In this class, I will be taking students through the process I use to make unique visually interesting character designs.

The core of the lesson is about making artistic decisions. Each session will present a new character design challenge. I will lead the class in analyzing the prompt and thinking about what a design might look like. Then as I draw, I will be taking learners through the process step-by-step and explaining the decisions I make. At times I will be showing multiple options and getting input from learners about what decisions they like best so that the final drawing I produce will be a collaboration by the whole class.

Meanwhile, students can follow along, making their own drawing at home — but they are encouraged to make their own artistic decisions as they go. By the end of the class, students should have their own version of the character, rather than a line-for-line copy of my version.

Some example design challenges the class might tackle in a given session are as follows:

- Caricature: Design a character taking inspiration from a real person
- Illustration: Pick a character from a book and create a design based on the text description
- Style Swap: Modify an existing character design to match a different art style
- Character Mashup: Combine two existing character designs to make something new
- Story Engine: Using the inspirational Story Engine cards, randomly generate a character concept to design