Nancy Liang’s short animations and GIFs are the very meaning of mesmerizing. Pushing the boundaries of traditional 2D forms of expression, Liang’s work engages with audiences, inviting them inside her whimsical landscapes. Most of her scenes portray nighttime and include skies filled with glittering stars.
Based in Sydney, Liang’s looping animations present tales of urban landscapes, city streets, and the often forgotten places of suburbia. Having graduated with a Bachelor of Design at UNSW Art and Design in 2015—and with no formal training in animation—Liang incorporates both traditional tools like drawing, painting, and paper cutting. She also uses digital programs like Adobe Photoshop, Premiere Pro, After Effects, Aero, and Processing.
“For me the animation process must be very organized and controlled,” she further explained her creative process in an interview with Brown Paper Bag. “The process is very close to that of traditional animation.”
According to Liang, she uses kraft paper cutouts that are arranged in the visual form of a diorama. “The background is usually a static handmade and/or hand-drawn piece and what I choose to move is separated into layers and placed over the background,” she explains. “I will then scan all my layers into my computer, arrange them in Photoshop, and then start to animate.”
As all of her elements are completely hand-drawn or handmade frame by frame, Liang admits her process can be very time-consuming. “The objects in my work have hundreds of layers down to the shadow under window pane,” she notes. “For me, everything must be separate. That way I can move or redraw single elements frame by frame rather than create hundreds of finished collages frame by frame. I draw, I cut, I paste, and shift things around. It is a reiterative process.”
Inspired by everyday life, she recommends aspiring artists to carry a notepad at all times. “Be constantly looking at, drawing, and noting down the movements of things,” says Liang. We highly recommend you follow her Instagram page!
