Digital Illustration for Expressive Characters
A course by Alessia Trunfio , Illustrator
Learn to design expressive characters in Photoshop by focusing on traits, poses, framing, composition, color, and shading
Learn to design expressive characters in Photoshop by focusing on traits, poses, framing, composition, color, and shading
What are the key ingredients for making a digital illustration with a strong narrative? According to children's book illustrator Alessia Trunfio, the trick is to find the right framing, composition, color, and light for your piece, which allows you to emphasize your character's emotions and tell a captivating story. In this online course, she teaches you how to convey emotions through your digital artwork.
Throughout her career, Alessia has created compositions and book covers for major publishers like Bloomsbury, Scholastic, Capstone, and Penguin Random House. Discover her illustration techniques in Photoshop and how she gives voice to her digital characters through their body language and facial expressions. Unleash your imagination and create eye-catching fantasy scenes that draw the viewers into your story.
What will you learn in this online course?
16 lessons & 15 downloads
- 100% positive reviews (33)
- 1,081 students
- 16 lessons (3h 16m)
- 15 additional resources (3 files)
- Online and at your own pace
- Available on the app
- Audio: Italian
- Italian · Spanish · English · Portuguese · German · French · Polish · Dutch
- Level: Beginner
- Unlimited access forever
Recommended software for this course
Adobe PhotoshopWhat is this course's project?
Create a digital illustration of a character in a fantasy setting, focusing on the portrayal of their emotions.
Projects by course students
Who is this online course for?
Anyone who wants to explore the world of digital illustration.
Requirements and materials
To take this course, you need basic notions of drawing and anatomy, as well as a computer with Adobe Photoshop.
Reviews
A course by Alessia Trunfio
Alessia Trunfio is an illustrator who specializes in children's books. Her love of drawing as a child motivated her to pursue the arts in college, studying a degree in film, followed by an animation course at the Scuola Internazionale di Comics in Rome. Soon after, she started working at an animation studio as a background artist.
Thanks to sharing her fanart and other works on platforms like Behance, she built a reputation and found success as an illustrator, turning it into a full-blown career. Over the years, she's collaborated on illustration and book cover projects with some of the biggest names in publishing, including Bloomsbury, Scholastic, Capstone, Penguin Random House, and Simon & Schuster.
Content
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U1
Introduction
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About Me
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Influences
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U2
Preparation: communicating emotions with illustration
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Introduction to Photoshop CC
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Theories of composition
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Finding the attitude of the character
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Theory of color and shadows
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U3
The creative process: from research to defining the atmosphere
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Thumbnail and character choice
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Prepare sketch 1
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Prepare sketch 2
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Start coloring: color bases 1
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Start coloring: color bases 2
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Making three-dimensionality
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Creating the mood
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U4
Finalization
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Light and reflections
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Finalize with effects
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Print formats
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FP
Final project
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Illustrate expressions
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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
spiderblack
Ho trovato il corso molto Utile! lo consiglio anche per prendere grande confidenza con Photoshop!
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garabato27ilustracion
PlusMe parece un excelente curso , las explicaciones fueron muy claras y la forma de ir desarrollando el proceso del proyecto final me pareció muy adecuada. Super recomendado
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lucianalocascio
Me gusta mucho como explica, todo muy organizado y en tiempo real
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rafa_gl
Gostei muito , Muito obrigado pelo execelente conteudo !
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nazareth_solalinde
Adoro el estilo de Alessia, me encanta ver su proceso y aprender de una artista que admiro, gracias por traernos este curso
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