Overview
This is a guide for those wanting to learn about Design for TV animation without going into massive debt due to art school
Note: This is primarily for TV animation because that’s what I’m more familiar with. A lot of the same ideas can definitely translate to Feature! Also, I am a story artist so forgive me if there are any mistakes!
DM me at @ebbigal on Twitter or @ebbigal_ on Instagram if you have any other resources/feedback!
If you enjoy these resources and want to support me, here’s my Ko-Fi!
TV Animation is very specialized so I broke this document into sections to cover each role!
Lost on which role is for you? Read this little guide on TV anim production and scroll down to design
Storyboarding more your style? I have a guide for that too!
PWUW = Pay What You Want
Guide’s on what you do on the job:
Jess Marfisi’s guide on what a Color Designer does!
BAM Animation video on Coloring Characters the Industry Way!
Videos for better color theory
Marco Bucci’s video on Color Harmony
Blender Guru’s video on Understanding Color
Paint with Nick’s Practical Color Theory ($25)
Devin Korwin’s thread on color in painting
Laura Norwood’s guide to quick color thumbnailing
Misc
Courtney Coffman’s CTNX Color styling Portfolio review
MingjueChen’s Lighting presentation for WIR2
Amphibia by Andy Garner-Flexner
Steven Universe Connie by Leigh Luna
Glitch Tech colorscript by Scott Kikuta
Big City Greens colorscript by Kassandra Heller
Green Eggs and Ham by Carol Wyatt
Jay Kitten’s Background Advice Q and A
Devin Elle Kurtz’s Background Art Workshop
Andrea Gerstmann’s Animation Stuff: How to Paint a Farm
Laura Price’s Day in the Life of A Disney Artist
Corinne’s Thread on learning Blender for BGS
CNS Recruiting: Art Director’s Break down Backgrounds
Latoya Raveneau’s Day in the life of a BG Designer
Steve Lowtwait has a bunch of threads on designing BGs!
Check out his twitter for more
Andrea Gerstmann’s Animation Stuff: Background Design Tips
BAM Animation’s Perspective Drawing in Photoshop
Matt Laskowki’s Perspective Class
Ernest R. Norling Perspective Made Easy
Paint with Nick’s Practical Perspective class ($25)
BG Design Examples
Faith Schaffer’s BG Design work
Britney Thoreson’s BG Design work
Amphibia BG Design by Joey McCormick
Lulusketches’ Background Painting Tutorial video
Nicholas Kennedy’s Background Painting Walkthrough
How to Paint a ‘Klaus” style Background
Levon Jihanian’s BG Paint tips thread
Marco Bucci’s Painting Fundamentals
Marco Bucci’s 10 Tips for Better Painting playlist
Patrick O’Keefe’s Painted Illustration course ($165)
Downloadable BG Designs for paint practice
https://twitter.com/foxorian/status/1270112155023470593
https://twitter.com/britneythoreson/status/1288555970637963264?s=20
https://twitter.com/andrewgeorger/status/1295101802489057280?s=21&fbcli
=IwA390DhpSgpxwsF221mNqJOT4uFoVbonF3RuR5aW2FFPPmF4nZ3o7tayIhc
Steven Universe painted by Melissa King
Infinity Train painted by Melissa King
Phils Design Corner Intro to Prop Design
Maaike’s Rapid Fire tips for Prop Design
CNS Recruiting Character Design and Prop Design for TV Anim
Frank and Becky’s Character and Prop Designs from the talk ^
Isaac Orloff’s VisDev Guidebook: Design Pipeline Fundamentals for 3D Animation ($12)
Wizards of Arcadia by Isaac Orloff
Craig of the Creek by Maaike Scherff
Maaike’s Character Design Portfolio Tips
Allison Perry’s tips on Character Design Portfolios
Jess Lackey’s Portfolio Guide for Character Designers
Laura Price’s How to Make a Character Design Portfolio
Latoya Raveneau’s Day in the life of a Character Designer
BaM Animation Character Turns like a Pro!
BaM Animation Good vs BAD Character Design Tips
Brookes Eggleston’s Let’s Design a CAST of Characters!
Toniko Pantoja’s Improve Drawing and Character Design
Ideas to Consider when Creating BIPOC Characters
Pocket from Trick Moon by Brandon Wu, Colors by Kali Ciesemier
Trickshot Character Guide by Geneva
Owl House special poses by Justin Noel
Infinity Train Character Designs and special poses by Megan Phonesavanh
Owl House predesigns by Matthieu Cousin
Toniko Pantoja’s Basic Human Anatomy and Figure Invention for Animation
Sycra’s Playlist on Human Anatomy
Natalie Nourigat Figure Drawing Tips
Toniko’s Drawing Figures Fast with Technique for Animation
Natalie Norigat’s Tips on Loosening Up
Vee’s Tutorials for Art and Animation (PWUW)
https://vimeo.com/channels/1300087
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jy1rwangC3k&list=PL7EWYwaF6E-H65W-hXeKvv
https://www.deviantart.com/senshistock/gallery
Netflix Recruiter AMA art portfolios
https://processresource.tumblr.com/
Maaike’s Real Quick Resume Guide (PWUW)
Maaike’s TV Animation Basics Zine (PWUW)
Jody Prouse’s Tips on applying to companies
Advice to Illustrators looking to transfer to Animation
TAG Story Group Portfolio Website Advice
The Etherington Brothers 300 Free tutorials
Zol’s Master thread of resources
Discords
Discord servers are a great way to help build up a community of artists and connect with others without going to art school. Once you get a good group of artists, I also suggest making a storyboarding focused discord with close friends!
RAD Artists Network
Emotional Support Artists
Gestalt (Backgrounds Focused)
https://discord.com/invite/U5RZFb4