Character Creation for Animation: Shapes, Color, and Expression
A course by Laura Ewing Ferrer
Illustrator and Storyboarder.
Madrid, Spain.
On Domestika since 05/04/2020
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, Illustrator and Storyboarder
On Domestika since 05/04/2020
Reveal your character’s personality by working on a concept and illustrate it using Photoshop
- 100% Positive reviews (98)
- 2827 students
- Audio: English
- English, Spanish, Portuguese, German, French, Italian

Reveal your character’s personality by working on a concept and illustrate it using Photoshop
- 100% Positive reviews (98)
- 2827 students
- Online and at your own pace
- Audio: English
- Level: Beginner
- 22 Lessons (4h 39m)
- Available from the app
- English, Spanish, Portuguese, German, French, Italian
- Unlimited access forever
Creating a unique character design full of personality demands practice, imagination and—ideally—an experienced teacher in the field to show you the ropes. Illustrator and storyboard artist Laura Ewing has mastered the process of character design for animation. She most recently worked on Madrid 2120 as a storyboard artist, which received this year’s Goya award for best short animation.
In this course, Laura shares the secrets and methodology that has led to her success as a storyboard illustrator. Use Adobe Photoshop to build your character, learn how to draw emotive expressions and striking poses, and create a professional turnaround of your character to add to your portfolio.

About this course
Course table of contents
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U1U1. Introduction
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U2U2. Preparation
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U3U3. Production (part 1)
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U4U4. Production (part 2)
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U5U5. Post Production
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FPFP Final Project
Get to know Laura, her passion for animation, and her vast experience in the field. She shares some of her favorite artists and animations that inspire her work.
Start off by learning how to prepare and research before creating your character. Develop a brief and see what makes a good brief to facilitate your illustration process. Then, create a mood board of all the elements you need to start visualizing your character.
Next, it’s time to get creative! Work on the basic shapes, looking at how your character’s personality influences the shapes and lines you choose, and work on refining its structure with Laura’s guidance. Bring life to your character by working on expression lines, body language, and facial expressions.
See the best way to present your character, adding color, lights, and shadows. Create your character’s main poses and its turnaround, used for 3D modeling.
Laura finishes the course by giving her professional tips and advice on how to crack the animation world. See how to grow your followers on social media, where to find job opportunities, the ideal way to pitch your project, and more.
What is this course's project?
Create a character design based on your own brief and time in history, working on dynamic poses and a character turnaround, ready to present to an animation studio.

Projects by course students
Who is it for?
This course is for illustrators of all levels who want to polish their character designs in the context of animation.
What you need
You will need basic illustration skills and notions of how to draw the anatomy of a character.
As for materials, you will need a computer with Adobe Photoshop or another digital illustration software that allows you to work in layers.

Reviews

A course by Laura Ewing Ferrer
Laura Ewing is a freelance illustrator and storyboarder with a passion for animation. As a young girl, she would spend hours watching documentaries and DVD extras of her favorite animated films, in disbelief that creating these stories was a real job.
She went on to study Graphic Design, with a specialization in illustration, to then study Fine Art at The Florence Academy of Art in Italy, and obtained her Master’s degree in storyboarding at Lightbox academy.
Her diverse experience in the industry includes working in-house at Smile and Learn, as well as working as a freelance artist for documentaries, pilot series, and publishing houses. She most recently worked on storyboard artist for a live-action movie, which will be released in 2021 and for Madrid 2120 as a storyboard artist, which received this year’s Goya award for best short animation.
Contents
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U1
Introduction
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About Me
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My Influences
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What We Will Do in the Course?
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U2
Preparation
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Interpreting a Brief
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Researching References
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Mood Board
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U3
Production (part 1)
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Selecting Shapes for Characters
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Trying Out Different Combinations of Shapes
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Refining The Structure 1
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Refining The Structure 2
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Line of Action 1
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Line of Action 2
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Body Language 1
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Body Language 2
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Facial Expressions
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U4
Production (part 2)
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Tricks and Checks
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Color and Presentation 1
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Color and Presentation 2
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Lights and Shadows
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Turnaround
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U5
Post Production
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Bonus Work for Clients
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Professional Tips on How and Where to Showcase Your Work
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FP
Final Project
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Character Creation for Animation: Shapes, Color, and Expression
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Frequently Asked Questions
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What are Domestika's online courses?
Domestika's courses are online classes that provide you with the tools and skills you need for completing a specific final 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 instructor and other users, thus creating a dynamic course community.
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When do the courses start and when do they finish?
The course is 100% online, so once they are 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.
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What do Domestika's courses include?
The courses are divided into different units, each one includes lessons, informational texts, tasks and practice exercises to carry out your project step by step, with additional complementary resources and downloads. You will also have access to an exclusive forum where you can interact with the instructor and other students, and share your work and your course project, thus creating a community around the course itself.
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lloyd_david
This is a very insightful course in regards to animation, I will implement what I've learnt so far.
gem2008
Este curso de creación de personajes es muy completo, nos ayuda a poder plasmar nuestras ideas y convertirlas en algo concreto, recomiendo este curso por todo el abundante y excelente material que nos brinda Laura. Mas sabiendo que sus pilares de conocimiento nacen del estudio del Arte Academico!!
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Jesús Sanz
Laura explica en este curso de manera muy detallada, pasa a paso, los procesos y fases para la creación de personajes, y transmite pasión por ello. Aporta consejos muy valiosos y se nota que provienen de un profesional con una sólida formación y buena capacidad de comunicar de manera práctica y amena.
Un curso de 10 si deseas conocer o profundizar en la ilustración de personajes.
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post
Es hat wirklich spaß gemacht, den Lektionen zu folgen. Ich habe unglaublich viele Anregungen und Ideen mitgenommen!
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logolonch
la parte que llevo recorrida del curso me ha gustado, espero siga así el resto del curso
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