Chris Hart delivers detailed instructions, inspiring ideas, and invaluable tips for creating appealing and original manga-style characters. In this clear step-by-step guide, Chris shows how to draw a hyper kid, bratty teen, lovable pooch, cool rapper, and many other distinctive types. Then, he takes the reader on a guided tour in search of original characters in places that range from suburban malls to the glitter and glamour of Hollywood and Beverly Hills.

Introduction -- Character design lab -- Language of character design -- Drawing the head: Head shapes and classic character types -- Drawing the head from different angles -- Drawing expressive eyes -- Drawing expressions -- Noses -- Mouths -- Hairstyles -- Drawing bodies: Basic shapes -- Side view -- Basic proportions -- Hands -- Footwear -- Action and body dynamics: Balance and counterbalance -- Profiles -- Coiling and compression -- Stretching and thinning -- Points of emphasis -- Posture and personality -- Levitation -- Quirky characters of the suburbs -- Big-city characters -- Super-rich characters -- Funny Hollywood characters.