Advanced Digital Illustration for Manga Characters
A course by Catalina CarlesiCartoonist and Illustrator
A course by Catalina Carlesi, Cartoonist and Illustrator
Learn to give your manga characters a unique identity through their body language, clothes, and hairstyle
Immerse yourself in the fascinating world of manga character design, where you'll learn to capture the essence and style of your creations through poses, costumes, and more. Explore how geometric shapes, silhouettes, and body language can bring life and personality to your characters. Discover the keys to choosing the right clothing, facial features, and hairstyles that best represent the attitude you're trying to convey. Throughout the course, you'll gain a solid understanding of the basic concepts needed to highlight the individuality of your original characters.
Develop the skills needed to transform ideas into unique designs. From identifying styles and attitudes with visual references to creating sketches with different personality concepts, each lesson is designed to boost your creativity. Learn to select effective color palettes and use digital tools to distort and enhance your illustrations, whether portraits or full figures. Ideal for those looking to take their drawing skills to the next level, this course gives you the tools to bring your ideas to life and create memorable characters.
What will you learn in this online course?
17 lessons & 16 downloads
Studying a character
5 minutes, 9 seconds
Character Design: Costume and Style 1
18 minutes, 39 seconds
Transform tool and poses
8 minutes, 11 seconds
Character sketch for final illustration
12 minutes, 40 seconds
Apply clothing line and texture
13 minutes, 47 seconds
Details: retouching, lights and shadows
9 minutes, 20 seconds
What's included in this course?
Immerse yourself in the world of manga character design, exploring how to add attitude and style to your creations. You'll learn to analyze poses and study different body types using geometric shapes and silhouettes. You'll discover body language and how each pose can convey a unique personality. Costumes will also be a key tool for expressing the essence of your characters. You'll learn about various clothing styles, hairstyles, and facial features that will bring your characters to life on paper.
Color will be your ally in giving your characters identity and visual impact. You'll learn to select color palettes that highlight the characteristics of your illustrations. You'll also discover digital techniques such as using distortion tools to create dynamic and engaging illustrations. Upon completion, you'll have the ability to design original characters with unique personalities, ready to tell their own stories through your drawings.
Recommended software & tools for this course
What is this course's project?
Create five basic versions of a character, exploring different attitudes and styles and modifying poses. Choose one version to create a final drawing, either a portrait or a full-body, using the techniques you've learned for an interesting visual approach.
Who is this online course for?
Students with basic and intermediate drawing skills who wish to enhance their original creations and explore character design in depth, focusing on the attitude, style, and wardrobe of their illustrations, will find this course an ideal opportunity for growth.
Requirements and materials
No extensive prior knowledge is required, but basic drawing skills are essential. A graphics tablet and a digital drawing program such as Photoshop, Clip Studio, or Procreate are required to get the most out of the course.
Reviews
- 2 months ago
Me ah servido demasido el curso es muy bueno y enseña justo lo que buscaba 100/10 para mi
- daniel_leo_24PLUS2 months ago
me gusto mucho el curso y me enseño cosas para desarrollar mejor mis personajes
- 2 months ago
Contiene buenos fundamentos acerca de diseño de personaje y sobre todo de expresión a la hora de ilustrar, lo recomiendo mucho a quienes ya tienen una base de dibujo
- 3 months ago
Un curso muy entretenido
- 4 months ago
muy bueno
She's always been a huge fan of manga, anime, and video games, especially JRPGs, as well as Japanese culture in general, which have heavily influenced the style and content of her drawings. She loves creating original characters and weaving their stories into her illustrations through the use of light and shadows, colors, and expressive details.
Content
- U1
Introduction
- Presentation
- Influences
- U2
Essential concepts of character design
- Studying a character
- Character design: shapes
- Character Design: Costume and Style 1
- Character Design: Costume and Style 2
- Transform tool and poses
- The importance of choosing colors for the character
- U3
Design a character
- Character concept: cool and dark
- Character concept: intellectual
- Character concept: naive
- Character sketch for final illustration
- Apply clothing line and texture
- The base color
- U4
Details that make the difference
- Details: retouching, lights and shadows
- The accessories
- Tips
- FP
Final project
- Advanced Digital Illustration for Manga 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 original characters, apply sketching and coloring techniques, design costumes, use visual references, improve poses, and transform objects into characters—all focused on digital illustration for video games, anime, and creative projects.
This is an intermediate-level course, perfect for those with basic drawing skills who want to deepen their knowledge of digital character design and professional illustration techniques.
You’ll need a graphics tablet, access to digital illustration software like Photoshop, visual references, and an internet connection to access course content and resources.
Yes, you’ll learn to design anime characters, create original characters inspired by games like Genshin Impact, and adapt visual styles across different genres and settings.
Daily challenges help sharpen your technical skills, build discipline, strengthen your portfolio, and boost your confidence as a digital artist.
You’ll learn to design original costumes, incorporate cultural references, draw clothing folds and textures, create distinctive accessories, and tailor fashion to fit your character’s context.
Yes, the course covers dynamic poses, lines of action, body language, and using silhouettes to convey personality and emotion in your digital characters.