By Jacob Peterson
Amber Rankin knew she wanted to work in 2D animation since she was little, making it a goal that she’s worked toward for much of her life.
Rankin is a freelance illustrator, animator and muralist and has been in Sacramento since 2010. Originally from Windsor, a small town in Sonoma County, she initially got interested in animation through watching Disney movies growing up.
“Even when I was little there was an interest in how animated movies were made,” Rankin says. “My mom said ‘That’s a job someone does, they draw the whole movie,’ and I was like ‘That is
what I will do.’”
Rankin got involved with making art early on, working on various projects in middle and high school before going to UC Davis to earn a bachelor’s degree in studio art. She then pivoted to animation, attending the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, but it was a difficult path.
“It was 2009 and it was a recession, so there were no jobs, it was really intense and you didn’t know what the heck you were going to do,” Rankin says. “I started [graduate school] online and eventually I got a flexible schedule from my job so I could commute once a week to San Francisco to work on the 2D animation degree.”
It would take time but Rankin earned her master’s degree in 2D animation in 2017, though even then she needed to figure out how she was going to break into the industry. She started off by working at local conventions and made her way from there.
“I wasn’t sure what to expect, but it went really well so I branched out into trying others and eventually got into some animation specific ones,” Rankin says. “By the end of the year, through applying, I got a position at a tech company doing ads that ran in-between mobile games.”
She held that job until last January. Rankin’s work as a professional artist hasn’t been limited to just animation; she started working as a graphic artist for an archeology company after moving to Sacramento. Much of that company’s work came from county and state agencies, and it would be through them that Rankin began working in public arts in 2020.
“I was helping [the archeology company] find work and I actually saw the different calls for art from muralists and I was like, ‘Oh I didn’t know that’s where you would find them,’ so I started applying to those,” Rankin says. “I got into the Capitol Box Art wrap and then applied to a few more throughout COVID.”
Some of Rankin’s other animation projects have included short films, including the 2020 short “Let’s Eat.” “That was one of the first short films I worked on and it was a very cool experience,” Rankin says. “I did some concept work for them, but it was like 150 people volunteering on the film to bring it to completion.”
Rankin has managed to build a place for herself in the animation industry, but it took time and effort. One of the biggest pieces of advice she has for new artists is to be flexible in their career path.
“You need to kind of look at your career in a fluid way,” Rankin says. “Most jobs I think for almost any career right now, but most especially in our field, are not going to be forever, and so you have to always be thinking of: Where else could I use these skills?’”
Currently, she looks to continue building her portfolio as well as doing more work with public arts. In particular, she said it would be great to eventually land a job as a Disney animator. “I feel like for almost everyone who gets into animation that’s like an endpoint,” Rankin says. “I would love to do that eventually, that is definitely the goal.”