Animation Guild | We are 839 Digital Magazine
Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/1188718
D E PA R T M E N T 19 KEYFRAME into debt, she may as well go study in France as well. "It changed my life because that's where I discovered artists that still influence me today," she says. She was inspired by Viennese artist Egon Schiele, she visited Marguerite Sauvage's studio and found herself crying in front of Bernini's works in Italy. She soaked up the environment, but she wasn't a great networker, preferring to retire to her quiet dorm. After graduation she was left with few options for work. She and her husband returned to Mississippi— "That was not a good idea," she adds. Hudson got a temporary job selling cellphones but ended up working there for four years. "I think everybody should work in retail at one point in their life. It teaches you so many valuable lessons—you've got to deal with assholes, you've got to deal with bosses, you've got to deal with crazy customers and nice ones. It's public facing… that helped me grow a lot," she says. Though the experience helped shape Hudson's customer service skills, she still dreamed of pursuing art. Her husband, a retail store manager, said, "There's a Walmart everywhere, what do you want to do?" The couple headed to the travel section at Barnes and Noble and chose their next destination—Atlanta. They didn't know anyone in the city; Hudson got a job selling hot tubs and they both started taking figure drawing classes from Brian Stelfreeze. It was in that class that Hudson's future would be determined. One of the students there was illustrator Tommy Arnold, who encouraged her to get in touch with Floyd County Productions. The timing was perfect—someone on Archer was going on maternity leave and they needed an artist to fill in. "I'd never taken a test before and I didn't know anything about animation," she says. She logged onto Lynda.com and taught herself to use Photoshop and Illustrator. "The day I opened Illustrator, I started crying," she laughs. She muddled her way through the test and, according to the production, was "terrible at the puppets." Fortunately, the test had also included some character design, which they liked. Against all odds, she got the job. "I had never heard of Archer, I had to Google it," she says. Two weeks into the job, the production had to lay off staff— miraculously she survived the cuts. As she grew in confidence working in animation, she began to explore other artistic vehicles. Her sister made her open Instagram and Twitter accounts, she attended her first "Con" and decided to sell her own creations. She needed to raise money to fund a range of enamel pins and started a Kickstarter campaign. She couldn't imagine how far news of her campaign would reach. "I was bobbing around and somebody sends me a friend request on Facebook— it's Lauren Faust!" she remembers. Faust sent Hudson a note, admiring her work and asking if she might be available to work freelance on her new show, DC Super Hero Girls, as a character designer. When Faust asked, "Do you live in LA?" Hudson didn't flinch; she and her husband packed up their house and she was on the Warner Bros. lot two weeks later. "I think they felt so guilty that I moved across the country, they just kept me," she laughs. "Life experience is really valuable. Every little thing leads to something else!" left: A whimsical illustration for Hudson's sister's hair salon is inspired by the shape language of the '60s. below: Playing around with the DC women. WINTER 2019 19 T H E C L I M B