Animation Guild

D E PA R T M E N T 9 KEYFRAME BELOVED BEAST Storyboard artist Ako Castuera discovered her passion for ceramics in second grade: "It was the only art class I was allowed to take as a kid," she says. "My mom didn't want to put me in drawing class because I was drawing all the time." Today, inspired by local clays found in the Arroyo Seco, she manipulates the earth into dynamic hybrid forms. Her most recent work is for a collaborative project called "Frontier" with indie comic book publisher, Youth in Decline/Ryan Sands. "Clay is a tactile medium," she says. "The material really has a personality and I take some direction from that." Treasure Box Beast is both sculptural and vaguely narrative. A mythical beast features six compartments, each one containing an object that reflects on a thematic chapter of Castuera's life. For example, a feather or frond represents a physical connection to the natural world while a small seed person embodies our intangible heritage like "an oral history or…an emblem of a cultural treasure." Indeed, it was a traditional artifact from Castuera's Okinawan culture that inspired the shape of the beast—Shisa dogs. "They always come in a pair," she says. "One scares away bad fortune while the other keeps good fortune in." ARTIST: Ako Castuera TITLE: Treasure Box Beast MEDIUM: Ceramic SIZE: 12in (w) x 10 (h) x 5.5in (w) A R T & C R A F T SPRING/SUMMER 2018 9

• Cover
• PRESIDENT'S LETTER
• EDITOR'S NOTE
• ART & CRAFTAko Castuera's dynamic ceramics
• AFTER HOURS DWA's Abarcaon the sweet sideof animation
• IN PRODUCTION How Paradise, P.D.runs its show
• ON THE JOB Character Designers at different studios
• SPACE INVADERS Get lost in Ben Balistreri's home studio
• PERSPECTIVE Surviving pixel vision
• DIALOGUE Artists onthe show that inspired them
• THE LOCAL Color Stylists ask for your support, our convention delegates
• SOCIAL HOURT oasting our members around town
• MUSIC IN MOTION For Cosmo Segurson, his Nickelodeon short, The Prince and Mr. Whiskers, brings together influences from hispast. Inspired by hot jazz, 1930'scartoons and his father, he creates amusical battle in a stop-motion world.
• AND THE WINNER IS…We look back at eight Primetime Emmy winners over the last five decades, highlighting shows that impacted the industry. From The Flintstones to SpongeBob SquarePants, these unforgettable characters continue to live on.
• INTO THE NIGHT How do you design a summer vacation film without sunlight? That was one big challenge for the production of Hotel Transylvania 3.Learn how the artists behind the filmcreated a bright destination for Dracand his family.