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Character-Driven Illustrations

with Kenneth Anderson
4.8 (145)
Learn the detailed process of creating an engaging story illustration from start to finish.
English, French, 2 more German, Spanish English, French, 3 more German, Spanish, Italian [Auto]
3+
hours
22
lessons
Intermediate
level
Kenneth Anderson

Your Instructor

Kenneth is a professional freelance illustrator and has worked with big companies like the BBC, Disney and others. His specialties are story-driven, character-based illustrations and designs for a variety of mediums, in particular children’s television.

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3+
hours
22
lessons
Intermediate
level
English, French , 2 more
Languages
  • German
  • Spanish
English, French , 3 more
Subtitles
  • German
  • Spanish
  • Italian [Auto]

What you’ll learn

  • Develop an illustration out of a key story moment
  • Use reference as an aid to develop your idea
  • Sketch thumbnails to map out and decide on the design
  • Learn to create unique characters and good character interactions for visual interest
  • Use lighting and color to set the mood and create drama
  • How to create focal points and lead the eye to key parts of the illustration
  • Discover the different types of light sources and when to use them
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Description

Illustration is the art of conveying an idea or a story moment in a one single image. Without the help of time, dialogue or sound effects like in an animated film, an artist needs to focus on the elements at their disposal to successfully convey their idea.

You will learn exactly how to tackle these elements with Kenneth’s help to create fascinating scenes that make viewers want to dive right in! He will lead you through each stage of his illustration process, break it down clearly for those who are entirely new to character design. You’ll be creating your own fantasy worlds in no time!

In this course, you will learn the essential principles that will transform your art into dynamic illustrations that come alive, as well as discover useful tricks which professional artists use to come up with ideas, save time while drawing and use lighting and color to set the tone and create drama.

If you’d like to have a sneak peek of what’s in store, click on the preview buttons below and watch Kenneth do his magic.

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Who is this course for

  • For beginner level to experienced artists who want to learn the essential elements of illustration and discover helpful methods to streamline their workflow
  • For those who want to create dynamic artwork for comics, video games or animated feature films.
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This course includes

  • 3+ Hours of on-demand videos
  • 8 Assignments
  • List of recommended brushes
  • Certificate of Completion
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Used in course

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What you'll need

  • Digital drawing software such as Photoshop or similar (see examplesAffinity Photo, ArtRage, Artweaver, Astropad, Clip Studio Paint, Corel Painter, Krita, Inkscape, IbisPaint, GIMP, Rebelle 4, Photoshop, Paintstorm Studio, Procreate, MediBang Paint, SketchPad, SketchBook, TwistedBrush, Vectr...)
  • You'll learn more if you have a drawing tablet
  • Some previous art experience recommended
  • Some drawing experience recommended
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Lesson Plan

with Kenneth Anderson
Expand all sections
01

Introduction

05:42

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In these tutorials, you’ll get a behind-the-scenes look at the personal art process of the character design master, Kenneth Anderson (aka Kenny)!

To him, drawing is really all about storytelling — grabbing a specific moment in a story and capturing it in an illustration. How does one do that? Keep watching and find out! 😉

02

The Idea

11:44

Kenny discusses what things to consider and questions to ask yourself when coming up with ideas for an illustration. All your design choices should aid in communicating the story moment, so having clarity about what that moment actually is will make every else down the line much, much easier!

03

Research

13:18

Research fills in gaps in our knowledge and opens us up to new ideas. It’s the key to starting off right. Learn about Kenny’s checklists to make reference gathering easier, where he goes to find it all and why a mood board is such a great idea!

04

Thumbnails

30:33

Why create thumbnails? Crafting the perfect story scene for an idea isn’t easy, even for the pros, but thumbnails help tremendously in exploring an idea on paper and will go a long way in saving you from frustration and wasted time later. Kenny discusses important factors, such as canvas ratios, lighting sources, color options and perspectives for his piece.


4.1
Thumbnails
16:47
4.2
Refining Thumbnails
13:46
05

Characters

24:04

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Kenny explains his process for creating engaging characters in this tutorial, discussing the 3 main facets: their personalities, current mood and current desire or motivations. He delves into how to make characters unique and keep things interesting with different poses.


5.1
Characters
14:58
5.2
Reviewing Thumbnails
09:06
06

Mood

19:23

Learn in detail how to convey an emotion to the audience through lighting and color and follow along as Kenny explains the decisions he makes regarding these important aspects.

07

The Block-In

33:51

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All the major design choices have been made, so now it is time to paint the image and bring to completion! This stage just deals with flat local colors, concentrating on color palettes. You’ll discover tips on canvas size, resolution, what order to do your block-in and how to use layers.


7.1
Block In
13:55
7.2
The Ghost
03:38
7.3
The Kids
13:24
7.4
Final Tweaks
02:54
08

Painting

38:20

Building on the steps before, Kenny refines the image further with shadows, lighting, detail and some cool effects.  He explains the importance of defining key areas, and not over-rendering everything in the illustration.


8.1
Painting
13:04
8.2
Checking Values
12:28
8.3
Lighting Effects
12:48
09

Polishing

28:58

We are almost done! At this stage, Kenny likes to take a step back and evaluate the
image, tweaking it as necessary. You’ll discover the exact thought process of a pro and get valuable insight on what is or isn’t working and why. 


9.1
Polish
05:10
9.2
Background
04:08
9.3
Characters
08:32
9.4
Chandelier
01:52
9.5
Hockey Girl
03:03
9.6
Overlays
01:18
9.7
Finished
04:55

Student Feedback

145 customer reviews & ratings

4.8

Course rating

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5 star
88 %
4 star
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3 star
2 %
2 star
1 %
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Best Suited for
Intermediate
The level is determined by a majority opinion of students who have reviewed this class. The teacher's recommendation is shown until at least 5 student responses are collected.

(Based on 145 reviews)

Most Liked
Inspiring 125
Great step-by-step process 118
Clarity of Instruction 117
Showing 10 reviews of
145
reviews & ratings
L
Lukasz

4 years ago

Verified Purchase
Very detailed and well explained process of making illustrations. Really the essence of what is needed to develop in such field. I realy enjoyed the course and like the way of explaining the whole process. Thank you for this course.
I recommend it for Intermediate
4 people found this helpful
J
Jonna

3 years ago

Verified Purchase
Fantastic course! Learned a lot about composition, color and lighting.
I recommend it for All levels
3 people found this helpful
DS
Dave S.

3 years ago

Verified Purchase
Great to see the full process of creating a dramatic and lively story moment broken down elegantly and swiftly to thoroughly detail all of the key creative and technical challenges that must be overcome. I bought the course hoping to gain some help with the process of developing and nailing the dark
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triad of composition, value and colour co-ordination. I wasn’t disappointed. It’s a fantastic example of the whole palette of skills and good judgement required to produce top end work!
I recommend it for Intermediate
3 people found this helpful
AD
Alicia D.

4 years ago

Verified Purchase
This is really what I needed to bring my drawings to the next level and get noticed by recruiters!
I recommend it for Advanced
2 people found this helpful
SK
SOFIA K.

3 years ago

Verified Purchase
Great step by step process, engaging teacher, videos easy to watch, not too long or too short, thank you!
I recommend it for Intermediate
MD
Maude D.

3 years ago

Verified Purchase
Perfect ! And thanks for the french sub titles <3
I recommend it for All levels
AO
Alex O.

3 years ago

Verified Purchase
The course gave a good advice to what should be considered when illustrating. The chosen illustration was also super fun to look at and a great example for the course's content. Great job!
I recommend it for Intermediate
JC
James C.

3 years ago

Verified Purchase
A tremendous course with a fun illustration that's loaded with easy to learn techniques due to detailed instructions. Every aspect of the illustration is covered from inception to completion. I watched every minute and learned a great deal. Thank you Mr. Anderson!
I recommend it for All levels
NR
Nicolas R.

3 years ago

Verified Purchase
I really enjoyed taking this course, it was very inspiring =)
I recommend it for Advanced
ED
Elizabeth D.

3 years ago

Verified Purchase
Kenneth is very transparent about his process, which is distinct and comprehensive. His tone and pacing is calming and comforting.
I recommend it for Intermediate
See more reviews

About the Instructor

Kenneth Anderson
Illustrator & Character Designer 6 courses

Kenneth is a professional freelance character designer with 14+ years experience. Based in the UK, he has worked with companies like the BBC, Disney, Tandem films and Axis Animation. He also worked on Sylvain Chomet’s Oscar nominated film “The Illusionist” and the French feature Titeuf: Le film.  His specialties are story-driven character-based illustration and design for a variety of mediums, in particular children’s television. In his spare time, he enjoys creating characters, illustrating magazines and making games.


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