Kawaii: How to Draw Really Cute Fantasy Creatures

Angela Nguyen is an illustrator and author of the ‘Draw Cute’ series. She’s known for her cute drawings inspired by animals and pop culture. On the internet, she is known as Pikarar, where she publishes digital artwork and merchandise. For more information, visit her website www.pikarar.com.

For the fourth title in this series, the author gives fantasy creatures the cute makeover. If you doubted whether a kraken or basilisk could ever look remotely kawaii, then look no further for proof!Here is another in this excellent series for my keeper shelf. I think that these have to be the most user-friendly drawing books ever, and I enthusiastically recommend the series for all those Japanophiles who find mastering the manga style tricky.The key to success is largely in understanding what makes something cute, and then altering elements of a drawing to achieve this. Learn how to simplify facial expressions to convey a wide range of moods and add in simple but effective backgrounds. Basic art materials are all you require, and you can draw on anything, so this hobby probably won’t require any outlay at all – always good news. Build up your beastie from simple shapes, add in details, and you have a drawing worthy to be turned into a soft toy, painted onto a T-shirt, or made in polymer clay.The book is divided into chapters so you can choose from depicting creatures from water, air, and land environments. Each item takes up a double page spread and shows how you can build up a drawing, adding colour and also how to vary it in usually two ways. Creatures include dragon, unicorn, Nessie, and griffin, but most are mashups invented by the author, such as a rabbit with a mermaid tail, flying elephant, fluffball and many more. At the back there are ideas on how to create your own with examples. There aren’t any projects, but cute creatures like these are ideal for translating into any craft project you can imagine. More titles please!

• Meet Angela!ToolsFiber-tips, colored pencils, no special equipment required.Make It Cute!The key ingredients to making a cute drawing are explained here: big head, large eyes, fat cheeks, and a little bit ofmagic, capturing the essence of a creature’s character.The MenagerieA roll call of all the creatures, making it easy to choose the one to draw first.Chapter One: WaterLoch Ness Monster (aka Nessie)Water horseKraken (a sea creature from Norse myth)Snapping turtleRiver monstersGhost whale (bake-kujira, from Japanese myth)Inkanyamba eel (a legendary river creature from Zulu and Xhosa folklore)Crocodile gbahali (from Liberia)Water dragonsWater bunniesChapter Two: AirAir dragonGriffinPegasusPhoenixGiant batWinged elephantGiant butterfly/mothKongamato (pterosaur-like creature from Congo)Elemental birdsWinged deerWinged lionFlying rabbitGiant dogChapter Three: LandGiant dogBasilisk (magical serpent)Cerberus (three-headed dog)UnicornRobot monsterTree creatureBigfootBig antler deerOzark howler (a shy, legendary creature living deep in the Ozarks)Three-eyed catRock monsterKasa-obake (an umbrella-shaped mythical creature from Japanese folklore)Nuppeppo blob (a baggy, saggy creature from Japanese folklore)Land dragonSphinxGrootslang (Afrikaans and Dutch for “big snake”)Horned rhinoGhost creatureFloofle (a furball with ears)Horned tiger cubNow Draw Your OwnIndex and Credits