Recently, I finished the book “Howl’s Moving Castle” again. I love this book because it is one that my mother introduced me to when I was younger. I like the movie created by Studio Ghibli, but given the options I prefer the book. That being said, something I love the movie for is the character design, especially for Calcifer, Howl’s fire demon. In the book he is blue and green and, well, demonic. I love the cute aesthetic that embodies Calcifer in the movie and endears him to you.

While reading the book, I pictured Howl throwing Calcifer in the same way as Mario throws fireballs. It was funny to me to picture Calcifer screaming as he is thrown around. (This would probably be after the events of the book/movie since it is a lot less life threatening.) So I used the concept art for Fire Mario from Super Mario Bros as a reference and went to work.

I love the final art because of how fun it turned out. I don’t typically have people in my designs, but I feel that this rendition of Howl was fun while still staying true to the character. That makes it truly special to me.