If you want to tell a compelling story, be it in comics, animation, or even just illustration, you have to be able to create visually compelling characters. Character design is a pivotal aspect of storytelling across various media, including animation, video games, literature, and more. A well-crafted character can capture hearts, ignite emotions, and resonate with audiences for years to come. Whether you're an experienced artist or a complete beginner, here are some essential tips to help you master the art of character design.

Hey there! Let’s look at my process for how I do my more abstract digital painting and portraiture. To get started, I’m using the largest size canvas my iPad can produce at 300 DPI IN CMYK colours so it will be ready to print. In my case that’s either a 25inch by 25inch or a 24x18inch canvas (these sizes also correspond to the printable canvas sizes on printify)

First thing I do is pick a colour palette, I use an app called coolers that generates colour pallets and then I screen shot them and import them as an image layer into procreate so I can create a custom colour palette in my swatch library.. I put each base colour along the middle slots and then pick a lighter and darker variation to go above and below it. I typically also grab some grey scale swatches in case I want to work out the values on grey and add the colour as an overlay.

after I learned about Matte Painting I became fascinated by it and wanted to try it myself. I spent hours studying tutorials and experimenting with different techniques, but I never quite figured it out. It always looked either obviously photoshopped, or overly painted. I couldn’t figure out how to meld the two styles into one unified and consistent style. However, this experience led me to adapt the technique and create my own style in my fantasy paintings.