Character Design Basics

Character Design Basics

Welcome to Character Design Basics! This class will help you as you are designing characters for comics, animation, children’s books, magazine illustrations or anything else you are designing.

In this class we cover these concepts:

-Shape language

-Big Medium Small

-Straights against curves

-Silhouette

-Reference

There are two assignments within the course to help you along your progression. The first assignment is to draw three characters using one basic shape. So the first character that you will design will have mainly circles and curved lines. The second will have triangles and lots of angles. The third will be made up of mainly squares. By doing this, I hope you will be able to let yourself explore without judgement of yourself. Let go of all of your fears and just play with it. It will open your eyes to see the possibilities of the language of shapes. You can say a lot about the character you are designing simply by the way you are choosing to use these three simple shapes within your drawings.

The final assignment will be to combine all of the elements and principles in this course by designing a character using the prompts below:

• -Highly caffeinated crazy Girl Scout leader

• -Asian steam punk villain

• -Lucky charm eating champion of the world

I’m so excited to see your designs! Use lots and lots of reference, but don’t follow your reference too closely or it will lose energy and life. Use the reference as a guide.

Step by step guide for your assignment:

1. Look for good reference, but don't take too much time. 5-10 minutes is PLENTY. Think about what will set your character apart.

2. Start with the basic sketch of the figure. Make sure that you are telling about who this person is with their pose. Sketch 2-3 quickly and then choose your favorite to finish out.

3. Then make sure that the figure has a good silhouette. You can start to exaggerate features here to help the silhouette stand out.

4. Make sure to start stepping away from your reference at this point and come back to it if you need specific help creating costumes or interesting features such as a unique hairstyle, etc...but don't be following too closely just the one or two reference photos that you started with.

5. Create a new iteration of your design by pushing Big Medium and Small shapes.

6. Now think about straights vs. curves. How can you use them to help direct the eye and to indicate pressure or weight?

7. Add a few costuming details if it helps push your character, but don't let it distract from your overall design.

8. Post it! Post it somewhere! Art is for sharing! Or if you are just wanting to grow in the quiet of your room, with nobody to bother or applaud you, that's okay too if that's what you need. But it's nice to have community, support, and to share your voice with the world. It's so great that it's so much easier now than ever to do that.

Can't wait to see what you create!

For Illustrators and Animators

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What you will learn

• Design a character using interesting shapes
• Create a strong silhouette
• Use straights against curves in their designs

Rating: 4.33333

Level: Intermediate Level

Duration: 33 mins

Instructor: Alycia Pace