Cartoon character designs is really interesting. Today, we have a lot of powerful graphic design software such as Photoshop, Illustrator and Corel Draw to help graphic designers create cartoon characters.

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With the advance technologies, designers now can sketch the cartoon characters on paper first, and then use software to convert and edit them on PC. If you are using Photoshop or Illustrator, then they are powerful enough to create cartoon character. But if you don't want to pay for them, there are still a lot of Free Photoshop alternatives where you can use.

Today, we are going to look into 90 cartoon character design tutorials where you can learn from basic to the advance skills to create and edit cartoon characters. We hope you enjoy reading them.

Create the Face of a Singing Pig

You can learn how to create a simple bow tie and some musical notes. This is a pretty large tutorial that covers a lot of techniques and effects. Give it a try and let me know what you think.

Create the Face of a Singing Pig

Create a Simple Mechanic Character in Illustrator

Follow this step by step design tutorial to create a simple vector mechanic character in Illustrator. We'll build the basic shape of the character using simple shapes, then slowly build up the details with a range of linework. To finish off the character we'll fill the design with colour then add a few touches of shading and highlighting.

Create a Simple Mechanic Character in Illustrator

Cartoon Character in Illustrator

This is very long tutorial, by using this tutorial you can make any Character in Illustrator. You can make changes accordingly.

Cartoon Character in Illustrator

How to Turn a Sketch into a Fat Cat Vector Illustration

This tutorial aims to guide you from sketchbook to screen; a "Fat Cat" doodled with biro translated into a neat vector caricature. Intermediate knowledge of Adobe Illustrator is advised. Let's take a look at how to create a cheeky cat illustration – from initial concept through to vector goodness.

How to Turn a Sketch into a Fat Cat Vector Illustration

How To Create Your Own Vector Cartoon Character

One of the most popular articles here on Blog.SpoonGraphics is how to create a vector cartoon character from a hand drawn sketch, an Adobe Illustrator tutorial covering the process of creating Captain Blackspoon. Using similar techniques, follow this tutorial to create your own vector character; Freddy the Fish.

How To Create Your Own Vector Cartoon Character

The Making of Abe, The Are My Sites Up Mascot

The challenge was to create a monster character that could become part of the Are My Sites Up branding, during the process I took the time to document each step of the project in order to present The Making of Abe, The Are My Sites Up Mascot.

The Making of Abe, The Are My Sites Up Mascot

Create a Cute Cartoon Beast

In this Tutorial I'll show you how to create a neat cartoon scene in Photoshop. Our scene will contain 2 characters: a cute beast and an angry toy.
You'll only need 1 start image and Photoshop software for this image. This is a more advanced tutorial, so basic knowledge of Photoshop is required.

Create a Cute Cartoon Beast

Create a Cute Vector Monster from a Pencil Sketch

I guess with recent topics being based on vector illustrations and cute characters, it's about time for another Illustrator character tutorial. Previous versions saw the creation of Captain BlackSpoon and Freddy the Fish which seemed pretty popular, not to mention the quick and simple monster series. This time follow this Adobe Illustrator walkthrough on the creation of a cute little vector monster character, beginning with a quick pencil sketch on paper.

Create a Cute Vector Monster from a Pencil Sketch

Creating A True .EPS File Using Vector Masks

Now I know I know what you're thinking, you're saying to yourself "Hero, this is a Photoshop tutorial website and now you're talking about Illustrator!" Well, that's all true and I apologize… but there are many times as a designer when more than one program comes into play, and this process is one of them. So cheer up little buddy, I promise not to do this kind of thing very often.

Creating A True .EPS File Using Vector Masks

Monster Character Series Part 1

I'm in a monster character illustration mood this month, after the creation of Frankenspoon I thought it would be cool to create a mini-series of tutorials on how to create a set of simple monster characters. Hopefully these will be easy enough to follow by Illustrator beginners, with mostly the basic tools and shapes being used.

Monster Character Series Part 1

Create a Cute Panda Bear Face Icon

In the following easy tutorial, I'll show you how to create a cute panda bear face icon all from ellipses (well, actually there is one rectangle for the background). The great part about this tutorial, is that you can easily apply the techniques to other icons, illustrations, logos, or other projects.

Create a Cute Panda Bear Face Icon

Create a Super Happy Octopus Character

In Illustrator it's really easy to create fun characters with some simple shapes and the Pathfinder panel. In the following tutorial I will explain how to create a Happy Octopus Character. You can use these techniques and elements to create whatever character you want!

Create a Super Happy Octopus Character

Create a Blue Vector Character

I was inspired on his illustrator tutorial about creating a cute vector monster so I decided to make a quick tutorial and in this tutorial we will going to make a blue character Illustraion thing. I myself don't even know what he is so let's just name him ranran. I use photoshop on this tutorial. You need to get a pencil and a paper bacause we're going to start this with sketching.

Create a Blue Vector Character

Monster Character Series Part 4

The final monster cartoon character in the mini series; my favourite – the Green Slimey Monster! Once again, a tutorial that will hopefully be easy enough to follow by Illustrator beginners, with mostly the basic tools and shapes being used.

Monster Character Series Part 4

Create a Vector Pirate Cartoon Character from a Hand Drawn Sketch

By firstly using the power of pen and paper a character design is created, which is then scanned into the computer to use as a base for tracing with Adobe Illustrator. The final outcome is a colourful cartoon character in vector format!

Create a Vector Pirate Cartoon Character from a Hand Drawn Sketch

Create a Traditional Japanese Koi Carp Illustration

Traditional Japanese paintings are instantly recognizable; their style, composition and colors are a dead give away. Even more so, the subject matter. Koi Carp have been painted and illustrated by the Japanese for centuries and are familiar to people all over the world. This tutorial will take the intermediate Adobe Illustrator user through the techniques and processes needed to imitate what the Japanese have perfected.

Create a Traditional Japanese Koi Carp Illustration

Adobe Illustrator Cartoon Snail Tutorial

In this tutorial we will learn how to draw a snail using tools such as the Pen Tool (P), Selection Tool (V), Direct Selection Tool (A), Ellipse Tool, and Gradient Tool (G). Some shapes will be created with the help of the Pathfinder panel. This artwork was created by my student Artur Chochaev.

Adobe Illustrator Cartoon Snail Tutorial

How to create amazing animated characters

In this tutorial you'll create a character in Illustrator then bring it into Flash to be animated. We'll look at some of the ways you can set up your artwork in Illustrator to simplify animation once it's in Flash.

How to create amazing animated characters

Create a Cute Furry Vector Monster in Illustrator

Follow these steps in Adobe Illustrator to create your very own super cute fuzzy monster character. We'll be working with the basic shapes to start, then use a variety of gradients to add depth. We can then finish it off with some detailed fur effects to really lift the design from the screen.

Create a Cute Furry Vector Monster in Illustrator

Primitive Art Man Cartoon

Apply now the Pen Tool on a new layer to picture the correct contours. Choose form the next table the appropriate adjustments for the instrument.

Primitive Art Man Cartoon

How to Create a Cartoon Character with Expressive Lines

Cartoon character drawing covers a lot of techniques and styles from one color characters to multilayered colorful ones. In this tutorial, I will cover the necessary steps for creating a colored multicolor cartoon character that includes shadings. I used Adobe CS3, a Wacom tablet, an inked drawing, and scanner. With your tools ready, let's get to it!

How to Create a Cartoon Character with Expressive Lines

Drawing Homer Simpson

This tutorial will teach you how to draw the Simpson's favorite character, Homer Simpson, from grounds up. Our drawing project will involve drawing the outline of the character, applying strokes to these outlines, and then using various selection tools to color Homer's skin and clothing. Wel will then finish it off by adding shadows and highlights to make it look similar to the image below.

Drawing Homer Simpson

How to Illustrate a LeBron James Cartoon Character

Hello fellow vector artists, I am a cartoonist/illustrator who specialized in retro style vector cartoons. You can find more of my work and books at my web site. In this tutorial, I'll show you how I use Adobe Illustrator to create vector cartoons.

How to Illustrate a LeBron James Cartoon Character

How to Create a Fantasy Character in Illustrator

This tutorial covers the process of creating a fantasy pinup illustration with Illustrator CS3. This tutorial uses Live Paint, so you will need CS2 or above to follow. If you need an alternative method for a legacy version of Illustrator, please download my Creating Comics with Illustrator tutorial tutorial, which includes instructions for that.

How to Create a Fantasy Character in Illustrator

Build your character's back story

Build your character's back story

Create Sketchy-Style Vectors

Illustrator is great for creating clean and precise illustrations, but some of the time you don't want clean and precise. There are many illustrations that call for a sketchy or hand-drawn feel. Creating these effects are relatively easy with Illustrator's Live Trace, Live Paint, Brushes and the ability to create you own brushes.

Create Sketchy-Style Vectors

Inking and Coloring the Comic Strip "The Brads

In this tutorial, we'll walk through the steps of creating a comic strip using Illustrator's Pen Tool, custom brushes and masking features. This is a fun tutorial that covers the process I use, while showcasing the comic strip I write called "The Brads."

Inking and Coloring the Comic Strip

Iron Man movie wallpaper

In this tutorial, you'll go through easy steps for creating a nice Iron Man movie wallpaper in Photoshop. We'll use Photoshop's simple shapes, layer styles and gradients to create this movie poster. Let's get started!

Iron Man movie wallpaper

Yupyland character art

First, we're going to sketch the character. Grab your pencils and have some fun. Try to bring out on paper the character that you imagined and start producing the rough sketches.

Yupyland character art

How to Create an Original Pin-Up Girl in Photoshop

In this tutorial, I will be taking you through the steps that I do when creating a cartoon pin-up. I will start off with thumbnails and continue on to the final image. Along the way, I will be sharing with you my techniques and thought process when it comes to creating an original image with Photoshop. Let's get started!

How to Create an Original Pin-Up Girl in Photoshop

Design a character for a T-shirt print

Character creation is a personal thing. Anyone can doodle stick drawings and scrappy characters, but armed with an insider's knowledge of cracking character design, you can breathe life into any design. Characters can be created in any application – from 2D pixels to 3D models – but vector-based artwork holds a special place in any creative's mind. And vector-based characters can make the jump from screen to screen-print with ease. For this tutorial, Ben the Illustrator reveals the process he goes through to create one of his famed characters – and he has created a special character just for Digital Arts readers.

Design a character for a T-shirt print

Create cool character art

You will learn how to control vector paths to create smooth angles and view the necessary stages to complete a piece of work in Adobe Illustrator. This tutorial demonstrates the stages taken from sketch to vector, covering colour adjustments, depth and composition. Through learning these basic skills you will be able to create perfect characters that are scalable to any size, and which you can then enhance with finishing touches in Photoshop to achieve a truly eye-catching piece of work.

Create cool character art

Rigging a character for After Effects

Creating an After Effects character animation is a whole lot easier if you prepare your main figure beforehand in Illustrator, finds motion designer Pete McEvoy. Flat, vector characters in motion projects aren't just the preserve of Adobe Flash. After Effects can get in on the act thanks to close ties with Illustrator, and it gives you far more control over your motion project. Yet, instead of working up a static character and plonking it into an After Effects project you can, with a little planning and foresight, use Illustrator to create a vector puppet ready for rigged animation.

Rigging a character for After Effects

Girl

Draw a surreal girl. In this tutorial you will learn how to draw a surreal girl.

Girl

How to Get that Anime Look in Photoshop Using a Flexible Workflow

In this tutorial, we'll learn how to get that smooth shiny Anime look. We'll start with a simple character outline and build the correct hierarchy for the base colors, tones and highlights. Also, we'll learn how to work with this "method" for later projects in case the client or director will ask for changes, it will be easy to replace colors for a specific part of the character without redrawing all the tones and highlights again! You are about to learn one of the many techniques from the Anime industry. Let's get started!

How to Get that Anime Look in Photoshop Using a Flexible Workflow

How to Create a Vector Illustration and Prepare it for Micro-Stock Sale

How to create a vector illustration from sketch to finish in Adobe Illustrator according to the demands of micro-stock websites. How to clean up your Adobe Illustrator file before saving it in EPS format. How to find and close all open paths. How to save EPS and JPEG files correctly for micro-stock sale.

How to Create a Vector Illustration and Prepare it for Micro-Stock Sale

How to Create a Stinking Zombie Flesh-Eater in Illustrator

In this tutorial, I will show you how to create a cartoon zombie in Illustrator. Starting by creating a fresh corpse, we will then 'yuck' it up using a number of techniques. Let's 'rip' this one apart!

How to Create a Stinking Zombie Flesh-Eater in Illustrator

Create a Gang of Vector Ninjas

It can be quite tricky getting the hang of Adobe Illustrator, but if you take a step back and concentrate on the basics there's a range of options for creating great looking images. In this tutorial, we'll take a look at constructing a group of cool vector ninja characters using just the basic shapes and a variety of simple tools, making it a good start for Illustrator beginners.

Create a Gang of Vector Ninjas

Drawing Kurosaki Ichigo In Photoshop

This tutorial will teach you how to draw the anime character Kurosaki Ichigo from the popular anime "Bleach". The only program used in this tutorial is Adobe Photoshop 7, it is possible to use any other version of Adobe Photoshop to follow this tutorial or any other similar image editing program that has similar features. You are required to have basic knowledge on how to draw simple shapes and use the basic tools in Photoshop.

Drawing Kurosaki Ichigo In Photoshop

How to Illustrate a Cute Emo Kid

We've recently included some funny looking cartoon style silhouettes on our website, so in this tutorial I will take you through the process of drawing these cuties. The concept is based on the Emo trend and I will take you trough all the steps from sketch to full color vector. I am using Illustrator CS3, pen, paper, scanner, and Wacom tablet.

How to Illustrate a Cute Emo Kid

Create a Twitter Style Bird Mascot

Using some basic shapes, effects, and gradients I will show you how to create a Twitter mascot for your blog or website. Twitter is a popular free web service for social networking and micro-blogging. You can follow Vectips, Sean Hodge, or Collis Ta'eed on Twitter as well!

Create a Twitter Style Bird Mascot

Creating convincing characters

Being able to dream up and create a cool character or picture is one thing, but Adobe Flash lets you take your work to a whole new level. Creating animations is a simple, if rather time-consuming, process – and you can even make your image interactive by adding buttons and other elements. As Alexis West shows in this tutorial, with Flash and a bit of creative thinking, the possibilities really are endless.

Creating convincing characters

How to Create a Cute Bunny Vector Character

In this Adobe Illustrator tutorial, I will show you how to create a cute bunny character. This tutorial uses simple shapes and gradients that are easy to apply to other character illustrations. The great thing about his tutorial is you don't have to be an amazing artist to create it! Check Chris Spooner's post 70 Cute and Cheeky Vector Animal Characters for more character inspiration.

How to Create a Cute Bunny Vector Character

How to Create a Web Site Mascot

This character was originally made for an Envato site which didn't take off, and the artwork wasn't being used, so I've reworked this a bit to become a Vectortuts+ character. Let's check out the process of making this website mascot and learn loads of tips along the way!

How to Create a Web Site Mascot

How to Create a Killer Chainsaw Bunny Character

This tutorial shows you how I build a Bucket 'o' Thought character and add a dynamic background effect. This process can be applied to any sketch you are vectorising. It takes some knowledge and skill with the Pen tool, but gives you ultimate control over your line work. In this tutorial, I will constantly refer to a tools' quick key, learn your quick keys people, it makes things so much easier!

How to Create a Killer Chainsaw Bunny Character