Meet the Young Animator Whose Art Style Is Inspired By His Favorite Cartoon Shows
By Bridney C.
Born and raised in New London, Connecticut, Jordan Bostick is a visual artist and animator who is inspired by cartoonists such as Bruce W. Smith, Craig McCracken, and Sue Rose. Jordan grew up in an artistic household, with loving support from his parents to pursue a career in art.
He has been creating art since he was a toddler and says he always enjoyed his art classes all throughout school. Jordan is a self-taught artist and says he has improved and adapted over time to create his own original art style. He mainly works with used markers, colored pencils, and permanent markers.
His most recent art portrait is of himself and his family, citing them as his inspiration behind his family-friendly themed art. Taking only a day to finish, his portrait titled Happy Family was on display at his first-ever art show at Lawrence & Memorial Hospital for their Black History Month exhibition.
“The Proud Family inspires me, my art style takes inspiration from theirs. From the theme song to the characters, and the overall premise of the show, I felt like I could see myself and my family within Penny Proud's family,” says Jordan.
Other projects he is currently working on including a few digital pieces and writing music for local musicians in the New London area. Jordan has also released his own, original comic series based on his family titled The Bosticks.
This series centers around 15-year-old Jordan and his larger-than-life family who all reside in Landon Noir, a fictional city. Centered on the themes of family morals, forgiveness, love, and self-acceptance. The show does touch on mature themes in some of its episodes to show its audience that life isn't always a fairy tale.
The 21-year-old says his style is heavily influenced by his favorite television series, The Proud Family. And if Jordan could be any character from The Proud Family, which one would he be?
“If I could be any character from the Proud Family, It'd be Penny Proud unsurprisingly.
Despite me being a dude, I felt like I had a lot of similarities to her, more than I realized.”
Those similarities they share are their love for education, sports, and music as well as being loyal and standing up for what they believe in. Penny, the show’s main character, is not depicted as perfect and is willing to learn from her mistakes to rectify any problems. According to Jordan, this makes her more relatable than the average protagonist.
Jordan also admires the art and animation from the show and loves the overall color palette of each character. “I always liked the color burgundy, the color Penny wears often in the show,” says Jordan.
Citing the show as important for youth to watch, the show addressed issues that he still feels are still relevant to this day. According to Jordan, not many children’s shows touch on issues such as bullying, mental health, and body positivity.
His favorite episode is the Black History Month episode, I Had a Dream. In the episode, Penny is sent back to 1952 after falling in the school hallway and realizes what life was like for someone like her in that time period.
“If it was not for The Proud Family, I would have not been inspired to create art. I am thankful that the show was around and taught me how to appreciate myself for who I am.”
To hear and see more from Jordan Bostick, be sure to follow him on Instagram
@itsjustjordan00. You can read his comic book here.