Kawaii-Style Story Illustration
A course by Sara GaiaudiIllustrator
A course by Sara Gaiaudi, Illustrator
Learn to draw characters by hand in the Japanese style of kawaii and digitize them in Procreate
What does kawaii mean? In Japanese culture it means cute, and cute is the perfect way to describe the characters that make up the imaginary universe of this illustration style: round people and animals with big eyes.
Join illustrator Sara Gaiaudi, better known as TaylorRoss1, and learn how to create digital kawaii-style drawings and illustrate a comic strip with characters from your favorite story. Discover the basics of drawing cute, colorful creatures and how to transform your designs into customized objects.
What will you learn in this online course?
17 lessons & 25 downloads
Tools and materials
3 minutes, 17 seconds
The illustration is Kawaii style
9 minutes, 49 seconds
Draw the protagonist of your fairy tale
6 minutes, 52 seconds
Turn your characters into animals
13 minutes, 22 seconds
How to create the details of the environment
11 minutes, 8 seconds
Refine the draft digitally
4 minutes, 11 seconds
What's included in this course?
Start by getting to know your teacher Sara Gaiaudi, better known as TaylorRoss1. She tells you about her professional career and the influences that have inspired her style and the way she views the world.
Go over the materials you need to follow the course and delve into the characteristics of kawaii illustrations. Explore the traits and proportions, typical color schemes, and the concept of cuteness–the backbone of this illustration style.
Next, Sara introduces you to Procreate and shows you some of its basic features and useful shortcuts to help you complete your final project.
Now it’s time to start drawing! Choose the story you want to illustrate and create the first sketch on paper. Divide your page into panels and decide what scenes you want to include in your story. Then, draw your protagonists and secondary characters and learn some tricks from Sara on how to morph them into cats.
Discover how to bring your characters to life by adding different facial expressions. Place them in the scenes you created in your initial sketch and fill it in with details and background elements.
Once you've finished your design, Sara shows you how to digitize your sketch to work on it in Procreate: learn how to choose the right brushes to draw clean lines, what colors to use, and how to add light and shadows to your piece.
Finally, put the finishing touches on your composition and prepare it for export and printing. Sara wraps up the course by sharing several platforms where you can upload your designs and transform them into objects.
Recommended software & tools for this course
What is this course's project?
Illustrate a kawaii-style comic strip based on a classic story.
Projects by course students
Who is this online course for?
Anyone who wants to learn how to illustrate digitally to create magical worlds and cute, colorful characters.
Requirements and materials
No specific drawing skills are needed for this course.
The only materials you need are an iPad with Procreate, drawing paper, and colored pencils.
Reviews
- 4 months ago
This course provided comprehensive information on this type of illustration.
- 7 months ago
I loved, it was simple and to the point. Thank you!
- 7 months ago
Great course, wonderful teacher!!
- ccanas288PLUS9 months ago
Este curso fue un muy buen ejercicio para crear algo que te guste y refinarlo digitalmente, el concepto es lindo y atractivo. Considero que las instrucciones de ajuste de capas en Procreate fueron un poco confusas pero en general fue un buen curso.
- 9 months ago
Très agréable fait avec mes fils de 7 et 10 ans dans le cadre du création d’une histoire. Ils sont très motivés et intéressés
In 2015, she created a webpage with her boyfriend called Taylor&Ross where they posted their designs for T-shirts. She later created an Instagram profile with the same name where she shares her kawaii-style creations with the world. What started as a passion and turned into a hobby has bloomed into a full-time job as of 2020.
Content
- U1
Introduction
- Presentation
- Inspirations
- U2
The Kawaii style
- Tools and materials
- The illustration is Kawaii style
- Let's get to know Procreate
- U3
Creating a story: from the idea to the characters
- Choose the idea: let's start from a fairy tale
- Draw the protagonist of your fairy tale
- Turn your characters into animals
- U4
Bring the character to life
- How to create expressions
- How to insert characters into scenes
- How to create the details of the environment
- U5
How to digitize your Kawaii story with Procreate
- Refine the draft digitally
- The colors and the contour line
- The spreading of the flat color
- How to create shadows and highlights
- U6
How to convert your Kawaii story into gadgets
- How to prepare your files
- Platforms to turn your drawings into gadgets
- FP
Final project
- Kawaii illustration fo children´s books
What to expect from a Domestika course
Learn at your own pace
Enjoy learning from home without a set schedule and with an easy-to-follow method. You set your own pace.
Learn from the best professionals
Learn valuable methods and techniques explained by top experts in the creative sector.
Meet expert teachers
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Certificates
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Get front-row seats
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Ask questions, request feedback, or offer solutions. Share your learning experience with other students in the community who are as passionate about creativity as you are.
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FAQs
Yes, the course is designed for absolute beginners and doesn’t require any prior drawing or digital illustration experience.
To take the course, you’ll need a graphics tablet or an iPad with an Apple Pencil, the Procreate app or other digital illustration software, plus paper, pencils, and watercolors for traditional exercises.
You’ll learn how to draw and digitize kawaii animals and characters, create illustrated scenes, use color palettes, work in Procreate, prepare files for gadgets, and publish your illustrations on Instagram.
The course covers kawaii proportions, simplifying shapes, creating facial expressions, characterizing animals, and adding details to make your characters cute and recognizable.
No, the course guides you step-by-step on how to use Procreate, from basic features like layers and masks to advanced techniques useful for kawaii illustration.
The course includes both traditional and digital techniques, so you can start with paper and pencils, but for digitizing your work, having at least a tablet or graphics tablet is recommended.
The course shows you how to properly export your illustrated files and prepare them for printing on gadgets, t-shirts, and other custom products.