Meet Amelia Fins of North Hollywood, Los Angeles

Today we’d like to introduce you to Amelia Fins.

Hi Amelia , we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My story starts with going to a local college in NJ for Animation/Illustration called Montclair State University. The art program was a great introduction to animation and design principles, wherein I learned a lot about where I wanted my career path to lead me. I gravitated towards comics, animation design, and convention tabling. I quickly learned that relocating to California was my best bet for making connections and getting recognized, as LA was the entertainment hub for TV and film. I joined three advocacy groups for Women, Latinx, and Black people seeking entry into animation to receive guidance from professional artists on how to improve my skills and make connections. Around mid 2021, I joined a mentorship group through Women in Animation to figure out how to map out my future. I wanted to work in animation full-time (preferably as a background painter for TV animation or Visual development for Feature films) while writing my own graphic novel, tabling at local markets, and eventually graduating to bigger, well-known conventions like LA Comic Con and Lightbox Expo. While in the mentorship group, one of the mentors mentioned they knew the Invincible production was looking for Production Assistants, so I submitted my resume with their recommendation. After an interview with the Art Director (who also hailed from the East Coast and bonded over that), a couple of weeks later in Jan 2022, I joined the show as a PA and moved out to LA in March of that year, ready to commit to the dream (with the help of my parents).

I worked almost a full year as a PA on Season 2 before being promoted to an apprentice art position under a mentor on the Show for Color design and eventually becoming a fully fledged Color designer on Invincible season 3. After my contract was complete, I was then recommended by my Invincible mentor for a color design position on a Critical Role show, Mighty Nein, which I worked on until April 2025. Whilst working on these shows, I slowly began writing outlines for my original Greek mythology comic and organizing plans to begin tabling. In the past year, I committed to building a strong social media presence to find a community interested in the art I’m creating. Thus far, I have tabled at a local market called Chimera Art Market, hosted and organized by a friend in animation, and have begun applying to more in the coming months, continued working on my Greek mythology novel, personal designs for merch, Book cover designs, whilst also looking for more work in animation. Upon reflection, I’m extremely grateful for how far I have come since 2022, especially thankful to the people who took a chance on me and helped me break in as an artist in animation here in LA. Even though I have come so far, I think I’m in the middle of my story and still hustling to achieve my dreams. I’m manifesting work full- time (consistently) in animation, publishing my graphic novel, and tabling at Lightbox expo one day.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
One of my biggest struggles was becoming more outgoing. This career path requires you to talk to people, be engaging, and put yourself out there. Until going to college, I was a quiet observer in most large gatherings and would stick to the people I knew. As an artist, I have to mingle, make new friends, and advertise my services to people, whether it be in person or online, and that was a struggle for a long time, because I’m at my happiest making the art, but reaching out to recruiters, publishing companies, and conventions for opportunities is (or was) waaayy out of my comfort zone. In the more recent years, I have become used to putting myself out there, and having that skillset has been beneficial in getting my brand and art out to companies and customers alike.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
My primary career is designing for animation, and my specialty is working as a Color Designer for TV. (For context, a color designer colors the black-and-white linework for character, prop, and FX designs in a show that the black-and-white designers create, then adjusts shadows and adds lighting to match these assets to the background paints.)

I’m most proud of the color design I did for the two Amazon Prime shows I worked on that were #1 streamed for months after their release: Invincible Season 2 & 3 and Mighty Nein Season 1. It feels really good to see the hard work that all the artists and I spent years working on quietly, be released for everyone to see and enjoy. It motivates me to keep creating and working toward my other goals of becoming a visual development artist for feature films, publishing my graphic novel, and tabling at markets.

What sets me apart from others is that while the animation industry is extremely competitive and there’s an understanding that we are sometimes vying for the same position, I refrain from treating my peers in these art spaces as my competition. I want to focus on my own artistic voice while fostering an art community that supports and inspires one another. I think my artistic voice also sets me apart due to inspiration from my culture, humor, and favorite books/shows to create designs that are whimsical, sassy, in my budding style.

If we knew you growing up, how would we have described you?
As a child, I was very introverted and spent my time reading books and watching movies about witches/werewolves/vampires in alternate universes, detective dramas, and medieval romances, followed by making that my whole personality. While I am now more outgoing, not much has changed interest-wise; I still love magic and mysteries, I have just evolved to also drawing it now with some occasional self-inserts.

Pricing:

• Table merch ranges from $2 – $40 (stickers, pouches, glossy prints, giclee prints)
• Book Cover Commission rate starts at $200

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.ameliafins.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ameliafins/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ameliafins/

Image Credits
N/A. All images created by me. Table booth photo taken by a friend for social media purposes.