Visualizing the invisible is a nightmare. Honestly, try drawing a panic attack or the specific, itchy feeling of social awkwardness. It’s hard. When Pixar released the first batch of Inside Out 2 drawings and concept art, people weren't just looking at cute characters; they were looking at a masterclass in psychological design. The sequel introduces Anxiety, Envy, Ennui, and Embarrassment, and the way these characters were sketched out tells you everything you need to know about the messy transition into the teenage years.
Riley is 13 now. Everything is louder. Everything is more intense.
The character designers at Pixar, led by Production Designer Jason Deamer, didn't just pick colors out of a hat. They looked at how these emotions physically manifest in a human body. If you look closely at the initial Inside Out 2 drawings for Anxiety, she’s orange. Why? Because orange is high-energy, cautious, and slightly vibrating. She’s got these frantic, frayed hairs that look like copper wires about to snap. It’s not just an aesthetic choice. It’s a physiological one.
The Secret Language of the Inside Out 2 Drawings
When you look at the early sketches of Anxiety, you notice she’s almost entirely made of kinetic energy. She doesn't have a solid, grounded base like Joy or Sadness. She’s shaky. The artists used "jittery" line work to convey that she is constantly anticipating the future. That’s the core of the character. While Joy lives in the present and Sadness processes the past, Anxiety is obsessed with "what if."
Then there’s Ennui.
She’s basically a noodle. The Inside Out 2 drawings for Ennui—the French word for boredom or listlessness—feature a deep indigo color and a body shape that looks like it’s being melted by gravity. She can’t even be bothered to stand up. She uses a remote control app on her phone to operate the console. It’s a brilliant bit of visual storytelling. By making her slouch and stretch like saltwater taffy, the animators captured that specific teenage feeling of being too tired to care, yet deeply connected to a digital world.
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Embarrassment is the heavy hitter. Literally. He’s huge, pink, and wears a hoodie that he tries to disappear into. The sketches show him as this massive, soft shape—the polar opposite of Anxiety’s sharp edges. He’s designed to take up too much space, which is exactly how you feel when you’re embarrassed. You want to shrink, but you feel like a giant thumb sticking out in a crowd.
Why the Art Style Shifted for the Sequel
The world inside Riley’s head had to expand. In the first film, the "Mind World" felt established and somewhat orderly. In the sequel, the Inside Out 2 drawings reveal a construction zone. We see the "Belief System," a glowing, subterranean forest of strings that represent Riley’s core identity.
This wasn't easy to draw.
- The artists had to figure out how a "thought" becomes a "belief."
- They used light-up fibers that vibrate when Riley hears something that reinforces her self-image.
- The color palette shifted from the primary colors of childhood to the complex, muddy, and neon hues of puberty.
It’s messy. It’s supposed to be.
The storyboard artists worked through thousands of iterations to get the "Sarcasm Chasm" right. It’s a literal rift in the mind where voices echo back with a biting, cynical edge. To draw sarcasm, you can’t just draw a face; you have to draw the vibe of the environment. The jagged edges of the cliffs in those Inside Out 2 drawings reflect the sharp, defensive nature of teenage humor.
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Breaking Down the New Emotions
| Emotion | Visual Inspiration | Key Design Element |
|---|---|---|
| Anxiety | Electricity/Frayed Wires | Wide, unblinking eyes and shaky silhouettes. |
| Envy | Mushrooms/Smallness | Tiny stature to represent wanting to look up at others. |
| Ennui | A wet sock | Long, drooping limbs and a constant phone glow. |
| Embarrassment | A big blush | A hoodie with drawstrings that actually work to hide his face. |
People often ask why there aren't dozens of emotions. Honestly, the screen would be too crowded. The director, Kelsey Mann, mentioned in several interviews that they actually cut emotions like "Guilt" and "Suspicion" because the Inside Out 2 drawings started to feel repetitive. You have to keep the visual language distinct. If two characters look too similar, the audience loses the emotional beat.
The Technical Artistry of the Mind World
If you're an aspiring artist or just someone who doodles in the margins of your notebook, there’s a lot to learn from these Pixar sketches. They use a technique called "shape language."
Joy is a star. She’s pointy, bright, and radiates outward. Sadness is a teardrop. Everything about her flows downward. In the new Inside Out 2 drawings, Anxiety is a lightning bolt. Her hair, her posture, even the way her mouth moves is jagged. When you draw your own versions of these characters, focus on the silhouette first. If you can recognize the character just by their outline, the design is a success.
The animators also played with texture. Anxiety isn't smooth. She has a sort of muppet-like, fuzzy texture that looks like it would be scratchy to the touch. Envy has hair that looks like polished sea glass. These details don't just happen. They are the result of months of "look development" where digital painters layer textures onto the 2D drawings to see how they catch the light.
Actionable Tips for Drawing Inside Out 2 Characters
If you want to try your hand at some Inside Out 2 drawings, don't start with the finished 3D look. Go back to the basics.
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- Start with the Core Shape. For Embarrassment, draw a giant bean. For Anxiety, draw a shaky, upright oval. For Ennui, draw a curved line like a slumped spine.
- Focus on the Eyes. The eyes in these movies do 90% of the work. Anxiety’s pupils are usually small, showing her high-alert state. Ennui’s lids are always half-closed.
- Use Color to Tell the Story. Don't just color inside the lines. Use gradients. Anxiety isn't just one shade of orange; she has yellows and deep burnt umbers that make her look like she's glowing from the inside.
- Exaggerate the Proportions. Teenage emotions are dramatic. If you're drawing Envy, make her eyes huge. She’s literally "eyeing" what others have.
The most fascinating part of looking at the official Inside Out 2 drawings is seeing the "deleted" concepts. There were versions of Anxiety where she looked much more villainous. Eventually, the team realized she shouldn't be a villain. She’s a protector who just doesn't know when to stop. That realization changed the way they drew her. Her face became softer, more worried than mean.
That’s the power of character design. A few strokes of a digital pen can change a character from a monster into a misunderstood friend.
When you sit down to create your own Inside Out 2 drawings, think about how you’re feeling in that moment. Are you feeling a bit like Ennui today? Let your lines be lazy and long. Are you feeling like Joy? Keep your strokes quick and light. The beauty of this film’s art style is that it gives us a vocabulary for things we usually can’t put into words. It’s art therapy disguised as a blockbuster movie.
To really nail the style, look at the work of Mary Blair, a legendary Disney artist who inspired the original film's look. Her use of bold colors and simple, graphic shapes is the DNA of the Inside Out universe. By studying those roots, your own drawings will have that same timeless, Pixar-quality feel.
Start with a single emotion. Don't worry about making it perfect. The whole point of Inside Out 2 drawings is to capture the messy, beautiful, and sometimes overwhelming experience of being human. Draw the shaky lines. Use the weird colors. Embrace the chaos of the teenage mind. That's where the real art happens.