Brand New Book Shows You How To Create Cartoon Characters Using Simple Shapes

Cartooning Made Easy Book by Margherita Cole

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When you’re first learning to draw, just getting started can be the most daunting part. A blank page contains a bevy of possibilities, but that can be totally overwhelming. That’s where instruction comes in handy, particularly through books. A book can teach you something new and become a reference that you look to, time and again, when you need a refresher on a technique or want inspiration. The book Cartooning Made Easy: Circle, Triangle, Square by Margherita Cole is one you’ll want to have on your shelf.

Cole is an artist and Staff Writer for My Modern Met, and she’s crafted a book perfect for aspiring illustrators. “I hope this book will help make drawing, and specifically drawing cartoons, less intimidating and more fun for readers,” she tells My Modern Met. To do this, Cole breaks down how to create your own characters using simple shapes. Something as basic as a triangle can transform into a person or a puppy, and Cole shows you how to get from point A to the finished piece.

“My favorite part of creating this book was definitely creating the numerous example characters based on circles, triangles, and squares,” Cole explains. “They’re meant to be inspiration for readers wanting to draw their own characters, and I had a lot of fun designing them.”

Each portion of the book focuses on one of the three shapes and demonstrates how to create facial features, body types, and clothing using each of them. But, the instruction doesn’t end there. “While every section is important,” Cole explains, “I think the last chapter, ‘Putting it All Together’ is probably my favorite, just because that’s when everything readers learned can be put to use, and they can create a variety of unique cartoon people.”

Cartooning Made Easy: Circle, Triangle, Square is now available on Bookshop.

The book Cartooning Made Easy: Circle, Triangle, Square by Margherita Cole shows you how to create cartoons using three simple shapes.

Cartooning Made Easy Book by Margherita Cole

Each portion of the book focuses on one of the three shapes: circles, triangles, and squares.

Cartooning Made Easy Book by Margherita Cole

Cartooning Made Easy Book by Margherita Cole

Cartooning Made Easy Book by Margherita Cole

It demonstrates how to create facial features, body types, and clothing using each of them.

Cartooning Made Easy Book by Margherita Cole

But, the instruction doesn’t end there.

Cartooning Made Easy Book by Margherita Cole

“While every section is important,” Cole explains, “I think the last chapter, ‘Putting it All Together’ is probably my favorite, just because that’s when everything readers learned can be put to use, and they can create a variety of unique cartoon people.”

Cartooning Made Easy Book by Margherita Cole

Cartooning Made Easy: Circle, Triangle, Square is now available on Bookshop.

Cartooning Made Easy Book by Margherita Cole

Margherita Cole: Website | Instagram | Facebook 

My Modern Met granted permission to feature photos by Margherita Cole.

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Sara Barnes

Sara Barnes is a Staff Editor at My Modern Met, Manager of My Modern Met Store, and co-host of the My Modern Met Top Artist Podcast. As an illustrator and writer living in Seattle, she chronicles illustration, embroidery, and beyond through her blog Brown Paper Bag and Instagram @brwnpaperbag. She wrote a book about embroidery artist Sarah K. Benning titled "Embroidered Life" that was published by Chronicle Books in 2019. Sara is a graduate of the Maryland Institute College of Art. She earned her BFA in Illustration in 2008 and MFA in Illustration Practice in 2013.
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