How to Draw Cute Cartoon Characters

PLEASE NOTE: If you're drawing using pencil and paper - feel free to skip straight to SECTION 2 after watching this lesson. :)

Drawing tablets are fast becoming a normal thing for artists of any level, from first-time beginners to professional drawing ninjas. In this video we'll discuss what tablets are good for beginners and hobby artists alike. Of course, you don't need a tablet to complete this course, but if you do choose to draw digitally then you will need to buy a tablet at some stage. I use a Cintiq, which is why I recommend the products in this video.

Visit bencolefax.com for more drawing tablet info, as I can't link directly to products here on Udemy. :)

PLEASE NOTE: If you're drawing using pencil and paper - feel free to skip straight to SECTION 2.

Going Digital with 'Sketchbook' App.

If you're wanting to get started with drawing digitally then Sketchbook is the way to go. Not only is it a free app, it's actually really easy to use.

This lesson will quickly run you through the basic tools and the features I use to draw cute characters. Amazingly, there's not a great deal to know if you want to get started quickly and get drawing. Please note, using a tablet is recommended as using a mouse with this app is very challenging. A tablet will give you a paper-like experience. See the lesson 'Going Digital' for tablet info.

PLEASE NOTE: If you're drawing using pencil and paper - feel free to skip straight to SECTION 2.

Sketchbook is such a great application to use if you're starting out because it's free and easy to use. Even if you're a professional, this is a great app for sketching. In this lesson, I'll show you a brush I use for the 'inking' process. Follow along and set up your own multi-purpose brush :)

The best place to start is at the beginning! This lecture is all about the start of the character creation process - the head. You'll learn where to position eyes and mouths too.

Kawaii means "Cute" in Japanese culture. Japan is commonly seen as the birthplace of Kawaii styled characters. In this lecture we'll dive into the various basic eyes types that I regularly use.

Feel free to download and use the practice sheets. They are available in PDF (for printing out) and JPG (for dragging into Sketchbook Pro or similar).

Learn how to draw simple yet effective kawaii styled mouths. In this lecture we'll be drawing many different mouths with different emotions.

Feel free to download and use the practice sheets. They are available in PDF (for printing out) and JPG (for dragging into Sketchbook Pro or similar).

If you're doing this course using paper, here's what I recommend for keeping your artwork together and for increasing the quality of your end product (and for making gift/birthday cards!).

Also, If you're curious about what drawing products I use specifically, there's a bit more info on my website bencolefax.com/equipment

"Cartoony" is what I use to refer to cartoons that are more traditional with bubble eyes, more 'over-the-top' expressions and more life-like hands. This lecture covers cartoony eyes in place of the more basic kawaii styled eyes - if you want to change up your character style altogether. 

Feel free to download and use the practice sheets. They are available in PDF (for printing out) and JPG (for dragging into Sketchbook Pro or similar).

I don't always draw eyelashes, but I thought it worth adding for those who want to add something extra to their characters.

Girls typically have more hair than boys, which is the main reason why we will learn how to draw female hair styles first. Plenty of different examples to give you a good overall overspending of the process.

Feel free to download and use the practice sheets. They are available in PDF (for printing out) and JPG (for dragging into Sketchbook Pro or similar).

After many requests, here you can watch and learn some simplistic hair examples for boys! Join in and practice with me using the downloadable resources.

In this lecture you'll learn how to add "cartoony" styled hands (with fingers!) to your characters in different configurations.

Note: This lecture formed part of the 'Bonus Lessons' from a previous course update. I've included it here again for those wanting to add shoes to more cartoony styled legs.

Legs and shoes are way down the list of favourite things to draw for most artists out there. This is probably because it's the last thing we draw on a character, being all the way down the bottom. Here's some of my handy tips..

Using all of the lectures so far we'll build a full front facing character - hopefully making it easier for you to do the same.

The 3/4 view is one of the hardest to draw, so we'll break it down chunk by chunk.

The rear of a character is rarely seen, but for applications like game production and comic strips you'll need to know what your character looks like from the rear point of view. This lecture aims to make this process easier.

Drawing girls is the harder of the two sexes, which is why most of this course is based on females. In this lecture we'll tackle drawing a boy character.

My favourite part of character design is colouring, it's super fun and allows your character to really pop off the page (or screen)! We'll cover off the basics of colour, shading and using layers to simplify these processes.

Learn the very basics of a front facing Rabbit in super kawaii mode!

Learn the very basics of a front facing Rabbit with "cartoony" style edits to add another flavour to the mix.

Learn the very basics of a front facing Kitty in super kawaii mode!

Learn the very basics of a front facing Dog in super kawaii mode!
More characters to come over time :)