[9th Day of GIFmas] Santa's Dreaming of a White Russian

After Christmas, Santa turns up.

December 28, 2015, 9:45pm

The holidays are upon us and 2016 is nipping at our heels. The only decision harder than what gift to get your grandmother is what GIF to attach to inter-office emails and Slack threads. We've gathered some of the most festive GIF artists on the net for a series called 12 Days of GIFmas. We'll shine a red and green spotlight on the creative process behind these shareable bites of holiday cheer.

Christmas is over, but Santa's not done yet. Created by Huffington Post illustrator and animator Eva Hill, this GIF makes us want to party with Kris Kringle. Hill's style of illustration and animation draws on pop culture in a comical way and often reflects how we feel about food, politicians, Drake, and the future (read: fortune cookies). This year, she decided to make a holiday GIF for The Creators Project. Titled Santa's Dreaming of a White Russian Christmas, the message seems to be: "He's put up with our milk and cookies for long enough, but now it's time to turn up."

We caught up with Eva to talk about the holidays, her 2016 plans, and her drunken St. Nick.

The Creators Project: Can you briefly explain the idea behind the GIF?

Eva Hill: The Santa character just started out as an illustration for a weekly comic I do for HuffPost. Then my coworker Oliver and I came up with the bold idea to make Santa slightly more… inebriated… so I created this little animation.

Run me through the process of creating the piece. What tools/techniques did you use?

I drew Santa (and his booze) in Illustrator and then animated everything in After Effects. I drew different frames for the Kahlúa pouring, foot taping and cigarette smoke. Then added some eye movement, redness blinking and… BOOM. Santa becomes REAL turnt.

How are you celebrating the holidays?

I'm celebrating the holidays with family, festivities and food. Mainly food.

What kind of stuff do you have planned for 2016?

In 2016 I definitely plan to make more fully-animated videos. This year, I made several food-related animations, but I'd like to expand my horizons and cover topics like science, sex, and lifestyle.