I created this piece for young adults who leave the comfort of home to live and work in distant cities, chasing dreams that often feel just out of reach. The closer they get to achieving self-reliance, the more it seems to slip away. Yet, giving up isn’t an option—they don’t have a backup plan; they are the backup.
The Process
It started with a simple sketch of a character sitting at work, lost in thought about her life.
The initial sketch felt flat and lacked personality, so I found a reference for the pose, which immediately brought the drawing to life.
Here’s a time-lapse of how the idea evolved.
Coloring and animating this piece was tricky—it took 27 different YouTube tutorials to figure it out! Here’s the colored sketch, and the final animation.