Product Review

Written for art students as well as for professional illustrators who design posters, computer art, graphic novels, and related media, this color-illustrated book presents fundamental instruction on creating chibis--diminutive, large-eyed Anime-style cartoon characters that are attracting increasing interest in today's popular art markets. The author presents step-by-step directions for drawing and painting 30 of these tiny and appealing childlike figures and animals. As students learn the basics of chibi style and develop related visual techniques, they can go on to create chibis of their own original design. Each of the book's thirty characters is presented with a basic line drawing that students can copy, scan, or trace before adding personalized features. Advice is given on how to simplify and exaggerate facial features, and how to render the distinctive elements that make each finished character unique. The book is filled with instructive illustrations in color and black and white.