MIKE MATTESI
Artist, Teacher, Creator of FORCE drawing
Today’s interview is with Mike Mattesi, artist, teacher, entrepreneur, writer, creator of FORCE drawing.
My goal behind these interviews is to not only getting to know people in the industry to celebrate what they have accomplished but to also go behind the scenes and get an idea of who they are at their core: their personality, what motivates them, how they think about themselves, how they think about their craft, talk about their struggles, their values… And most importantly, to learn from them.
A quick intro:
In this interview, we talk about the importance of empathy, perseverance, patience, curiosity, the ability to plan, schedule, and goal setting. His drawing style called FORCE is truly unique and it seems to be a clear representation of how he sees and understands the world.
If there is one thing that caught my eyes in reading the answers to this interview is his way of working around structure. That is, to understand how things work with the type of curiosity that breaks something down into its component pieces that can be analyzed and understood before putting them back together. This is also displayed in his books, from his analysis of the anatomy of human beings to dissecting the anatomy of a line. This rich understanding of the small has a way of bringing his drawings to life from the subject to the paper, from the inside-out, understanding shapes as the result of form and function.
The same framework of clarity and structure appears to me to be present not only in his drawings but also in how he organizes his life, his thoughts, and his schedule. We finish the interview by applying this focus on the inside to others, developing empathy as a way to understand other people and ourselves.
“Thinking back to my teens, a close friend of mine said to me I was always interested in the WHYs and HOWs of things.”
Courtesy of Mike Mattesi
1. Give us a small introduction about what you do and your professional journey so far.
I currently instruct my drawing approach called FORCE at my website, DrawingFORCE.com. My career over the last 30 years has taken me across feature animation, comics, video games, advertising, toy design, entrepreneurship, writing, and teaching. I think I have done just about every job in art outside of 3D work. I have art directed 3D work for years but have not become a 3D artist myself.
Thinking back to my teens, a close friend of mine said to me I was always interested in the WHYs and HOWs of things. During my years in art school, I taught drawing since I was so in love with the act of learning it myself. During those years at art school, I personally felt myself changing, improving and I gained a real sense of pride. I enjoyed asking my instructors questions about WHY they did what they did and what they thought about when they worked.
Most of my role models are from the past. My drawing mentors showed me patience and a constant interest in supporting me through my onslaught of questions. Also, there was a therapist in NYC named Armand Demille who’s radio program I listened to for many years. He was a genius and I learned so much from him. My friend Mark is a rock of character and I always strive to accomplish his sense of fairness and clarity.
2. Why drawing?
I went to school for comics. Animation found me. Disney Animation had an internship relationship with my art school, SVA. Anthony Cipriano, a fellow SVA student had just returned from the internship program during the Fall and came into a class I was attending to share with us his Disney experience. After the class, I informed Anthony that I was interested and he took me to his car where the portfolio that gained him entrance into Disney resided. After looking through his drawings, I realized I might have a chance to enter Disney and thus a new goal was born.
Drawing is such an amazing visual, mental, and physical experience. It so clearly defines my thoughts and emotions. It is so immediate and clear. I love it.
Drawing is a language to communicate with. For me, it is a direct path from my being to the page.
I think one of my favorite times with art was during the creation of intellectual properties. I really enjoyed using my skills to create characters and worlds.
These properties told stories that reflected what was and is important to me, my personal themes.
3. What does a day in your life look like today?
I usually teach through my mentorship program from around 9 am till early afternoon. I have a late lunch, where I sit on my desk and read the news, relax, go through email. Then I teach from 5 pm till about 8 pm. I do this most days of the week. I host the FORCE Live sessions on YouTube every Friday and spend time with my family on weekends and late evenings. At night I draw while watching tv. Pretty simple life I guess. Summers, I travel to Europe and teach FORCE workshops. I love traveling.
I am always improving the curriculum of the FORCE drawing approach. I have been thinking about pitching cartoon ideas again and I am writing two new FORCE books.
4. Do you have any practices/habits that help support your performance in your work?
My life is on Google Calendar. I host around 30-40 meetings a week, not only teaching but business meetings, marketing, personal, etc. None of this would be possible without me organizing my time.
I couldn’t imagine living without this calendar. The most valuable thing any of us have is time. I guess it is possible to over manage it as well. I try to find time where I can live in the moment, relax, and allow life to happen. The rest of the week, I control my time. : )
5. What was one of the biggest challenges of your career/life and how did you overcome it?
The most pressure I have ever been under was when I was about to go broke due to my art school and I lived in Glendale with my family. We had enough savings to live in CA for only one more month. I needed to find a job ASAP. I designed a portfolio thinking I could try to get a job in animation again but I realized no matter what job I got, it probably would not pay our monthly bills. It came down to me trusting that I will pull my family and me out of this situation. Later that week, a close friend called with an art director job opportunity up in the Bay area! I interviewed and got the job.
I think perseverance has become my middle name….unintentionally. All of the best things in my life have come through perseverance and sometimes lots of patience. My books, my wife, many of the jobs I had came through diligence, trial, and error.
I think I was surprised that the school financially failed. I had never really failed in anything before that. And this was big, living in CA was very important to move in and I was afraid I would have to move in with family on the east coast.
Also, when it takes a while to accomplish a goal, sometimes years, it is easy to lose faith in your ability to get there. Sometimes you have the ability to get there on your own and other times you need to reach out to others to help support you.
When in pain, the kindest thing I can do for myself to get back on track is…
Buy new inspiration, go back to the things I love, and allow that into my being. There are a few things that motivate me.
I love seeing others improve and grow as individuals.
I love accomplishing what I think may be impossible for me to accomplish.
6. What personal skills/qualities do you think helped you reach where you are?
As we discussed before, perseverance, control over my time, goal setting, and at times, trying to accomplish the almost impossible. I believe in myself to accomplish what I put my intentions on.
I think I am good at breaking anything down to its core components. This allows me to teach. I also then am able to build up systems from core ideas.
This has helped in teaching, art direction, directing, creating my brand and so much more!
7. What is the one thing you know to be true about yourself?
I am sincere, impressionable, inspired, curious, confident, and at times fragile.
If I have to define constant traits of my life they would be curiosity and being impressionable. I like to be affected, I want to be affected and moved and hopefully do the same for others.
8. Do you have a personal philosophy? What does that mean to you?
I love being inspired and I strive to bring that feeling out in others, to help them believe in themselves so that they can accomplish the life they desire, as I have.
Life is divided into things you go after and things that come to you. Personally, I love going after the things, I want to see if I can make them happen.
Follow your bliss...and have the confidence to do so.
9. What do you think are your greatest strengths in your work?
I believe I am clear in presenting complicated ideas, that I inspire others to believe in themselves, I am organized and I can see the system and hierarchy of anything. If I need to, I know how to ask the right questions to get the answers I need to better understand something. I am honest, compassionate, and trustworthy.
10. What, in your eyes, is the most challenging part of your work?
Of late, what I struggle with most is deciding what goals I am willing to let go of and what I want to focus on.
I usually feel stressed when I have many students to teach and not enough time in the day to balance that effort with free time for myself.
My toughest decisions involve my family. It feels to me like every decision is so darn important.
I wish I was more lighthearted and funny. I am always pondering and figuring things out.
11. What are you looking for at this time in your life? Do you have a vision for the near future?
I have some books I am working on but I want to decide if I will return to pitching IPs or not, maybe create a comic book...not sure.
- If you could accomplish only one thing before you died, what would it be?
To direct a live-action film or create a comic book that becomes one and be alive to see it happen.
- What is the thing that will bring you the greatest joy?
No financial stress, calmness, focus..teaching a few dedicated students a week, and lots of traveling.
12. If you were to give any advice to your younger/less mature self, what would that be?
Never doubt what you can become. Make it happen. You can do it!!!
One of the most important lessons I’ve learned is that empathy is powerful, understanding others and therefore better understand yourself.
When you listen to others you learn more about how you work or do not as well. You also create stronger ties to the people in your life and learn how to connect and care more.
Courtesy of Mike Mattesi
You can connect with Mike at:
Youtube: FORCE with Mike Mattesi
Instagram: @MichaelMattesi
E-mail: mike (at) drawingforce.com
Website: drawingFORCE.com
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