Color: Employs limited and often somewhat muted or earthy palettes, frequently using blues, reds/pinks, greens, and off-whites/creams. Colors are applied with visible texture, suggesting traditional media on paper rather than flat digital fills. Color choices are integral to defining the character's mood or archetype.
Lighting: Generally flat, characteristic of illustrative work where form is conveyed primarily through linework, texture, and color blocking rather than simulated light sources. Subtle variations in color value might suggest form, but the emphasis is on the tactile surface quality and expressive drawing.
Design Technique: Relies heavily on visible texture that mimics traditional drawing or painting tools (pastel, crayon, dry brush, possibly woodcut influence). Linework is often expressive, sometimes sketchy or broken, and integrated with the textured color areas. Figures are stylized, ranging from caricatured portraits to simplified, almost sculptural forms (hippo), often imbued with personality or symbolic attributes (horns). Backgrounds are typically simple, textured, or non-existent, keeping focus on the character.