The Bold and Daring Imagination of Animator Sefra Orlick
Technically, Sefra Orlick, is an artist and animator, with a BFA in Animation from Woodbury and an always-on imagination. Viscerally, she is a character and creature designer鈥揳nd if that鈥檚 not a conventional job description, that鈥檚 more than fine with her. Comics and stories and wonderfully twisted visual vignettes populate the worlds that flow from her pen, and the creations that live within those stories are, well, singular.
鈥淚鈥檝e always thought of my characters as friends,鈥� she says. 鈥淪ome read like an open book and in a short time, you know everything about them. Others are a bit more mysterious and keep to themselves, and it takes time to get to know them. Of course, there are times when I want to design a particular type of character鈥� 鈥�
While her characters have assumed a range of guises, the common denominator may be their likeability. Following her lead, fans and followers are invited to regard Sefra鈥檚 characters as BFFs as well. 鈥淚 love to develop stories that can make people laugh, smile and relate, and that just take them away from reality for a bit,鈥� she says. 鈥淚 want to be able to bring people the happiness that my favorite cartoons, characters, and such have brought me.鈥�
Sefra got hooked on comic books at age seven, realizing years later that what clicked for her was creative freedom. 鈥淭here are no limits 鈥� I鈥檝e always liked that about the medium,鈥� she says. 鈥淚 find fun in stretching the imagination, telling my own stories and using those stories to pitch other stories. Sometimes, I鈥檒l just be doodling idly and come up with a character or creature design that I like the look of. From there, I鈥檒l develop it further. What kind of character is this? What kind of feeling do I want to give off, based on the design? Maybe it fits into an existing story, or perhaps inspires an entirely new story.鈥�
鈥淕enre-wise, I lean most toward action and comedy, or I鈥檒l put them together,鈥� she says. 鈥淎dventure, friendship, hope 鈥� these are the recurring themes. That said, my stories are often highly character-driven, so they often pull the plots along.鈥�
In 2015, Sefra started actively sharing her work and with a flow of content, postings and interactions she鈥檚 been able to sustain. While she follows her muse, she鈥檚 ever mindful of her audience — 鈥渁 bit varied depending on my project, but generally children, teens, and young adults.鈥� She launched both of her successful Kickstarter campaigns to underwrite printed comic books derived from her online web comic — works that she says read 鈥渧ery much like graphic novels.鈥澛� She will be exhibiting her art next month at the , a conference hosted by The Creative Talent Network that unites top professionals from both the traditional and digital worlds of animation.
But with a following to build, the dynamic changes. 鈥淗aving gone from complete hobby to constantly updated web comics is like wandering into a different territory,鈥� she says. 鈥淪uddenly, you鈥檙e selling something. You鈥檙e advertising. There鈥檚 a little self-doubt there, especially at first. 聽You don鈥檛 want to feel like a machine, but you have to let people know about it. And you don鈥檛 want to let your readers down. But having others offer feedback has definitely improved my creative process.鈥�
Rust never sleeps, and Sefra is a picture of artistic vitality. On the drawing board: new installments of her web comics Oni x Fox and , another unnamed project that she plans to pitch as a cartoon and, perhaps down the road a bit, a book compilation of the monsters she鈥檚 designed 鈥� 鈥渟ort of like an encyclopedia.鈥�