Fantasy Anime Character Design

Build your visual library by collecting imagery of armor, swords, hair, shields, and capes to draw from memory through steady fantasy anime imagery practice.

Brainstorm fantasy characters by blending urban fantasy and sci-fi, drawing on archetypes from TV Tropes and roles like archer, wizard, brute, and healer.

Create a rich visual library by compiling a word list of medieval and fantasy imagery. Research time periods, heraldry, creatures, and armor to inspire character designs.

Explore six character briefs for a balanced fantasy party, detailing armored warriors, a ranger, an elf with backup mage/healer/cleric roles, a dwarf, a cleric, and a stealthy thief with hooks.

Develop confident linework for fantasy anime character design by using a chisel-shaped brush, avoiding timid, retraced lines, and practicing single flowing lines with connect-the-dots and arc drills.

Block in a character by defining the basic shape and filling it in with a single stroke without lifting your pen for smooth edges. Different brushes yield varying edge quality.

Adjust brush size for large areas and details, use brush economy to speed up painting, and build hair and eyes from a gesture line with a strong silhouette.

Explore the seven fold types—pipe, drop, diaper, zigzag, half block, spiral, and inert—to render fantasy garments. Identify points of support and gravity to shape folds on cloaks and dresses.

Design a fantasy sword using symmetrical halves, shape language, and geometry that includes circles, squares, and triangles to convey mood and create a striking, believable weapon.

Follow a fantasy anime character design workflow, building form with line art, construction circles, and a nose-first approach, then render realistic lips and neck shading with hatching.

Present the final image and preview the next video, where a male character portrait is designed.

Design a male fantasy anime character from rough sketch to digital painting, featuring chain mail hauberk, sheath, shield, and metal effects, using hue saturation and multiply and overlay layers.

Enhance your fantasy anime character design skills in part two. Build on core concepts from the course to create distinct and expressive characters.

Apply a multiplier layer over the existing stack and glaze with cloud texture brush in warm yellows, browns, oranges, purples, and reds, then add a blue sky overlay for atmosphere.

Practice character design using the course's coloring and technique principles with a bone-esque bonus image provided in resources; download, apply techniques, and share your results in the discussion.

Conclude your journey as this course ends by applying the tools and techniques to create awesome fantasy anime art, and look forward to more courses.