Meet the Renaissance woman
TAYLOR SUMMERLIN is a Southern California native who lives and breathes art, writing, animation, and storytelling. After graduating from Cal State University, Fullerton with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Art/Animation, she went back to Fullerton College to obtain the Illustration Certificate and became the first recipient of the Storyboarding Certificate. Her background became more impressive when she was hired at Titmouse Inc. to be one of the Assistant Animatic Editors on AMC Plus’ first animated series, PANTHEON. Now as one of the artists for Art Brand and Thomas Kinkade Studios, Taylor continues to expand her horizon. She may not know what’s coming next for her, but Taylor firmly believes that more great things are headed her way.
In her own words, “I’m an old-soul; a melting pot of ethnicities/cultures; a fan of Renaissance art, pop-opera, animation, musicals, and old Hollywood Classics; loves dogs; a con and expos attendee; likes baseball; will take a burger and fries over sushi any day; and am, without a doubt, the biggest nerd/geek you will ever meet.”
6 FUN FACTS ABOUT TAYLOR
#1
In 2010, for her high school senior project, Taylor had the honor of being mentored by legendary Disney animator, Dale Baer. Afterward, the two stayed in touch up until Dale's passing in 2021. To this day, Taylor holds on to the lessons he taught her, their love of animation, the memories they made, and the friendship they shared.
#4
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In 2021, Taylor was given a ten week old puppy from a dog rescue (Big Dog Haven) as a birthday present from her parents. After going through a list of potential names, the winner was Smalls—the main character from THE SANDLOT. Even though it was her dog, her dad agreed to the name so he could say the movie's famous line, "You're killin' me, Smalls!"
#2
Taylor has some experience voice acting. In fact, her voice almost made it into an episode of PANTHEON. One of her scratch recordings was being used as a placeholder until the actual actress came in to record her new lines. It was the final day for reviewing the episode when the creator of the show finally noticed that the voice he was listening to didn't belong to the actress. The correct recording was then put in and Taylor was left with a story to tell.
#5
On Taylor's dad's side of the family, the two most celebrated cultures are Samoan and Danish. The two sides came together when Taylor's 5th great grandfather traveled from Denmark to Samoa. The family crest, not only signifies the union between the two worlds, but also reveals how some of the ancestors were wayfinders and vikings. Taylor once joked that she was basically Moana (Disney's MOANA) and Hiccup (DreamWork's HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON).
#3
Taylor has quite the sweet tooth. Ever since she was a child, she always loved sweets. One of her favorites is ice cream with hot fudge and hot peanut butter.
#6
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Taylor is part Spanish on her mom's side of the family but grew up with a bit of Mexican culture. Her grandma grew up in Mexico and shared some of the influence during Taylor's childhood. Since Disney/Pixar's COCO came out, every year for Dia de los Muertos, Taylor watches the movie, along with Reel FX Animation Studio's THE BOOK OF LIFE, with her mom while enjoying a Pan de Muerto.
​Experience
Art Brand Studios (Thomas Kinkade Studios) - ARTIST
October 20, 2022- Present
* Sketch approved Disney characters on back of purchased Disney/Thomas Kinkade
paintings at Disney themed events
* Speak with guests as I sketch the characters
* Create concept sketches for paintings requested and approved by studio, as well as Disney
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Bang Laugh Love LLC - (FREELANCE) ILLUSTRATOR
May 06, 2022- July 15, 2022 | January 02, 2023- February 10, 2023
* Create an illustration based on characters from Pippa Grant’s books that will be placed onto postcards and be available as a digital download
* Present ideas (character designs, thumbnails, and roughs) to Jessica Snyder and Pippa Grant
* Discuss edits and new ideas when necessary
* Create artwork upon approval
* Send final version to Jessica Snyder and Pippa Grant
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Titmouse, Inc. - ASSISTANT ANIMATIC EDITOR- PANTHEON
September 28, 2020- December 17, 2021
* Assisted Animatic Editors: prepared storyboards for animatics, edited animatics with updated storyboards after they have been locked, searched for material editors require for animatics, etc.
* Broke down dialogue recordings
* Recorded Scratch Dialogue used as placeholder until recording(s) from actor(s) came in
* Prepared animatics for picture (Picture Prep)
Project(s) I worked on/assisted with: Pantheon (Series- Seasons 1 & 2) / Love, Death, & Robots (Series- Kill to Kill episode) / Forgotten Runes: Wizards Cult (Trailer)
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Iron Horse Entertainment, LLC - (FREELANCE) CONCEPT ARTIST
July 1, 2019- August 31, 2019
* Provided illustrations to show various dramatic scenes in film
* Drawings used for pre-production purposes to ensure the right visual style will be met in each department prior to the commencement of filming​
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Pretend City Children’s Museum - PRETENDGINEER
May 22, 2018- September 14, 2020
* Created and developed weekly artistic content for children’s art studio, ensuring each craft was centered around the week’s theme
* Implementing an inventory record for the art supply room
* Constructing props for use on museum floor
Education
- December 2021: Fullerton College - Certification in Storyboarding
- December 2017: Fullerton College - Certification in Illustration
- May 2017: Cal State University, Fullerton - Bachelor of Fine Arts in Entertainment Arts/Animation
- Dean's List (Fall 2014- Spring 2017)
- Golden Key International Honour Society (Fall 2016- present)
- Cum Laude (Spring 2017)
- May 2014: Fullerton College - AA Degree
- Dean's List
Organizations (Member)
- LatinX in Animation (LXiA)
- (SoCal Region) Children's Book Writers and Illustrators
- Entertainment Arts Student League (EASL)
- StoryboardArt
- Indie Cover Project
- Alessandra Torre: Inkers
- Inkers Con Alumni
Other Roles
- Poet
- Traditional Artist (Painting)
- Cons & Expos Attendee
- Animation & Comic Book (movie & television) Fanatic
- Arts & Crafts Artist