The Ultimate Character Design Course

Before we beguine diving into the meat of this course I'm going to first review review all the supplies you will need for this course. All you will need is a pencil, pencil sharpener, eraser, and paper. Now lets get drawing!

In this lecture you will be drawing two character roughs. Roughs are the underdrawing for you character design. They are usually done with a colored pencil and can be changed easily.

Once you've drawn your character roughs it's time to start refining your drawing. This is usually done by using a darker pencil and finalizing the lines of your rough. By the end of this lecture you will have drawn two separate characters that you can be proud of!

Don't forget to download this printable sheet sheet that shows you how to draw a character. If you don't want to watch the previous lecture over and over this is a great way to remember what was taught in the lecture.

When drawing characters there is hierarchy of importance. I like to break this hierarchy down into a simple pyramid diagram. The most important part of drawing is line and it makes up the foundation of the pyramid or your drawings.

In this lecture you will learn about how line fundamentals play an important part in character design. We will be looking a some examples of the different types of lines that show up in characters. At the end of the lecture we will practice drawing some of these lines.

In this lecture you will be learning about how shape plays a very important roll in character design. We will be looking at different examples of shapes in characters and you will learn how to identify the simple shapes of characters.

In this lecture you will be learning about how form plays an important part in character design. Form is a 3rd dimension that you add to your drawings. Just like with shapes all character designs can be broken down into there simple forms. 

Now that you have a good understanding of line, shape, and form its time for you to complete an assignment. Your assignment for this lecture will be to download the photo from this lectures resources and draw it as its simple lines, simple shapes, and simple forms. Once you've completed the assignment post it to the Q&A section of the course.

In lecture you will be learning about highlights and shadows. Highlights are just the areas of your form that are being hit by light and shadows are the areas where light can not reach the surface of your form. By the end of this lecture you will have an understanding of how highlights and shadows apply to various different forms.

In this lecture you will be learning about values and how they play a part in your highlights and shadows. In order to make you highlights and shadow look correct they must be the right values. Values are just the lightness or darkness of a color.

Detail can be thought of as the paint, molding, and flooring of a house. It may look pretty but if the house isn't square or the foundation isn't strong none of the details matter. In this lecture you will learn how to think about details and when to add them to your drawing.

Contrast is a very important part in character design and can show up in many different forms . In this lecture you will learn about all the different types of contrast and how they apply to your character designs.

When it comes to character design telling a story is the most important part. Even though line, shape, and form are important as a technical part of draw, if you don't have a story your character design isn't really a design. In this lecture I will learn what it means to tell a story through your design.

A very important part of building your character drawing skills is drawing studies form life. A study is any time you observe something and draw it. In this lecture we will draw a study of a hand.

Having an understanding of the human form, clothing, and textures will help you with character design. But how does drawing studies directly connect with character design? In this lecture you will take your hand drawn you drew in the last lecture and stylize.

Motivation is an important part of learning how to draw. It can take a lot of time and practice in order to get really good at drawing and theres always room for improvement. In this lecture I want to talk to you about my secret for staying motivated.

Congratulations on making it to the end of section 3. At this point you're equipped with the knowledge of character design fundamentals and your ready to dive deeper. Before we end the section lets do a quick review of what you learned so we can solidify it.

In this lecture you will start on a project that will take everything you've learned in this section and apply it to a drawing. The project is simple, all you have to do is draw the simple shapes of a person from a photo graph. Then you will redraw the simple shapes but you will exaggerate the line, shapes, and forms.

In this lecture you will learn some simple exercises that will train your hand eye coordination. Having control of your pencil is a very important part of drawing. By practicing you these exercises you will gain muscle memory and achieve better control over your pencil.

Before you start your character designs its very important to warm up. It should only take you about 10 minutes to warm up nut just like an athlete you have to warm up. Warming up consists of drawing anything even if it looks bad.

Understanding a 3 dimensional form is crucial to drawing characters. In this lecture you will learn about wire frames and how to use them to gain an understanding of a form. Wire frames are not meant to be a part of your final drawing but are meant to be visualized in your head. 

In this lecture you are going to turn how to visualize 3D forms from any angle in your head. Having the ability to rotate a 3D form in your head will allow you to draw forms from you imagination. By the end of this lecture you will have an understanding of how to rotate simple 3D forms in your head.

In this lecture I will demystify what a dynamic drawing is. When I was first learning to draw the word dynamic was thrown around a lot but I did not know what it meant. In this lecture you will be learning how dynamics apply to line, shape, form, and body poses.

In this lecture you will learn how to create depth in you characters design. This is done by overlapping shapes and forms to create the illusion of depth and space. You will also learn about tangents and why you should avoid them in your drawings.

When drawing character designs you will need to be able to draw lightly and loose. We have to draw lightly when drawing our rough because we want to maintain the ability to erase. We also what to stay loose in our rough drawings so that our design doesn't become to rigid, stiff, and boring.

Line weight refers to the thickness of a line and how light or dark that line is. Understanding how line weight plays into your character designs is important as it helps control the focal point. It also helps define the design and makes it simpler and more clear to the viewer.

In order to make character design less intimidating we're going to break it down into three stages. The first stage is Rough 1, second is Rough 2, and third is you Final. Once you learn these three stages it will help you move smoothly through the character design process.

Developing you style is hard and takes time. In this lecture you will learn how other artist develop there own uniques styles and how you can fast track the development of your style. You will also be learning about the different genres of character design. 

Using reference in you character designs is vital. In this lecture you will learn all about the different types of reference you might use. You will also learn how how to draw a copy of a reference and how to observe reference. 

In this lecture you will learn what a visual library is and how to build your own visual library. Building a visual library consists of observing from life and drawing different views and versions of a subject. After doing this enough you will be able to draw that subject without reference. 

As you move through your drawing its important to continually check for fundamentals. Make sure that your pose is dynamic and your contrast looks good. Getting in the habit of continually check your drawing for fundamentals will make your character designs look more professional.

Congratulations on making it to the end of section 4! Before we move on lets do a quick review of everything you've learned in this section.

Before you end this section heres a quick assignment for you that will help build your skills in what you learned. Download the two pictures in the resources of this lecture and use them as reference for the assignment.

In this lecture I will be introducing you to drawing character forms. By the end of this lecture you will have a broad idea of what makes up the body form. In the next lectures we will be breaking the body form down and drawing it part by part.

Understanding the proportions of the human form is vital to drawing character designs. In this lecture you will learn the general proportions of the human form. You can also download a diagram of the human proportions from the resources of this lecture.

In this lecture we will break down the human form into its simple line structure. All human forms can be broken  down into its fundamentals. Understanding these fundamental structures of the form will help you draw your characters with ease.

In this lecture we will break down the human form into its simple shape structure. All human forms can be broken  down into its fundamentals. Understanding these fundamental structures of the form will help you draw your characters with ease.

In this lecture we will break down the human form into its simple form structure. All human forms can be broken  down into its fundamentals. Understanding these fundamental structures of the form will help you draw your characters with ease.

In this lecture you will be learning how to draw the human head from scratch. After this lecture you will know how to draw the head form without any reference. Understanding this form will allow you to change and exaggerate it to create your character designs.

In this lecture you will learn how to draw the face on the head form. Understanding the proportions and the placement of each feature will be important. When you understand how to draw the face you are able to exaggerate it and create your character.

In this lecture you will be learning how to draw the head in different poses. Knowing how to draw a form in deferent positions and from different angles will allow you to draw character forms without having to look at reference. By the end of this lecture you will have a more in-depth understanding of the 3D form.

In this lecture you will be learning how to draw the neck and shoulders from scratch. After this lecture you will know how to draw the neck and shoulder forms without any reference. Understanding this form will allow you to change and exaggerate it to create your character designs.

In this lecture you will be learning how to draw the neck and shoulders in different poses. Knowing how to draw a form in deferent positions and from different angles will allow you to draw character forms without having to look at reference. By the end of this lecture you will have a more in-depth understanding of the 3D form.

In this lecture you will be learning how to draw the chest from scratch. After this lecture you will know how to draw the chest form without any reference. Understanding this form will allow you to change and exaggerate it to create your character designs. 

In this lecture you will be learning how to draw the form of the chest. After this lecture you will know how to draw the chest with an understanding of its 3D form. Understanding this form will allow you to change and exaggerate it to create your character designs.

In this lecture you will be learning how to draw the chest in different poses. Knowing how to draw a form in deferent positions and from different angles will allow you to draw character forms without having to look at reference. By the end of this lecture you will have a more in-depth understanding of the 3D form.

In this lecture you will be learning how to draw the breast. Drawing the breast can her very tricky but this lecture will teach you the trick that will make it easy. After this lecture you will know how to draw the head form without any reference.

In this lecture you will be learning how to draw the male torso from scratch. After this lecture you will know how to draw the male torso without any reference. Understanding this form will allow you to change and exaggerate it to create your character designs.

In this lecture you will be learning how to draw the female torso from scratch. After this lecture you will know how to draw the female torso without any reference. Understanding this form will allow you to change and exaggerate it to create your character designs.

In this lecture you will be learning how to draw the arm from scratch. After this lecture you will know how to draw the arm form without any reference. Understanding this form will allow you to change and exaggerate it to create your character designs.

In this lecture you will be learning how to draw the leg from scratch. After this lecture you will know how to draw the leg form without any reference. Understanding this form will allow you to change and exaggerate it to create your character designs.

In this lecture you will be learning how to draw arm and legs in different poses. Knowing how to draw a form in deferent positions and from different angles will allow you to draw character forms without having to look at reference. By the end of this lecture you will have a more in-depth understanding of the 3D form.

In this lecture you will be learning how to draw the feet from scratch. After this lecture you will know how to draw the foot form without any reference. Understanding this form will allow you to change and exaggerate it to create your character designs.

In this lecture you will be learning how to draw hands from scratch. After this lecture you will know how to draw the hand form without any reference. Understanding this form will allow you to change and exaggerate it to create your character designs.

Before we continue on I want to review the body forms and draw them together as one body. Up to this point we have learned how to draw the body in segments. But in order to draw character forms we must attach these forms to each other.

In this lecture you will be learning how to draw the eye from scratch. After this lecture you will know how to draw the eye form without any reference. Understanding this form will allow you to change and exaggerate it to create your character designs.

In this lecture you will be learning how to draw the ear from scratch. After this lecture you will know how to draw the ear form without any reference. Understanding this form will allow you to change and exaggerate it to create your character designs.

In this lecture you will be learning how to draw the lips from scratch. After this lecture you will know how to draw the form of the lips without any reference. Understanding this form will allow you to change and exaggerate it to create your character designs.

In this lecture you will be learning how to draw the nose from scratch. After this lecture you will know how to draw the nose form without any reference. Understanding this form will allow you to change and exaggerate it to create your character designs.

In this lecture you will be learning how to draw a verity of facial expressions. The cool thing about facial expressions is that you can combine different eye expressions with different mouth expressions to create subtle differences in your characters expression.

Drawing makeup can be a tricky thing. In this lecture I will break down the process of drawing character makeup.

Now that you've learned how to draw the human form and know its correct proportions you can now start drawing character body forms. Drawing character body forms is very much about exaggerating and pushing things such as shapes and curves. 

In this lecture you will be learning how to draw a balanced character pose. We will be discussing what makes a characters pose look balanced and when you will want to make a pose imbalanced. Balanced poses refer to a pose that looks solid and does not look like the character is about to fall over.

Foreshortening is a critical part to drawing realistic human forms. Foreshortening is where the human form is placed in perspective. Typically body parts that are closer to the view will be perceived as larger and will become more squashed and stacked.

Congratulations on making it to the end of section 5! Before we move on lets do a quick review of everything you've learned in this section.

In this lecture you will become familiar with what gestures are as well as lines of action. These two topics are very important when it comes to drawing dynamic poses. Gestures and lines of action refer to the directional movement of a pose.

In this lecture we will be diving deeper with the line of action. There are different lines of action and they all refer to the general direction of the movement of a form. Every part of the body can be broken down into its own line of action.

In this lecture you will learn how to draw action poses and what makes them an actions pose. Action poses are typically unbalanced and will involve a physical motion the body is performing. Anther thing that can make your pose an action pose is removing the feet from a floor surface so as they jumping in the air.

In this lecture you will learn how to draw the body form in perspective. In a previous lecture you learned about foreshortening which involves perspective but there is more to it. When drawing parts of the body you must make sure that sustain parts are aligned correctly.

The axis refers to the lines going through each part of the body. There are vertical and horizontal axises throughout the body form. In this lecture you will learn how adjusting those axises can make your poses dynamic.

Draw dynamic poses is incredibly important to drawing interesting memorable characters. In this lecture you will learn what makes a dynamic pose and how to draw them. Dynamic poses will add life and personality to your characters.

There are different ways to draw body gestures. In this lecture you will learn how to draw simple sketch gestures. These types of gesture drawings are meant to capture the gesture of the pose as quickly as possible.

The next level up from drawing sketch gestures is drawing gestures with form. In this lecture you will learn how to draw gestures using directional forms. By the end of this lecture you will have a better understanding of how gesture plays into a real character form.

In this lecture you are going to learn how to do quick studies of gestures. We will be using a sight that shows timed poses that you can quickly draw. This exercise is very useful for learning how to quickly understand and draw a gesture.

There are a few differences between the male and female body forms. In this lecture we will talk about the main ones that you need to pay attention to in order for your forms to look correct.

When design out a character its important that they have a strong silhouette. In this lecture you will learn how to draw character silhouettes. Its important that when you pose a character that none of there body parts or objects become lost in their silhouette.

Creating character design layouts can be very helpful for brainstorming ideas for your characters. In this lecture  I will show you 3 examples of character layouts and how to use them. Character layouts are just simple drawing with simple poses that capture your characters hair, costume, and their one thing.

The eyes are the most important facial feature when it comes to expression. In this lecture we will be looking at real reference of different eye expressions and drawing them as stylized character eyes. By the end of this lecture you will have a strong understanding of how to draw different eye expressions.

The mouth can tell a lot about a characters emotions. In this lecture we will be looking at real reference of different mouth expressions and drawing them as stylized character mouths. By the end of this lecture you will have a strong understanding of how to draw different mouth expressions.

In this lecture you will be learning how to draw character expressions sheets. Expression sheets are just a bunch of drawings of different versions of your characters expressions. Your expression sheet is used to design each individual expression of your character.

Welcome to part two of drawing your character expression sheets. In this lecture you will be focusing on using simple face expressions to create dynamic character expressions. Your expression sheet will act as reference for your characters expression for when you want to draw them in different situations.

In this lecture we will begin to dive into what it means and how to shade your characters. You will be learning how to think of characters and objects as flat plains that are shaded one value. Once you understand this concept you can smooth the flat planes into curved organic forms.

In this lecture you will be learning how to draw hair. Hair should be thought of as a directional form and not as individual strands of hair.

When it comes to drawing hair its best to think of it as simple shapes and forms. A good hair stylus understands that they must think of hair as shapes in volumes. In this lecture I will break down how to draw hair as shapes and volumes.

Drawing Costumes is very similar to drawing hair styles. You have to think of your costumes as shapes and forms. In this lecture you will learn how to block out your costumes shapes.

In this lecture you will learn how to brainstorm and design your characters costume. Designing your characters costume will consist of sketching and research. As you begin to sketch you will refine your costume design one article at a time.

In this lecture you will be learning how to draw anime styled character designs. Anime is a Japanese style of drawing characters. By the end o this lecture you will have a good understanding of what makes up the anime style.

In this lecture you will learn how to draw in the classic animation style. The classic animation style refers to a stile like Disney. This style of character design has a strong 3D form to it. By the end of this lecture you will have a broad idea of how to draw in the classic Disney animation style.