Character Design Fundamentals
Learn a step-by-step method for developing unique and memorable character concepts with personality!
Student Artwork by Sida Guo
Character Design Fundamentals
Character Design Fundamentals introduces students to the essential process of designing believable, expressive characters through research, silhouette exploration, posing, functional detailing, and rendering. Over 10 weeks, students learn to develop strong concepts from reference boards to polished final designs while applying industry-standard shape language, visual hierarchy, and storytelling. By the end of the course, students will create a complete character design package suitable for portfolio development and further study in advanced concept art programs.
- Course Type Online Concept Art Classes
- Duration 10 weeks
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Skill Level
Level 3 Level 3
These courses are for people who can already draw and paint realistically and can create complete digital illustrations.
Level 3 classes will help students to give a new edge to their images, properly render their digital work, and bring them closer to a professional level.
- Language English
You can now combine 3, 4 or 5 classes to avail a 5, 10 or 15% discount on your purchase!
Schedule
Note: This class will be offered online only
Term: Fall 2026
Class Timings: TBD*
Date of first class: TBD
Duration: 10 weeks
Please note that we observe Daylight Saving Time, so classes may shift from Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) UTC−4 to Eastern Standard Time (EST) UTC−5 or vice versa during the term.
If you are unable to attend the live online class, you will still have access to video recordings of the class lectures and will still receive personalized feedback from your instructor. However, for Onsite Classes there will be no recordings provided.
It should be noted that students should set aside a minimum of 3 hours per week to complete assignments for this class. Students may even require a bit more time (4-5 hours per week) depending on how quickly they can work through assignments.
*Please note that this class' duration is subject to change (to either 2 hours or 3 hours) depending on the number of enrolled students.
Pre-Requisites
Skill requirements
To enroll in this course you should have:
- Some intermediate drawing and basic digital painting skills (use of proper perspective, proportions, shading and colour).
- Proficiency in all basic Photoshop tools.
- Ideally completed our Intro to Digital Painting and Analytical Drawing classes or have equivalent practice/experience.
If you are unsure of your skill level, please contact [email protected] for additional guidance.
Language and age requirements
You should have at least intermediate level English to take this class. Please also note that Syn Studio’s classes are targeted towards adults and students should be 16 years or older to enroll.
Required Materials
You also need to have a laptop with Photoshop installed and a tablet sensitive to pen pressure (such as a Wacom tablet). Or you need a tablet-computer with Photoshop installed that is sensitive to pen pressure (such as the Cintiq Companion). And you need to have some basic skills in Photoshop and be comfortable drawing and painting in Photoshop and know how to use layers and the basic tools (all things you can learn quickly with free tutorials online).
Tech Requirements for Attending Syn Studio Online Classes
Minimum Requirements
- A strong uninterrupted broadband wired or wireless (3G or 4G/LTE) connection with a minimum 600kbps bandwidth (up/down).
- A Laptop/Desktop computer equipped with a single core processor (at least 1 GHZ processing speed) or a smartphone/tablet with equivalent processing capabilities
- Good speakers/earphones to listen to the classes
- Browser - IE7+, Safari 5+, Firefox, Chrome
- Operating System - Windows XP, Mac OS 10.6, Linux distro based on 3.0 kernel, Android 5.0, iOS 10
Syn Studio Recommendations
- A strong uninterrupted broadband wired or wireless (3G or 4G/LTE) connection with a minimum 1.5Mbps bandwidth (up/down). You can also connect to the internet directly using your ethernet cable to improve your experience.
- Laptop/Desktop computer equipped with a dual core processor with at least 2 GHZ processing speed and a 4 GB RAM
- High Quality speakers/earphones to listen to the classes
- Browser & Operating System - We recommend using the latest version of the browser and operating system for an optimal online classroom experience.
Course Outline
*Please note that the following outline is subject to change slightly at the teacher's discretion.
Week 1:
- Refresher on Genre, Lore and Character Types
- Building reference boards for your character
(the universe they are in, the art direction, creating believability) - Researching different cultures and historical elements to add realism to details
- Building up a visual library
Week 2:
- Review of reference boards (did they collect good references? Enough references etc)
- Intro to shape design and hierarchy (silhouettes, interior shapes, details)
- Using shapes to segregate areas of detail and rest (10 to 30%% detail, 70 - 90% rest)
- Primary, Secondary and Tertiary shapes
Week 3:
- Quick refresher review of general anatomy of males and females
- Go over posing, and how the pose of the character can reflect the attitude and personality, adding to the overall design
Weeks 4:
- Emphasising what you want the viewer to be looking at through contrasting elements (shape, line, value, colour, texture)
- Shape: emphasise design features by creating a variety and contrast in your use of shapes
- Line: Line can evoke rhythm and form. You can lead the viewer's eye through the piece via line
- Value: Value can create interest and make things read properly
Weeks 5:
- “It’s better to go too far, and then dial it back versus playing it safe”
- What feeling or emotion does the student want to get across in their design for their character? What message?
- Regal, powerful, shy, cute, punk, fantastical etc.
Weeks 6:
- Adding details to improve the functional look of character design for example, buckles, stitching on seams, zippers, laces, holes, buttons, screws
- Think “who does this character put this outfit on?
- What materials/fabrics does the character wear, and why do they need those materials or that kind of fabric?
- Is there a functional item that the character needs on them?
Weeks 7:
- Understanding colour families, complimentary colours vs competing colours
- Relationship between hue, saturation and value
- Keeping materials in mind and tips for painting various materials to make them look more believable
- Patterns for material contrast or to emphasize detail hierarchy
Weeks 8:
- Additional views (turn arounds, back view, t-pose)
- Clarifications (closeups, various layers of clothing, orthographics)
- Gear that the character might have
- Sketches or illustrations of a characters abilities or powers
- Character expressions
Weeks 9:
- Presenting your character design
- Money shot
- Supporting sheets
- Process sheets (your iterations)
- If using text, it must be readable
- Keeping the background, style and theme the same across a project
- Tips on putting a portfolio together for the industry
- Specialized portfolio vs a generalist portfolio
Weeks 10:
- Review the students work and offer final tips, feedback and paint overs on their characters
- General Q+A about the industry
- Contracts
- What you wish you had known when you started in your career
- Freelancing
- Where to look for work
- What does a typical day look like for you
Registration
You will soon receive an email receipt for your purchase.
Please bring a photo ID for the first day of class.
Your transaction was not completed. Please try again. If the problem persists, please email us at [email protected] or call us at 514-998-7625
Questions and Assistance
Feel free to send us an email at [email protected] or give us a call at 514-998-7625
Please consult our FAQ; most of the commonly asked questions are answered in detail there. If you cannot find the answer to your question, please feel free to fill out the form below, or, send an email to [email protected]