Popular artist Gretel Lusky welcomes readers into her fantastical world in this high-quality art book.This is an artist who loves fantasy and all things magical: fairies, mermaids, mythical creatures, knights, and more. She creates characters that are colorful yet mysterious and places that feel otherworldly, always pretty yet sometimes bordering on unsettling. Gretel fans will love delving into the story of her creative early years, discovering why she chose art as a career, and following her development timeline. She presents two exclusive galleries of art - one with a fantasy focus, based around maritime creatures and witches, and another that celebrates the beauty of sketchbooking.  The artist has written chapters on her creative process, which aspiring and established artists will equally enjoy, and created a section on "Embracing The Mess," discussing the techniques of letting go of perfectionism, listening to your body, and staying motivated as an artist. With tools and materials covered in detail too, plus in-depth tutorials for readers to follow along with, this Art Of title is packed with incredible insight and joyous art, appealing to existing fans of Gretel as well as newcomers to her work.

Learn how to confidently draw the human form from head to toe with this comprehensive, richly illustrated guide. Expert drawing instructor and storyboard artist Tom Fox knows exactly how to capture the figure in poses that are both dynamic and true to human anatomy. The book details the central figure-drawing elements and techniques that are essential to every artist of every skill level. From understanding the XYZ axis and basic skeleton, to thinking in 3D space and creating mannequins of all levels of detail, the book deals with everything the reader needs to know before moving on to the figure itself. Tom presents in step-by-step details exactly how to add the muscles and depict truly believable poses. Every part of the body is presented in detail, with easy-to-follow breakdowns of the torso, arms, and legs, and the often-tricky head, hands, and feet. The author also shares insightful, game-changing anatomy tips, many learned from years of working for major clients in the entertainment industry and teaching others to draw the human figure, both in person and online. This combination of experiences and skills make Tom an outstanding author of this must-have book for artists in all areas of figure drawing.

Learn how to paint on your iPad like the professionals in Beginner's Guide to Procreate, a comprehensive introduction to this industry-standard software. Accessible and versatile, Procreate is an ideal tool for anyone wanting to give digital painting a go. Step-by-step tutorials, quick tips, and inspiring artwork ensure you'll have all you need to create stunning concept art quickly and easily.

Step into a world of witchcraft both good and evil, where the iconic character of myth and legend is once more brought uniquely to life. From the first alleged witch to be hanged in Salem, and Goya's depictions of witchcraft, to Shakespeare's Macbeth, Hogwarts, and beyond, there is no shortage of inspiration, but also of recycled characterizations and central-casting stereotypes. Now, 30 of the world's most talented fantasy and concept artists discover their own, personal manifestation of the witch. Starting with research, readers will witness the alchemy of details extracted from the seemingly mundane transformed the whole body of the witch, fantastical yet unnervingly believable at the same time. The design process goes on to cast spells not only on appearance, but also the environment, practices, and magical belongings of this one-of-a-kind witch. With the final design depicted as both a line drawing and in full color, the whole character and their world is defined. A summary of each witch details their background, behaviour, strengths, weaknesses and, of course, powers. The result is 320 pages encased in a beautifully finished hardback cover, the ultimate field guide to designing witches that transcend time, place, and even the most vivid imagination.

Building on the foundations set by our popular Art Fundamentals book, Beyond Fundamentals shows artists how to take their work a step beyond techniques and mechanics. A memorable, unique image requires more than just accurate anatomy and choosing the right tools, after all! This impressive volume offers in-depth guidance on conveying mood and emotion, creating narratives, and improving your images' storytelling through composition, character details, and atmosphere. Beyond Fundamentals is an ideal book both for hobbyists and new artists wanting to add extra depth to their work, and for skilled illustrators looking for a spark of new inspiration.

Character Design Quarterly (CDQ) is a lively, creative magazine bringing inspiration, expert insights, and leading techniques from professional illustrators, artists, and character art enthusiasts worldwide. Each issue provides detailed tutorials on creating diverse characters, enabling you to explore the processes and decision making that go into creating amazing characters. Learn new ways to develop your own ideas, and discover from the artists what it is like to work for prolific animation studios such as Disney, Warner Bros., and DreamWorks. The cover for issue 24 has been created by Nathanna Érica - an illustrator and paper artist based in São Paulo, Brazil. Inside we interview Justin Runfola, a character designer and visual-development artist with years of experience in the animation industry.

Whether your favourite medium is digital, traditional, or a mix of both, Stockholm-based Feefal will have used it to explore her unique world of anthropomorphised figures, animals in dream-like settings, and cool-girl magic. Her spooky-cute style has been a constant throughout her career, amassing 870K dedicated Instagram followers who not only adore her art, but are always keen to know the stories and inspiration behind it. Now for the first time, Feefal has written a beautifully produced book, her work printed on high-quality paper, providing the chance to not only show what she does, but also how. 3dtotal Publishing excels at helping artists to communicate both the motivations behind their unique creativity, and the technical tips and tricks they use. Feefal shares the early influences that put her on the path to becoming the professional character designer she is today, including those of her Swedish-Japanese upbringing. In doing so, the ideas behind paintings such as Lamp Shade Lady, Understanding the Hahahaki Disease (a fictional ailment caused by unrequited love) and Momento Mori are explained. With galleries of curated classics intertwined with step-by-step tutorials and fascinating insights into her creative process, Feefal's work is as intriguing as it is spellbinding.

Delve into the popular and competitive world of heroine design as 50 of the world's finest character artists from the fields of animation, illustration, comics, and games share a behind-the-scenes look at their stunning sketchbook pages, showcasing over 2,500 drawings! A range of styles and genres are explored, including classic comic book superheroines and magical princesses, plus historical, fantasy, and sci-fi heroines from across time and space. From concept sketches and initial thumbnails, to emotions and expressions, outfit variations, and an engaging chosen design, artists share their previously unseen explorations alongside expert advice for crafting compelling heroine designs. Further pages explore action and pose - a library of dynamic sketches with invaluable basic-shape overlays, offering a revealing collection of each artist's ideas and experiments. "3dtotal Publishing launched a brand-new design series, with the recent release of Character Design Collection: Heroines. This series aims to present inspirational sketches and pose explorations by some of the best character artists out there. This first edition is simply incredible, and perfect for ushering in what I'm sure will be continued greatness ahead with future volumes... This book will surely serve as a fantastic reference for inspiration and a great tool in learning character creation. Highly recommended!" Nick Charles @ Renderosity Magazine

Character Design Quarterly (CDQ) is a lively, creative magazine bringing inspiration, expert insights, and leading techniques from professional illustrators, artists, and character art enthusiasts worldwide.Each issue provides detailed tutorials on creating diverse characters, enabling you to explore the processes and decision making that go into creating amazing characters. Learn new ways to develop your own ideas, and discover from the artists what it is like to work for prolific animation studios such as Disney, Warner Bros., and DreamWorks. The cover for issue 26 has been created by Mila Useche, a Colombian artist living in Berlin. She is a successful character designer, visual development artist, and illustrator, and is currently working on a short film. We interviewed her about her career and she supplies a step-by-step tutorial on how she created the stunning cover art. Also in this issue, hugely popular artist Ben Eblen creates two characters from a basic prompt: 'Thief, Woodland, Surprise!' We interview Sara Paz and Simone Grunewald about their art, careers, and advice for budding artists. Alex Jensen shows us how to design a cast of superheroes, and Rachelle Joy Slingerland is back with a reimagining of a fairy-tale witch.

For the first time, talented French illustrator and character designer Sibylline Meynet not only shares her beautiful artwork in this beautifully crafted book, but also presents specially commissioned tutorials, step-by-step techniques, and the story of her journey as a professional artist. Reverie: The Art of Sibylline Meynet is a must-have for aspiring artists and illustrators in need of career inspiration and a creative re-boot. Sibylline launched herself as a freelance illustrator straight out of high school in her native France, and now works as a comic artist, character designer, and illustrator for magazines and books. Her artwork features in abundance the girls and animals she loves to draw, characters who exude charm and whimsy as well as great narrative strength and depth. Behind her artwork is a career in film and print, on projects from Scoob! (Warner Bros.) and Garfield (BOOM! Studios), to Cursed and Orange is the New Black (Netflix). In this book, Sibylline shares her experiences working in the industry, juggling work commitments with exhibiting, collaborations, and personal projects. For artists seeking new creative exercises, career inspiration, advice, and a chance to peruse the gallery of a talented and unique professional artist, this exciting new book is essential.

The portrait is one of the world's oldest artforms, but today's technology and culture mean it's time to take a fresh look at how today's portrait artists work outside the realms of realism and elevate their technique. The Instagram-friendly appeal of the portrait means that the modern version can be seen everywhere on social media as digital artists of all skill levels share their captivating characters, focusing on the face. This much-needed book for beginners to digital portraiture goes back to basics (simple anatomy, lighting, color, and perspective) as the starting point for even the most stylized of subjects. Professional artists with recognisable styles, including Loish, Simone Grunwald, and Francisco Garces, still use these fundamentals. Readers learn from industry professionals how to infuse their subject with believable detail and atmospheric storytelling (especially relevant when working from photographs, as many artists do today). Experts demonstrate step-by-step their digital workflow, sharing techniques for rendering stylized skin tones, hair, and eyes. Sci-fi, fantasy, historical, and anthropomorphic portraits are created. Real-world individuals are highly stylized, yet convince the viewer. This is the essential guide for the next generation of portrait artists who want to create contemporary, stylized work that is compelling, emotive, and memorable.

Character Design Quarterly (CDQ) is a lively, creative magazine bringing inspiration, expert insights, and leading techniques from professional illustrators, artists, and character art enthusiasts worldwide. Each issue provides detailed tutorials on creating diverse characters, enabling you to explore the processes and decision making that go into creating amazing characters. Learn new ways to develop your own ideas, and discover from the artists what it is like to work for prolific animation studios such as Disney, Warner Bros., and DreamWorks. Renowned character designer and visual development artist Taraneh Karimi creates the cover for this issue, alongside a step-by-step tutorial to show readers how she goes about creating her stunning work.

The second installment in the intriguing journey of Guweiz, whose stunning art has earned him over 1 million followers on Instagram. Following on from his first book, Guweiz: The Art of Gu Zheng Wei, the artist now takes us deeper into his world of absorbing manga-style art, discussing the storytelling in his work and his evolution as an artist. Fans will discover new insights into the artist’s creative processes, with in-depth step-by-step tutorials and discussions around working full-time as a freelance artist. Guweiz will talk about how he has grown and changed as an artist since his first Art of book, offering a rare opportunity for readers to see a famous artist’s progression documented across the years in beautiful keepsake books.

Creating Professional Characters: Develop Spectacular Designs from Basic Concepts is an inspiring and informative exploration of how popular professional character designers take the basic concept of a character in a production brief and develop these ideas into an original, high-quality design. Suitable for student and professional character designers alike, this book focuses on how to approach your character designs in ways that ensure the target audience and production needs are met while still creating fun, imaginative characters. This visually appealing book includes twenty thorough tutorials guiding you through the design and decision making processes used to create awesome characters. Replicating the processes used in professional practice today, this book demonstrates the types of brief a professional designer might receive, the iterative design process used to explore the brief, the influence of production feedback on the final design, and how final designs are presented to clients. This detailed, enlightening book is an excellent guide to creating incredible imaginative characters suitable for your future professional projects.

Art Fundamentals 2nd Edition is a fully revised and updated back-to-basics title, packed with the fundamental concepts, conventions, and theory every beginner artist needs to create successful work. This essential book is written by industry experts who thoroughly address key basics including color and light, composition, perspective and depth, and anatomy in a series of insightful chapters. As well as being the perfect introduction for newcomers, Art Fundamentals 2nd Edition also offers experienced artists the chance to brush up on their theory and discover new tricks, tips, and techniques to advance their art even further. Richly illustrated throughout for optimal learning, each section of the book is specifically designed to guide the reader through the essential yet often challenging elements that make up the foundations of art, no matter which medium or technique is used. As fascinating and illuminating as it is practical and essential, Art Fundamentals 2nd Edition contains the foundations of art, presented, taught, and completely demystified for the today's artist.

Thanks to Procreate, designing characters for the entertainment industry can be done on the iPad. In this book for newcomers to the software, several renowned and experienced designers demonstrate how they do it, sharing not only their professional tips and tricks, but also how the traditional character design process translates to Procreate. Whether you sketch or paint, draw from reality, or dream up new concepts, you will become fluent in using Procreate for all stages of character design. The thorough Getting Started section spotlights the specific Procreate tools, such as Brushes, Layers, and Adjustments, that bring your characters to life. Perfecting color and nuance of hair, skin, eyes and fabric of your characters is vital, and the Quick Tips section lets you quickly locate and manipulate the tools you need. Take the opportunity to observe and practice the techniques as part of a real-world workflow, as professional character designers demonstrate in seven step-by-step Projects how to use Procreate's tools to successfully evolve a character from initial thumbnails to final hero pose. Whether or not you have used Procreate before, Beginner's Guide to Procreate: Characters ensures your character ideas and concepts become fully realized creations on the iPad screen.

In this beautiful hardback book, discover the enchanting world of Simone “Simz� Ferriero, an Italian artist who creates compelling images in which the modern day mingles with magical fantasy.Read about the lessons and obstacles Simz has faced on his career path, learn about the tools and techniques he uses, and figure out how to find your own creative style with his expert advice. The book begins with an in-depth look at the artist's creative journey, from early years and education to his professional milestones, and a look at the challenges of creating art for a living. There are two large galleries, one containing behind-the-scenes sketchbook pieces, and another focusing on Simone's modern-day witches and their spectral cat companions. Chapters on his creative process cover his tools, workspace, and advice on finding an original style, and a brand-new tutorial offers readers a chance to follow along and improve their own artistic skills. This book is an unmissable keepsake for Simone's existing fans, and a beautiful introduction to the artist for newcomers to his work.

Anatomy for Artists is an extensive compendium of high quality, detailed photography and drawings, showing the human figure in a variety of shapes, sizes and poses that can be used as a solid foundation for all character art.This thorough and detailed library of visual resources will consist of stunning photography and comprehensive drawings showing the muscular structure of figures of varying body types. These male and female references will act as an invaluable starting point for artists trying to create art based on the human figure. Whether you're a traditional sculptor, oil painter or 3D digital artist, the resources within this book will prove to be useful and informative and will help you improve the quality and accuracy of your own art.

Character designers take inspiration from beautiful botany and, in this project-focused title, each create a brand-new character based on nature, with step-by-step tutorials allowing readers to follow along. From mushroom fairies to swamp-dwelling beasts, and Mother Nature herself, we have seen countless characters inspired by the delicacy and harshness of the natural world. The projects include notes on the ideation, research, design, and creation of the characters, leading to a stunning final image, plus a gallery from each artist showing more of their nature-themed works. Budding artists will love learning how to create these much-loved botanical characters, while more experienced creators will enjoy seeing how experts design something original. Even non-artists will want to own this book packed with beautiful imagery and intriguing, enchanting characters. The illustrative artwork is created both digitally and traditionally, with styles ranging from anime-inspired to watercolor, all with a fantastical, magical aura.

Following the success of the established titles in this popular series, Sketching from the Imagination: Storytelling brings to life the characters, worlds, and tales of traditional stories and modern tales alike. 50 professional storybook artists from around the globe take inspiration from folklore and fairytales, myths and legends, and modern books and novels. Many of these artists create their own narratives, exploring their storytelling skills through an extraordinary talent for transforming words into compelling visual concepts. Children eagerly turn the pages of illustrated storybooks - some of those illustrations would be enchanting and dream-like, others were menacing and ugly (but no less intriguing). Those images often linger into adulthood, when graphic novels and illustrated books take over to feed our adult curiosity and child-like sense of adventure. Each artist not only shares several pages of their original art, but also the story behind it - the narrative of the art itself, and their fascinating account of the artistic process. From traditional children's characters to the fantastical, surreal, and terrifying worlds, every genre imaginable is covered. Whether you're a beginner or experienced artist, no matter what your style and medium, this book will have you telling tales in no time.

Character Design Quarterly (CDQ) is a lively, creative magazine bringing inspiration, expert insights, and leading techniques from professional illustrators, artists, and character art enthusiasts worldwide. Each issue provides detailed tutorials on creating diverse characters, enabling you to explore the processes and decision making that go into creating amazing characters. Learn new ways to develop your own ideas, and discover from the artists what it is like to work for prolific animation studios such as Disney, Warner Bros., and DreamWorks.

Grab a pencil and dive into the exciting world of manga with step-by-step drawing tutorials and expert techniques. Drawing manga and anime-style art is an ever-popular preoccupation for artists, with the promise of intriguing characters, cute animals, and atmospheric scenery leaping from lines on the page. Beginner’s Guide to Drawing Manga provides an exciting and engaging introduction to this art style, with even the most basic of tools available to new artists today. The book boasts helpful guides to the tools and techniques needed for successful manga art. It also includes various types of character anatomy, using color, and design techniques that imbue even the most inexperienced artist’s work with dynamic, believable, and compelling qualities. Step-by-step tutorials allow artists to practise the techniques shown at their own pace, while creating completed compositions that boost both imagination and confidence. Professional concept artists from around the world, working in various creative industries, dream up characters and worlds that are packed with entertaining details and ideas. Finally, sample briefs provide a springboard for readers to explore their own manga and anime concepts.

"Character Design Quarterly (CDQ) is a lively, creative magazine bringing inspiration, expert insights, and leading techniques from professional illustrators, artists, and character art enthusiasts worldwide. Each issue provides detailed tutorials on creating diverse characters, enabling you to explore the processes and decision making that go into creating amazing characters. Learn new ways to develop your own ideas, and discover from the artists what it is like to work for prolific animation studios such as Disney, Warner Bros., and DreamWorks. Among this issue's highlights are budding professional illustrator Amelia Bothe cover art featuring an exclusive animal character, and we go behind the scenes at London animation studio Blinkink. "

Turn the pages of this lavishly-produced book to discover a collection of monsters, creatures, and characters created by self-taught concept artist Francisco Garces, AKA Dibujante Nocturno. The artist and illustrator shares his journey, revealing how his self-taught skills have evolved over the years, resulting in the demonic yet exquisite style that has earned him over 400,000 followers on Instagram. In addition to a specially curated gallery of his past work, there are new pieces created exclusively for this book, including step-by-step tutorials that break down not only the artist's workflow and routine, but also his intricate pen linework techniques, cleverly chosen color palettes, and detailed rendering. Being self-taught, the artist has honed his skills in a completely unique way, allowing readers to glean not only unique tips and techniques, but also inspiration and insight into how they can practise, improve, and develop their own style. His experience of teaching art ensures he knows how to effectively communicate ideas, concepts and practical techniques. From his elegantly drawn linework to the darkest character creation, this is a unique opportunity for fans of fantasy art and creature design to see what goes into the epic art of Dibujante Nocturno.

The Art of Cosmic Spectrum features the characters, worlds, and stories created by artist Yana Bogatch aka Cosmic Spectrum. Previously, she has self-published a graphic novel and two art books. Now, The art of Cosmic Spectrum showcases the artist’s entire story and demonstrates the development of her style and career, as well as brand new art and tutorial content. With character art and comics being her specialty, the book features an array of tips and techniques for drawing anatomy, gesture, and character details.  Sketchbook pages reveal Yana’s experience in animation and storyboarding; her use of both traditional and digital tools reveals the artist’s versatility. Storytelling and connecting with other people are vital to the artist, and readers will be fascinated to discover how she infuses her art with these motivations. Another way in which she shares her art is through her shop, where creativity and commercial success meet.  Yana’s energy, enthusiasm, and entrepreneurial spirit will encourage readers looking for way to transform their passion for art into a viable career while staying true to their style. The Art of Cosmic Spectrum is the creative inspiration and springboard every character artist needs.