Character Design Quarterly 31

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.

This issue’s cover is provided by incredible artist Feefal, who has worked with us many times before (including on her own Art Of book). Johanna Forster takes us inside her sketchbook, sharing how she uses real-world references to build up a library of character ideas. Sheryl Yap has a collection of tips for how to make original and effective character turnarounds, a crucial skill for working as a designer at animated-film studios. David Ardinaryas Lojaya, Art Director of the hit game Coral Island, talks to us about creating characters for video games and his professional design process.

Cover artist and contributor: Feefal (aka Linnea Kikuchi), a Swedish-Japanese artist based in Stockholm. Well-known on Instagram as @feefal, she has amassed an incredible 1.1M followers. This is where she shares her art on a regular basis and interacts with her fans who love her stylized characters, created and painted in Procreate or more traditional mediums such as gouache. Feefal also draws using graphite, meaning her portfolio is filled with examples of different media used to create her much-loved style, described as a mix of cute and spooky.

Edited by 3dtotal Publishing, based in Worcester, UK. We publish high-quality art books dedicated to bringing invaluable training to beginners, hobbyists, and professionals alike. Our books feature top industry professionals from around the globe who share their experience in skilfully written step-by-step tutorials and guides. Illustrated throughout with stunning artwork, these best-selling publications offer creative insight, expert advice, and essential motivation.