Character Design: Develop Your Own Style
A course by Dan Kelby , Character Designer
Learn how to play with the proportions, shapes, and expressions of your protagonists using professional stylistic techniques
Through character design, you can visually translate the emotions, sensations, and personalities of your favorite protagonists. Designer Dan Kelby creates colorful characters for animation, illustration, comics, and games and has worked with clients including Disney Television Animation and Netflix.
In this course, Dan shares his expertise to help you bring your own characters to life. Learn the principles of character design and, more importantly, when to break them. Are you ready to draw outside the box and break the rules with style?
What will you learn in this online course?
31 lessons & 22 downloads
- 100% positive reviews (149)
- 4,873 students
- 31 lessons (7h 59m)
- 22 additional resources (6 files)
- Online and at your own pace
- Available on the app
- Audio: English, Spanish (Latam), French, Italian, Portuguese, Turkish
- English · Spanish · Portuguese · German · French · Italian · Polish · Dutch · Turkish
- Level: Beginner
- Unlimited access forever
Recommended software & tools for this course
Adobe PhotoshopWhat is this course's project?
Design an expressive character in your own artistic style using shape, color, proportion, and lines.
Projects by course students
Who is this online course for?
This course is for anyone with an interest in designing compelling characters for animation, illustration, comics, and games.
Requirements and materials
Basic drawing skills and experience with Photoshop are recommended.
In terms of materials, you will need access to digital drawing software like Photoshop or Procreate.
Reviews
Dan Kelby
A course by Dan Kelby
Dan Kelby is a freelance character designer from England who specializes in designing for the animation industry. He grew up in a creative family, inspired by cartoons and movies from the 80s and 90s, and eventually went on to study animation at Norwich University of Arts. After graduating, he worked as a graphic designer for a number of years before rediscovering his love of drawing and becoming a full-time freelance character designer in 2016.
Since then, Dan has worked for clients including Netflix, Disney Television Animation, and Cartoon Network. He also teaches classes part-time at his former university to help others improve their drawing.
Content
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U1
Introduction
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About Me
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My Influences
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U2
Character Design
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Character Design: A Matter of Style 1
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Character Design: A Matter of Style 2
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Learning to See 1
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Learning to See 2
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Learning to See 3
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Exaggerating Life 1
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Exaggerating Life 2
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Exaggerating Life 3
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Exaggerating Life 4
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Exaggerating Life 5
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Push it Until it Breaks! 1
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Push it Until it Breaks! 2
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Colour Me Happy 1
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Colour Me Happy 2
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U3
Doing Some Groundwork
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Writing Yourself a Brief
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Research and Creating a Mood Board
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U4
Creating Your Character
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Initial ideas - Silhouettes
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Initial Ideas - Thumbnails
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Draw-Overs and Refining the Idea
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Head Sketches 1
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Head Sketches 2
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Bringing It All Together 1
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Bringing It All Together 2
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U5
Completing Your Character
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Adding Colour
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Taking Things Up a Notch
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Finalising the Design
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U6
Onwards and Upwards
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How to Study A Style
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Being Your Authentic Self
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Portfolio Tips and How to Get Into Animation
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FP
Final project
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Character Development
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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 member, 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
Yes, this course is designed for intermediate artists who have basic drawing skills and want to deepen their understanding of character design, gesture drawing, and animation techniques.
You’ll need drawing supplies (traditional or digital) and access to Photoshop or similar digital illustration software to follow along with digital assignments and layer management exercises.
You’ll learn advanced character design, expressive gesture drawing, shape theory, digital illustration techniques, storyboarding, and how to create and submit professional animation portfolios online.
Yes, the course includes guidance on assembling and submitting a professional animation portfolio, tailored to industry standards.
Yes, you’ll master techniques for drawing expressive characters, including body language, facial features, and using shape language to communicate personality.
Yes, you’ll learn perspective drawing, background illustration, and how to compose scenes that support animated storytelling.
Yes, the course covers digital tools such as Multiply Blending mode, Liquify, layer management, and the lasso tool for sketching and exaggeration.
Adobe Photoshop
Your own way to look at this world. This is why I chose this course.
Great course, really interesting!
El curso es muy completo y diverso, es uno de los grandes cursos de Domestika.
great course
Super bien, con una sola unidad el curso ya se pago.