The shelves of Sean Conlisk Murphy’s bedroom are weighed down by sketchbooks – sixty sketchbooks, to be exact. He has numbered each book in his collection since high school, amassing an anthology that traces his artistic evolution to the present moment.
Murphy, a junior at Fairfield University studying studio art, finds inspiration in the bold worlds of Japanese art, from manga to anime. Beyond pencils and paper, his headphones are essential to his process. His creative expression is soundtracked by the scores of foreign animated films, whose warm instrumentation helps him settle into any space and fully immerse himself in his work.
Murphy utilizes art as a form of self-care, an act of expression that he has used to cope with stress since his teenage years. He recalls inclining to draw as a child, but faced a couple of roadblocks.
“Whenever I would draw, I liked to draw alone,” Murphy explains. “And I shared a room with my younger brother as a kid. So, I didn’t really have my own space to kind of get away from everything and be drawing.”
An additional setback occurred in elementary school when a female classmate told him, “Drawing is not for boys.” He has since found humor in this comment, as his exposure to the industry has reinforced that art is not limited by gendered expectations.
“You know, what’s funny about that statement in particular is that if you look at a lot of Disney animators, especially the animators who drew and animated the Disney princesses, they’re all dudes,” he reflects, grinning at the irony.
He understands the appeal in creating female characters, noting that he prefers drawing women because he has more opportunities to incorporate fun fashion and hairstyles.
This semester, Murphy began contributing his cartoons to The Fairfield Mirror. Over the course of ten issues, he has incorporated several female characters into his drawings. However, his trademark style tends to lean feline over feminine.
As a self-proclaimed “big-time cat lover,” he has even incorporated the furry creatures into artwork that serves as political and social commentary. Murphy recently published a piece featuring Curtis Sliwa, a candidate in New York City’s 2025 mayoral race, reimagined as a cat piloting a robotic suit.
“Curtis Sliwa has a million cats, and he talks about having a million cats. So what if he was secretly a cat in disguise?” he considers.
Murphy continues, “I think poking fun at the people at the top is, one, important and, two, funny. It removes that layer of ‘we can’t talk about that.’Instead, we talk about it – and make fun of them – because they’re clowns.”
The infusion of politics aligns with Murphy’s initial academic plan, as he applied to Fairfield University with the intention of pursuing international studies.
“I was finding that I liked drawing a lot more than politics,” he says. “I decided why not take a shot and, you know, get a degree in that so I can make a career out of doing something I really like instead of something I’m vaguely interested in?”
Murphy admits that his family was initially hesitant to accept his decision, but they have since grown supportive of it.
“I wasn’t born with a pencil in my hand, so there was some concern over whether or not I could actually make a career out of it. But, I’ve been invited to a convention with animators and made three short films,” he says. “I actually have a resume when it comes to drawing and things like that.”
In November, he was overjoyed to attend the CTN Animation Expo in Burbank, California. The four-day convention was a “surreal experience” that allowed Murphy to connect with animation legends.
“I just walked into this room and it’s like, ‘Oh, that’s the guy who directed ‘The Little Mermaid.’’ And, ‘Oh, that’s the guy who animated Simba. Oh, that’s the guy who animated Scar,’” he exclaims, with tangible enthusiasm.
He felt especially validated by a conversation he had with an animator who worked on “Lady and the Tramp” in the 1950s.
“He looked through my sketchbook and that was pretty cool because I was like, ‘All right, I’m on the right track,’” he remarks.
At Fairfield, Murphy is grateful for the wisdom he acquires from TJ Sullivan. Sullivan, an Emmy Award winner who teaches “Directing Animated Film and Television,” weighs in on Murphy’s budding talent.
“It’s been a pleasure getting to know Sean in class. I started out as a cartoonist for the school paper as well, so it’s been exciting to see his journey,” he says. “He’s highly motivated with a keen eye on storytelling. It’s been a joy to discuss animation and animated films across various genres with him, and to see his class assignment come together.”
Sullivan cites a specific assignment, illustrating that his students were asked to develop an idea from the initial script and storyboards all the way through editing to produce a polished storyboard sequence for a short film or series.
According to Sullivan, Murphy crafted “an ambitious original story” and “was able to storyboard an entire 11 minute short together over the course of the past couple of months and create this beautiful story and world.”
As Murphy storyboards his future, creativity will remain at the core. With his third short film complete and a fourth on the way, there is no limit to the whimsical worlds he is ready to bring to life.
