Design your characters on screen and paper with the help of Domestika experts
If you are dedicated to creating comics, animation, children's illustration or concept art, much of your professional career will depend on your ability to draw characters. However, this ability is not unique to those creatives. Social media and online design trends make it increasingly necessary to create attractive and original characters that communicate complex concepts through playful language.
Whether you are about to start in this art or are already established, it is essential to know that drawing attractive and endearing characters requires a lot of expertise. Exaggerating or simplifying certain physical qualities is not enough for bringing your marks to life and for people to identify with your characters. You must apply rules of anatomy, a bit of psychology, and even deal with the dreaded creative block.
We have selected ten free tutorials to teach you to draw characters in minutes. We hope the first line you’ll draw will be the starting point for creating a world full of expressive characters.
Watch the video or click on the red title to access the full content of each tutorial. Enjoy!
Cartoon Tutorial: How To Draw Characters with Personality
The process of creating a memorable character begins long before you put a pencil on paper. According to Venezuelan designer and illustrator Ed Vill (@edvill), it is best to determine the psychological profile of your character from the beginning so that it is easier for you to create it visually.
In this tutorial, you will learn to bring your creation to life by generating a "map" showing whether your character is tall, grumpy, bright, or young, among other physical and emotional traits. You will also appreciate the importance of establishing the time and world in which it lives and how this affects the way you will have to sketch it.
Character Design Tutorial: How to Draw Facial Expressions
One of the great advantages of using a fictional character is the possibility of exaggerating their expressions to convey emotions. This can also help give a sense of movement in the confined space of a comic strip. Laura Ewing (@le_lauraewing), a storyboard artist based in Madrid is an expert in encapsulating a story effectively so that it can be turned into an audiovisual project.
In her tutorial, Laura will show you how the direction of shoulders or eyebrows can take your character from sadness to joy in one frame, reminding you that every little gesture influences the movement of the whole body.
In her course Character Creation for Animation, Laura teaches how to design characters based on shape, color, and expression. Don’t miss this opportunity for learning how to create a researched, polished, and animation-ready character.
Children’s Illustration Tutorial: Character Design Tips
They say that “the eyes are the mirror of the soul,” and a testament of the truth in this saying is that Valentina Toro (@valentinatorog), award-winning writer and illustrator, always recommends starting with this part of the body when drawing expressive characters.
Originally from Colombia, Valentina shares other tips to help you add depth to your creations so they can transcend the paper. You will also learn to distinguish between the main and minor characters in your story simply by enhancing or eliminating details.
Design Tutorial: How to Overcome a Creative Block
If you want to turn your character design hobby into a professional career, there is something you should know: as in all paid work, there will be days when you will have to create non-stop, under very tight deadlines, and the risk of falling into a dreaded creative block.
Don't worry; this lack of inspiration is more common than you think and can be fixed. 2D and 3D illustrator from Monterrey, Mexico, Cecy Meade (@cecymeade), will show you how in her tutorial. Using a non-erasable tool (such as a pen or marker), you will learn to untangle your imagination and create a whole set of characters based on everyday objects, a cactus, in one of the examples. Next time you hit the wall due to mental fatigue, turn that wall into a creative canvas.
Drawing Tutorial: How to Generate Great ideas for Character Design
Whether you work traditionally or digitally, the best tool for creating is your brain, an organ you must keep "oiled" consistently if you want to produce ideas that turn into fantastic work.
In this tutorial, videogame, toy, and virtual reality designer Nathan Jurevicius (@nathanjurevicius) will show you the worlds and characters living in your imagination and ready to jump into reality. All you need to do is stimulate your mind through techniques such as subconscious drawing, an exercise consisting of letting your pencil slide on the paper freely and without mental restrictions.
Drawing Tutorial: Using Basic Shapes in Children’s Illustration
Having basic notions of anatomical drawing is very useful when creating your characters. Besides serving as a foundation for creating proportionate and recognizable designs, it will also help you reproduce characters quickly and efficiently.
Jimena Sarquiz (@monitosbonitos) is an illustrator specializing in children's books who uses a system of squares, circles, and triangles as a basis to draw the hips, torso, and limbs of characters. In her tutorial, you will learn how to apply this accessible method in Procreate.
Illustration Tutorial: How to Create Characters With Collage
As you may have noticed, this list is dominated by tutorials for drawing characters using a pencil, pen, or tablet. However, you can also conceive imaginary beings using scissors. Nuria Mel (@nuriamelworkshop), illustrator and designer from Mexico City, defines herself as a “cut-out junkie” and does just that.
Through her creative process, Nuria will guide you in exploring your artistic potential while creating a scrapbook inhabited by characters put together using magazines cut-outs, pieces of paper, and glue.
Illustration Tutorial: 5 Steps to Draw Poses
If you should trust anyone with knowing the importance of drawing a character with a structured body and position, it is José Luis Ágreda (@agreda). The cartoon artist and illustrator from Seville who art directed feature film Buñuel in the Labyrinth of Turtles was acknowledged with the Goya Award as the best animated film of 2020.
In his tutorial, he will teach you how to represent human poses using a few basic lines, defining the dynamics, direction of movement, and interaction of your character with its environment.
Character Design Tutorial: How to Draw Comic-Style Female Hair
In this tutorial, comic book artist Marcio Taccara demonstrates how to draw different hairstyles for female characters. He emphasizes the importance of considering the flow of the hair and creating big masses of hair to guide the drawing. Taccara also discusses the use of inking to add texture and lighting, and encourages paying attention to the silhouette of the hair to create a balanced composition.
If you want to create more dynamic drawings that capture the essence of their characters, check out Female Character Design for Comics course.
Photoshop Tutorial: How to Draw a Female Character
This tutorial provides tips for creating a female character, including proportion and anatomical differences between male and female bodies. The Liquify tool in Photoshop can be useful for quick corrections.
In the Character Digital Painting: Creating Magical Scenes course, you will learn how to create digital illustrations in Photoshop, covering tools, color palettes, composition, and finishing details. Start producing beautiful digital illustrations with a magic touch today!
Character design lends itself to a great deal of creative possibilities. If you’d like to explore some of the skills offered in these tutorial, you can sign up for any of our drawing courses and learn to illustrate plants, create portraits or sketch buildings in a unique way. Improve your drawing skills and learn with Domestika.
You may also like:
- 7 Online Courses on How to Draw Female Characters
- 15 Examples of Amazing Comic Strips to Inspire You
- Painting Tutorial: How to Draw a Stylized Portrait in Photoshop
