Sonic is everywhere at the moment thanks the success of Sonic the Hedgehog 3 on the big screen. But our favourite spiny blue mammal has appeared in many guises over the years, from the video games to IDW's comic series.
Sonic's appearance has evolved over the years with various artists applying their own stamp (see our character design tips for inspiration for your own work). A thread on X provides a great overview of how the design has changed.
When drawing for a big franchise, artists are expected to follow certain established standards. Uekawa+Okano set the standard for modern Sonic. Other artists, like Yardley, Hammerstrom, and Hesse all still have unique styles while retaining the core elements of the design. (1/3) https://t.co/PHJ9eiN6oZ pic.twitter.com/xGyc81z6XtJanuary 22, 2025
Yuji Uekawa defined the look of the modern Sonic we know for the Sonic Adventure series, launched in 1998. The illustrator left behind the more childlike appearance of previous outings in favour of a taller, meaner and cooler hedgehog fit for a new era. Satoshi Okano's contributions to the modern Sonic should also be acknowledged.
As the illustrator Fronkus notes on X, artists like Aaron Hammerstrom and Tyson Hesse gave their interpretations of Sonic their own mark while respecting the work of Yuji and Satoshi to ensure that subsequent Sonics felt like the same character while also having personality of their own. There's now something of a debate among fans about how much each artist should diverge from the standard that Yuji set.
does the community only deem sonic art good if we mimic uekawa or are you not allowed to have your own identity https://t.co/RlgI46ymmoJanuary 20, 2025
For more Sonic inspiration see the surprisingly brilliant Sonic x DC collab.
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