As a cartoon enthusiast and an aspiring artist, I’m always on the lookout for great resources on how to draw cartoon characters.
The problem with this is that there are so many different books available that it can be tough to know which ones are the best choice for beginners (like me!).
You can do a quick check on Amazon or Books-A-Million for these simple and easy cartoon drawing books.
Luckily, I managed to get my hands on some of the best cartoon drawing books out there, and here’s why you should check them out if you’re looking to learn more about cartoons!
We’ve taken the time to research some of the best cartoon drawing books and gathered them together into this helpful list so that you can find exactly what you need as quickly as possible.
No matter your skill level, these books will help you improve and get started on your journey as an artist. So read on and get inspired!
Check: How To Draw Wings Of Fire
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List of the 29 Best Cartoon Drawing Books
1. Draw 50 Famous Cartoons
By Lee J. Ames
Draw 50 Famous Cartoons: The Step-by-Step Way to Draw Your Favorite Classic Cartoon Characters by Lee J. Ames — While not necessarily made for beginners, Ames’ step-by-step method of drawing is easy to follow and will help intermediate artists hone their skills. It’s packed with 50 drawings that show off his methods. In addition to Bugs Bunny, Elmer Fudd, Donald Duck and Winnie-the-Pooh, there are also instructions on how to draw Popeye, Woody Woodpecker and Superman. If you want to draw like these guys, you’ll have no trouble finding your drawing style. Get them all in one place. Beginner or not.
2. Learn to Draw Cartoons
By Christopher Hart
Learn to Draw Cartoons: The World’s Easiest Cartooning Book Ever! by Christopher Hart — This book is filled with cartoon characters that are simple to draw, but also fun and interesting. It also has step-by-step instructions on how to create many different characters. Overall, it’s a great book for beginners that want to get good at drawing cartoons. I recommend checking out more of Christopher Hart’s work—his books are incredibly fun and are perfect for beginning artists.
Read: 14 Best Books on How to Draw Animals for Beginners
3. Blank Comic Book For Kids
By Blank Books ‘N’ Journals
Blank Comic Book For Kids : Create Your Own Comics With This Comic Book Journal Notebook by Blank Books ‘N’ Journals — You can now make your own comics with the book because we have collected over 6000 reviews, meaning that kids are appreciating how easy it is to use our pre-formatted comic book paper.
With this 100-page blank comic book, aspiring artists can take their time and get creative. With blank comic book templates in a variety of styles, your kids will spend hours immersed in the activity of drawing.
4. Learn to Draw Your Favorite Disney/Pixar Characters
By Disney Storybook Artists
Learn to Draw Your Favorite Disney/Pixar Characters: Featuring favorite characters from Toy Story, Finding Nemo, Inside Out, and more! by Disney Storybook Artists — This book is an excellent resource for artists of all skill levels. It contains classic characters and scenes from well-known Disney movies such as The Lion King, Frozen, Toy Story, Finding Nemo, and more. There are also tips on drawing techniques and plenty of helpful illustrations throughout. This is a great book to pick up if you’re looking to brush up on your drawing skills or just trying to make sure that your kids are learning correctly!
5. Cartoon Drawing: For The Absolute Beginner
By Kevin Gardin
Cartoon Drawing: For The Absolute Beginner by Kevin Gardin – One of my favorite cartoon drawing books is Cartooning: For The Absolute Beginner by Kevin Gardin. It doesn’t go over concepts in depth, but instead it gives you a basic overview of what you need to know as a beginner.
This book focuses on both pencil and ink (brush) techniques and walks you through each step slowly and simply. It’s perfect for an absolute beginner who needs that extra help to get started with drawing cartoons. I really liked how he included humorous examples throughout each chapter which made me feel more at ease while learning some new techniques. Highly recommended!
6. Cartooning: The Ultimate Character Design Book
By Christopher Hart
Cartooning: The Ultimate Character Design Book by Christopher Hart — The best cartooning book for beginners. Anyone can pick up a pencil and sketch out some characters or illustrations, but good cartooning is another thing entirely. To excel at drawing cartoons, you need to understand proportion and perspective as well as exaggeration and anatomy.
This book will teach you all that and more. Featuring tips from professionals like Jim Davis (The Garfield Show), Chad Essley (Tim & Tom) and Joan Holub (The Baby-Sitters Club graphic novels), it’s packed with inspiring drawings and advice for any artist interested in comic art.
7. How to Draw Anime
By Takeshi Sugimori
How to Draw Anime (Includes How to Draw Manga, Chibi, Body, Cartoon Faces) by Takeshi Sugimori — I like that there are different ideas inside of one book. You can be artistic and creative. Great for all ages! I bought three books, they are all really good. I would recommend it to anyone who loves anime and is into drawing.
It teaches you step by step, there is also an instruction video on YouTube and an instructional video on DVD in which you can watch over and over again until you have mastered each chapter! There are even more options to create amazing masterpieces such as using colored pencils or pastels as well as many other types of media. This book is absolutely beautiful and every page has so much detail!
8. Cartoon Faces: How to Draw Heads, Features & Expressions
By Christopher Hart
Cartoon Faces: How to Draw Heads, Features & Expressions by Christopher Hart — This book is not just for beginners; it’s also perfect for cartoonists who want to improve their drawing techniques. It’s full of creative tips, tricks and ideas that will allow you to draw fun cartoons for any occasion. It’s one of those books that you don’t have to read from front to back, but can jump around in as needed. To learn more about how to draw faces effectively, check out my post on How to Draw Cartoons.
9. Learn to Draw Classic Animated Movies
By Disney Storybook Artists
Learn to Draw Disney’s Classic Animated Movies: Featuring favorite characters from Alice in Wonderland, The Jungle Book, 101 Dalmatians, Peter Pan, and more! by Disney Storybook Artists — Get inspired to create your own Disney-style art by studying these books by professional artists. In color. Paperback with flaps. 192 pages. 5 x 7. For ages 6 and up.
Customer Review:
These have some really cool drawings in them, it’s inspiring me to draw more myself!
10. Fundamentals of Character Design
By 3dtotal Publishing
Fundamentals of Character Design: How to Create Engaging Characters for Illustration, Animation & Visual Development by 3dtotal Publishing — This is one of my go-to books when I’m trying to learn about different aspects of character design. It’s a great resource for both visual development artists, character designers and people that are looking to create engaging characters.
In fact, you can check out 3dtotal Publishing’s Facebook page here to learn more about their other books, which cover everything from environment design to industrial design. It should be noted that these books are specifically geared towards game art and animation, but they’ll still prove useful even if you aren’t in those fields.
11. Humongous Book of Cartooning
By Christopher Hart
Humongous Book of Cartooning by Christopher Hart -This book is written for beginners. It has step-by-step instructions with pictures to help you to draw cartoon characters. The main characters that you can learn from include Walt Disney’s Mickey Mouse, Warner Bros.’ Bugs Bunny, Looney Tunes’ Road Runner and Yosemite Sam, plus famous stars like Johnny Bravo and Bart Simpson. Illustrator Norman Rockwell also has an entire chapter dedicated to his style of artwork.
The book is packed with information and would be useful to anyone who wants to start cartooning or just wants inspiration for their work. This was written for beginners, but people of all skill levels can get something out of it, so give it a try if you want some guidance on improving your cartooning skills in general.
12. Drawing Cartoon Faces: 55+ Projects for Cartoons
By Harry Hamernik
Drawing Cartoon Faces: 55+ Projects for Cartoons, Caricatures & Comic Portraits by Harry Hamernik — The perfect book for beginners, Harry Hamernik’s Drawing Cartoon Faces is an ideal guide to drawing caricatures. The book covers everything from how to draw eyes and noses to creating facial expressions, adding speech bubbles and completing finished drawings. There are dozens of projects in all, covering topics like Cartoon People and Head Shots. This is one of many guides from Hamernik, so even if you choose another for your first step into cartoon art, it can be handy to have him around as you progress—and grow more confident with your skills.
13. Ultimate Book of Drawing Hands
By Mark Crilley
Ultimate Book of Drawing Hands by Mark Crilley — This is another Crilley book, and it’s just as good as his first one. Again, Crilley draws all of his examples, meaning that you don’t have to spend time learning from someone else’s work. He also spends a lot of time talking about different types of hands, which is something I really liked.
There are also guides for drawing thumbs and each of your fingers individually as well as a guide for finger joints. He also talks about basic gestures like pointing, grabbing, pushing and wrapping your hand around an object (I believe I read somewhere that these are called universal gestures). It’s almost 200 pages long and contains six how-to draw hand exercises on each page.
14. Draw With Jazza – Creating Characters
By Josiah Brooks
Draw With Jazza – Creating Characters: Fun and Easy Guide to Drawing Cartoons and Comics by Josiah Brooks — The first thing to say about Josiah Brooks’ book is that it’s FUN! His wide-eyed, happy cartoon characters are infectious and his basic techniques are easy to learn. He doesn’t complicate matters by making you learn loads of complicated jargon before he gets down to drawing: he starts at step one and takes you through each process as if you already know what he’s talking about. There are 28 practical lessons in all.
15. Blank Comic Book for Kids with Variety of Templates
By Archie Strange
Blank Comic Book for Kids with Variety of Templates: Draw Your Own Comics – Express Your Kids or Teens Talent and Creativity with This Lots of Pages by Archie Strange — This blank comic book for kids is great for them to have fun and make their own comics. They can color in it, write their own story about superheroes, villains and whatever they like, or leave it blank for doodling.
16. Kawaii Kitties: Learn to Draw 75 Cats
By Olive Yong
Kawaii Kitties: Learn How to Draw 75 Cats in All Their Glory by Olive Yong — Have you ever dreamed of drawing cartoon cats? The beginner-friendly Kawaii Kitties: Learn How to Draw 75 Cats in All Their Glory is a cutely illustrated reference book that will help you draw your own kitties in your very own way. It teaches you everything from basic shapes to shading techniques and shows you what tools you need, as well as where to find them. What’s more, it also offers helpful pointers on how to create eyes with different expressions.
17. Art for Kids: Cartooning
By Art Roche
Art for Kids: Cartooning: The Only Cartooning Book You’ll Ever Need to Be the Artist You’ve Always Wanted to Be by Art Roche — Get started with cartoons in easy steps and discover how to doodle like you’ve always wanted! Learn how to turn your favorite characters into cartoons, apply cartooning techniques and transform images in unexpected ways. Put yourself at ease as you delve into artist-friendly tips and tricks that lead to learning step by step.
Improve your illustrations with essential tips that will keep lines clean and clear. In no time, you’ll learn all about design basics, including perspective, tone and shading–even comic book lettering! Your inner artist is waiting. Unleash it today with Art Roche’s art for kids: cartooning!
18. Cartooning: Animation 1
By Preston Blair
Cartooning: Animation 1: Learn to animate step by step by Preston Blair — In over 50 years of teaching animation, Preston Blair has taught thousands of artists how to animate. He’s one of my personal heroes. In general, I love his approach because he teaches cartooning with his own style and voice—it’s not about doing things by-the-book, it’s about finding your way. Blair starts by describing his process for drawing characters from head to toe. He moves on to describe how those drawings are then broken down into smaller drawings that work together as an action-unit (how an object should move). The book is full of illustrative examples that make it easy to follow along.
19. Modern Cartooning
By Christopher Hart
Modern Cartooning: Essential Techniques for Drawing Today’s Popular Cartoons by Christopher Hart — This book serves as both an introduction to cartooning and an in-depth look at how to improve your skills. Hart covers everything from developing your style and storytelling ability to drawing specific elements of cartoons like cars, animals, people, and buildings. He also includes plenty of examples of contemporary cartoonists doing their thing so you can get inspired. This is a great place to start if you’re new to comics or just want some tips on getting better.
20. The Animator’s Survival Kit
By Richard Williams
The Animator’s Survival Kit: A Manual of Methods, Principles and Formulas for Classical, Computer, Games, Stop Motion and Internet Animators by Richard Williams — I’ve had my copy of The Animator’s Survival Kit for as long as I can remember, and it’s easily one of my most-used reference books. It covers all aspects of animation, from traditional to computer animation to animating on an interactive level.
Williams is an absolute master, so if you’re interested in learning more about any form of animation, I highly recommend checking out his work. His cartooning process is well detailed here and it also gives great insight into how he conceptualizes each scene as a whole while making sure that each key element within it tells its own story when paired with other elements in that same shot.
21. Artisto 100 Sheets Sketch Book
By Artisto Store
22. How To Draw Cartoon Characters
By Reda Waaziz
How To Draw Cartoon Characters and Other Mythical Creatures by Reda Waaziz — Learn to draw cartoons step by step with Reda Waaziz. This book is packed with basic and advanced drawings tutorials that are fun and easy to follow. Also learn how to draw anime characters, how to draw eyes, how to draw hair, how to draw, jokes for kids and Adults, superheroes cartoons.
23. The Master Guide to Drawing Anime
By Christopher Hart
The Master Guide to Drawing Anime – How to Draw Original Characters from Simple Templates by Christopher Hart — I’ve had so much fun and success drawing characters from manga using Christopher Hart’s books. The Master Guide to Drawing Anime is an amazingly detailed how-to guide for anime, manga, video game, and cartoon art that shows you how to design cool characters from scratch.
Each book has several character creation templates based on different types of body shapes and facial features (in Volume 1 there are nine templates to work with). I always check my local library for popular comic books and graphic novels in search of new templates, but if you want all the information about a character that includes why these templates were chosen over others, then buy one of his books!
24. How to Draw Cool Stuff
By Catherine V Holmes
How to Draw Cool Stuff: A Drawing Guide for Teachers and Students by Catherine V Holmes — This is a great book if you want to learn how to draw but don’t have much experience in drawing. The drawings are all pencil drawings, which makes it easy for beginners who aren’t sure about how to use pastels or other artistic materials. Because it’s all pencil, you can go over your work as many times as you need to get things just right. It also features step-by-step guides and gives hints on techniques like shading and perspective.
25. How to Draw Anime: The Essential Step-by-Step Beginner’s Guide
By Matsuda Publishing
How to Draw Anime: The Essential Step-by-Step Beginner’s Guide by Matsuda Publishing — This guide offers an easy-to-follow introduction to drawing anime-style characters in 100 pages. In addition to having lots of great drawings and helpful images, How to Draw Anime also provides detailed lessons on how to draw hands, faces, eyes, hair, and clothing. This book by Matsuda Publishing is more than just a collection of drawings – it’s also packed with tips that make drawing easier and faster.
26. How to Draw Cute Stuff
By Angela Nguyen
How to Draw Cute Stuff: Draw Anything and Everything in the Cutest Style Ever! by Angela Nguyen — This book is perfect for absolute beginners who want to try their hand at some cute drawings. The book features simple step-by-step tutorials, with each tutorial leading into another (so you can build your skills as you go along). It’s small, making it easy to carry around, and affordable. So cheaply priced on Amazon, it won’t hurt your wallet to pick up a copy! By far one of my favorite books for getting started in drawing – plus it will make you smile every time you look at all of those adorable little creatures!
27. How to Draw People: Step-by-Step
By Alisa Calder
How to Draw People: Step-by-Step Face and Figure Drawing Projects by Alisa Calder — This fun, friendly drawing book breaks down human anatomy and facial features step-by-step. It’s especially helpful for beginners who want to better understand how to draw bodies. The first half of How to Draw People is dedicated to how to draw heads and faces, while second part shows you how to draw hands, feet, clothes, hair and other features.
Note: This is not an art tutorial or a portfolio piece — it’s simply meant as a fun guide on how to learn to draw from scratch!
28. How To Draw Comics The Marvel Way
By Stan Lee, John Buscema
How To Draw Comics The Marvel Way by Stan Lee, John Buscema – Every aspiring artist needs to learn how to draw comics. This book offers some important foundations and basic tips for drawing well-balanced characters, including male, female, children, and animals. The authors explain what to look for in terms of body proportions and facial expressions.
They also cover topics like facial features and personality traits (which are especially important for creating believable comic characters). There’s even an introductory section on how to use perspective when creating drawings of buildings or cityscapes! In short: if you want to know how to draw comics from one of Marvel’s founders himself, you can’t go wrong with How To Draw Comics The Marvel Way.
29. How to Draw All the Things for Kids
By Alli Koch
How to Draw All the Things for Kids by Alli Koch — Koch has created an interactive book that’s great for kids and beginners. At first glance, you may think it’s just another book of whimsical drawings, but it’s not! The pages encourage kids to draw what you see and then have fun coloring in their creations. This is such a fun way to learn because kids will be able to see exactly how everything fits together. It also helps build patience because if your drawings aren’t perfect (yet) you can color them in any way you want, which builds creativity as well!
Read: 20 Best Animation Books for Animators -Beginners & Experienced
FAQs
How easy it is to learn to draw cartoons?
The ability to draw cartoons doesn’t necessarily make you an artist. What most people don’t realize is that cartooning has been around for centuries. No matter how good you are, it takes time and practice to become proficient in any art form. The great thing about cartooning is that once you have developed your skills, there’s no end to what you can do with them.
What are some tips for learning to draw cartoons?
There are lots of different factors to consider when it comes to drawing cartoons. It’s important to know what makes a good cartoon in terms of personality, style, humor and visual appeal. Once you’ve mastered those principles and have enough practice, it’s time to take your cartooning skills to another level.
Which cartoon drawing books are best for beginners?
The answer depends on what you consider to be best. However, if you’re looking for more traditional how-to books that offer step-by-step instructions, there are several worth looking into. Most of these will assume that you have absolutely no experience with cartoon drawing, while others assume that you have some familiarity with other art mediums but haven’t drawn cartoons before. Either way, there are plenty of options to choose from.
How do you practice drawing?
It’s difficult to improve drawing without practicing, and there are many ways to practice. Experts suggest putting in at least 20 minutes of practice each day. Whether you sketch from life or imagination, your mind needs time to process new information. To get more comfortable with practice, keep it up! Even when you don’t feel like it, just do 10 minutes per day; as soon as your attention wavers or you lose focus, stop and move on to something else.
How do I learn how to draw cartoons well?
If you want to draw cartoons well, it’s really all about practice. Some people say that if you spend at least ten minutes every day practicing your cartoon drawing skills, within about two years you’ll be able to call yourself an expert. However, if you only want to learn how to draw cartoons for fun and don’t necessarily have ten minutes every day to practice, then there are some specific ways you can do so without breaking your routine.
What are some of your favorite tips for practicing to improve my drawings?
While I have no formal training in art, I have found some basic tips that have improved my drawings tremendously. Whether you’re an artist or just like to doodle here and there, these tips can help get your skills up to snuff. One of my favorite methods is doing 30-second drawing challenges with myself.
Another trick is copying another piece of artwork by tracing it onto blank paper; try not to look at what you’re tracing as much as possible so you really force yourself to focus on details and shapes rather than colors and lines. A few other ways include doing simple exercises where you draw only one part of something (for example, only draw eyes) until it becomes easy enough for you to repeat over and over again with little effort.
How do you get better at drawing cartoon faces?
There are many different resources that you can use to help improve your drawing skills and one of them is cartooning books. The problem with drawing cartoons is that there are so many little details that need to be included in order for it to come out looking just right. In this article, will find several cartoon drawing books that can really help you if you want to improve your cartoon drawings.
Conclusion
These are many good books out there for those who want to learn how to draw cartoons. While not every book on drawing is going to fit all levels, and some might be more basic than others, these will offer you excellent instruction no matter what stage you’re at.
Best of all, they all cover numerous topics that most beginners want help with like learning to think as an artist (which is critical), constructing characters, animating your drawings, and creating funny situations that are great for cartoons!
You can check these books on Amazon or Books-A-Million.
You can visit iamag.com to gain access to cartoon drawing lessons.
Once you get into it (drawing cartoons) it can be addicting; just ask any professional artist or cartoonist out there who has been doing it for years.
