Design and Illustration of Incredible Characters
A course by Christian MichelGraphic designer and illustrator
A course by Christian Michel, Graphic designer and illustrator
Learn to draw fantastic characters like a professional
The work of Christian Michel, better known as Crisaseo -designer and illustrator- focuses mainly on the world of advertising and can also be found in all types of packaging. But in addition to working with brands on a daily basis, he has developed a unique style of creating incredible characters.
In this course, Crisaseo will help you to lose the fear of drawing and will teach you how to illustrate characters with style by taking the creative child inside you. You will create a story about your characters, drawing each of the details that fill them with character. With it you will learn to create a story about your characters, drawing each of the details that fill them with character and personality.
What will you learn in this online course?
26 lessons & 16 downloads
Black and white
8 minutes, 7 seconds
Full color
6 minutes, 57 seconds
Characters up in the soup
12 minutes, 3 seconds
Scratch tools
10 minutes, 11 seconds
The scratches talk about you
6 minutes, 7 seconds
No more scratching
12 minutes, 11 seconds
What's included in this course?
You will know the work of Crisaseo, who will tell you about his professional career and will show you his influences, important personalities of the current illustration.
Then he will talk about the theory of evolution, reviewing the particular characteristics of some of the most famous and memorable characters in the history of animation.
You will explore the different tools that you can use to create characters and you will do all kinds of exercises to release your hand and practice with these drawing tools.
You will discover the geometric figures as a starting point to give life to your characters and you will understand the importance of the facial expression; a complicated subject that you will learn to capture easily.
Crisaseo will show you its methodology to devise the personality of each of its characters through the details and how to draw the different views that compose it.
Once you have the complete sketch on paper, you will digitize it and learn how to combine Illustrator and Photoshop to draw, apply color, shadows, brightness and textures, resulting in a professional illustration.
Finally, you will observe some samples and suggestions to use your characters in all kinds of products and applications.
Recommended software & tools for this course
What is this course's project?
You will learn to create characters by imprinting character and personality. Ready to be taken to the real world.
Projects by course students
Who is this online course for?
To designers, illustrators, cartoonists and anyone interested in drawing the creatures that live in their head.
Requirements and materials
No previous knowledge is necessary, simply wanting to draw.
With respect to the materials, you will need paper and pencil to sketch and a computer with Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop.
Reviews
- samukaPLUS3 months ago
Es un curso muy completo e interesante que abarca la inversión de tiempo en la trayectoria de la creación de personajes y su evolución, los trazos, las herramientas y los software. Lo recomiendo. Johny Samuka Abreu @johny.abreu9_samuka
- 4 months ago
El curso es increiblemente bueno, yo creo que de los mejores que he visto en Domestika. Muy recomendable.
- 11 months ago
muito bom , principalmente para iniciantes.
- 1 year ago
recomendado
- 2 years ago
Great Tips!
He has exhibited part of his work collectively in Mexico City, Toulouse, Barcelona, Finland, Berlin and New York. Recently he has dedicated himself to share his work and experience as a lecturer in Mexico and abroad. Part of his work can be seen in specialized publications, in all kinds of products and in well-known advertising campaigns.
Content
- U1
Introduction
- Me, until I die
- Wow!
- U2
Theory of evolution
- Black and white
- Full color
- Characters up in the soup
- U3
To drop scratches
- Scratch tools
- The scratches talk about you
- No more scratching
- Do not erase your scratches
- My first character
- Expressions
- U4
Comes alive
- Who are we going to create?
- Your consented character
- Turnaround
- U5
From paper to the machine
- VS Pixels
- Illustrator does everything
- Crawling
- Walking - Part 1
- Walking - Part 2
- Coloring
- U6
Final project
- Stroke
- Colored - Part 1
- Colored - Part 2
- Shadows and glitters
- Textures and finishes
- Applications
- FP
Final project
- Design and illustration of incredible characters
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
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.
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
You’ll learn how to create playful, child-friendly, and cartoon-style characters for products, packaging, and branding using visual synthesis, color, textures, and both analog and digital tools—tailoring your creativity to today’s commercial needs.
This is an intermediate-level course, so basic drawing skills and familiarity with graphic tools are recommended, though key techniques and concepts are explained so you can build a solid foundation.
You’ll need pencils, paper, markers, inking tools, and access to digital illustration software like Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop. Materials like blue pencils, Prismacolor markers, and acrylic pens are also recommended for hands-on exercises.
The course teaches you how to design characters that adapt well to various commercial formats, applying principles of color, outlines, and simplification so they work effectively on packaging, promotional products, and branding—creating a stronger emotional connection with consumers.
You’ll explore sketching techniques, use of analog textures, shading, gradients, vectorizing sketches, color palette management, storyboard creation, basic animation, and organizing layers and digital files for professional projects.
It includes basic character animation concepts such as digital storyboarding, simplifying lines for animation, using gloves, and techniques for black-and-white characters, alongside static illustration focused on commercial design.
Yes, you’ll learn to design characters in cartoonish, childlike, and commercial styles, working on facial expressions, proportions, accessories, and anatomical variations to create original, iconic, and visually expressive characters.