Character Creation for Animation: Shapes, Color, and Expression
A course by Laura Ewing Ferrer, Character Designer and Storyboarder
Reveal your character’s personality by working on a concept and illustrate it using Photoshop
Creating a unique character design full of personality demands practice, imagination and—ideally—an experienced teacher in the field to show you the ropes. Illustrator and storyboard artist Laura Ewing has mastered the process of character design for animation. She most recently worked on Madrid 2120 as a storyboard artist, which received this year’s Goya award for best short animation.
In this course, Laura shares the secrets and methodology that has led to her success as a storyboard illustrator. Use Adobe Photoshop to build your character, learn how to draw emotive expressions and striking poses, and create a professional turnaround of your character to add to your portfolio.
What will you learn in this online course?
22 lessons & 31 downloads
What's included in this course?
Get to know Laura, her passion for animation, and her vast experience in the field. She shares some of her favorite artists and animations that inspire her work.
Start off by learning how to prepare and research before creating your character. Develop a brief and see what makes a good brief to facilitate your illustration process. Then, create a mood board of all the elements you need to start visualizing your character.
Next, it’s time to get creative! Work on the basic shapes, looking at how your character’s personality influences the shapes and lines you choose, and work on refining its structure with Laura’s guidance. Bring life to your character by working on expression lines, body language, and facial expressions.
See the best way to present your character, adding color, lights, and shadows. Create your character’s main poses and its turnaround, used for 3D modeling.
Laura finishes the course by giving her professional tips and advice on how to crack the animation world. See how to grow your followers on social media, where to find job opportunities, the ideal way to pitch your project, and more.
- 100% positive reviews (308)
- 8,965 students
- 22 lessons (4h 39m)
- 31 additional resources (16 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?
Create a character design based on your own brief and time in history, working on dynamic poses and a character turnaround, ready to present to an animation studio.
Projects by course students
Who is this online course for?
This course is for illustrators of all levels who want to polish their character designs in the context of animation.
Requirements and materials
You will need basic illustration skills and notions of how to draw the anatomy of a character.
As for materials, you will need a computer with Adobe Photoshop or another digital illustration software that allows you to work in layers.
Reviews
Laura Ewing Ferrer
A course by Laura Ewing Ferrer
Laura Ewing is a freelance illustrator and storyboarder with a passion for animation. As a young girl, she would spend hours watching documentaries and DVD extras of her favorite animated films, in disbelief that creating these stories was a real job.
She went on to study Graphic Design, with a specialization in illustration, to then study Fine Art at The Florence Academy of Art in Italy, and obtained her Master’s degree in storyboarding at Lightbox Academy.
Her diverse experience in the industry includes working in-house at Smile and Learn, as well as working as a freelance artist for documentaries, pilot series, and publishing houses. She most recently worked on a storyboarding project for a live-action movie, which will be released in 2021 and for Madrid 2120 as a storyboard artist, which received this year’s Goya award for best short animation.
Content
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U1
Introduction
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About Me
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My Influences
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What We Will Do in the Course?
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U2
Preparation
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Interpreting a Brief
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Researching References
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Mood Board
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U3
Production (part 1)
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Selecting Shapes for Characters
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Trying Out Different Combinations of Shapes
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Refining The Structure 1
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Refining The Structure 2
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Line of Action 1
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Line of Action 2
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Body Language 1
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Body Language 2
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Facial Expressions
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U4
Production (part 2)
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Tricks and Checks
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Color and Presentation 1
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Color and Presentation 2
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Lights and Shadows
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Turnaround
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U5
Post Production
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Bonus Work for Clients
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Professional Tips on How and Where to Showcase Your Work
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FP
Final project
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Character Creation for Animation: Shapes, Color, and Expression
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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
This course is best for students with some foundational drawing skills, as it covers intermediate-level character design techniques for animation and illustration.
You’ll need access to basic drawing materials or a digital illustration program like Photoshop or Procreate. A tablet is recommended for digital work, but traditional supplies like pencils and paper can also be used.
You’ll learn how to create compelling characters from scratch, develop consistent visual styles, use shape language, build mood boards, and present professional turnarounds for animation and storybooks.
Yes, the course covers creating accurate character turnarounds and expression sheets to ensure style consistency and clear communication for animation or illustration projects.
Yes, the course teaches systematic research methods for gathering references, building mood boards, and applying visual inspiration to your character designs.
You’ll learn techniques for animating expressive hands, using the line of action, and creating dynamic, believable poses that communicate character personality and emotion.
Yes, the course explores color psychology, shape language, and how to use these principles to reinforce character personality and visual storytelling.
Adobe Photoshop
Me encanto
Thank you so much Laura, Really inspired me to keep up to reach my goals as Character designer.
Interessante per comprendere il processo creativo dietro il character design, ma non adatto ai principianti. Le tecniche mostrate richiedono già una buona padronanza del disegno; io cercavo invece contenuti più focalizzati sulla costruzione e stilizzazione dell’anatomia dei personaggi.
The course was amazing and the explanation was very clear and great
Excelente curso.