The CalArts sketchbook requirements for Character Animation are intentionally open-ended. CalArts wants a complete sketchbook filled with drawings, observations, ideas, stories, thumbnails, character designs, film research, and whatever else genuinely interests you as an artist. The school currently asks applicants to submit the sketchbook as an unedited video page-through rather than mailing in the physical book.
I graduated from the Character Animation program at CalArts in 2009, and since then I’ve reviewed hundreds of portfolios at National Portfolio Day events around the U.S. The sketchbook has always seemed to be one of the most confusing parts of the application because applicants naturally want someone to tell them exactly what CalArts wants to see.
That’s also where I think people can go wrong. Trying to manufacture the “right” CalArts sketchbook can make the work feel less personal. The current requirements actually encourage you to show what you are uniquely inspired to draw.
What Are the Current CalArts Sketchbook Requirements?
For the Character Animation application, CalArts currently asks for a complete sketchbook documented as a video.
According to the official CalArts Character Animation admission requirements, the sketchbook can contain drawings, film ideas and scenes, film research, observations, stories, thumbnails, character designs, and other material that reflects what you are interested in.
CalArts also specifically says to draw directly in the sketchbook rather than assembling separate finished pages together. That distinction matters. They’re asking to see an actual working sketchbook, not another carefully designed portfolio.
The school doesn’t specify one particular sketchbook size or format. Use something you’re comfortable carrying and drawing in regularly.
The Sketchbook and Portfolio Are Two Different Things
This is one of the most important distinctions to understand when reading the CalArts Character Animation portfolio requirements.
Your online portfolio has much more specific observational drawing requirements. CalArts currently asks for a minimum of 15 observational works drawn directly from life with the subject physically present rather than copied from photographs or screens.
Those observational works should include life drawings of human models as well as drawings from real life such as people, animals, interiors, exteriors, urban sketches, location drawings, cafe drawings, and plein-air work.
The sketchbook is broader. It can contain observation, imagination, research, storytelling, character ideas, thumbnails, experiments, and whatever else reflects how you actually think and draw.
I wouldn’t turn the sketchbook into 100 pages of polished portfolio pieces. Part of its value is that it can show the thinking and curiosity behind the more finished work.
What I Would Put in a CalArts Sketchbook
If I were putting together a Character Animation sketchbook now, I would want it to show that drawing is something I naturally do to understand the world around me.
I’d draw people waiting for coffee, sitting on buses, talking to each other, eating lunch, working, walking, or simply standing around. I’d draw animals when I had the opportunity. I’d sketch rooms, streets, landscapes, objects, plants, and strange little things I noticed during the day.
I’d also leave room for imagination: characters, visual jokes, story situations, thumbnails, unusual compositions, imaginary creatures, or ideas that might eventually become something larger.
That combination can reveal much more about you than filling a book with one type of highly finished drawing.
If you’re struggling to find subjects, my list of things to draw in your sketchbook can help you generate possibilities without turning the book into a collection of generic prompts.
Draw From Life as Much as You Can
Observational drawing is especially important for Character Animation because the current portfolio requirements explicitly emphasize strong figure and life drawing skills.
Drawing from life teaches you things that are difficult to learn by copying photographs. You have to make decisions about what matters while the subject changes, moves, turns, or disappears completely.
That might mean drawing someone for 30 seconds before they get up and leave. You aren’t going to finish everything, so you have to decide quickly what makes the pose recognizable.
This is why I would spend a lot of time sketching people. You start noticing posture, proportion, weight, clothing, attitude, relationships between people, and all sorts of small behaviors that eventually become useful for animation and storytelling.
Capture Movement Instead of Perfect Poses
A sketchbook full of stiff figures standing perfectly still can demonstrate drawing ability, but it doesn’t tell me as much about how you observe life.
Look for movement.
Someone bending down to tie a shoe can be more interesting than someone posing for you. A dog turning around, a bird landing, or two people talking can give you opportunities to study gesture, weight, expression, and action.
You don’t have to finish every drawing. Sometimes a few lines that capture the direction of a pose are more valuable than ten minutes spent rendering details after you’ve already lost the action.
I go deeper into this in my guide on how to draw movement.
Draw Environments, Not Just Characters
Character Animation applicants understandably spend a lot of time drawing people and characters, but don’t forget the world around them.
CalArts specifically includes interior and exterior environments, urban sketching, location drawing, cafe drawing, and similar observational work in its current portfolio guidelines.
I would use the sketchbook to explore those subjects too. Draw your kitchen. Draw the inside of a coffee shop. Draw an intersection. Draw your bedroom after you’ve left everything on the floor.
A location becomes more interesting when you think about what is actually happening there rather than treating it like an architectural exercise. If this is something you haven’t practiced much, I have a separate guide on how to draw a scene.
Animals Are Excellent Sketchbook Subjects
Animals give you many of the same challenges as drawing people, except they’re often even less cooperative.
That’s useful.
You learn to notice the larger shape, posture, anatomy, and behavior instead of expecting the subject to stay still while you slowly finish a drawing.
Draw pets, birds outside a window, animals at a zoo, or anything else you can observe directly. Over time you’ll start recognizing how the body changes when the animal sits, runs, stretches, turns, or rests.
If animals are difficult for you, understanding some basic animal drawing anatomy can make those quick observations easier to interpret.
Don’t Try to Draw in a “CalArts Style”
There isn’t one CalArts drawing style that you need to imitate to get accepted.
In fact, trying to make your work resemble sketchbooks you’ve seen from other applicants or students can work against what the current application is asking for. CalArts explicitly says it wants to see what you are uniquely inspired to draw and recommends that applicants not use sketchbooks found online as reference for their own.
I think that’s good advice.
Your goal shouldn’t be to make someone look at the book and say, “That looks like CalArts.” I’d rather have them look at it and immediately become curious about the person who made it.
Technical drawing ability still matters, particularly for Character Animation, but technique and individuality aren’t opposites. The fundamentals give you more freedom to communicate your own ideas. My broader drawing techniques guide covers some of those skills if you have specific areas you want to strengthen.
Your Sketchbook Doesn’t Need One Medium
I wouldn’t obsess over finding a special “CalArts sketchbook pencil” or trying to guess which materials admissions prefers.
Use materials that let you draw frequently and confidently.
Pencil is fine. Pen is fine. Markers, paint, colored pencil, and combinations of different materials can all make sense depending on how you work.
I’m especially fond of drawing in ballpoint pen because I like the immediacy of committing to a mark rather than constantly erasing and correcting it. If you’re interested in working that way, these ballpoint pen drawing techniques are a good starting point.
Let Some Pages Be Messy
A sketchbook is not supposed to be a gallery exhibition where every page has to impress someone.
Some pages can be awkward. Some drawings can fail. You might abandon something halfway through because your subject moved. You might write notes next to a drawing or make three tiny attempts at the same pose.
That can make the book more interesting because it shows how you think and what catches your attention.
There is a difference between a sketchbook that feels exploratory and one filled carelessly at the last minute, though. The volume of drawing still matters. You want the book to suggest that this is genuinely something you do rather than an assignment you rushed through specifically for an application.
If drawing regularly is the hard part, my approach to practicing sketching may be more useful than trying to produce elaborate finished pages one at a time.
Don’t Confuse Polish With Storytelling
Character Animation isn’t only about being able to draw a convincing human body. The program is built around characters and narrative storytelling, and the current portfolio requirements specifically mention sequential imagery and the potential to tell stories.
Your sketchbook gives you a natural place to experiment with that.
Draw something that happened that day. Turn an observation into a character. Make three thumbnails exploring what happens next. Draw two people interacting instead of two isolated figures. Let one page lead naturally into another.
You don’t need to turn every sketchbook spread into a storyboard. Just show signs that you’re interested in more than rendering objects accurately.
How to Film the CalArts Sketchbook Video
The current application asks you to document your completed sketchbook with a video page-through.
CalArts says to begin with the front cover and finish with the back cover. Film from above in good light and pause long enough on each page for the drawings to be seen clearly.
The video can be no longer than 10 minutes and shouldn’t contain edits, overlays, commentary, music, or another audio track.
In other words, don’t turn the sketchbook video into a film project. The work inside the book is what they need to see.
What I Would Focus on Before Applying
If I had several months before submitting a CalArts Character Animation application, I wouldn’t spend that time trying to engineer a perfect final sketchbook.
I’d draw constantly.
I’d find opportunities for life drawing. I’d carry a sketchbook whenever I went somewhere. I’d draw people and animals from observation, environments, gestures, little story ideas, characters, and whatever genuinely caught my attention.
I’d also compare what I’m doing against the official portfolio requirements and identify weaknesses early. If my figures were weak, I’d work on figures. If I avoided environments, I’d draw more environments. If everything looked technically competent but impersonal, I’d spend more time exploring ideas that actually interested me.
The goal isn’t to predict some secret formula the admissions committee wants.
A strong CalArts sketchbook should make it obvious that you draw because you’re curious about people, animals, places, stories, movement, and ideas. The application requirements can tell you what needs to be submitted. The sketchbook is where you get to show them how you see the world.