Creating characters with personality
(Book)

Character design is all around us-in feature films, in comics and video games, on the Web, in corporate icons, in children's book illustration, and in many other places. Even so, during his long and distinguished career as a character designer, Tom Bancroft made a discovery: He's never seen a book devoted to character design. So, he wrote Creating Characters with Personality, sharing his skill and insights to inspire and instruct anyone who's ever dreamed of creating an action hero or a zombie. Bancroft is an adept teacher and explains such elements as size, proportion, and tilts in clear, concise prose. He passes on secrets of the trade for successfully bringing humans, animals, and monsters to life and adding pose, color, and style to any illustration. He also presents the work and insights of some of the greatest illustrators of our time, and he leads readers through a series of engaging assignments that may well launch many successful careers in illustration.

Animation veteran Tom Bancroft worked at Walt Disney Feature Animation, Florida, for 12 years, animating such films as Rescuers Down Under, Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, Aladdin, Pocahontas, Mulan, Tarzan, Atlantis, and Brother Bear. With artistic partner Rob Corley he founded Funnypages Productions, specializing in children's books, character designs, animation, video game development and comic books for Disney, Fisher-Price, Big Idea Productions, EMI-CMG Records, DC Comics, Hasbro, Tommy Nelson, Scholastic and other clients. Tom also publishes his creator-owned comic, Opposite Forces, along with comics by other talented creators. Opposite Forces was nominated for a Rueben category award in 2005.