Character Design: Narrative Illustration from Concept to Final

Intermediate11 chapters · 20 hours 27 minutes


Take your character designs to the next level by taking them off the white page, and building a deeper narrative for them through their environment, outfit, weapons, and overall design.

In this course I will go over my method of coming up with a narrative driven character concept; taking a slice of the story to help you present your characters in a fully detailed illustration.

  • The planning and research phase. Collecting references, and starting concept sketches.
  • Character study and combining references for later details.
  • Sketching out the scene, and an overview of the photo texture I plan to use later on.
  • Inking the scene, and doing the flat color.
  • Building on top of the flat layers to create a quick color test, intro to photobashing, and adding textures to the image.
  • Planning the scene, and the first phase of rendering.
  • Organizing your folders, and using your photo textures to add details to your rendering.
  • Start with the main character and move to the background using the above method of photobashing and painting.
  • Final touches, and color adjustments to finalize the piece.

This course is for artists who are looking to make their work more interesting, and up their level of conceptualization. As well as an introduction to new tools; students will learn how to organize files, photobash, where to look for references and textures, and finally how to make it all fit in a single artwork.

By the end of the course the student will know how to design a character with an interesting backstory by world building, and creating solid concept foundations that will lead to a captivating illustration . The class will reveal the many tools illustrators use to build their scenes, from photobashing and adding textures, to creating your own objects and textures.

~This Tutorial was made for Class101 but I got the green light to upload it on AS


Standard Use License
$45
License: Standard License
Stock Assets

For personal use and one commercial project (up to 2,000 sales or 20,000 views).

Tutorials

One copy to be used by a single user.

Installable Tools

One installation by a single user.

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Files (68)
Intro_01_v02
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Intro_02_v01
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Ch01_01 Writing an idea brief_v01
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Ch01_02 References_v01
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Ch01_03 Character Chart_v01
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Ch01_04-Workspace + Brushes_v01
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Ch01_05-Nerrative sketching 01_v01
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Ch01_05-Nerrative sketching 02_v01
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Ch01_05-Nerrative sketching 03_v01
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Ch01_05-Nerrative sketching 04_v01
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Ch01_06 Homework_v01
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Ch02_1 Character concept_01_v01
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Ch02_2 Character concept_02_v01
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Ch02_3 Character concept_03_v01
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Ch02_4 Character concept_04_v01
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Ch02_5 ArtBreeder - 01_v01
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Ch02_6 ArtBreeder - 02_v01
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Ch02_7 Character concept_05_v01
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Ch02_8 Flat Coloring_v01
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Ch02_9 Enemies_v01
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Ch02_10 Fairy_v01
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Ch02_11 Main Character final design_v01
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Ch02_12 Homework_v01
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Ch03_01_Intro_references_v01
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Ch03_02_Comp Sketch_01_v01
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Ch03_03_Comp Sketch_02_v01
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Ch03_04_Comp Sketch_03_v01
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Ch03_05_Comp Sketch_04_v01
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Ch03_06_Comp Scale Tool_v01
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Ch03_07_Value study_v01
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Ch03_08_Homework_v01
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Ch04_01 Daz Intro_v01
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Ch04_02 Camera and Light_v01
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Ch04_03 Posing the character_v01
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Ch04_04 Homework_v01
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Ch05_01 Inking Main Character_v01
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Ch05_02 Inking Fairy and BG_v01
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Ch05_03 Flat Colors_v01
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Ch05_04 Homework_v01
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Ch06_01 UnderPaint_S
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Ch06_02 Intro to Photobashing_01_S
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Ch06_03 Intro to Photobashing_02_S
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Ch06_04 Planning your Illustration_S
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Ch06_05 Foreground_S
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Ch06_08 Background bash 01_S
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Ch06_09 Background bash 02_S
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Ch07_01 Intro to Rendering_S
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Ch07_02 Head Render_S
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Ch07_03 Armor 01_S
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Ch07_04 Armor 02_S
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Ch07_05 Hammer_S
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Ch07_06 Waist_S
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Ch07_07 Thoughts and Homework_S
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Ch08_01 Fairy_S
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Ch08_02 Undead References_S
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Ch08_03 Undead 01_S
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Ch08_03 Undead 02_S
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Ch08_04 Flying Skulls_S
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Ch08_05 Flying Skulls 02_S
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Ch08_06 Light beams_S
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Ch09_01 Final Touches_S
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outro
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CH06_Color 04 flat
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JPG
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JPG Process
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vampire pose 02
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Vampire pose 01
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guide
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