Creating Characters with Personality: For Film, TV, Animation, Video Games, and Graphic Novels

What a fun and exciting view of character creation. Excellent for ideas and a step-by-step process.

A great book and a great learning tool! I reconmend this book for pros and hackers alike. The examples are great and easy to understand and the book is a good read too! Simply a must for any cartoonist/artist in any field of illustration. A good companion with animation books like "Animate the Looney Tunes way" or the Preson Blair series on animation.

I was happy to find that this book included every aspect of character design that I needed. Throughout the book, Tom offers assignments for the reader to keep up with the progression. This book is a must for any artist dealing with characters; from web animation to comics, to feature films. Definitely a worthy buy, and I can't wait to see his next book!

I ordered this book before it was released and it is worth far more than the cover price. As an illustrator I have always struggled a little with character design, and this book filled the void. It has a good combination of pictures and text so both learning style are met. After you read this book, you will understand many of the principles and techniques to design characters. You won't work for Capcom tomorrow, but your art will look a lot better.

I got a chance to peruse a pre-release copy of this book and I really liked what I saw.
Tom is a former Disney animator and does a great job of breaking down the elements of good character design. What I really like about his book is that it isn't merely a "How to draw like me" book. He teaches principles that anybody can put to use in their own style.
Not only did he ask Rob Corley to write a chapter (his business partner), but he asked several guest artists to submit their interpretations of the same character. Among the guests are Peter deSeve, Mark Henn, Bill Amend and Jack Davis... yes, the Jack Davis. A very diverse collection of styles, yet with one thing in common: they create excellent designs brimming with personality and attitude.
Tom's point in the book is that good character design, regardless of style, comes down to clarity, appeal and knowing your character inside and out.
(Oh, and Glen Keane wrote the forward for some more words of inspiration!)