Finding my style through play

When I first stumbled across “I Think I Like You” by The Band CAMINO in March 2026, I didn’t know I could love a song so much. The cowbells, the driving beat, the journey from major to minor back to major keys - chef’s kiss.

But then, the scenes started playing in my head. I read “A Court of Mist and Fury” by Sarah J Maas for the first time in early 2022, and couldn’t get enough of the interactions between the FMC, Feyre, and her love interest, Rhysand. The first scene I envisioned was Rhysand proudly smiling down at Feyre after she chucked a spear in defiance at him, to the words “I think I like you maybe more than I should.”

So, as one does, I snipped 36 seconds of “I Think I Like You,” (only partially developed in my head) and got to work. I soon realized, while this video would be about Feyre and Rhysand’s budding romance, I wasn’t trying to encapsulate the feeling of romance for this project as much as I was trying to recreate the feeling of reading “A Court of Mist and Fury” for the first time.

A different workflow

From my first animation project, I learned that, yes, I COULD finish a hand-drawn animation. But I realized what energized me the most during that project was the rough, expressive stages, not the painstaking cleanup (inking, coloring, shading). That realization became the foundation of this project.

Instead of aiming for perfect consistency, i wanted every shot to feel exciting to draw. Not only were my drawings looser, they were completed faster (with less concern for accuracy). And each scene received it’s own color composition, so when I finished one, I was excited to start the next! Each shot was treated like it’s own illustration.

I played more with exaggerated expressions and body language. I wanted the characters to feel relatable and goofy, so I timed a shoe hitting the back of Rhysand’s head as soon as that first cowbell sounds. I found myself laughing, almost hysterically, while drawing in-between frames that I knew some audience members would pick up on and also enjoy.

Color as storytelling

I had a plan. As much as I love drawing, I think I love color more. So I wanted each scene to have it’s own unique palette that drove the story further along. At the beginning, I start with muted reds to indicate Rhysand’s enslavement to Amarantha, and how when Feyre enters the picture, the palette literally brightens, and later expands.

What this project taught me

My first animation taught me discipline, but this one taught me freedom. I had so much fun drawing the silly frames and later coloring them!

Credits & Attributions

Characters and World: All characters, settings, and related intellectual property belong to Sarah J. Maas. This project is an unofficial fanwork created for non-commercial, transformative purposes.

Audio: Clip from “I Think I Like You” (2021) © The Band CAMINO - used for fanwork/educational demonstration. All rights belong to their respective copyright holders.

Art, Animation, and Editing: Created by me, Sara Wasserboehr.