I really wanted to do some art of Ariel this year, and I searched for a moment in the film that I felt hadn't been drawn a thousand times. After some scouring, I found a frame that I really liked. I didn't want to just do a trace of it or anything though. I wanted to make something good, and improve my skill in drawing Ariel, and merpeople in general. So I looked up Ariel's model sheets, by her head animator Glen Keane, and did a lot of sketching to practice. Even though my efforts are still a bit rough, I feel like I've already learned a lot.

This was my final result, and I'm very satisfied with it. I tried to go for a look of the original frame but with a few more details. In working on this sketching, I really felt an appreciation for Glen and the other animators on this. They had so much deliberate choice in how they drew every frame, and after watching the movie again yesterday, it really showed on screen.

It makes me sad that the 1989 animated film had so much passion behind it, where it feels like this remake was another day of going through the motions, the actors and artists made to copy something already beloved, than make something new. I wish that the Disney of today had the guts to actually treat their artists with the kind of respect to let them actually create.

While the circumstances of today will always sadden me, I can still always go back to that original one, that feels so simple and earnest, with it beautiful animation, and songs full of life and soul. People like song writer Howard Ashman deserve rightly to go down in animation history - he, in my opinion, with his deep understanding of the story of this movie, who pushed for it to be a musical, is the reason why the film was not only beautifully animated, but has become a classic to many.

So I hope in my simple efforts, to pay a tribute to all of those amazing creators of the past - and I make it as a call to the Disney of today. We want more creativity. We want 2D animation again. We want these people at your company to not be in a vfx sweatshop, but to have work that is actually inspiring.

I have hope that we'll see those days once again.