April has seen the commission of the latest Tuts+ site, Creative Sessions. There's one session per topic per month, our first session is on Character Illustration. Sessions is aimed at taking you through the why rather than the how, and we're also giving away this amazing wallpaper made by Ryan Putnam.

Tutorial Wrap

• The Elements of Cute Character Design

  You’ve always wanted to develop a character which has the potential to enchant the world and to compete with Hello Kitty? In this article I’d like to present some elements making a character cute and lovable and to support you in achieving your goals.

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• Nailing the Basics

  If you’re thinking of becoming a professional illustrator, character design will come up as a client request again and again, so keeping up on current trends is a must. To get started creating your own characters, you’ll need to nail the basics, which includes: getting comfortable sketching, refining your process, and streamlining your overall approach.

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• Character Design Sketching Approaches

  Character design comes in many styles, but they all start with the rough sketch. Often overlooked in online tutorials, technique and process videos, they are the foundation to creating quality characters. The following is an overview of rough sketches from some fantastic character design artists, with many different styles and approaches.

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• Creating Personal Character Designs with Precision

  Designing a character can apply to both personal and professional projects. The character can be a mascot that works in the context of a multi-national brand, or it can simply be inspired by a well-known character within pop culture. The later is usually referred to as “Fan Art.” The character “Mickey Rat” first appeared in the early 1970’s as a subversive underground comic that I enjoyed as a kid.

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• Six Things I Think About When I’m Mutating a Rabbit

  Hi, I’m Chris and I’m addicted to creating bizarre characters. I’ve got a real soft spot for strange and surreal beasts, hybridized creatures, and mutated animals. Some people might call what I do “random,” but there’s actually a good deal of thought and sometimes even planning that goes into designing the characters that end up in my artwork. Let’s take a peek inside my twisted character design methodology.

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• Holistic Character Design

  Cartoon characters are everywhere, from advertising to film, and the ones that stand the test of time all share something in common. They have substance over style. It’s all well and good designing innovative, cool looking characters, but if they’re only skin-deep, that’s where they’ll come unstuck. Great characters like ‘SpongeBob Square Pants’ have much more than just a unique look, they have several key elements that are instilled in the very core of their design. Over the course of this article, I’ll show you what they are and how to use them to create your own lovable characters.

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• Character Design Sketching Approaches

  In this tutorial we’ll go through the steps of designing and making an animated paper robot character. Not just a picture, this is a moving character that will sit nicely on top of your computer monitor. Push the robot body up and down and he stretches out his robot claws! We’ll start with the lines ready and learn the craft of coloring and then physically putting this paper character together.

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