Character Design Quarterly (CDQ) is a lively, creative magazine bringing inspiration, expert insights, and leading techniques from professional illustrators, artists, and character art enthusiasts worldwide. Each issue provides detailed tutorials on creating diverse characters, enabling you to explore the processes and decision making that go into creating amazing characters. Learn new ways to develop your own ideas, and discover from the artists what it is like to work for prolific animation studios such as Disney, Warner Bros., and DreamWorks. The cover for issue 26 has been created by Mila Useche, a Colombian artist living in Berlin. She is a successful character designer, visual development artist, and illustrator, and is currently working on a short film. We interviewed her about her career and she supplies a step-by-step tutorial on how she created the stunning cover art. Also in this issue, hugely popular artist Ben Eblen creates two characters from a basic prompt: 'Thief, Woodland, Surprise!' We interview Sara Paz and Simone Grunewald about their art, careers, and advice for budding artists.

Alex Jensen shows us how to design a cast of superheroes, and Rachelle Joy Slingerland is back with a reimagining of a fairy-tale witch.