Of course, what self respecting animator-colorist can go without admiring the mad skills of the ever talented Mary Blair?
For those of you who don't know her, you should for many, many reasons. In a nutshell, she was a highly influential female artist who worked for Walt Disney on both legendary films and rides, as well as a prolific illustrator and artist of the mid 20th century.
These are just a small sampling of some of her pieces that I love. I really dig her color sense, the way she understands composition, and the way she handles simplifying shapes and forms. I also love the rough texture that shows through the simple shapes via the tempura paint medium.
Images graciously from Cartoon Modern and a wonderful collection of her images over on Flickr. There are also two illustrated books over on Amazon of her concept art from Alice in Wonderland and Cinderella.