Total Training is excited to announce the release of our latest training course, Character Design: From Concept to Creation, presented by Adobe Certified Expert, Martin Perhiniak, and concept artist, Almu Redondo.
With nearly 2 hours of high-quality content, you’ll learn how to design characters for your next creative project. Whether you are an illustrator or graphic designer you will find this course useful as it provides a step-by-step guide to the process of creating amazing character art.
Learn the methods and techniques from two creative professionals: a concept artist and graphic designer working on this project as a team. The main tools used in this course are Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator, but most of the techniques can be applied in similar applications. Follow along with the included project files to make the most of this essential design course.
Five Lessons Learned:
1. For adding colors to our design we separate details into tonal values of shadows, midtones and highlights. We will pick one color for shadows and one for highlights, but because midtones are the most common in objects it is best to use 2 colors to represent them and enable us to define details better.
2. Like in every creative project it is crucial to keep checking the brief you get from the client throughout the whole process to avoid missing any important requirements. In case you don’t get a detailed brief at the start of the project, you should ask questions like “What is to be achieved?” and “Who is the target audience?” from the client to establish the brief yourself.
3. Opacity Masks in Illustrator are great for showing and hiding certain parts of your objects but they can also be used for adding texture to your characters, which will break the rigid, vector outlines and help to make your artwork more unique.
4. Choosing the right file format when exporting your work is crucial. Illustrator offers a wide range of options to choose from either your work is prepared for print or it will be used on the Web. One file format especially is worth exploring is SVG, which is a widely supported web standard that keeps your artwork in vector format even when displayed in browsers.
5. The Shape Builder Tool is similar to Pathfinder as they are both used to combine shapes, but the Shape Builder is much more intuitive and versatile offering you full control over handling every overlapping detail individually.
Requirements:
You will need Adobe Illustrator & Photoshop CC to work with the included project files, but luckily you can get a 30-day free trial version downloaded from Adobe’s Creative Cloud website. For those who are already CC users, you just need to install Illustrator & Photoshop from the CC desktop manager. To purchase Illustrator & Photoshop as part of the Adobe Creative Cloud, visit:
Get this course!
This course is available as a single title purchase or as part of the Total Training All-Access Library.
If you are a current All-Access subscriber, the course is automatically added to your Library!
About the Presenter:
Martin is a Certified Adobe Design Master and Instructor. He has worked as a designer with companies like Disney, Warner Brothers, Cartoon Network, Sony Pictures, Mattel, and DC Comics. He is currently working in London as a designer and instructor as well as providing a range of services from live online training to consultancy work to individuals worldwide. Martin’s Motto: “Do not compare yourself to your role models. Work hard and wait for the moment when others will compare them to you.”
Almu Redondo is a storyboard artist, visual development and concept artist from Spain with passion for stories. She was born with a pencil in her hands. She has worked as visual development artist for animation films and TV series, as well as concept artist and storyboard artist for the VFX industry for clients like Disney, LucasArts, The Weistein Company or Universal , with work in films as Jason Bourne, iBoy or Stratton, Star Wars Battle Quads advertisement and TV Series like Plebs III.
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