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    Digital Character Design: Draw Protagonists with Personality

    Digital Character Design: Draw Protagonists with Personality

    By Joel Santana

    Digital Character Design: Draw Protagonists with Personality

    A course by Joel SantanaConcept Artist and Character Designer

    Digital Character Design: Draw Protagonists with Personality

    With digital painting tools, you have the power to bring to life fictional characters with their very own stories to tell. Concept artist and character designer Joel Santana specializes in creating expressive characters and art that communicates powerful messages. He has worked for clients like Disney and had his work published by MTVNews.com and Huffington Post UK.

    In this course, Joel gives you the tools you need to create dynamic characters of your own. Learn to give your story a charismatic protagonist filled with texture, light, and color.

    This is Joel’s second course with Domestika. In this first, Digital Painting for Characters: Color and Light, he shares his expertise in using color and light to design unique characters with Adobe Photoshop.

    What will you learn in this online course?

    14 lessons & 12 downloads

    View all lessons ↓

    What's included in this course?

    Begin by getting to know Joel Santana. He takes you through his unconventional creative journey to becoming a character designer before sharing some of the artists who have most influenced his work. Then take a look at what you can expect from the course.

    Understand the different elements involved in creating expressive characters and learn to define the main idea behind a character’s pose, also known as the Line of Action. Gather inspirational images as references for your illustrations before diving into shapes and the impact they have on the characters you create.

    Time to start sketching! Begin by looking at how to draw characters that tell stories. Then Joel discusses using weight and balance to capture a viewer’s attention. Explore how to exaggerate facial expressions and gestures as a form of communication before deciding on and sketching your final pose with Joel’s own sketches as a guide.

    Finalize your drawing by tidying up lines, structure, and details through digital inking. Then add color, bearing in mind the impact it has on who your character is, where they’re from, and more. Establish your character’s features by drawing different expressions and poses that help to build on their personalities. To wrap up the course, Joel shares his creative advice for a career as an illustrator.

    Recommended software & tools for this course

    What is this course's project?

    Illustrate characters full of emotion with powerful poses and expressions using digital drawing tools.

    Digital Character Design: Draw Protagonists with Personality

    Projects by course students

    Who is this online course for?

    This course is for anyone with an interest in improving their character design or illustration skills.

    Requirements and materials

    A basic understanding of human anatomy and figure drawing is recommended.

    You will need a digital drawing tablet and a computer or tablet with a drawing app like Photoshop installed.

    Digital Character Design: Draw Protagonists with Personality

    Reviews

    2,382
    Students
    88
    Reviews
    98%
    Positive ratings
    • twivijay6
      5 months ago

      A good course overall but, i think its more suited for beginners, it got a bit boring for me in the middle.

    • aziz_ouadahi
      10 months ago

      Well-structured courses for intermediate designers

    • ujvarigabor91
      1 year ago

      Basically a very good curse! You gave me many new informations and i would be interested in a longer, more detailed course from you in the future! Every part is usefull of the course!

    • carla_simmons11
      1 year ago

      Enjoy the course

    • mari_zuanetti
      2 years ago

      Excelente curso! Recomendo.

    More reviews
    Joel Santana

    Joel Santana

    Teacher
    Plus

    Concept Artist and Character Designer

    Joined September 2019

    Joel Santana is a character designer and illustrator, a collector of hats, and a married father with two kids. Throughout his career, he's done freelance work for Champs Sports, Walt Disney World Orlando, and other major clients. Joel's been published in the Communication Arts Illustration Annual 2016 and a full page in 2017, MTVnews.com and Huffington Post UK. He's also worked for in-house teams and advertising agencies creating illustrations for advertising, as well as packaging and toys.

    Aside from creating, Joel has also mentored junior artists and co-workers, taught workshops, given talks to art students at local universities, reviewed products for Wacom, and participated in the local AIGA group speaking to young creatives.

    Content

    • U1

      Introduction

      • About Me
      • Influences
    • U2

      What’s the Main Idea Behind the Pose?

      • Line of Action: Briefing
      • Inspiration and Reference Images
      • Character Shapes and Construction
    • U3

      Conceptual Sketches

      • Narrative Sketches
      • Weight and Balance
      • Exaggerating Facial Expressions
      • Sketching the Character
    • U4

      Finalizing Your Character Drawing

      • Polishing the Character
      • Color Pass
      • Face Expressions
      • Other Poses
      • Creative Advice
    • FP

      Final project

      • Digital Character Design: Draw Protagonists with Personality

    What to expect from a Domestika course

    • 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.

    • Learn from the best professionals

      Learn valuable methods and techniques explained by top experts in the creative sector.

    • Meet expert teachers

      Each expert teaches what they do best, with clear guidelines, true passion, and professional insight in every lesson.

    • Certificates

      PLUS

      If 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.

    • 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.

    • 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.

    • 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.

    • Watch professionally produced courses

      Domestika curates its teacher roster and produces every course in-house to ensure a high-quality online learning experience.

    FAQs

    Yes, this course is designed for intermediate artists looking to develop expressive digital characters and enhance their storytelling and illustration techniques.

    You’ll need access to Photoshop or similar digital painting software, a drawing tablet, and basic digital drawing tools to participate fully in this course.

    You’ll learn how to use gesture drawing, line of action, and exaggeration techniques to create dynamic, emotionally expressive character poses in digital illustrations.

    Basic familiarity with digital painting and Photoshop is recommended, as the course builds on foundational digital art skills for character illustration.

    The course teaches you to analyze body language, use shape language, and refine facial expressions to communicate clear emotion and personality in your characters.

    Yes, you’ll explore how to research, select, and integrate props and costumes to visually support character backgrounds, eras, and narratives.

    Yes, you’ll learn strategies for effectively sharing your work online to promote your art and grow your professional network.

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