Draw Great Characters

Beverly Johnson is an illustrator based in California, USA. She draws for a living, including children’s books, storyboarding, and character design. She has worked for Lucasfilm, Houghton-Mifflin Publishing, CollegeHumor, Adobe and Character Design Quarterly, among others. Find her online at www.bevsi.weebly.com and on Instagram as @beverlylove

Everything you need to know about drawing characters with confidence.Beverly Johnson's book is packed with scores of fun exercises that will really motivate young beginner artists who are just getting interested in drawing for animation, comic book art, or just for pleasure.In a series of beginner-friendly exercises, she explores how to conceptualize wonderful, convincing characters and shows how to translate ideas into great professional-looking drawings. The book is organised into key chapters associated with what makes engaging, three-dimensional characters.This book demonstrates how to create diverse characters with strong personalities, unique mannerisms and interests; how to understand their motivations, find their passions and make them come alive. Split into 75, easy-to-follow and fun exercises, Bev leads the young reader through the techniques and skills needed to create their very own characters.

• Welcome to my WorldChapter 1: The Tools I Like to UseChapter 2: Shape LanguageHow to diversify and use shapes in your designs.Chapter 3: PersonalityHow design can help define a character’s personality and temperament.Chapter 4: Faces and ExpressionsHow to draw expressive characters and convey particular emotions, as well as diversify faces.Chapter 5: Body LanguageHow a character’s body language can show their inner thoughts and mood.Chapter 6: Character InteractionHow to illustrate a compelling relationship between characters — be it friendship, romance, hatred, or rivalry.Chapter 7: Costuming and PropsHow to create clothing and props that emphasize a character’s personality, not distract from them.Chapter 8: Drawing from LifeHow to incorporate your own experiences and observations into characters.Chapter 9: Drawing TechniquesA mini crash course in key drawing techniques, such as using drawn media, using color, working with pens, understanding tones and shadows.Index and Credits