For this project, the challenge was to animate Asa without losing the charm of the original artwork.

The client had already built a lovely fantasy world, complete with hand-drawn characters, detailed costumes, and a strong old-school D&D feeling. My role was to take those existing designs and make them feel alive, giving each version of Asa its own rhythm, attitude, and personality.

I began by exploring the movement on paper, sketching animation ideas and rough frame-by-frame tests to understand how each costume should behave. The Queen needed elegance, the Bard needed flair, the Knight needed weight, the Wizard needed magic, and the Archer needed sharp, energetic motion.

A big part of the process was making sure the animation still felt handmade. For the Wizard, we looked at the soft sparkle and magical dust feeling from Disney’s Cinderella, using that as a reference point for the spell-like motion and shimmering details.

Once the direction felt right, I rebuilt the movements in Rive, turning the rough explorations into smooth, reusable loops and character actions. Each costume received its own idle animation and special movement, with small details added to make the cast feel richer, like randomized gems appearing when the Archer releases the bowstring.

The final piece is a set of animated Asa costumes: Queen, Bard, Knight, Wizard, and Archer. Five versions of the same character, each with its own little performance, keeping the hand-drawn fantasy style intact while adding motion, charm, and a bit of theatrical magic.