other art forms, such
as painting, mosaic, sculpting, and digital art. He took
every art class available in high
school and participated in the
school-sponsored after school
art club. When he finished high
school, he knew he wanted to
continue learning more about
his craft. Fortunately, he found
the Art Institute of Pittsburgh,
where he was accepted into the
2D Animation Program.
After graduation, Nicholas
moved from Pittsburgh to Virginia, where he tried to make
a living as a freelance artist,
always wondering where he
would find his next client.
Until the next season, though,
Nicholas is keeping busy with
other projects. Recently, he
designed art for the Walk for
Autism Northern Virginia
t-shirt. He is also working on
art projects that he wants to
exhibit in Fairfax Art League’s
galleries, the same galleries to
which he sold a F