Character Design for Animation

Samantha McIvery is a veteran character designer and animation artist with over fifteen years of experience in feature film, television, and video game production. She began her career as a junior concept artist at Blue Sky Studios, contributing to the visual development of *Rio* and *Epic*, before moving to Pixar Animation Studios where she spent eight years designing characters for shorts and feature films. Her credits include work on *Coco*, *Onward*, and the Academy Award–winning short *Bao*.

Samantha later served as lead character designer at DreamWorks Animation Television, overseeing the design pipeline for the Netflix series *The Epic Tales of Captain Underpants* and creating original characters for multiple upcoming projects. She has also consulted for independent game studios, helping establish the art direction for the award-winning indie title *Spiritfarer*.

In addition to her studio work, Samantha is a dedicated educator. She has taught character design courses at the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts), the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), and through online platforms including School of Motion. Her teaching philosophy emphasizes the marriage of narrative intent with visual craft, encouraging students to develop both technical skill and storytelling instinct.

Samantha holds a BFA in Character Animation from the School of Visual Arts in New York. She is a frequent speaker at industry events such as CTN Animation Expo, SIGGRAPH, and Lightbox Expo, where she leads workshops on shape language and expression design. Her personal character project, *Wanderers of the Fringe*, has been featured in *ImagineFX* and *3DWorld* magazines. She currently lives in Los Angeles and splits her time between studio consulting, teaching, and developing her own animated short film.

You can find Samantha’s portfolio at samanthamciveryart.com and follow her on Instagram and Twitter @samciverydesign.