Tara Billinger / Disney TV Animation
Tara Billinger knew from early on that she wanted to pursue a career in animation, but didn’t know exactly what part she would play. Now, the self-taught Billinger works as a character and props designer on the Mickey Mouse shorts.
What’s your typical day?
I start my morning with a crew coffee walk, which is my favorite since I get to stretch out and chat. Once I get to my desk, I go through my list of models for an episode. I review the animatic a few times and watch past episodes to see if the show has done something similar before. If there’s a reference/pose or cameo needed, I’ll watch the source material. Most of the day is [spent] sketching.
What’s the best part of the job?
Having this opportunity to draw these well-known characters in a whole new light is a reward in itself, but the best part has to be my crew. I didn’t get to study at a specific school, but I know I’ve become a better artist because of them.
What are some of your challenges?
My personal challenge is to see how far I can push a design and impress my directors. I make sure to reference the storyboard too. The board artists are extremely talented and bring something different and unique. I put poses on models, but I try not to lose their essence.
How do you start?
When I sketch out a pose I always think of silhouette and line of action. These characters have rubbery black limbs that could easily get lost if not positioned correctly. We have the freedom to exaggerate special poses on Mickey and get away with a lot, but we never break our style rules—unless it’s for a joke. With Mickey there is a specific pen and ink look, everything is loose but constructed. Because of the inking style the designers do the cleanup as well.
What determines a successful character design?
You should be able to look at a character and learn something about their personality—be it through their posture, their silhouette or their clothing. Subtle things on a character can speak volumes. Another thing to keep in mind is the animators—they’re going to be making the character come to life and sometimes less is more with a design and makes it easier for them to animate. And you know, pie eyes always look good.
Do you have a favorite character you’ve designed?
Well, Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks already designed this cast so I can’t take credit for them, but I’m thrilled when an expression or exaggerated pose I’ve done is in the final version.
Thomas Perkins / Warner Bros. Animation
Perkins studied Studio Art at California State University, Long Beach, where the focus provided a more general and classical approach to the arts. A longtime comics and animation enthusiast, he got his first job in 1997 as a Prop Designer on Sony Television Animation’s Extreme Ghostbusters. When the Character Design department needed help, Perkins was brought over to assist by designing mouth charts. He’s been a character designer ever since.
Describe your job.
My job is to help in populating the world of each story. Whether it is for a small town in the middle of nowhere or a far-flung space station rife with alien life, that task is great fun for me.
What’s your typical day?
On any given day, I work to coordinate my efforts with the team to be certain that I am working to best support their efforts. This is done by being well versed in the scripts and breakdown lists, as well as talking to other departments to make certain the characters I am drawing work with the world and other assets being created for the show.
What’s the best part of the job?
Apart from getting to draw every day, the fact that I am constantly learning new things. Whether it is a new art style or art tool or approach, there is always something to add to your bag of tricks. It is all a part of striving to create new things each day.
What are some challenges?
The most important challenge for any designer is to be an asset to your team and to be certain your work best serves the story and the style of the show. If you fail that challenge, things become much more difficult. It is also important to keep an eye out for opportunities to learn new skills. One must be constantly prepared to stretch as an artist, especially as the landscape is constantly changing.
Describe your process for designing a character.
In most cases it begins with trying to visualize the written concept. To determine the salient points about that character’s physical and mental description that can be used to give an interesting visual representation.
What determines a successful character design?
As artists, we all have things that we feel work for our particular design sense. One should keep an eye to distinct silhouettes and strong shapes and contrasting forms and how those give insight into the characters that we are creating. We can employ color to help tell more about the personality of the character. The success of your designs will ultimately be dictated by the satisfaction of your client.
Do you have a favorite character that you’ve designed?
In heavy competition for first place there would be two shows I deeply enjoyed working on. Firstly, there was Green Lantern: The Animated Series. I have had a lifelong love of the character, the Green Lantern, so to be able to contribute to that venture was fantastic. It was an opportunity to create odd aliens and beasts to roam the cosmos, as well as to work with a truly talented crew. Secondly, there was the Cartoon Network film, Firebreather, based upon the Image Comics property created by Phil Hester and Andy Kuhn. There was an opportunity in this to design giant kaiju beasts. There were quite a few monsters and the design process to arrive at the final designs was great fun.
Photo by Billy SkellyPhilippe Tilikete / Illumination Entertainment
After studying at CFT Gobelins in Paris, Philippe Tilikete went on to become an assistant animator and then a key assistant animator for traditional animation. He had always wanted a professional career in character design, and around 2001 he was able to realize that goal. Tilikete is currently working on Minions 2.
What’s your typical day?
It’s pretty much designing 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. [I have] very few meetings, calls with the Paris team if needed, searching for references on the net, sometimes sketching at night if certain ideas come to mind—and they always come to me at unusual times!
What’s the best part of the job?
Being creative, drawing all day long, seeing the work on screen and hearing people laugh at the movies I worked on in the theatre.
What are some challenges?
Coming up with fun and original ideas if the subject matter has been exploited many times in the past—I try to always find a way to make it fresh, appealing and fun.
Describe your process.
It can go a couple of ways. I can start with tiny sketches on Post-it [notes]—my roughs are pretty messy—and sketch out a good dozen ideas for one character until I feel the shape is pushed the right way and going in the right direction, then scan them on Photoshop, clean them up and color them. Or designing directly on the Cintiq. Thinking of the overall feel, personality, [as well as] the voice of the character and situations the character could be involved in is very important.
What determines a successful character design?
Personally I don’t think there’s an actual formula; it comes down to appeal and taste, depending on what style you are working with and what production you are designing for. It has to be the right idea for the right style.
Do you have a favorite character that you’ve designed?
I couldn’t really pinpoint one in particular. I liked a lot of the ones I’ve done for Cartoon Network [Out of Jimmy’s Head, My Gym Partner is a Monkey], but I really like the characters for the movie I am working on right now.
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