Character Concept Art for Fantasy Worlds - Digital Art Club (Procreate)

Character concept art is one of the most popular genres of art that many people are drawn to. It is often the focal point of any good story, video game, card game or board art. To succeed, any artist needs to have the skills to build an exciting cast of characters with a diverse look and a unique backstory. Will it be an alluring fire mage who is destined to save the world? Or a dangerous rogue with a sad past? A shapeshifter that hides his elf heritage? A spirit fairy who searches for her soul mate? An orphan born with mysterious powers? There are so many choices where your imagination is the only limit.

This class is aimed for students to build the artistic skills needed for character concept art in a class environment where learners can brainstorm, connect and share their passion for fantasy art. It is aimed at intermediate artists who already have basic 2D foundational skills and have a good sense of how to use shapes and lines to create basic proportions of anatomy. You should have reasonable pencil work. 

Our curriculum and subject matter each week will depend on the group. I like to focus on the students' passion and as I get to know them better, also picking out areas for development where we will work on areas that are giving them trouble. I invite students to come to a group consensus of what character we will want to work on for the following week. Within that, there are opportunities for students to add their individualization to the character which I will help them with individually. We may focus on a particular character (ie. an elf maiden) or do a "study" on a particular anatomy (ie. facial features and how to create emotion) or costume (ie. medieval armor). We work with in different poses and as part of our character build out, we may also work in some environmental detail. 

Initially, the current topics for discussion as I get to know the students will be:

Week 1 (3/17): Foundations for human anatomy: powerful and proud mage
Week 2 (3/24): Head Study with detail to hair and eyes
Week 3 (3/31): Costume detail and magic flare/auras
Week 4 (4/7): Foundations for human anatomy: muscular warrior 

I aim to have each class as a stand alone unit but whenever a concept needs work, we may choose to build that content to the following week. Homework is optional but I do encourage students to add more detail to their character design during the week to share for the following.