Kawaii: How to Draw Really Cute Fantasy Creatures

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!

A really great read. The instructions are so clear with adorable results!

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.