Female Character Design for Comics
A course by Marcio Takara
, Comic Book Artist
Learn the traditional techniques to draw a female figure with volume, movement, balance, and expression from scratch
- Best seller
- 92% positive reviews (269)
- 7973 students
- Audio: English
- Spanish, English, Portuguese, German, French, Italian, Polish, Dutch
Learn the traditional techniques to draw a female figure with volume, movement, balance, and expression from scratch
- 92% positive reviews (269)
- 7973 students
- 16 lessons (2h 50m)
- 11 additional resources (9 files)
- Online and at your own pace
- Available on the app
- Audio: English
- Spanish, English, Portuguese, German, French, Italian, Polish, Dutch
- Level: Beginner
- Unlimited access forever
- Updated on 08/04/2020
Gone are the days when women in comics were portrayed only as sidekicks or love interests. Nowadays, a new breed of female characters and superheroes are taking the comic book world by storm with powerful storytelling and stunning visuals.
In this course, Marcio Takara—comic book artist with experience drawing comics for Marvel and DC—will teach you how to draw female characters from scratch. Starting from action lines and composition, this course will show you how to add volume, movement, balance, and expression to your creations.

What will you learn in this online course?
Course table of contents
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U1U1. Introduction
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U2U2. Preparation, Research and Pencil Lines
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U3U3. Hair, Faces and Hands
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U4U4. Ink!
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FPFP Final project
Marcio Takara introduces himself and talks about the projects he has worked on over the years for Marvel, DC Comics, and others. Before showing you how he creates his drawings, he talks about his favorite materials.
The idea is to show how you can mix the figure's movement, with volume and anatomy. Marcio shows you how he comes up with the composition while placing the figure on the page, the use of negative space, as well as black and white areas.
Start using pencils for the basic shapes and layout, and then introduce ink and brushes. Marcio explains the idea behind his style of using brushes for different line weights and texture, while also talking about light and shadow.
Then it's time to talk about how to pick and use different clothes and costumes, as well as face and hand expressions. And how Marcio draws thinking ahead about different hairstyles.
Finally, learn how to introduce some grey tones using ink wash.

What is this course's project?
You will create a finished piece with a female character from scratch, starting with layouts, showing the pencil stage, and finishing it with inks.
Projects by course students
Who is this online course for?
Illustrators, comic book artists, and people who wish to expand their skills in character creation.
Requirements and materials
You'll need basic drawing skills and, as for materials, you'll only need a pencil, eraser, ink, brush, and paper.

Reviews

A course by Marcio Takara
Marcio Takara is a comic book artist who has lived in Toronto and Rio de Janeiro over the years and has worked on comics for Marvel and DC, mostly. He used to be a graphic designer but made the switch to working with comics in 2006.
He has done work for videogames, ad agencies, and toy companies but spends most of his time working with comics for Marvel and DC, doing the covers and interior art for the books. Some of his most recent works include Detective Comics, Nightwing, Birds of Prey, and Hellblazer for DC Comics; and Captain Marvel, All-New Wolverine, Jessica Jones, and Wolverine for Marvel Comics.
Content
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U1
Introduction
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Introduction
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Influences
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What We Will Do in this Course
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U2
Preparation, Research and Pencil Lines
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Materials
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Picking Reference
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Preparation - Composition
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Refining the Figure Pt.1
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Refining the Figure Pt.2
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U3
Hair, Faces and Hands
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Hair
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Hands - body expression
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Face - Details and Expression
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Costumes
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U4
Ink!
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Lines
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Ink Texture Pt.1
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Ink Texture Pt.2
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Grey Tones - Ink Wash
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FP
Final project
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Female Character Design for Comics
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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 or PRO member, or a student of a Mentored course, 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.
katekyo2011
Me encantó lo recomiendo al 100% por ciento me gusto mucho
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jaymevsneto
Fácil de acompanhar, ótimas dicas pra quem quer melhorar o desenho de pin-ups. Muito bom!
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bryanhuitz
Hola. Compré este curso hace algunos días y creo que los que mejor le pueden sacar provecho son las personas que recién están aprendiendo a dibujar, de ser el caso entonces sí te lo recomendaría muchísimo, es una base muy sólida y completa por la cual empezar. Si eres una persona que ya lleva varios años dibujando personajes de cómics y ya cuentas con cierta habilidad, no te lo recomendaría porque creo que sería algo redundante con consejos y prácticas que quizá ya conoces.
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Guillermo Caballero
Pues en mi opinión es un verdadero lujo poder contar con los consejos y lecciones de este verdadero crack del cómic...curso claro, sencillo y de los más interesantes de Domestika...echo en falta mas cursos sobre dibujos femeninos...son los más difíciles de lograr..Más como éste por favor, tanto en estilo super heroína como en estilo europeo, manga, etc.
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guzmanm.a
Muy bueno!!!
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