FREE COURSE

INCLUDED IN ALL-ACCESS

Character Design Fundamentals

Imagine and illustrate animation-ready characters.

Enroll in All-Access Enroll for FREE

Also included in our Team training for 3 or more people.

Learn On Your Own Schedule

Level up your skills on your own timeline. All course materials are available to you 24/7.

4+ Hours

Learn to Imagine and illustrate animation-ready characters with 4 hours of video training.

Beginner

This is a beginners' course, ideal for those new to the subject with little to no prior experience.

Course Overview

Learn the art and science of character design in this fun and jam-packed course. Learn shape language, the 80/20 rules of anatomy, how to use motifs, create appeal, and much more. You’ll learn dozens of drawing tips and hacks, plus get extremely comfortable using Procreate (though any drawing app will do).

You Get:

4+ hours of video training

Unlimited personalized critique on your work

Access to our 24/7 online community

Course syllabus.

What makes a Good Character Design?

Dive into the psychology behind great character design. Learn to hack your audience’s brain to create an emotional connection.

The Big 3 of Character Design

Shape Language, Anatomy, and Motif are all skills you’ll need to learn to have a solid foundation for your characters.

Illustration Techniques

Emma is a professional illustrator, and will share lots of her battle-tested tips and tricks for achieving better drawings.

Procreate Pro Tips

You can use any drawing app, but Emma will show you lots of great Procreate techniques to speed up your workflow.

Creating a Professional Model Sheet

Designing characters for animation comes with some extra requirements, and you’ll learn them in 2D and 3D varieties.

Navigating the Stylescape

Should you have a unique style? And if so, how does that work? You’ll go deep into the character design stylescape.

Meet your instructor.

Emma Gillette

Professional Illustrator

Emma has a BFA in Animation but has always had a passion for illustration. She worked on her first children's book project soon after graduation and decided then that illustration was the perfect fit for her.

Inspired by nature, fantasy and the whimsy of childhood, Emma loves to do colorful illustrations for book covers, picture books and magazines. She's worked with brands like Disney, National Geographic and American Girl. She has deep experience with character design and visual development, and won a student Emmy for her student film. When she is not drawing, she loves reading, exploring mountain meadows and watching movies with her husband.

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