Digital Painting for Characters: Color and Light
A course by Joel SantanaConcept Artist and Character Designer
A course by Joel Santana, Concept Artist and Character Designer
Learn how to breathe life into a character sketch through color and light with Adobe Photoshop
Adding realism and depth to a character drawing can be a real challenge for an illustrator, and it's usually what separates a simple sketch from a full-blown character illustration. The combination of color, light, and texture is what brings a character to life and, in this Domestika course, you'll learn the techniques to master them in your digital paintings.
The illustrator and character designer, Joel Santana, will walk you through his whole creative process, from the moment he scans his drawings to when he exports the finished product for printing or digital media. Throughout the course, you'll learn how to make the most of Adobe Photoshop to breathe life into your character sketches.
What will you learn in this online course?
18 lessons & 10 downloads
Our Workspace and Brushes
9 minutes, 28 seconds
Sphere Studies - Color, Light and Shadows
14 minutes, 25 seconds
Sphere Studies - Modifications
12 minutes, 12 seconds
Sphere Studies - Textures and Blur
15 minutes, 59 seconds
Flatting Our Character
10 minutes, 3 seconds
Defining Placement of Keylight
8 minutes, 23 seconds
What's included in this course?
You'll start by getting to know Joel and his professional background as an illustrator. He'll also share a little about his creative approach and things he's done to push himself as an artist. You'll then jump into what you'll be creating in this course and discuss how you'll learn to take your characters from a sketch to something that feels lifelike using color, light, and textures.
In the next unit, you'll cover some of the basics, from setting up your workspace to warm-up painting exercises that will help you understand lighting, basic painting tips, and adding textures.
After, you’ll go over some things to make sure you’re prepared. You’ll start by discussing the steps to importing your sketch into the computer. Joel will also talk briefly about mood boards and how to create one, as well as how they can help you in your painting process. Finally, you’ll jump into painting your character design.
At this point, you will have reached one of Joel's favorite parts of the process. This is where you get to take your painted character and enhance some of the lighting effects, play with overlaying textures, color adjustments and add super simple background and floor shadows to ground the character for that 3D effect. Around this stage is also where you'll be able to push the depth of field effects to take the dimensionality to the next level. Some of these steps are a matter of preference, but again, this helps to add a lifelike feel and a sense of realism to the final image.
Recommended software & tools for this course
What is this course's project?
You'll bring a character sketch to life using intermediate to advanced digital painting techniques in Adobe Photoshop.
Projects by course students
Who is this online course for?
Anyone who would like to learn digital painting techniques in Adobe Photoshop.
Requirements and materials
You'll need basic anatomy and creative drawing skills, as well as a computer with Adobe Photoshop installed, and a drawing tablet.
Reviews
- 2 months ago
Esse curso é excelente e o professor é Ótimo!
- 6 months ago
El curso esta bien, el profesor explica bien cada tema
- 7 months ago
SUPER !!!!
- 8 months ago
muy cool
- 9 months ago
This course was very easy to follow the other course I was able to follow along in real time. The resources very helpful and I'm extremely thankful for them this will no doubt make illustrations in photoshop much easier for me especially when using textures
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
- Introduction
- Influences
- What We Will Do in the Course
- U2
Painting Fundamentals and Exercises
- Our Workspace and Brushes
- Sphere Studies - Color, Light and Shadows
- Sphere Studies - Modifications
- Sphere Studies - Textures and Blur
- U3
Character Digital Painting
- Creating a Moodboard and Importing Our Character Sketch
- Masking Our Character
- Flatting Our Character
- Defining Placement of Keylight
- Values and Color - White Fur
- Values and Color - The Gun
- Values and Color - Refining the Fur
- Refining Lights, Shadows and Textures - Gauntlets
- U4
Finishing touches and effects
- Finalizing the Image - Final Details, Glow and Blur
- Finalizing the Image - Highlights and Shadows
- Finalizing the Image - color editing and export
- FP
Final project
- Digital Painting for Characters: Color and Light
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
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FAQs
Yes, this course is designed for intermediate artists who have basic experience with digital art and want to advance their character painting skills, especially in Photoshop.
You'll need Adobe Photoshop and a graphics tablet. Familiarity with Photoshop basics is recommended, as the course focuses on intermediate digital painting workflows and techniques.
You will learn advanced techniques for color, lighting, texture, masking, and exporting character art. The course covers Photoshop workflows, sphere studies, flatting, edge blending, and creating realistic materials.
Yes, the course includes lessons on importing traditional or digital character sketches into Photoshop and enhancing their clarity for painting.
The course uses sphere studies and character examples to demonstrate key light placement, shadow types, occlusion, and realistic rendering techniques for three-dimensional form.
Yes, you will learn various masking and selection methods, including layer masks, lasso, pen tool, and feathering techniques for precise character painting.
Absolutely. The course covers manual painting, using photographic overlays, and brush techniques for creating realistic textures on characters and objects.