Nicolas “Nico” Marlet is a character designer, visual development and animation artist best known for his work on animated features like How to Train Your Dragon, How to Train Your Dragon 2, Kung Fu Panda, Monsters, Inc., Bee Movie, The Road to El Dorado and others.

Marlet’s character design drawings just about jump off the page with their springy energy. His model sheets show a wild and abundantly creative imagination.

His work has been featured in books like The Art of How to Train Your Dragon, The Art of How to Train Your Dragon 2, The Art of Kung Fu Panda 2, and others, as well as a published replica of one of his sketchbooks.

Marlets’ work is part of the Art of How to Train Your Dragon 2 exhibit currently at Gallery Nucleus in Alhambra, CA (to July 6). There is a preview of his Sketchbook on their site as well.

Marlet apparently does not have a dedicated web presence, so we’ll have to make do with a scattering of unofficial resources.