If you’ve been to the Senses Block Party, the Cowboy Festival or other Santa Clarita city events, you’ve probably seen Jason Gabriel drawing caricatures of guests.
The California Institute of the Arts graduate doesn’t just draw exaggerated cartoons of people, but he’s also built a career in the cartoon business, lending his talents on the “South Park” and “Futurama” TV series, and on the prequel series to the “Ted” films.
“I started drawing when I went to work with my dad,” Gabriel said during a recent telephone interview. “He’d take me to his office, and he really didn’t know what to have me do there. So, he just gave me a pen and pad, and he’s like, ‘Just draw. Keep yourself busy.’”
Gabriel, 29, is originally from Bakersfield. He got into art when he was 4 years old. Since then, he’s constantly been drawing.
However, when he graduated high school in 2014, he didn’t think about doing anything with his artistic talents. He wasn’t really sure what he wanted to do, but he decided to study computer sciences at California State University, Bakersfield.
He did that for about two years when an acquaintance noticed he had more of a knack for drawing and suggested he study art instead.
“I was drawing even during the computer science classes,” Gabriel said. “I was doing well in the classes, but I just cared more about drawing than computer science. This person’s like, ‘You should just do art. You’re good enough.’”
Gabriel always believed that if he was ever going to use his drawing talent professionally, it would be for comics or animation. He grew up reading Marvel and DC comics, and watching the Cartoon Network, with shows like “Chowder,” “The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack” and “Regular Show” ranking among his favorites.
He said animation seemed like a more practical path. As he thought more about it, he discovered that many of the creators behind his favorite animated shows had studied at CalArts in Valencia. Determined to follow in their footsteps, he set his sights on getting into the school.
“I really put my head down and got to work,” he said. “In 2015 to 2016, I applied, and I got rejected. I remember when I got the rejection letter — I was working at Walmart at the time, and I just felt so crushed. I wanted to leave. I didn’t want to work for the rest of the day.”
The following year, Gabriel expanded his search and applied to several other art schools, thinking it was unrealistic to rely on getting into CalArts. Still, he submitted an application to CalArts — just in case.
Taking another chance paid off. He got into CalArts and was on his way to Valencia.
“My time at CalArts was a roller coaster ride,” Gabriel said. “From day one, I knew I was going to go into student debt because I wasn’t coming from a rich family. My parents told me, ‘Yeah, we’re not going to pay for art school, so, you’re going to have to do it all on your own.’”
Gabriel worked various jobs throughout his time in school to pay his living expenses, and he took out student loans to cover his tuition.
During his second year at CalArts, which he said was his most difficult year, he worked at Six Flags while also juggling 10 classes simultaneously.
“I was feeling really burnt out at the time,” he said. “But I also remember seeing all the films that all the graduating people were making, and it was really inspiring to me because I was just thinking, ‘Man, I’m going to the same place that J.G. Quintel (creator of “Regular Show”) went to and that Pendleton Ward (writer on “The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack”) went to, and I’m sure they went through all these trials and tribulations, too.’”
Gabriel graduated from CalArts in 2021. He and his girlfriend hoped to keep living in Santa Clarita, but it was just too expensive for them.
Eventually, Gabriel was forced to move back to Bakersfield to live with his dad in a small apartment, sleeping on the floor while working to pay off his student debt. He took a job at a local Chipotle, all the while spamming potential animation employers with his resume.
“I ended up hearing back from ‘South Park,’” he said. “They had me do a battle week, which is their way of auditioning people. The way we auditioned is that they would pin me against one or several artists. It’s like ‘Squid Game.’ It’s a battle royale. One day we’d be doing character designs, the next day we’d do background designs, the next day we’d build something in their vectorized program, and the next day we’d do storyboards. After that, then they’d decide who was the strongest artist, and that’s who’d get hired.”
Gabriel could hardly believe it when he found out he got the job. Throughout the audition process, he admired the competition and never expected to be chosen. So, when the production company called on a Friday and asked if he could start that Monday, he immediately said yes.
That night, he was too excited to sleep.
At the time, the COVID-19 pandemic was in full swing, so Gabriel didn’t need to relocate to Los Angeles. Instead, he would work from home.
“They’re like, ‘Oh, you’re in Bakersfield? That’s totally fine. We’re going to ship all of our equipment to you.’”
Over the weekend, they sent Gabriel everything he needed, and by Monday, he was fully set up and ready to go.
Luckily, Gabriel’s dad had been staying with his girlfriend at her place. Gabriel used his dad’s bedroom in the apartment to set up his workstation, and there he began work on the TV movie “South Park: Post COVID” as a character and background designer, though he’d have his hands in other parts of the animation process on the project.
The experience was intense and fast-paced, Gabriel said, regularly working 100 hours a week — sometimes even 120 hours a week. It pushed him to grow as an artist, but it also left him exhausted.
“We did two movies and Season 25 (of ‘South Park’),” he said. “Usually, the deal is that we work six months and have six months off — paid — which is nice. But we worked for like eight or nine months straight, and then we were going to have a one-week break and then go back to work on the next movie. I’m like, ‘I don’t think I could do this long-term.’”
A friend of Gabriel’s, who was burning out and leaving his job at Rough Draft Studios — an animation production company — recommended Gabriel as his replacement.
Gabriel got the job.
At Rough Draft, he worked as a storyboard revisionist on the TV series “Disenchantment” and “Futurama.” He worked remotely for Rough Draft for a brief time but eventually had to move to Southern California. He also did other freelance work here and there between shows.
According to Andrew Han, a director Gabriel worked with at the company, Gabriel impressed him with his talents and his work ethic. As someone who worked his way up from the storyboard department to directing, Han said he believed Gabriel has what it takes to do the same, though he admitted there’s no clear path or timeline to do so.
“Jason is very easy to work with,” Han said during a recent telephone interview. “He likes to push himself to do bigger things.”
That, Han added, is what makes Gabriel such a great collaborator. He said he believed Gabriel would go far.
After Gabriel wrapped “Futurama,” he went to work on the “Ted” TV series. If that wasn’t enough, he was also doing caricatures on the side.
“Back in 2019, during my second year at CalArts, I was looking for any way to make extra money to keep myself afloat,” Gabriel said. “I saw a flyer at CalArts for caricature artists, and I ended up emailing them back saying, ‘Yes, I’m very interested.’ I wasn’t expecting a response because there are a lot of hungry artists at CalArts who were probably willing to do that. Lo and behold, they ended up contacting me.”
Caricature drawing wasn’t new to Gabriel — he’d done it at weddings and carnivals back in Bakersfield. The Santa Clarita job was originally just a once-a-year gig, but since he started, it’s grown into something much bigger.
Last month, he did caricatures at the “Fandomania” Senses Block Party in Old Town Newhall. The event was billed as a night of fandom for fantasy, adventure and pop culture with live music, food trucks and themed activities, including comic book photo opportunities, wand making, a Spider-Man Velcro wall and, of course, a caricature artist.
According to Mike Franke, events coordinator for the city of Santa Clarita, caricature artists are always popular and attract a lot of interest from the public.
“I think people really appreciate art in general,” Franke said in a recent telephone interview. “To have themselves in that piece of art, not only as a souvenir from the event, but that they can keep with them to look back on, I think it’s just important.”
Franke explained that the city often hires several caricature artists with different drawing styles, giving guests a variety of options to choose from. The artists also tailor their drawings to match a given event’s theme. For example, at the “Fandomania” Senses Block Party, guests might get caricatures of themselves as superheroes or wizards to fit the fantasy theme.
According to Franke, Gabriel is a particular artist who easily adapts to various themes.
“Jason’s just been great to work with,” he said. “And people love interacting with him. He can chat with people while drawing. He’s a great person, and that’s why we always bring him back.”
Gabriel said he continues to enjoy what he’s doing with his art, and he continues to grow, particularly with his work in animation. If there’s one thing he’s taken away from his journey, it’s that there’s so much he once took for granted.
“I don’t watch animation the same way after going to school for it and working in it,” he said. “Every single thing that you see — like even the background person that you see for a split second — somebody spent hours, at least, working on that. It’s given me a newfound appreciation for the amount of work that’s put into it, and I just have so much more respect and admiration for all the people who do it.”
Know any unsung heroes or people in the SCV with an interesting life story to tell? Email [email protected].
