Fundamentals of Character Design A [CGMA, Stefan Hansson 2021]
- Publisher
- CGMA
- Product Type
- Video Course
- Author
- Brett Bean, Stefan Hansson
- Language
- English, English Subtitles
- Duration
- 00:00
- Release date
- Jan 1, 2021
- Skill level
- Project Files
- Yes
- Product Price
- $699
An 8-Week Course to Build Foundational Skills for Designing Appealing Characters in Film, Games, Animation, Comics, and More
Design Your Character's Personality
This introductory character design course focuses on creating memorable characters with engaging personalities and shapes to tell a story. Our goal is to visually communicate our characters through life observations, references, and our imaginations. As the course progresses, students will learn the importance of iteration and refinement in design to better serve the story and direction. Exploration, stepping out of your comfort zone, and visually communicating through drawing will be major components of our class.
Course Outline
Week #1: Creating Volume and a Solid Foundation- Tools for the class: Your brain, attitude, and art supplies
- Sketchbook as a journal and methodology (look and draw)
- Overview of the keys to drawing with volume, including foreshortening, placement, shading, surface, size, contour, overlap, density, horizon, shadow, and unique practice.
- Understanding character gesture
- What is gesture? How to discover one, and why it’s important for your character.
- The role of shapes in character design
- How shapes define silhouettes
- Understanding how the exterior reflects the character's inner qualities.
- Exploring line weight, symmetry vs. asymmetry, and flow of lines
- Balancing busy and simple elements, contrast, and color
- Actual balance and artistic balance.
- How design decisions relate to each other
- Connections to story, self, shape, and page
- Understanding positive and negative space, props, cloth, and archetypes.
- Techniques for expressing character through hands, feet, eyes, and mouth.
- Discovering values in your art
- Emphasizing visual communication through contrast
- How to showcase your design effectively.
- Color theory and design decisions for your character
- Being mindful of color choices to reflect your character’s feelings and evoke audience reactions
- Thinking in local colors first.
