Summary

Conclusion

Excellent, you have completed the full designing process of a character!

Be proud of yourself and your character. Maybe you even have started on planning the next character.

This lesson is a summary of the course. It includes all the steps of character development.

Before Designing

Here’s a quick recap of what you should do before starting the actual designing process.

  1. Research the target audience.
  2. Create a backstory for the character.
  3. Study other characters from popular culture and define yours.
  4. Collect feedback and prepare for changes and finetuning.

While Designing

Here are some tips on what to do while designing.

  1. Keep the design simple.
  2. Use references, but don’t copy them.
  3. Focus on the colors and color theory.
  4. Make the character more interesting with accessories.
  5. Make the character more memorable with silhouettes.

Constant Learning

The work of an artist requires research and studies even on some topics that one might have never even thought of. Certainly, the art style you work with develops during your career, and handling multiple styles is only beneficial. The fundamentals stay the same, but the tools evolve all the time, so follow the technology news and what new methods might fit into your workflow.

Sites like Concept Art Empire and Creative Bloq provide great articles, tips, and the latest news on the art industry.

The Characters

Character Design: The Process

The course was divided into lessons that included the different phases of the designing process from start to finish. Let's take a recap of that process.

References and Moodboard

References are meant to be a guide for the design, as our memory is imperfect. References can help avoid misinformation. Moodboards are a collection of references.

Thumbnail Sketches

Thumbnails are small and quick sketches of the first ideas of character designs.

Thumbnails are loose and not detailed, they are just first variations. One character can have almost 20 thumbnails and they are slowly eliminated until there is only one left.

Values

Values mean lightness or darkness of the color, and in this case the thumbnail gets more details as the values are added. Values make sure that the character won't get muddy when the colors are added later.

Colors

Keep the color palette simple and cohesive. Try what they look on different values on the background. Many digital drawing software have clipping mask function that combined with overlay-mode makes it easy to add colors.

If your character has a defining personality trait, it can be presented with colors. For example, yellow can be a color of joy or betrayal.

Final Polishing

At this point, the character is mostly done. But still, there are some small fixes that could be done.

Upon completing the final design, it was time to make the final changes. For example, Shoshanna's nose, a cape at the waist, and the cape itself went through the biggest changes. But as you can see the original design ideas are still there.

Pixel Character

The final lesson was about creating characters by using pixels. Beware of the jagged lines when making pixel art and keep in mind that the smaller the character is, the fewer details you should draw to it.

More Tips & Tricks

Character Design Tips

Take your time with each design phase as you are learning, and soon you will be able to design and draw characters more efficiently.

Next up is the knowledge test. Take your time to review the course material and do your best. Good luck!