This week, we had the chance to talk to Tyler (a.k.a. ng_tyler) from Planet Dolan! Planet Dolan is an animated YouTube series that has 5.6 million subscribers! We chatted with Tyler and got to see how he was able to get a career as an artist, animator, and game developer.
Name: Tyler (advised not to use full name)
Job: Artist for Planet Dolan
Location: Pennsylvania
Is there anything you do outside of doing art for Planet Dolan?
The Dolan thing is very recent. I’ve been making games since 2010. It started out as a hobby and then it became a job a few years after. It was a hobby, I got a job and then after my hobby made more money than my job, I quit. It’s an on and off profession. It is not very stable. Working with Dolan is me looking for something more stable.
So since your hobby became your profession, is there something you did before making games?
I was a graphic designer for a year. I worked for this stock firm and it was very boring and it was very, like, soul crushing design, layout things, ugh. Occasionally there were some fun projects, but for the most part it was boring logo stuff.
Did you know you always wanted to be an artist or were you inspired by something to start making art?
As long as I can remember (art) was always something that I was doing, but I never took it beyond a hobby, really, I just did it for fun. It’s funny, I grew up in a small town and I was always scared to share my drawings or to take it more seriously than it was. “Laughs” I was always getting made fun of for drawing because it was weird for where I grew up. I grew up in a small town in Pennsylvania. I always wanted to draw heroes and make little stories. Art was a weird thing because everyone was into drawing the same things. Like, everyone was into drawing deer. Since everyone was a hunter, everyone was into drawing deer. I was just considered weird because I drew these outside things and had a different taste. Honestly, it made me stop drawing for a while.
So you went from drawing to not drawing to picking it up again. Have you noticed any change in your creativity or how did you choose to do what you do now?
I like working with people, honestly. At this point, everything that I do is collaborative. For Dolan, everything is their characters and I help bring it to life. For my own work, for my own games it’s always someone else that I’m working with so it is always passing back and forth ideas. Everything now has a purpose, as opposed to before everything I did was just selfish fun. Most people that I know are pretty collaborative too. It’s rare you’ll find someone who has all of the skills to do everything by themselves. You have to have so many skills to do this on your own. You need to be an artist, a designer, a sound designer, editor.
Who are some of the people who give you inspiration and why?
Tom Fulp. He made New Grounds and Castle Crashers. He’s just a really great person, very driven and very kind. He made a website to and New Grounds has inspired so many people. You wouldn’t have game grumps without it, you wouldn’t have Cuphead. There’s so many things that came from it. He made a game studio with it. He’s one person, a moral person like you and me and inspires so many artists to learn and grow. He is just so admirable.
How did you figure out that you wanted to get into video games?
You know, I always really liked them. When I was younger I would always make mock-ups, screenshots and walk-throughs and it was just fun. I never knew that anything was going to happen. I just liked to pretend that it was going to happen. The first game that I made was only because someone asked me to make it. I never showed any artist and art and was like “let’s work together.” I truly thought that it would be garbage and no one would play it. I made the game and things were pretty quiet for like a month and then the guy comes back to me and he has a check for me. I mean, I was just doing it for fun! It was really cool, I was very surprised. So then I began to think that I would do more with it and I kind of just rolled with it.
Since you started doing this, has there ever been a time where you doubted it because you started to feel like it was more like work than fun?
The uncertainty never goes away. When you’re doing this by yourself or with a small team, there is always a sense of uncertainty when you are in charge of something. You never know, you just do the best you can. Maybe it will work out, you never know if it will. There is no guarantee. I really like it and I don’t regret what I have done.
It’s work and fun. It’s fun coming up with the idea, expanding on the idea and it’s fun when it’s done, but that is a very short part. The rest of it is just a lot of work.
How long does it take you to complete a project?
I can’t think of an exact number. My last project took a little over a year. This project is going to be 2 years.
How do you organize yourself with such a long timeline?
It’s a mix of chaos. I have a routine. Every morning I will exercise first thing and then I will end the day by playing video games or reading before sleep. In between that is work time. That is the chaotic part. Work time changes every week. When I find myself procrastinating, I will just sit down and write about why I am procrastinating or why I am wasting my time.
How does your family deal with you trying to make a living as an artist?
Oh, they don’t understand it, but that’s okay. I remember the first time I started doing it and then I moved to Philadelphia. They were like “what the **** are you doing? This game stuff is just a stupid hobby.” So they didn’t get it, they didn’t understand. I made more money than any other job I ever had. They are fine with it now, they get it now since I proved it to them. I don’t blame them. They don’t really understand the internet. They can’t imagine it as a path, so to them it is the unknown. The unknown is scary and you want to protect your kids, so I get it. It was pretty much all disapproval for a long time. Everyone disapproved including my parents, teachers, guidance counselors, like everyone though it was a bad move. I just didn’t care what anyone else thought.
Is there any piece of advice that you live by?
“I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul” by Ernest Hemingway. Pretty much, just take responsibility.
Were you inspired by Tyler’s story? Find out here how you can get started as an animator or check any of the links below.
The Top 5 Reasons to Learn Animation
Beginning Animation: The Process
An Animation Blog 