Introduction to Concept Art For Expressive Character Design

Learn to create a lively original character from start to finish by exploring the fundamentals of color, light, and design “When you learn to see the world in terms of light, color, and design, it’s hard not to be inspired” says concept designer, illustrator, and NFT artist Sammy Khalid – better known as ‘Chigg’. He believes that drawing, painting, and design are visual representations of how much you observe in the world around you, and views his creative process as an evolution. Most of Chigg’s work involves designing for film, TV, and animation, in both 2D and 3D, for clients including Warner Bros, Disney, Riot Games, and Netflix.

In this course, he teaches you the industry-tested processes and techniques that he has used as part of his creative and professional practice for years. Learn the fundamentals of research, painting, and design for character creation using image editing software. Develop the skills and confidence to design your own unique character.

What will you learn in this online course? Meet concept designer, illustrator, and NFT artist, Sammy Khalid – aka Chigg. Hear about his career and background, how he became a professional artist, and the lessons he’s learned along the way. He also shares the key artists that have influenced him and shaped his understanding of his artwork

Familiarize yourself with the fundamentals of painting and design. Chigg starts by teaching you about the principles of light and basic color theory by studying a famous painting. Then learn some valuable design principles such as composition and shape design. Discover how Chigg achieves dynamic figures through gesture drawing, before exploring the cornerstone of successful design: research.

Begin the production of your character as Chigg breaks down the design process step by step. First, capture the pose and proportions, then sketch the volumes that make up the character to give your character a 3D feel. Move onto refining the look of your character including the face, clothes, props, and finer details. Solidify your design with clean lineart that acts as the foundation for the painting process.

Use the fundamentals learned earlier in the course as a strategy for the painting process. Chigg guides you through different approaches and tools for creating masks, then see how to use them to add flat colors. Create realism in your character through lighting, shadow, highlights, and material texture.

Chigg shares techniques for unifying the painting and working on the finishing details. End the course by seeing how to finalize your design ready for presentation, covering processes such as color grading and sharpening.

What is this course’s project? Design your own original character exploring principles of color, light, and design.

Who is this online course for? This course is for anyone interested in character design and digital painting.

Requirements and materials

To take this course you need some basic knowledge of image editing software such as Photoshop.

In terms of materials, you will need access to a device with image software installed. It is also recommended that you have access to a graphics tablet or screen tablet, and PureRef. However these are not essential.