Character Design Talks & Tutorials Masterpost
Hhhh I’ve had this in my drafts for about a year or so now and just now remembered that it existed. While not an extensive masterpost as you can find more good tutorials & talks than these, these are some of my favorites to look at. Remember though: a good character design should have good construction/proportions/etc. behind it, so think of this as adding on to the basics of drawing & construction. c:
Talks from Specific Artist
From Lackadaisycats:
Lackidaisy Construction
Notes on Character Design
From Dresden Codak:
Costumes: The Wearable Dialogue
Figures That Speak for Themselves
Silhouettes: The Silent Killer
A Pose is Worth a Thousand Bio Pages
His entire Design tag, which is good for overall post on comic paneling too
His Character Design list:
10 Best Superhero Redesigns - Even if you don’t like superheroes, each of these list are good to look at to see WHY a redesign is good, bad, and what makes it so.
10 Worst Superhero Redesigns
5 Essential Superhero Redesigns
Obligatory Favorite Design List
John K’s 4 part character design talk in animation (and sequential art in general). Part discussion, part opinion pieces:
The Character Design Fallacy (”DESIGN IS THE WHOLE PICTURE AND STORY, NOT JUST THE CHARACTERS”)
Primer (Explaining the elements of a good design)
Layout Artist with Versatility, Conservatism, Style, & Control (how layouts & character design interact with one another)
Tex Avery (an example: as Tex Avery’s animators changed over the years, so did quality of character design)
John K. also has a TON of other stuff on both character design and animation in general, and while he’s quite opinionated, all of his post are fascinating reads. Here’s a few others on Character Design specifically:
Not on Model, but generally on model
Character Design as a Job vs. Character Design for an Animated Show
What Makes Lasting “Iconic” Characters?
General Tutorials & Guides on Character Design
Thoughts on Character Design by Wouter Tulp. He talks mostly about the process of creating a design.
Unique character design tips - Simple, quick, and to the point (with very good points).
3 Tips to Unique Character Design by raindropmemory - Three simple ideas on how to vary things up.
5 Tips for Character Design by winrie - Very cute, more like a design process then a tip list but still good to look at.
Character Design Tips by digi-fish - a nice glaze over of character design.
Character Design: an Introduction by elephantwendigo
Character Design Tutorial by miss-dutch - While not as in-dept as it could be, I would still call it pretty darn coherent and another good tutorial that covers all the basics.
Character Design Tutorial by mademoiselle-nuit - a tutorial that mainly focuses on how the design relates to the character.
Basic Character Design Tutorial by ky-nim - good start-up tutorial that’s simple but will definitely help you out if you’re starting off. Done with Pokemon Gijinkas.
Character Design Tutorial by MarionetteDolly. Another simple one that will introduce you the fundamentals.
Character Design Tutorial by NuttyNuti - In deph tutorial, especially good for fandoms.
Color Design Tutorial by i-moosker - Mainly on color and how you can use it on your oc.
Colors Tutorial by ranoartwork - Very short, but has a good idea.
Character Design Tutorial by noriy - Quick design thought process.
Specific Things
Outfit Tutorial by primrosemoon - Good tips on outfit design.
Clothing Tutorial Part 1 and Part 2 by minosch -
Face Tutorial by phobs
—-+ EXPRESSIONS TUTORIAL by
Posing and Expression Tutorial -
Posing and Body Language Parts One, Two, and Three
Unique Features Tutorial Parts One, Two, and Three by jeniu
Tutorial: Species Design by JNetRocks - More like a walkthrough on speceis design, helps with the basics.
Creating Original Species by followmeimlost
Guide To Species Design by eviri
Model Sheets 101 Part 1
Model Sheets 101 Part 2
Examples
Character Design References - A whole Pinterest dedicated to character design, with over 45,000 pictures & 331 different categories, including but not limited to clothes (men, women, jackets, barbarians, wizards), various body parts (noses, eyes, body type), various people (old women, young women, teen boys, Afro), poses (eating, drinking, kissing, gesturing), & animals. It also has props & environmental design too if you’re struggling for help.
Locotik Gudie by - A nice example of a species layout sheet.
Old Student Portfolio - How someone took the cast of Wicked and turned it into a Disney animated movie.
WannabeAnimator’s Character Design Tag & Model Sheets Tag
Design a Character
Feel free to add more!
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