Creating Stylized Animals

Learn how to create compelling and accomplished stylized animal characters, with the step-by-step guidance of professional animators and artists.

Learn how to create vibrant character designs with the step-by-step guidance of professional artists from the illustration and animation industries.

Imagine, Design and Draw Your Own Characters! Draw With Jazza YouTube star Josiah Brooks breaks down an easy-to-follow method that will help you to invent and draw original characters time and time again. Whether sci-fi or steampunk, comic book heroines or tattooed action heroes, animal familiars or alien races, you will discover the limitless possibilities of creating your very own characters for comic books, cartoons, video games and more! No matter what your skill level, you can draw from concept to finished art with confidence. Jazza shows you how as he walks you through The Design Process! • Discover. Learn techniques just like the pros use for developing characters--their backstory, personality and physicality; decide your drawing style; and explore and organize your inspiration. • Design. Use brainstorm sketching to refine your character's persona. Use simplified lines and shapes to draw men and women, practice poses and play with body shapes, sizes, ages and outfits. • Develop. Refine your best ideas by choosing features, color schemes, settings and context to reflect your end goal. • Deliver. Finish your concept art with character turnarounds, expression sheets, pose variations and more to create a complete picture of your characters and their world.

From Snow White to Shrek, from Fred Flintstone to SpongeBob SquarePants, the design of a character conveys personality before a single word of dialogue is spoken. Designing Characters with Personality shows artists how to create a distinctive character, then place that character in context within a script, establish hierarchy, and maximize the impact of pose and expression. Practical exercises help readers put everything together to make their new characters sparkle. Lessons from the author, who designed the dragon Mushu (voiced by Eddie Murphy) in Disney's Mulan—plus big-name experts in film, TV, video games, and graphic novels—make a complex subject accessible to every artist.

In the spring of 2005 Chris Ayers was busy working as a concept artist in the Hollywood film industry. That came to a crashing halt when he was diagnosed with leukemia on April first. After a year-long period of treatment and recovery he started a sketchbook called The Daily Zoo on the anniversary of his diagnosis. Over the next 365 days he would draw one animal each day, challenging both his self-discipline and imagination. Most importantly it would allow him the focused opportunity to celebrate the gift of each healthy day. The pages of The Daily Zoo: Volume One are chock-filled with 365 distinct critters, ranging from curious pandas to sinister hyenas, athletic aardvarks to zealous zebras, and his choice of artistic styles are as diverse as his subject matter. Alongside the images Ayers, whose big screen credits include Men in Black II, X-Men 3, and the Alien vs. Predator films, ties in commentary about his cancer experience, the sources of his artistic inspiration and his creative methods. Whether you're a beginning artist or a seasoned pro, this book will leave you inspired to grab the nearest pencil, pen, brush or crayon and start drawing!

"Make your sketches come to life. From films to games, books to comics, all stories need refined, beautiful characters. This book demystifies the in-demand discipline of character design, starting with the basics of material and equipment, moving on to sketching and 3D mock-ups with full turnarounds and lineups, and culminating in a series of in-depth case studies."--

Learn the insider secrets professional cartoonists use to turn regular cartoon animals into completely cute characters Warm and fuzzy characters all have that “certain something” that makes them so memorable and darling. But what exactly is it? This sought-after, ultra-cute quality is based on specific techniques that, when applied to character design, result in irresistible cartoon animals. With Cartoon Cute Animals, these are techniques that you can learn, too! Perfect for anyone interested in cartooning, from the aspiring animator looking for how-to instruction to the expert illustrator seeking inspiration, Cartoon Cute Animals covers the broadest possible spectrum of popular species as well as an array of more exotic animals such as the ferret, armadillo, meerkat, and porcupine. Years of experience and expert knowledge have been distilled into one easy-to-follow guide that is full of simple instructions and visual examples to help you create the most adorable cuties ever put to paper!