A Women In Animation Spring Mentorship Presentation
Valentina Grant | digital Concept Art
For 16 weeks, 10 of us artists met with our mentor Pramita Mukherjee to work on a short film project together. Some of us have been working in the industry for a few years, while others were in school or working a day job while waiting for a gig in animation. Despite all our busy lives and the distance between us, we managed to create the foundation of a short animated film. Though there is much to be done, we have enjoyed the process of making work and forging a bond with one another over these weeks.
Thank you to Pramita for guiding us along the way, and offering your extensive knowledge and warm encouragement. Thank you to WIA for creating an opportunity for us all to meet. The time we’ve spent together has been fun, and we look forward to working together on this project and many more to come. For now, we are happy to present some of the artwork we’ve created for our short film, The Little Guardian.
Andrea Montufar | digital
Andrea Montufar | digital Shroomie looking at Little Girl’s house
Letter from The Producer
I am very grateful to have been a part of this Mentorship Circle. Having recently discovered my passion for production, this circle allowed me to try, fall, and try again in production. Pramita and the team were supportive the entire way, and it kept me inspired to learn more and more. I come from an artist background, so I know how much work it takes to make art—and my team blew me away!
I thank them for their patience as I relentlessly messaged on Discord and called many meetings. Working with the team and their incredible art made taking notes and updating spreadsheets a genuinely joyful experience.
Aidan
Aidan Chang | digital Mushling Sketches
Anneli Ryan | digital Shroomie cleaning log
Through much brainstorming, we created a narrative about a little mushroom creature with a jaded past learning to trust a child—it is a story about friendship and an allegory for the hope that children can restore our connection with the natural world.
“I chose this mentorship group because I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to make something with others.
Group collaboration is something I really loved in college but due to the pandemic the chances to work in larger groups was very difficult to come by.” – Noah
Noah Talkington | digital
Noah Talkington | digital
After struggling on his own, a mushroom sprite learns to trust humans with the help of a little girl.
Margarita Beglarian | Storyboard Sequence | digital
“This story aims to show audiences that treating others with compassion and respect can bridge the gaps between us.”
– Kameron
“I'm drawn to this story because of its heartwarming message about helping others. It shows how empathy can create strong bonds— how even small acts of kindness can make a big difference.”
– Margarita
Andrea Montufar | digital
Early house concept
“Early on one of my goals was to go for a soft watercolor look and some storybook-esque elements…The style became a patchwork collaboration. It was a challenge to have everyone work with each other on their designs to create something charming and cute in a lush environment.” – Morgan
Layout and Style Illustrations
Morgan Burgener | digital
Valentina Grant | digital Shroomie seeing the Little Girl for the first time
Early Concept Art — Shroomie Explorations
We had a lot of great designs for Shroomie from the start. During our discussions of their design, we decided to emphasize their “mushroom-ness”, which meant integrating the cap into his body instead of using it like a hat. We ended up going with a more classic mushroom shape for ease of recognition.
(left to right) Anneli Ryan, Jesse Israel, Margarita Beglarian, Andrea Montufar, Morgan Burgener
Early Concept Art —
Our Little Girl design proved to be a bit easier. We decided to give her two braids to contrast with the large head shape of Shroomie. We played around with her outfits, but landed on overalls for her first outfit and a raincoat variation for the final storm scene.
(left to right) Andrea Montufar, Jesse Israel, Margarita Beglarian, Andrea Montufar
Shroomie
Shroomie is a little mushroom guardian determined to take care of the MotherMushroomwhilekeepingtheLittleGirlawayfromtheirhome.
“A big part of the design process for this character was focused on finding the right balance between mushroom and human features — the feedback from my group was incredibly helpful and played a huge part in creating the final result!”
Anneli Ryan — Character Designer
Anneli Ryan | digital
The Little Girl
The Little Girl is shy but has an adventurous spirit. Although she’s curious about Shroomie from the start, it’s not like her to make friends right away.
Andrea Montufar — Character Designer
“I had to adjust my workflow to be more organized for the sake of time and clarity, I needed to make sure my teammates could clearly understand what I was I to portray in my drawings.” – Andrea
Andrea Montufar | digital
Mother Mushroom Spirit
Jesse Israel — Character Designer
The Mother Mushroom character first appears as a tiny sprout, lovingly cared for by Shroomie. As she grows, she becomes more vibrant, revealing her magical qualities. After she dies, she is resurrected by the shared love of Shroomie and the Little Girl and releases spores that will repopulate the forest’s mushroom community.
“Using both real and illustrated mushrooms as inspiration, I created the hybrid design for this magical mushroom goddess. I enjoyed designing every stage of her growth, death, and ghostly resurrection, using a progressively more intense, glowing, and ethereal color palette.” - Jesse Israel
Jesse Israel | digital
Valentina Grant| digital Mother Mushroom drifting away on the creek
(top to bottom) Andrea Montufar, Anneli Ryan | digital
House and Log Concept Art
Lighting Studies
Valentina Grant | digital
“Last year, I had a difficult time, applying to 40 different studios, only to be rejected each time… I also had a hard time reaching out to people because I can get shy pretty easily. I wanted to join this group because not only do I get to work with other talented artists, but also learn new skills, get myself out there, and have a better chance of breaking in.”
– Valentina
Grant | digital Layout Illustration
Valentina
Storyboards | Noah Talkington
“Prior to this project I didn't have much experience with storyboarding, so a lot of my workflow was improvised. Morgan's knowledge of the boarding process was a lifesaver when I was trying to figure out where/how to begin. The most helpful skill I learned was to separate the stages of the boards so that they didn't need to be cleaned and on-model before having the camera shots planned out.” – Noah
Storyboards | Shreya Bhushan
“I heavily referenced our storyline, character designs, and director's notes while creating the storyboards. I found that I had to do multiple iterations of the same work to get it as close to our vision as possible. I also found that referencing other board artists' output and workflow helped me implement my boards closer to theirs and stay on-model.”
– Shreya
Andrea Montufar | digital
Shroomie and Little Girl mourn Mother Mushroom
Lessons We Learned
Valentina Grant | digital Storyboard Sequence
Shreya: Possibly take a step back and look at the story as a whole frequently to make sure we're on the right track.
Noah: Open and honest feedback is critical in making something everyone likes and feels that they have a part in. There were times when people presented things they weren't satisfied with or wanted to be different, but everyone handled these conversations in a very professional way so that it never felt personal or rude.
Kameron: Everyone has a unique voice, and something to offer, and focusing on the strengths improves and unifies a group.
Andrea: I learned how to collaborate with fellow artists and what it’s like to professionally participate in discussions about the work we are doing and what we could do or change to improve and make something even better.
Morgan: That it would be difficult to do any of this alone. To listen to others and trust myself to trust my team with their tasks. The story has some hiccups and rough edges…but for a first pass? I'm pretty proud of us.
Though we did not finish the project to our fullest completion, we are happy with the amount of work we produced and the opportunity this process afforded us to see what we can do when we set a goal. It turns out, it’s quite a lot.
