Basics of Character Design

A quick intro to the course

This week I’m going to approach proportions and anatomy for the sake of stylised character design. I’m also going to introduce and demo several practical methods to learn how to draw proportions and anatomy correctly.

This week I’m going to explain what are the main forces behind drawing dynamic and static poses that are full of life, as well as demonstrating the steps to sketching fast and accurately from reference.

Shape language is a way to subtly convey information about your characters starting from the way they are designed. This week I’m going to show some techniques to make a lineup of characters look more cohesive and quickly iterate and push character shapes to achieve better results.

This week I’m giving several tips and showing how I approach inking, starting from the brushes I use and how much time I spend practising.

Drawing outfits can be intimidating, but building a cohesive wardrobe is often one of the best ways to show your character's backstory without giving a ton of exposition. In this class I give plenty of practical tips to create an array of clothing and props that will elevate the overall visual development of your project.

Being able to draw your characters in many different poses and facial expressions is a must as a character designer. This week we’ll talk about techniques to achieve turn-around and practising believable expressions.

Creating a new colour palette from scratch used to be one of my worst nightmares. Here’s my top tips and tricks to make the process as easy as possible!

In the art industry, it doesn’t really matter where you went to school, or what qualifications you have: the most important certificate you can show if your folio. A strong portfolio can make all the difference between getting that dream job or dream project, so it’s really worth spending time on it!