This article looks at story artist Niyanshu Sharma, tracing how his practice blends Disney’s expressive storytelling with South Asian visual memory. It highlights his reinterpretations of Indian mythological figures, his early influences from Disney classics and ’90s Bollywood, and his role at Disney Feature Animation shaping sequences as a story artist for Disney studios. The article also notes the everyday creative rituals and personal inspirations that feed into his evolving world-building and ground his approach to authentic South Asian representation.
For Glendale-based story artist Niyanshu aka Nick Sharma, drawing has always been a form of recognition — of worlds he grew up with, worlds he inherited, and worlds he continues to build every day inside one of animation’s most influential studios. Born and raised in India before moving to the U.S. at 23 to pursue a career in animation, Sharma’s practice sits at an intersection that feels both instinctive and finely tuned: a blend of hand-painted textures, comic-book energy, and Disney’s unmistakable expressive style.
His characters — animals, humans, mermaids, mythological figures, are imaginative and stem from a nuanced and elastic quality of world building. Lately, the artist has also been conceiving South Asian characters, including playful reinterpretations of Indian gods and mythical beings, channeling that signature Disney warmth without losing the cultural grain that shaped him. The synthesis, however, isn’t something he overthinks: “I don’t think I can intellectually define how I merge these two worlds since I feel like it’s happening naturally to me without much struggle. So, I just tag along for the joyride,” he notes.
"According to me, authentic South Asian representation simply means that we are telling stories from someone’s lived experience from that particular place. Even if it’s a folktale or amythological tale it should come from a person who understands and lives within the conscious and the subconscious landscape of that place. In short it needs to represent the truth for it to be authentic."Nick Sharma
Nick's influences are rooted in childhood viewings of The Jungle Book, The Lion King, and Aladdin — VHS tapes paused frame-by-frame so he could draw them. But Bollywood sits just as deeply in his artistic DNA. “I am a big time Bollywood nerd and a die hard fan of Shahrukh Khan and Hrithik Roshan.” The melodrama, physicality, and exuberant framing of ’90s Hindi cinema creep into his compositions, whether he’s drawing stills from favourite films or sketching a deity mid-stride. He calls it a “full circle of life” — a return to the images that first shaped his eye.
At Disney Feature Animation, Nick's day-to-day looks a rigorous yet playful grind. Story artists function as 'mini-directors,' shaping sequences from script to screen. “We work closely with the directors to craft multiple storyboarded versions of a film. Then, based on the notes that we get from everyone we craft another storyboarded version and so on and so forth,” he shares. Being surrounded by accomplished artists, he says, cultivates a discipline that remains flexible and alive. “Over the years I have learned how to keep the fun alive while doing my storyboards and how to clearly communicate an idea in the most entertaining way possible.”
What sustains him creatively are small rituals: walks, music, movies, dancing, the occasional guitar session, and deep dives through Pinterest for images from mythology, cinema, and other artists. “I think all these keep me engaged with this life and I am sure all these activities somehow feed back into my work.” He works predominantly in a digital medium and keeps no traditional sketchbooks, except for one dedicated to drawing animals when he visits the zoo.
Outside the studio, the artist spends his time drawing the things that first made him fall in love with visual storytelling. Fan art of Hollywood films, Bollywood films, his favorite animes, and mythological imagery all loop back into his visual vocabulary. He mentions that he hasn’t actively strategised around expanding representation or inventing new forms, though one day he hopes to "...make a manga on some Indian myth or folktale.” For now, sticking to what he genuinely enjoys remains the core of his practice. It's the place from which everything else continues to grow.
Follow Nick here.
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