THE KINGDOM OF NOR

This is the first animation of 2026! It was definitely a long time coming. I’ll admit that I may have dragged this one out a little due to not being fully satisfied with how the lighting looked. Working in black and white again proved to be more challenging this time around.

Going for a more painterly look was a lot of fun; however, certain scenes struggled with readability, particularly where objects and the main character blended into the environment. This led me to rethink how I approached lighting in order to create stronger contrast throughout the scene.

In the past, I generally relied on a sun lamp and a few scattered point lights. This time, however, I primarily used area lights placed strategically around objects and environments I wanted to read more clearly. Additionally, I used a moving point light that followed the character to ensure they remained consistently illuminated.

Lighting aside, the music was also incredibly fun to work on. Adding the drums (“DUM — DUM”) really helped make the animation feel more epic and cinematic. The deep narration was another addition that added a lot of atmosphere.

Overall, this was a very exciting project, and I look forward to seeing what comes next!