Wellesley in Art: Interview with Animator Alyssa Torres ‘09 (@alyssasketchd)
Self portrait by Alyssa Torres
Animation and illustration fans can find lots to enjoy on Alyssa’s website http://alyssasketchd.tumblr.com/. It is not only a place to catch glimpses of the alum’s works in progress, but for fellow artists to catch up on animation news and share uplifting messages. Her posts are full of links to other pages featuring Disney characters and DC and Marvel superheros. Colorful, funny and clearly born from the rich tradition of classic western animation, Alyssa’s work, in part, stands out because she casts women, women of color, or animals we can infer as female in the leading roles in her illustrations, often portraying them as funny and strong.
Her latest studio role was as Lead Animator at The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children and she continues to pursue her own projects. She regularly travels the comic convention circuit where she meets like minded fans and fellow artists. She has managed to branch out into web comics, jewelry, and story boarding to name just a few. She set aside some time to talk about her career, the influence of Wellesley, and where she sees her industry going in regards to ethnic, gender and cultural diversity.
On the diversity of gender and race of the characters in her work
My vision is focused on diversity and women. A lot of men will talk to me about my work and say "You're pretty biased." And I tell them, "Yes, incredibly, because when else am I going to get the media that I want?" I see comics and video games and movies featuring girls fighting to earn back their mother's cherished swords. International groups of women who go on intergalactic adventures and struggle to not repeat the mistakes their colonialist ancestors made. There is so much potential to equalize the playing field in terms of gender and cultural diversity and I want to add to the underrepresented side as much as possible.
Top: Starfire Middle: Huntress Bottom: Batgirl. Drawings from Alyssa’s participation in the October 2014 internet drawing challenge “Inktober,” where artists are encouraged to create one ink drawing for each day of the month. Alyssa chose the theme of female superheros and assembled the collection into a book called Superladies.
On discrimination in the comics and animation industry
I want to make it clear that I know so many other women in animation and comics who have had absolutely awful experiences with their colleagues, but so far I have been extremely lucky not to have had the negative experiences others have.
What is beautiful during huge animation events is the overwhelming number of marginalized groups in the up-and-coming student population and how much support they get from the professionals. Animation is a free-for-all and networks for women are ever growing. At CTN [Creative Talent Network expo] last year, I was able to attend a panel where 4 women who worked at Pixar got to discuss their experiences being a tiny 20% of the entire studio. The people who do have their foot in the door are really voicing their opinions more than ever and they’re doing everything they can to improve diversity wherever they are. And more and more, those in power are receptive to these perspectives. The outliers exist but it’s a beautiful time in animation.
Comics is catching up but the move from globalization to localization is where that industry is really making strides. The big two (DC and Marvel) have been called to task over and over and they’re doing what giant corporations can do but indie comics are exploding thanks to the internet and the increasing popularity of small press events. SPX [Small Press Expo], APE [Alternative Press Expo], Smudge, MOCCA [Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art], all of these are festivals or expos where your silly little comic about a corgi having a bad day can find new readers and inspire another 50 zines about corgis. It’s been a while since zines were crazy popular but their resurgence is an amazing side effect of people being frustrated with mainstream comics. That’s how we’ve gotten such amazing work like Princess Princess, Nimona, and Super Mutant Magic Academy.
It’s so easy for me to find work by women, women of color, queer women of color and other marginalized groups that I wonder how I get any of my own work done. What it comes down to, for me, is that it’s so easy to believe that everyone is out to get you. Some people really are but when the silver lining is so lush and supportive, why should I let that negativity stop me from supporting and creating the things I want to see and read?
“Valkyrie of Nimh,” by Alyssa shown at the art gallery, Fan Alley, in Anaheim, CA January 2015. For the show, artists paid tribute to director and former Disney animator Don Bluth. Alyssa says she created this piece to elevate the status of the character Mrs. Brisby from Bluth’s movie “The Secret of NIMH,” one of her favorite films. “I couldn't help but think of how Mrs. Brisby came out of her shell and became the woman that everyone relied on at the end of the movie, I just thought she was fantastic,” said Alyssa.
On how Wellesley influenced her art career
Wellesley gave me a better vocabulary for criticizing the industries I would be entering and it was easy for me to develop the tools I need to make the change I wanted to see from the studios I loved. For example, on one project I was working on, there was a scene where a Mommy Bunny confronts a bully character and then hops off with her Bunny Baby. Everyone else in the room wanted the Mommy to have super long eyelashes, blush, carry a purse and wear pearls but I was able to talk the group out of it by offering a more logical choice that was much less stereotypical.
Two stills from “It’s Okay to Tell,” copyright 2013 National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, which you can find here. It took 2 and a half years and 7 animators to complete the animation. Among other things, Alyssa designed the neighborhood depicted in the top image and argued for the less stereotypical depiction of the mother rabbit in the bottom image.
On what makes an artist
Well, it definitely takes discipline to be an artist. I can’t NOT draw every day. The pencil was my gateway and I can’t ever put it down. I’m still working on my 10,000 works toward true mastery but I strongly believe that everyone is an artist. Our crafts are all different, we all use a little bit of creativity somewhere but often people see me and say “I can never draw like you.” Uh, yes, you can. The only difference between me and anyone else is that I never gave up the pencil. But the ability to draw doesn’t make an artist: it’s the vision and creativity that is unique to you.
An exercise Alyssa made inspired by an 80’s dress and referencing a pose from the book “Study of Pose.” The book was a collaboration between photographer Steven Sebring and supermodel Coco Rocha where he documents her as she strikes 1000 poses.
On her inspirations and influences
Like most 90s kids, I am heavily influenced by Disney. It was actually the Making of Bambi that made me realize cartoons were made by people who liked to draw and there was a chance I could be one of those people. Dreamworks’ 2D animations were integral, like “The Prince of Egypt”, Studio Ghibli and a newer studio, Cartoon Saloon, all create the kind of work that I really love: stories with a lot of heart, personal connection and fantastic design.
I love artists with an attention for detail and a focus on lighting and mood to make every still or character pose as expressive as possible. To name a few fine, comics and animation artists: John Singer Sargent, Eyvind Earl, Mary Blair, Ty Carter, Claire Hummel, Bruce Timm, Babs Tarr, Brittney Lee, Helen Chen, Jin Kim, Glenn Keane, Claire Keane, Kevin Wada, Mary Cassatt.
“Corgis Corgin' ” at the March 2015 150 Gallery Show at the Torpedo Art Factory's Target Gallery. “Well, I love Corgis,” says Alyssa. “I wanted to paint something simple and just a little goofy and I thought why not Corgis?”
On meeting and selling to other fans at conventions
When I'm presenting at a show, obviously I want to sell my work but my number one concern is making sure an attendee gets to have the show they've dreamt of. I learned this specifically at my first BronyCon, my first large convention ever. Everyone wants to focus on the negative aspects of "Bronies" but I never experienced that during the convention. Every person, adult or child, came to my table excited to see their favorite characters and wanting to buy that one piece of art that spoke to them the most. I actually missed a little boy who was so excited to see a necklace based on his favorite character (Twilight Sparkle, who is also my favorite character) that he spent his remaining budget on the necklace. That's the reason why I show at conventions.
Alyssa’s Booth at AwesomeCon May 2015, Washington DC.
On her experience with crowdsourced funding
I collaborated with Kyra Lit-Khanna ‘99 and Malini Sekhar ‘01 on crowdsourcing for their first book “Maya and Leela Present: Dances of India.” They went with Indiegogo because they really wanted to pay it forward to two young entrepreneurs and maintain the charitable aspect their company 2 Lokas was founded on. It was a long process and we didn’t raise the full amount of the goal but the money raised went towards production of board books and some fun perks to give thanks to our supporters. Through this experience, I learned a lot more about marketing, building a following and retaining said following.
It’s daunting to think that individuals are going up against massive marketing ploys but people are getting increasingly tired with glossy corporate campaigns and projects; what is unique and personal is what is most interesting to those who want to support you. It’s hard to find all the right places to showcase your work but networking has been the one major key and that’s always been the case. Just because your storefront and CV are online doesn’t actually make it anymore simple or difficult, it’s really just a new method and you need to be willing to adapt.
Top images are concept art, Bottom images are how the concept art inspired actual pages from, “Maya and Leela Present: Dances of India” by Kyra Lit-Khanna ‘99 and Malini Sekhar ‘01. Alyssa designed Meeya and Layla, a pair of elephant sisters who embark on a journey together. She found inspiration in contemporary Indian art to design the characters. See more here.
On running a peer led classroom.
It's interesting to learn in a different way but still fun. At first I did way too much work and I could tell pretty quickly that it was just too much for my peers. I can be a little overzealous so I had to dial back the amount of resources and information and tip sheets etc etc etc. Now, each class starts with a general topic: Figure drawing, gesture drawing, drapery, sketching animals, anatomy. When we sit down, I choose 3 aspects for us to focus on.
It was great when one of my former co-workers mentioned during performance review season that his progress in our sessions were on his top 3 list of professional achievements for the year.
Alyssa enjoyed working on "Choices & Cheaters", an interactive comic with animated elements for The National Coalition for Missing and Exploited Children. She made sure that all the animation was consistent and on brand.
On the future of her career
On the one hand, I'm still dying to be a full-time animator at Disney or Pixar and eventually become a Production Designer. One the other hand, I'd like to be full-time freelance working on comics, children's books and working on an animated web series of my own creation. All while attending conventions and festivals and helping students and up-and-coming artists.
To read more about Alyssa’s insights, take on the artist life and see more of her artwork, visit her Tumblr, portfolio, and online shops.
I have been going back and forth on this for a while but I have finally decided to close “The Patch Notes”. I had a lot of fun making these silly comics based on silly bugs but the rest of my career has caught up to me and I can no longer run this comic.
Thank you so much to every one of you. With this project, you have all renewed my hope for what I am capable of next and I WILL continue to produce work, just not related to this comic specifically.
The comics will remain up here for you to read through when you please. I also have a few bound volumes of the first few comics still available for purchase, if anyone is interested. Feel free to contact me with ANY questions at all.
You can continue to follow me and my work in the following spaces:
Alyssa M. Torres is a New Yorker in DC who really wants to be in LA where all the animators are. A...
Just a quick reminder that if you'd like to see what I've been up to on my trip to LA and CTN, you can check out my photos on my Art Blog, alyssasketchd. Hint: I went to Disney Animation on our first day :D
Thanks for following, as always, and please check back in December!
The Elusive Honey Larkin-Badger. This majestic creature emerges only when not tethered to some electronic device. Notoriously seen mumbling about "Phoenix", "sharks" and "alcoves", the Honey Larkin-Badger does enjoy the finer things in life. Mainly, butts.
