Animation Guild | We are 839 Digital Magazine
Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1535742
SUMMER 2025 23 From a summer internship at Nickelodeon and her first job as an Executive Assistant in 2012 on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Miho Tomimasu went on to work as a Background Painter at various studios. She loved her job, but she wanted to design and paint, a desire that steered her toward visual development. She took classes and put in time on her personal art. It paid off with what she calls her "big opportunity," a call from DreamWorks to work as a Visual Development Artist on Orion and the Dark. It's for her first visual development role that she received an Emmy, but she views the accolade beyond the "individual achievement" part. While she calls it remarkable recognition from people in the industry, to her it also means that she's found her place among creative people she looks up to. She acknowledges that the award is a result of those who have helped her along the way. "Not only am I learning about the various subjects of my assignments from research, but I'm constantly learning from the other artists on the team," she says. Her role enables her to see the whole creative process and how the different artists "conceptualize, execute ideas, and present their work. It helps me to learn the ways in which I can hone my craft further." Tomimasu also points to the style that was established by Production Designer Tim Lamb and Art Director Christine Bian as a source of inspiration. "The wobbly lines and swaths of watercolor and ink textures were so fun to work with," she says. She enjoyed thinking about what everyday objects would look like through the lens of the Orion world, and she especially loved designing clouds for the film. It's no wonder that moody black-and-white images of clouds in night skies were a significant part of her submission for the Background Design category. "We used a lot of scans of brush strokes, and I even tore up some Swiffer sheets to make a brush in Photoshop that gave some interesting edges," she says. But clouds weren't the only area that spurred Tomimasu to push her skills. Orion is the story of a boy who is afraid of the dark, and lighting played a major role. "The images for Orion were the brightest and darkest I had ever painted for a project, which was a fun and refreshing challenge," she says. Tomimasu found this project especially satisfying because "I think a lot of us in this industry dream and wait for the project that matches our personal artistic styles," she says. "Orion was exactly that for me. From linework to physical paint to lighting, I'm so proud that I contributed elements that I personally love and have experience in." Two of Tomimasu's original (top) and colorized (bottom) Emmy submissions illustrate her dramatic approach to the especially dark settings. Orion and the Dark images courtesy of Dreamworks Animation. Miho Tomimasu VISUAL DEVELOPMENT ARTIST C AT EG O RY: Background Design Orion and the Dark