The Art of Character Design

January 4, 2022 10:43 AM

A model sheet is a visual reference that depicts an animated character with a variety of expressions and poses, often from different angles. They're used by animators to establish a definitive style for a project and reduce variation between artists. Character Design References hosts an extensive collection of model sheets and other reference art for animated movies and television series. Want to hone your character design skills? The site has resources for that as well.

Selected Works:
Art of The Lion King (Parts 2, 3, and 4)
Art of Neon Genesis Evangelion (Parts 2 and 3)
Art of The Emperor's New Groove
Art of Spirited Away
Art of Who Framed Roger Rabbit
Art of An American Tale
Art of The Land Before Time
Art of Alice in Wonderland
Art of All Dogs Go To Heaven
Art of Aladdin
Art of Batman: The Animated Series
Art of Ghost in the Shell

posted by dephlogisticated (6 comments total)

OH
WOW!

I have been looking for illustrations to copy for drawing practice, and this is a GOLDMINE. I feel so lucky to get to see how artists work, and think out loud on paper.

I was lucky enough to see an exhibit (at the Cartoon Art Museum, I think?) of work from Cartoon Saloon - a quick search shows that Character Design Reference has a page on Song of the Sea and THREE great pages of Art of the Secret of Kells (part 2, part 3).

And Art of Lilo & Stitch is totally great, too!

This is an absolutely wonderful find - thank you SO MUCH for posting it, dephlogisticated!
posted by kristi at 11:03 AM on January 4, 2022

How is it that Over the Garden Wall is so profoundly good that even looking at reference drawings for it can make me misty with wistfulness
posted by FatherDagon at 11:10 AM on January 4, 2022 [6 favorites]

I love this. The "art of ..." content shows really well how much work goes into arriving at a final character design.
posted by coppertop at 2:01 PM on January 4, 2022

Oh this is a very cool resource, thank you for posting! I'll definitely be combing through them later; I love looking at behind-the-scenes art for animation.
posted by lesser weasel at 4:06 PM on January 4, 2022 [1 favorite]

This is amazing, thank you.
posted by pelvicsorcery at 6:55 AM on January 6, 2022

I am absolutely eating up all the detail in the Ghost in the Shell sheets. I am also very curious about the content of the scribbled note with an arrow pointing at Kiuangani’s nipple.
posted by ejs at 9:50 AM on January 9, 2022