First and foremost, I am inspired by my family, pictued above at a photo taken at one of my brother's wedding. From left to right, there's Dylan, Connor, Brennan, Brooklynne, Sheryl, Jonathan, myself, and Matthew. We are a large family of five kids, myself being the middle-child and only girl of the family (don't get me started). All my life I have watched my brothers and parents aspire to greatness and mastery of their chosen field. I've wacthed my brothers push through obstacle after obstacle and remain undaunted. I've watched my parents put in countless hours at work and come home to put in more hours persevering through the trials and tribulations of raising such a large family. I've wacthed all of us strive for all the things we want. My whole family is incredibly driven, and watching them drive has inspired me to pick up the slack in my life. I want to make them proud. I want to do it for them as much as I want to do it for myself.
I mentioned Steven Universe on my home page. I cannot recommend it to people enough, and have actively encouraged many people in my life to watch it a handful of times. Rebecca Sugar, the creator of Steven Universe, has a place in my heart always. She created a story so impactful to me that it helped me clarify what I wanted to do in my life when before I had been aimless. Sugar being a bisexual, non-binary, genderqueer creater showed me at a young age that I too could be proud of my sexuality, that I didn't have to stifle it to create content for the masses, and that these traits were worth embracing, not rejecting. Her work with Steven Universe tackles deeper issues than the classic man vs. other format that many shows at the time featured. Steven Universe dealt with many, many issues that rang true in my own reality, such as:
Witnessing a show that dealt so gracefully with these deep, complicated issues in beautifully stylized twenty-minute episodes made me realize that my understanding of the world and my experience with it all was worth influencing my writing. It also made me feel like I wasn't alone, grappling with these issues at an age in which I was unprepared for the long-term effects of. I felt so touched by this cartoon that it called me to action. I knew what I wanted to do. I wanted to do this for other people, too. I want everyone to know they're not alone, and I want to do it in stylized episodes that are worth coming back to over and over again.
There is a scene in Steven Universe that was so beautifully animated, so skillfully executed, that I knew I aspired to that level of excellence. I have studied this short, twenty-four-second pencil test over and over (Spoilers for the finale of Steven Universe!!).
The finalized version that was aired during the finale is below.
Often times I will watch the pencil test as .25 playback speed just to watch how many frames were used to acheive such jaw-dropping fluidity. It's also worth nothing that the massive character in the back was not 3D modeled; this feat of excellence was achieved all with 2D character models and a consistency I aspire to. The animator of this aspiration-altering scene is none other than James Baxter. You can watch other pencil tests of his here. Baxter has animated for many cartoons I hold dear. Some of his features include: