Sources
All fetched 2026-10-01. "Fetched" means the page was read through WebFetch, whose text is a summary: check any quote against the page before printing it. "Snippet" means only a search result was seen. Nothing from these pages is stored in the repo; no frames, pages or stills were downloaded.
Amulet (Kazu Kibuishi)
| Source | What we took | Status |
|---|---|---|
| https://www.sffplanet.com/interview-with-kazu-kibuishi/ | Simple faces are the way into a detailed world (he cites Scott McCloud): "a very rich and detailed world, but one that you can access very easily" | fetched |
| https://www.cbr.com/labyrinths-and-monsters-kibuishi-talks-amulet/ | Founding influences: Bone, Nausicaä, Spielberg, Miyazaki. Colour schemes follow "the mood of the sections" | fetched |
| https://iexaminer.org/graphic-novel-artist-and-writer-kazu-kibuishi-in-nearly-everything-i-write-i-try-to-encourage-empathy-understanding-and-patience/ | Miyazaki "my biggest influence", also Moebius, Bill Peet, Mort Drucker | fetched |
| https://fromthemixedupfiles.com/interview-with-kazu-kibuishi-author-of-amulet/ | Film thinking (Kieślowski, the Coens); "values which are very balanced" | fetched |
| https://www.cbr.com/conversing-on-comics-with-kazu-kibuishi/ | Division of labour: he pencils and inks, Jason Caffoe leads the painting; he paints the large spreads that set a sequence | fetched |
| https://www.boltcityproductions.com/amulet | Team history (Anthony Go Wu, Jason Caffoe as painters from book 2) | fetched |
| https://boltcity.com/workshop/amulet/flatting | His own tutorial: line kept as its own layer; flats on separate layers for background, characters, hair; characters get local colour first, painting after | fetched |
| https://boltcity.com/workshop/copper_tutorial/tutorial_03.htm | Colour method: line layer on Multiply; "setting down a midtone and then working away from it"; finding the palette takes the longest | fetched |
| https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/literature-and-writing/amulet-manga | Reference entry: fine-line, flat-coloured characters "resembling an animation cel" against "lush and painterly backgrounds"; book 1 dark, books 2–3 brighter | fetched |
| https://linesandcolors.com/2008/01/26/amulet-the-stonekeeper/ | Review: "thin, single-weight outlines"; backgrounds "more implied than realized", gradients of textured colour; told "cinematically" | fetched |
| https://www.blackgate.com/2015/06/01/a-gateway-to-fantasy-for-young-readers-amulet-by-kazu-kibuishi/ | Review: depth of the backgrounds, "settings that you want to step into" | fetched |
| https://www.dragonsteelbooks.com/blogs/the-cognitive-realm/brandon-sanderson-kazu-kibuishi-collaboration | Detail in the environment slows the reader down (said about another book of his) | fetched |
Not confirmed, and where we looked: Kibuishi describing his painting of haze, light shafts and glow in his own words (CBR, SFF Planet, Mixed-Up Files, International Examiner, Scholastic; MuggleNet's 2018 interview returned 404, Multiversity refused the connection); the design of the walking house, Cielis and Kanalis and a deliberate use of scale (reviewers' comparisons only). The four points in the README marked "from looking at the books" are our own reading of the published pages: the amulet's pink glow as a light source on faces, depth by paler and bluer layers, tiny figures against huge structures, one dominant hue per location.
Nordlys (Malin Falch)
| Source | What we took | Status |
|---|---|---|
| https://barnebokinstituttet.no/manedens_illustrator/malin-falch/ | Her own words: Disney and Ghibli as the big inspirations; draws everything digitally (Photoshop, Cintiq); wants "et mindre digitalt uttrykk"; style leaning toward manga | fetched |
| https://www.empirix.no/nordlys-malin-falch-intervju/ | Stylised facial expressions come from manga; the trolls' design from Theodor Kittelsen (and John Bauer, Trolljegeren); she photographs real forest as reference | fetched |
| https://snl.no/Nordlys_-_tegneserie | Origin as a Peter Pan redesign (2014); the cast (Sonja, Espen); the film in development | fetched |
| https://dagsavisen.no/kultur/skoleprosjekt-som-ble-tegneserie-1.1106838 | Jotundalen as a parallel world; Røros as the model town | fetched |
| https://www.nrk.no/trondelag/vil-lage-flere-boker-om-norske-sagn-og-eventyr-1.13938199 | Kittelsen, Asbjørnsen and Moe, "Kvitebjørn kong Valemon" as sources | fetched |
| https://bok365.no/artikkel/vil-lage-ti-boker-om-nordlys/ | What she likes drawing (the leads, animals) and finds hard (interiors, architecture, crowds) | fetched |
| https://www.nrk.no/anmeldelser/anmeldelse_-krakesostrene-_nordlys-bok-3_-av-malin-falch-1.14990803 | Review: "vakre naturlandskap, drømmende og stemningsfulle farger, ekspressive ansikter" | fetched |
| https://www.dagbladet.no/kultur/lovende-tegneserie-fra-lysende-talent/69571502 | Review: national-romantic landscapes; painterly chapter title pages; names Amuletten as kin | fetched |
| https://www.empirix.no/anmeldelse-nordlys/ | Review: "veldig god på farger og lys"; film-like panels | fetched |
| https://www.barnebokkritikk.no/veien-er-malet/ | Review: backgrounds built like Ghibli's; shape language (long mean noses, round kind forms); the mountain folk allude to the Sami | fetched |
| https://www.empirix.no/nordlys-trollriket-anmeldelse/ | Review: "avansert, digital lyssetting"; manga figures against more detailed backgrounds; trolls with glowing eyes | fetched |
| https://www.empirix.no/nordlys-harukkas-onske-anmeldelse/, https://www.empirix.no/nordlys-8-reisen-til-roros-anmeldelse/ | Review: style drift toward retro anime; trolls with thick outlines; the nøkk after Kittelsen's white horse | fetched |
Not confirmed: a description of the northern-lights palette by Falch or a reviewer (the green, teal and violet night against warm firelight in the README is our own reading of the covers and pages); Falch naming Amulet, Bone or Avatar as influences (Ghibli and Disney are confirmed in her words, Amuletten is a reviewer's comparison); her line and colour steps on a page; the publisher of the early books.
Feature and series CGI
| Source | What we took | Status |
|---|---|---|
| https://80.lv/articles/riot-games-on-designing-arcane-s-piltover-zaun | Arcane: Zaun designed as Piltover's "dark mirror"; Piltover geometric and symmetric, Zaun asymmetric with flourish. One world, two dialects | fetched |
| https://vfxvoice.com/riot-games-and-fortiche-get-revolutionary-with-arcane-season-2/ | Arcane: two kinds of Art Deco for the two cities; smoke and fire as 2D effects | fetched |
| https://blog.syncsketch.com/creator-stories/arcane-fortiche/ | Arcane: "everything is painted"; 2D effects drawn on top of finished 3D | fetched |
| https://www.redsharknews.com/why-netflixs-arcane-looks-so-good-how-fortiche-ramped-up-the-animation-pipeline | Arcane: light and shadow painted into the textures, paintings projected on simple geometry (a writer's analysis, no crew quote) | fetched, secondary |
| https://forticheprod.com/faq/ | Fortiche: "organic, hand-crafted textures" in place of digital precision | fetched |
| https://www.itsnicethat.com/features/sergio-pablos-klaus-netflix-animation-201119 | Klaus: the hostile town is "tall and pointy, lots of triangles and rhomboids"; an inverted triangle is unstable; light and atmosphere tell the story; the town is desaturated | fetched |
| https://blog.siggraph.org/2019/12/behind-the-magic-of-netflixs-klaus.html/ | Klaus: the light on the drawings is hand-driven: "it should BE handmade" | fetched |
| https://www.sbiernacki.com/work/klaus | Klaus: buildings with an "attitude" | fetched |
| https://beforesandafters.com/2020/12/16/wolfwalkers-and-the-art-of-staging-shots/ | Wolfwalkers: the town's uniform woodblock line against the forest's scratchy line; a character's line changes as she crosses | fetched |
| https://vfxvoice.com/cartoon-saloon-running-with-wolves-in-wolfwalkers/ | Wolfwalkers: town from 1600s woodcuts, forest in watercolour; at the forest's edge some trees are angular with a thicker line (a blended edge zone) | fetched |
| https://beforesandafters.com/2023/01/11/heres-how-dreamworks-lent-a-whole-new-brand-of-stylized-look-and-feel-to-puss-in-boots-the-last-wish/ | Puss in Boots: paint strokes as part of the 3D, "not a Photoshop filter"; outlines rejected on soft fur | fetched |
| https://vfxvoice.com/wishing-upon-a-star-for-puss-in-boots-the-last-wish/ | Puss in Boots: background detail abstracted in lighting and compositing | fetched |
| https://beforesandafters.com/2024/01/10/giving-spider-man-across-the-spider-verse-that-crucial-hand-made-quality/ | Spider-Verse: hand-drawn lines for design, procedural lines for detail | fetched |
| https://www.animationxpress.com/latest-news/in-depth-interview-behind-the-creation-of-nimonas-unique-animation-style-and-compelling-story/ | Nimona: no ambient occlusion, legibility through silhouette | fetched |
| https://bardel.ca/retooling-animation-the-dragon-prince/ | The Dragon Prince: cel-shaded 3D, frames removed for weight; ink lines a separate technology | fetched |
| https://www.matthiaslechner.com/the-sea-beast.html | The Sea Beast: colour themes set in the colour script (red against green; controlled gardens against the wild sea) | fetched |
| https://www.cbr.com/d23-a-look-at-disneys-frozen/ | Frozen (Michael Giaimo): the horizontal castle "amongst the vertical" fjord; rosemaling can be "cursive and flowery" or "geometric and lineal" | fetched |
| https://d23.com/inspiration-for-frozen-disney-animation/ | Frozen: rosemaling "all over this film"; most of the reference Norwegian (speaker not verified) | fetched |
| https://emanuellevy.com/review/frozen-setting-and-visual-look/ | Frozen: the bunad combined with glamour (reads as press-kit text) | fetched |
| https://www.awardsdaily.com/2019/09/30/lisa-keene-david-womersley-uncover-the-world-of-frozen-2/ | Frozen 2: shapes collected and harmonised (after Eyvind Earle); a narrow palette, "yellow to deep maroon. That's your range"; "bring order to randomness"; filigree against solid | fetched |
| https://arctic-council.org/news/behind-the-scenes-of-frozen-2-how-saami-representatives-cooperated-with-disney/ | Frozen 2: the Sami advisory group and the agreement behind it | fetched |
| https://vfxvoice.com/southeast-asian-cultural-touchstones-illuminate-raya-and-the-last-dragon/ | Raya (Paul Felix): each land its own form and colour logic (Heart flowing with cool blues and greens, Fang geometric, Talon purple and pink, Tail earth tones) | fetched |
| https://mouseinfo.com/2016/01/building-the-cities-of-zootopia-how-filmmakers-created-the-world-for-animals/, https://www.matthiaslechner.com/zootopia.html | Zootopia: districts parted by material, palette and axis (the rain forest "a vertical environment") | fetched (press-kit based) |
| https://blog.sherwin-williams.com/in-the-mix/disney-encanto-making-magic-with-color/, https://screenrant.com/encanto-movie-lorelay-bove-interview/ | Encanto (Lorelay Bové): cool jewel tones for one side of the family, warm for the other; a guide that tracks colour and shape per character | fetched (the first is a sponsored post) |
| https://beforesandafters.com/2023/11/22/its-actually-what-an-illustrator-wouldve-done/ | Wish: the watercolour look built mostly in compositing; lines drawn in; atmosphere as a card with a coloured wash | fetched |
| https://animatedviews.com/2011/the-art-of-pixar-the-complete-color-scripts-and-select-art-from-25-years-of-animation-an-interview-with-author-amid-amidi/ | Colour scripts "map out the color, lighting, emotion and moods"; "not about making a single pretty piece of art" | fetched |
| https://hyperallergic.com/the-art-of-pixar-chronicle-books/ | Ralph Eggleston's colour scripts as long strips in pastel | fetched |
| https://www.imaginerding.com/2011/03/03/art-of-up-by-tim-hauser/ | "Simplexity" (Ricky Nierva, The Art of Up): selective detail | fetched (a book review quoting p. 18) |
Games
| Source | What we took | Status |
|---|---|---|
| https://nintendoeverything.com/zelda-breath-of-the-wild-art-director-on-how-the-wind-waker-hd-shaped-the-games-art-style/ | Breath of the Wild (Satoru Takizawa, GDC 2017): a style whose "lies" are small enough that the world's rules stay believable | fetched |
| https://gist.github.com/idbrii/e39fe96279aa1670319bfa521d907399 | Breath of the Wild field design (CEDEC 2017, fan translation): triangles in three sizes as landmarks, view blockers and tempo | fetched |
| https://www.thumbsticks.com/gdc-2015-the-art-of-firewatch/, https://gdcvault.com/play/1022295/the-art-of | Firewatch (Jane Ng): bold colour "in very distinct layers", each adding depth; the sky decides the biggest chunk of colour | fetched |
| https://www.gamedeveloper.com/marketing/how-shedworks-refined-the-art-of-sable-in-pursuit-of-readability | Sable: fog "had the biggest impact overall", set per biome to change tone | fetched |
| https://blog.habrador.com/2018/08/stylized-graphics-fortnite-sea-of-thieves.html | Sea of Thieves: simple shapes combined, hand-painted textures (a blogger's notes on Rare's talk) | fetched, secondary |
Could not confirm (and where we looked)
- Tangled and Fragonard, and anything on the lantern scene's colour: only encyclopedia-style snippets; Den of Geek's Keane interview does not mention it.
- Breath of the Wild as "gouache / en plein air": attributed to a Eurogamer interview (2017-01-19) that could not be fetched.
- Shape rules stated by a named production designer (straight against curve, big-medium-small, 70/30): only tutorial blogs. The README uses such ratios as our own working rules, not as quotations.
- Klaus's warm palette for the Sami and the workshop in the designers' words (IndieWire, paywalled).
- A crew quote on light baked into Arcane's textures (the claim rests on one writer's analysis).
- Nimona's flat-graphic sources (Hollywood Reporter, paywalled); Raya's motifs piece on AWN (403); Genshin's GDC 2021 slides (image-only PDF); Ori, Journey, World of Warcraft zone palettes (nothing craft-level found).
- AWN, CBC, IndieWire, Hollywood Reporter, Eurogamer and MoMA blocked fetching.