Role: Animation, design
Soundtrack: Jeremy Mazza
Venue: Gallery 5
Part of a group show titled “New Ways To Scare Children”, this animation was looped for a month at Gallery 5 in Richmond, Virginia by the Crimebabies art collective.
”The Landscape” was projected over a snail sculpture as a commentary on time’s indifference to technological advancements. In the age of Artificial Intelligence, The Landscape displays a playful (and dark) storybook-like narrative for viewers to input their own meaning on what we can learn from moving slow. Much of the stylistic inspiration came from Russian and Japanese animation from the 80s , using dark backgrounds with brightly contrasted characters for a creepy and cheery appeal.
The entire score was created using generative AI music samples produced by Google LM in which Jeremy Mazza pieced together, using various traditional methods of the sample-based music craft. This produced a whimsical and eerie sound, still utilizing the human touch of Jeremy’s trained ear, creating a unique score with unimaginable sounds.
Role: Storyboard, Design, Animation (cel)
Client: Ghost Choir Records
I animated a lyric video titled “How To Dance” for indie pop group Fancy Gap (feat. Rami Jaffee of Foo Fighters/ Wallflowers and Will McFarlane of Bonnie Raitt/ The Mountain Goats/ Etta James).
A testimonial from members Stuart McLamb and Charles Crossingham:
”While we tossed around some initial ideas, Rachel’s creative mojo took over, steering the ship with finesse and intuition. The end result? A jaw-dropping masterpiece that blew our minds!
Rachel’s creation perfectly captures the carefree, summery vibes of the song, just in time for spring to roll around. Each frame pulses with the energy of our music, bringing it to life in a way that hits you right in the feels.”
Purchase tickets here for April 28th in Richmond, VA!
I illustrated + animated the official poster for the second annual Richmond Animation Festival happening April 28th at The Byrd Theater. The first half will feature an hour of animated shorts, followed by animated works + Q&A by Robert Beatty.
The blooming flower is Virginia’s state flower, the Dogwood tree. I thought it would be nice to combine this with an early animation technique of the zoetrope (or phenakitoscope) to compliment the Byrd Theatre’s old history with cinema.
The rest of the poster highlights the vivid wildlife around the James River which uniquely cuts through the city proper.
Visual development for Blanco’s day at the beach. All styleframes are vectored.
Updates over time!
Visual development for the devil’s vacation to Miami in the 1970’s.
A young orphan becomes the devil’s tour guide. A wizard needs the devil’s horn to return back into his true form. A lifeguard finds a time-traveling CD player and discovers Sublime…
Will the devil find a moment of peace or his own version of hell?
Illustrated and animated Richmond Magazine's Complete Sourcebook 2023.
Art direction: Justin Vaughan
Limited edition prints handed out to early customers for the grand opening of Pottery Barn’s Virginia Beach branch. We decided to go with the theme of indigenous wildflowers of Virginia.
I had asked a handful of friends draw E.T. from memory on napkins and animated them together.
Special thanks to:
Kevin Doyle
Jeremy Mazza
Ginna Lambert
Jeff Hall
Emily Herr
Tyler Rhodes
Valentina Hawes
Rachel Sheeran
Crystal Craig
Daniel Davis
Veronica Huynh
Josh Kugler
Momin Kahn
Amanda Bradley
Animated in procreate, edited in PS and composited in AE.
3 painted coasters for Nucleus Portland's second annual Salut! show. Each coaster is based off of an Indian folk tale, painted with gouache and gold ink.
Top: Heron Boy
Left: The Laughing Fish
Right: Killed By A Tiger
For the UO blog on choosing the right scent for men's cologne.
Link to post HERE.
Illustration for Richmond Magazine where author James Warren creates an activity called “50 things in 50 years”
“After I got the coffee going, I sat down to write and share a list of things I was grateful for. The more I wrote, the more I was inspired to write. After a while, I realized I had so many things to be grateful for, I decided to make my list birthday-themed — 50 things for 50 years — and I shared it online.”
-James Warren
We chose a more sober composition to match the article while playing with muted colors emitting from Warren as he writes his list.
Illustrated the cover of the Chesapeake edition for culinary magazine Star Chefs.
The goal was to create a scene above the Chesapeake in some way, utilizing outdoor elements and incorporating some highly anticipated food options at the Star Chefs food competition and Gala.
Spot for Richmond Magazine about the overly optimistic image mothers put out on raising a child.
For the UO blog on how to have the perfect snow ball fight.
Link to the post HERE.