Jennifer is our digital animator. She takes the pages after they’ve been drawn and inked and applies the grayscale to them. Everyone wants to see their drawings after Jennifer has worked her magic on them on the computer. They look good beforehand, but afterward, they seem to pop right off the page. The effects she is able to achieve with her lighting and shading skills are amazing. Because she looks at the drawings very close up, she also notices when we make silly mistakes, like changing a character’s clothes from one page to another.

Dad gave me my Native American heritage and Mom gave me my Dutch heritage. Dad was adopted as a baby, so my family learned our Native culture through friends in various local tribes.

It’s hard to remember when I started drawing. Mom and dad were very supportive, praising everything I drew. 4-H gave me the opportunity to compete and display my drawings in the local fair. After high school, I went to Grand Rapids Community College where I experimented with many kinds of art. Oil painting, watercolor, graphic design, and pottery entered my life because I could draw. After graduating GRCC with an associate’s degree, I went to Kendall College of Art and Design to study in the field of illustration. Drawing and painting skills went into learning how to make illustrations and soon I began to apply them to computer arts. Paper became a drawing tablet, the canvas became a computer monitor, and paint became Pantone colors. I learned how to make digital illustrations, animations, and website designs.

Many people inspired me to create art. My uncle gave me my first charcoal stick and taught me to draw a still life when I was nine. An older artist gave me art supplies I never saw before. The artist married to my brother’s violin teacher told me “your drawings are only as good as what you see." I adored the renaissance artists I saw in library books. Leonardo de Vinci and Michelangelo were my favorites.

Currently, inspiration comes from many places—from nature and architecture to media and entertainment. Some of the artists I admire are J. H. Waterhouse, Mike Mignola, and James Jean.

My dream is to inspire people with my work and make a positive mark on the world.