Animation Spotlight - shar
Today's spotlight is dedicated to the work of an artist who creates the type of art I'm surprised I haven't already talked about sooner on this blog!
Sharlene Yap, AKA "shar", is a multi-talented artist of animation and illustration, as well as web and game development. She also has a gorgeous singing voice, if you've ever listened to the occasional music jams she shares (and really, her regular speaking voice is just soothingly chill in general, too!). Known for the wholesome, cozy, silly, and heartfelt vibes in her hand-drawn 2D animations, her fan animations for The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild series or games like Genshin Impact are some of her most well-known works. However, she also has a number of videos like her "animate with me" series or other videos of her discussing and sharing her art process, which offer great insights and encouragement to anyone else looking to learn and make art. Her animations can primarily be found on her YouTube channel in addition to miscellaneous tidbits shared on her social media channels.
I first stumbled upon Shar's work the same way many others probably did, which was watching her modern AU (alternate universe) Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild animations. Many of them are utterly charming depictions of the "Zelink" romantic pairing, featuring mundane and cute moments of Link and Zelda crushing on each other as ordinary students while at school. The minute details conveyed in the subtle character acting and emotional pacing of these short animations are so good that they really don't require any dialogue to express exactly what they need to, allowing Shar's visual storytelling to shine. In addition, Shar makes use of excellent sound design and music to really enhance the mood and world within her animations, too. With this level of thought and attention to detail, all of Shar's work is such a delight.
One of Shar's recent videos (as of this writing) that I especially enjoyed was "i think you should do arts and crafts", a little video essay/discussion of sorts about the importance and joys of having a creative outlet like doing arts and crafts, or other hands-on hobbies. It's always a treat to get a peek into the creative world and reflections of an awesome artist, but it feels especially resonant at a time when I think many people are in need of ways to feel grounded and connected, to each other and themselves. (Random sidenote, but I also find Shar's integration of sponsorship advertisements to be done in such a smooth and entertaining way that it's so much less jarring than the sponsor jumpscares that often plague other YouTube videos, haha.) So I appreciated Shar's little celebration of art and creativity, and sharing the positive impact that practicing them can have on our wellbeing. Shar's art always re-energizes me to be in touch with my own creativity and try making more art!