ground. “Any excuse to color code something pink,
I’ll do it,” she laughs. 
She also thinks about the narration at this point:
“When I’m writing, I read things out loud, because
that is how I know it’s gonna be presented, so I think
about the delivery of things.” After all of this pre-
production, she throws it all together and uses the
software Toon Boom to animate the characters, and
“Wham bam, in about a month, you’ve got a video!”
Scripting for Illy is the most exciting part of her
process: “That’s when I feel most motivated, and kind
of like daydreaming and knowing that the daydream
will exist.” A close second to scripting is uploading.
“After three or four weeks of taking my time on this, I
can just upload something and take the weekend off
and hang out.”
When she’s not working on her next big project,
she enjoys swimming — an old high school pastime
— to get away from the pressure of creation.

ROADBLOCKS AND CHALLENGES
The process of creating animation is not all smooth
and easy, though, despite how passionate Ilyssa is
about it. The time it takes to put together an entire
animation is no joke, and then there is the pressure
from the audience to have videos posted. “I do feel
really bad when people are like, ‘Where’s the next
video? Tap tap, where is it? I am just as distraught
as you are.” It takes the occasional break from the

comment section for Illy to remind

herself that it’s okay to take time

between uploads. 

Not only does she face pressure

from her audience, but she also

has to deal with her own internal

imposter syndrome. In regards

to her channel blowing up within

the past year, she says, “It’s really

exciting, but what consumes me

more is the anxieties and fears

of messing up, because I feel like

I don’t really have room to mess

up... I do step back and go, ‘Come

on, this person is putting twice

the amount of effort as I put into

mine, this isn’t right.’”

ILYSSA

AN INTERVIEW WITH ILLY OF ILLYMATION

In Cussed Out by a Stranger, Illy artfully expresses the bemusement we all feel when confronted with an

unexpected barrage of insults.

WHAM BAM,

IN ABOUT A

MONTH, YOU’VE

GOT A VIDEO!

“