Character Creation for Animation: Shapes, Color, and Expression
A course by Laura Ewing Ferrer , Illustrator and Storyboarder
Reveal your character’s personality by working on a concept and illustrate it using Photoshop
Reveal your character’s personality by working on a concept and illustrate it using Photoshop
Creating a unique character design full of personality demands practice, imagination and—ideally—an experienced teacher in the field to show you the ropes. Illustrator and storyboard artist Laura Ewing has mastered the process of character design for animation. She most recently worked on Madrid 2120 as a storyboard artist, which received this year’s Goya award for best short animation.
In this course, Laura shares the secrets and methodology that has led to her success as a storyboard illustrator. Use Adobe Photoshop to build your character, learn how to draw emotive expressions and striking poses, and create a professional turnaround of your character to add to your portfolio.
What will you learn in this online course?
22 lessons & 31 downloads
- 100% positive reviews (291)
- 8,077 students
- 22 lessons (4h 39m)
- 31 additional resources (16 files)
- Online and at your own pace
- Available on the app
- Audio: English
- English · Spanish · Portuguese · German · French · Italian · Polish · Dutch
- Level: Beginner
- Unlimited access forever
Recommended software for this course
Adobe PhotoshopWhat is this course's project?
Create a character design based on your own brief and time in history, working on dynamic poses and a character turnaround, ready to present to an animation studio.
Projects by course students
Who is this online course for?
This course is for illustrators of all levels who want to polish their character designs in the context of animation.
Requirements and materials
You will need basic illustration skills and notions of how to draw the anatomy of a character.
As for materials, you will need a computer with Adobe Photoshop or another digital illustration software that allows you to work in layers.
Reviews
A course by Laura Ewing Ferrer
Laura Ewing is a freelance illustrator and storyboarder with a passion for animation. As a young girl, she would spend hours watching documentaries and DVD extras of her favorite animated films, in disbelief that creating these stories was a real job.
She went on to study Graphic Design, with a specialization in illustration, to then study Fine Art at The Florence Academy of Art in Italy, and obtained her Master’s degree in storyboarding at Lightbox academy.
Her diverse experience in the industry includes working in-house at Smile and Learn, as well as working as a freelance artist for documentaries, pilot series, and publishing houses. She most recently worked on storyboard artist for a live-action movie, which will be released in 2021 and for Madrid 2120 as a storyboard artist, which received this year’s Goya award for best short animation.
Content
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U1
Introduction
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About Me
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My Influences
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What We Will Do in the Course?
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U2
Preparation
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Interpreting a Brief
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Researching References
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Mood Board
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U3
Production (part 1)
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Selecting Shapes for Characters
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Trying Out Different Combinations of Shapes
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Refining The Structure 1
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Refining The Structure 2
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Line of Action 1
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Line of Action 2
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Body Language 1
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Body Language 2
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Facial Expressions
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U4
Production (part 2)
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Tricks and Checks
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Color and Presentation 1
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Color and Presentation 2
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Lights and Shadows
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Turnaround
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U5
Post Production
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Bonus Work for Clients
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Professional Tips on How and Where to Showcase Your Work
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FP
Final project
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Character Creation for Animation: Shapes, Color, and Expression
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What to expect from a Domestika course
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Learn at your own pace
Enjoy learning from home without a set schedule and with an easy-to-follow method. You set your own pace.
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Learn from the best professionals
Learn valuable methods and techniques explained by top experts in the creative sector.
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Meet expert teachers
Each expert teaches what they do best, with clear guidelines, true passion, and professional insight in every lesson.
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Certificates
PlusIf you're a Plus member, get a custom certificate signed by your teacher for every course. Share it on your portfolio, social media, or wherever you like.
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Get front-row seats
Videos of the highest quality, so you don't miss a single detail. With unlimited access, you can watch them as many times as you need to perfect your technique.
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Share knowledge and ideas
Ask questions, request feedback, or offer solutions. Share your learning experience with other students in the community who are as passionate about creativity as you are.
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Connect with a global creative community
The community is home to millions of people from around the world who are curious and passionate about exploring and expressing their creativity.
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Watch professionally produced courses
Domestika curates its teacher roster and produces every course in-house to ensure a high-quality online learning experience.
FAQs
Domestika's courses are online classes that provide you with the tools and skills you need to complete a specific project. Every step of the project combines video lessons with complementary instructional material, so you can learn by doing. Domestika's courses also allow you to share your own projects with the teacher and with other students, creating a dynamic course community.
All courses are 100% online, so once they're published, courses start and finish whenever you want. You set the pace of the class. You can go back to review what interests you most and skip what you already know, ask questions, answer questions, share your projects, and more.
The courses are divided into different units. Each one includes lessons, informational text, tasks, and practice exercises to help you carry out your project step by step, with additional complementary resources and downloads. You'll also have access to an exclusive forum where you can interact with the teacher and with other students, as well as share your work and your course project, creating a community around the course.
You can redeem the course you received by accessing the redeeming page and entering your gift code.
Adobe Photoshop
maria_salas_
Maravilloso curso! Lo recomiendo mucho!
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elenagjartist
Excellent course, great teacher, thank you!
spiderblack
Another Fantastic course by Domestica. Thank you Laura for share your experience with all US. A very use full course! Best!
carrieme
Wonderful course. I learned a lot about character design.
kinpara101
Great overview - the silhouette trick was especially enlightening