Abuela's model became the benchmark, shaped through the same iteration loop with Bill that the film ran on every character. The 2D inspires the sculpt, the sculpt opens space for the Art Director to push further, take the draw-overs back into ZBrush, push the volume where the line wanted something different, iterate until the silhouette settled. With Abuela the silhouette settled in a place neither of us alone would have placed it initially. The shift lived in the necklines, the facial structure, the cheekbones and jawlines, the body proportions, the way the face could breathe through a quiet moment without losing the graphic spirit of the design language. Once the tone was set through her, the rest of the family evolved from that reference. Mirabel, Isabela, Luisa, Dolores, Camilo, all of them moved toward human anatomy while keeping the same graphic spirit, each one feeling like part of the same family, the same house, the same design language.

Encanto released November 24, 2021 and won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, with Mirabel taking the VES Award for Outstanding Animated Character. Abuela was where the cast found its footing. Anchoring an entire ensemble through one character, reading the room to find the direction, and letting the rest of the family grow from there is the kind of decision I take into the next role.