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English, Spanish, 4 more
French, German, Portuguese, Italian
English, Spanish,
7 more
French, Italian, German, Portuguese, Turkish, Polish, Japanese
David Perez is a character designer who has worked in the animation industry for over 10 years, with studios like Disney, DreamWorks, Warner Bros, Netflix and more.
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English, Spanish , 4 more 
English, Spanish , 7 more
Understand the core fundamentals of character designCreate a host of characters from heroic giants to funny sidekicksDesign expressive, memorable characters that connect with the viewerMaster essential drawing techniquesBreak down complex forms (like heads, hands, and feet) into easy shapesDraw the body and head in 3D from any angleCombine simple shapes to design an endless variety of headsCreate expressive hands and feet that look proportionateDesign clothing with natural folds and form—not just ‘pasted on’ the charactersUse angles and twists to create energy in a pose and tell a storyCreate expressions like surprise, anger and sadness with ‘Squash and stretch’Draw a variety of fun hairstyles from bangs to ponytails to curlsLearn how to improve quickly and develop rock-solid drawing habitsConstruct mouths, noses and eyes using easy, mind-blowing hacksWant to design unique, fun characters like the big animation studios? David Perez is here to simplify character design for you like never before—breaking down the fundamentals into clear, easy steps that anyone can follow. (Even with no art experience!)
You don’t need to be a highly-skilled artist to create kickass characters. You just need to understand how things work and why they work. And you’re in luck! Everything will be covered in this beginner course!
David will reveal mind-blowing methods to create an endless range of heads, bodies, and expressions by just using basic shapes. You will learn to master tricky body parts like hands and feet, draw poses with energy that tell a story, and design expressive faces bursting with personality.
He also shows you simple techniques to visualize and turn shapes in 3D space. This powerful skill allows you to draw characters from any angle you want! How cool is that?
David cuts through the confusion and complex theory, boiling everything down to the absolute basics and equipping you with skills that actually work! By the end, you will be able to confidently create characters from your imagination.
Go from feeling frustrated to being truly proud of your designs! Let’s bring your vision to life together!
4+ Hours of on-demand videos
21 Cheat sheets/guides
Certificate of Completion
Welcome to the course. Meet David Perez, a professional character designer and your instructor today! He’ll share an overview what awesome stuff awaits you in his course!
Simple shapes are the secret foundation to any great design! We’ll kick things off with the “soft cube theory”. This gives your characters’ heads cool 3D shape and structure, making them look great from any angle! You’ll discover how to turn these shapes into believable faces that can squash, stretch, and rotate in space.
Ditch lifeless, flat-looking eyes! David will show you the simple secret to creating eyes that look alive and have 3D form. Make every character you draw look instantly more believable with this core skill!
Plus, you’ll get a hands-on assignment to practice this until it becomes second nature.
Let’s give your eyes some main character energy! Learn how to create tons of unique eye shapes with just a circle and some straight, curved, and tapered lines. Plus, you’ll discover the secret rules of rhythm and flow to transform your designs from static to dynamic.
Allow your characters to express their inner feelings with the help of the kickass team: Eyes and eyebrows. They work together using squash and stretch to show surprise, anger, and sadness.
We’ll play with fun, cartoony overlaps and mirroring to create loads of emotion!
Just one simple shape can totally change a character’s look! Today, we’ll dive into drawing basic noses from the front and side to enhance the subject’s personality. You’ll learn how to use basic planes and add fun details like nostrils or a bridge line.
Ready to make your characters talk, laugh, and shout? David will show you a mind-blowing hack for drawing mouths by thinking of them as a folded piece of paper! We’ll break down how to create smiles, frowns, and open mouths that have a ton of personality.
Building on the last lesson, you’ll learn the simple “wedge” trick to drawing teeth in the mouth so they look 3D. Banish scary-looking grins forever! We’ll break down how to add cool details like tongues and black corners for more realism.
Cheeks are one of the least discussed facial features. Yet just a few simple lines can completely alter your character’s expression, taking them from yelling to smiling to twitching. Find out how in this lesson!
Want your characters to look like they are really thinking and feeling? David will share with you his best tricks to do just that! So much mood and personality can be communicated by just moving a pupil or adding an eyelid. Let’s go!
The “one-third rule” is a proven method for drawing lips that look great. No more wonky or lop-sided smiles. We’ll play with fun lip shapes to make your character smile, talk, and express themselves like never before.
Now for the final part of the face: Ears! Discover a fun way to draw them using a simple “C” shape and a lobe. David shows you exactly where to place them on a head from any angle.
Lastly, he’ll reveal how to level up your art in a few seconds by avoiding this ONE common mistake.
Moving on to build a variety of cool heads! By combining two simple cranium and jawline shapes, you can create an endless array of characters.
We’ll play with big, small, round, and square shapes to give your heroes (or villains) unique personalities that tell a story.
Become a character wizard by playing with facial features! We’ll use the “Muppet Theory” to discover how tiny changes result in totally different personalities. By just moving around the eyes, nose, and mouth, you can get a completely new character!
Let’s give your characters the perfect hairstyle to match their personality! We’ll play with everything from ponytails and bangs to crazy curls, but still keeping it super easy.
Also, you’ll know how to avoid drawing hair that looks stuck to the head and, instead, give the impression of volume.
Wanna design a powerful hero, sneaky villain, or hilarious sidekick? We’ll cover all that in this lesson on drawing bodies!
You’ll learn how to use basic tubes, triangles, and circles to create endless body types. David shares pro tips for using proportions and silhouettes to make each character truly unique.
Probably the most important line in character design: The ‘Line of Action’. This line is the key to strong, dynamic poses, like leaning, twisting, bending or jumping.
You’ll also find out how to attach the legs naturally to the pelvis, place one leg in front of the other, use simple stick figures to plan out a pose, and create poses that look alive and interesting (not just standing straight).
Avoid stiff, boring drawings and instead give your characters life and energy. David teaches how to draw the entire body using just tubes and circles, and connect them together.
No confusing anatomy here! Plus he shares pro tips, such as using thumbnails to plan the pose and overlapping lines to move parts in front or behind.
In this lesson, David breaks down the torso into three simple parts: the chest, ribs, and stomach. He teaches you how to add “squash and stretch” to make your characters dynamic and toned muscle definition for a strong appearance!
Also find out how the combo of ‘straight and curved’ lines can prevent your characters from looking stiff.
Hands and feet don’t have to be complicated! Basic shapes, like triangles and sausages, can completely transform the way you draw them—Suddenly making it super doable! David also simplifies shoes and hand motions in easy, fun steps. You’ll LOVE this lesson!
Struggling with clothes that look flat or pasted on the body? Well, the secret is all in the folds!
David guides you on where to place them on the body and how to make fabric look like it hangs, flows, and folds for realistic-looking attire. Your characters will be strutting the catwalk in no time!
A good pose can tell a story without a single word. In this final lesson, we’ll focus on mastering poses with the help of rhythm, line of action, and interesting angles.
David reveals secrets for achieving this, such as using the neck’s pivot point to make a pose look stable, avoiding ‘Twinning’—which makes a pose unnatural and stiff, and using the whole body to express an activity or emotion.
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David Perez is an artist and character designer with over a decade of experience in the animation industry, working with studios such as Disney, Netflix, Sony, DreamWorks, Warner Bros, and others!
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21 Draw is an online learning community where students of all skill levels can learn how to be a better artist. Our contributing artists and instructors are the best in the world.
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Each class includes 10-20 video lessons that are 7 minutes long on average. Most classes include exercise sheets, assignments, and layered PSD or PNG files.
Some classes include the ability to chat with the instructor in a public forum, e.g. if you want feedback on your artwork.
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