Courtney’s Animation

Animation is a large core of my career. Here, you will see just a small sampling of my extensive animation work, from Adobe Animate to Spine2D, from hand-drawn to pivot-point-puppetry to fully rigged character builds.

I made a choice with this portfolio: I want to show a range of eras. My older stuff may not be my best work, but it included pivotal learning moments that I feel are integral to the narrative behind my career as an animator. (Don’t worry; I’ll be starting with my most recent work, so you’ll see my best first and foremost!)

Disney Princess Charmed Adventures

When my career as an animator rooted itself in game art versus film, I surrendered any dream of working on a Disney IP, let alone one with the Princesses. I was so thrilled when this opportunity came my way!

This is Spine2D circa 2017. It was a robust program back then, but the program today is a far more capable tool for animators than ever before. (So if you find yourself wondering, “Why’d she do things that way?” It’s likely that the feature you’d use instead wasn’t implemented yet.)

Rigging

My responsibilities included taking approved character art and carving it into separate pieces, creating alt pieces (closed hands, eyelids, different mouths), rigging (mesh/weights, bones, etc), and the animation itself.

Featured here is Charlotte (Princess and the Frog) to demonstrate the process prior to animation. (I don’t know what I enjoy most: the rigging process, or the animation process. The former is so satisfying!)

Charlotte only appeared as a super side bonus to a mini game, so her build is on the much simpler side. The princesses have far more intricate builds.

Animated Cinderella with blonde hair tied in a braid, wearing a white blouse, a black vest, and a long blue skirt, standing with a smile.

A cartoon Cinderella with blonde hair wearing a black vest, white blouse, and a long blue skirt.

Animated Tiana with dark hair in a ponytail, wearing a long yellow dress with rolled-up sleeves, smiling and walking.

Illustration of Tiana with medium skin tone, black hair, wearing a yellow dress and brown shoes, standing confidently with one hand on her hip.

Animated woman dressed as Belle from Beauty and the Beast, wearing a historical blue and white dress with a white apron and a blue bow in her brown hair.

Animated Cinderella hair styled in a braid, wearing a white long-sleeve blouse, black vest, blue long skirt, and black high-heeled boots, standing with a friendly expression.

Animated image of Ariel, a red-haired mermaid wearing a purple seashell top and green tail, smiling with hands on hips.

Two animated mice dressed as sewing seamstresses with thread spools, wearing hats and aprons, one in blue and the other in purple, smiling and interacting with a large spool of pink thread. Cinderella.

Animated cartoon mouse wearing a red hat and red cloak, with a long white tail, standing with a cheerful expression. Jacques

More Spine2D

These are from miscellaneous projects. And maybe art tests? *shrug*

ST Math: JiJi

With Mind Research Institute

JiJi is the face of ST Math, a powerful teaching tool in the classroom. I had the immense privilege to animate JiJi during a revamp of the ST Math platform. Here they are in action!

Eat, Eat, Hooray!

With Playforge Games

Adobe Animate (frame drawn)

Cartoon character of a brown bear wearing a yellow construction helmet and holding a hammer.

A cartoon-style treasure chest with gold accents, a lock, and colorful details on a gray background.

A cartoon purple fish with a shell on its back and small fins.

Zombie Farm

With Playforge Games

Adobe Animate (frame drawn and pivot-point puppetry)

A cartoon hamster dressed as a mad scientist, wearing glasses and a white lab coat, standing with an angry expression.

Cartoon maggot flying a robot that looks like a fly, from the game Zombie Farm.

A cartoon robot with a red body, yellow accents, and a computer screen on its back, featuring a green alien-like creature inside its cockpit.

Digimon: More Spine2D

With Playforge Games and Saban Brands

These were animated when Spine2D was a lil’ toddler of a program. It did the very basics back then: you could rig a character, but there were no meshes or weights at the time, and no constraint tools. You can see the limitations we worked with back then!