Freeday | Artist Spotlight: Shawna Mills

Hello friends,

It’s time for our weekly Freeday post. Today’s theme is, again, a bit different as I try to get into a groove doling out these topics. I think I will do some sort of artist highlight once a month. I follow some really interesting people that are working on fascinating projects that I believe deserve more eyes on them. If you’d be interested in that, leave a comment below. Anyway, without further ado...

Artist Spotlight | Shawna Mills

Shawna is an animator and storyboard artist with an impressive body of work and experience. She has contributed to projects at Lucas Films(Star Wars Rebels season 3-4), Nickelodeon(Invader Zim, 2017 & Rise of TMNT), Disney/Marvel Animation(Guardians of the Galaxy), Sony, Dreamworks and many more. What’s even more extraordinary, Shawna is currently the Showrunner/Director and Founder of her very own media development company, Soda Monkey Entertainment.

And this where we get to the meat and potatoes. For the past few years I’ve been watching Shawna develop her own original animated pilot for a series called “Boom Tag X”. Instead of me describing the contents of the project, take a look at the full trailer she released a few weeks ago.

As you can see, the premise shares a likeness to cult classics like The Running Man(1987) and Battle Royale(2000). However, Boom Tag makes some nods to hip hop culture, with Shawna at the helm developing her own unique story and dynamic drawing style. Those familiar with cartoons/anime in the vein of Invader Zim/FLCL may recognize the influence of those expressive motions in her work above. At the same time, I think she has some of the most creative and unique looking characters for a project I’ve seen in recent years. Since I consider myself to be a character designer as well, I hold her skill in high regard. Shawna Mills and Soda Monkey Entertainment should be on your watch list for 2019. Stay up to date by following her Instagram and subscribing to the Boom Tag X YouTube channel.

Who is an artist you think I’d be interested in? Would you like to receive more recommendations in the future? Leave your comments below and don’t forget to like and share this post~
Until next time,
Peace