Animal Character Design for Picture Book Illustrators

Animal Character Design for Picture Book Illustrators – Techniques and tips for designing characters with a narrative.

In this class, award-winning picture book illustrator Nina Rycroft shares techniques, tips and tutorials for effective story-driven animal character design. Inspired by Nina's latest picture book This Is The Dog and her Draw-a-Dog-a-Day 100-Day Project, Nina will walk you through the fundamentals of animal character design.

Nina will be demonstrating techniques with the help of her chihuahua Valentino, but you're more than welcome to use your own four-legged friend. With a focus on dogs, our besties will help shed light on the fundamentals of animal character design. 

In this class, you will …

• Learn how to move away from reference and closer to your unique style.
• Explore, experiment and design animal characters.
• Sharpen your observation skills.
• Learn how to ‘build’ animals characters using shape, proportion and placement.
• Learn the art of caricature design.
• Learn how to develop and apply a narrative to your animal characters.

In this class, Nina will walk you through... 

• How to distance yourself from ‘copying’ reference by using a three-phase blind drawing exercise.
• An observational drawing exercise, drawing the front view and ¾ view.
• The essentials in caricature design
• A mind-mapping process – brainstorming ideas for an animal character design with a narrative
• Sketching ideas – in a series of thumbnails sketches
• Designing and drawing your final animal character illustrations
• Adding colour, texture and shadow

Whether you’re creating character design concepts for a book, a comic or a series of greeting cards, what you learn in this class can be applied to any animal character.

SKILL LEVEL

As you progress through the lessons, the skill level increases from beginner to intermediate. Please keep in mind that this class is more about the process and development of ideas more than the finished illustration.

Nina will be using Procreate, on her iPad and an Apple Pencil. Basic Procreate knowledge is necessary to complete the ‘Pictures and Words project for this class. If you are new to Procreate, you may find Nina's Learn how to Use Procreate to Design and illustrate a Bear Character class helpful.

Feel free to use an HB pencil and printer paper to complete the exercises, Nina recommends using Staedtler Mars 780 Technical Mechanical Pencil 2mm. 

Interested in character design? 

Below is my series of Skillshare classes that walk you through the entire process of how to illustrate a character from start to finish. Use this series to either brush-up on a particular skill or work your way through, for a comprehensive guide.

Nina's Skillshare Character Design Series

1. Face Facts: Beginners Guide to Drawing a Self Portrait
2. Face Shapes: Draw a Series of Character Using Simple Shapes 
3. 101 Guide to Drawing Eyes
4. Emoji Me: The art of Facial Expression
5. How to Draw the Head From Every Angle: Part One
6. How to Draw the Head From Every Angle: Part Two
7. How to Draw the Head From Every Angle: Part Three
8. Draw a Circus of Characters: Exploring Body Shape and Proportion
9. Draw a Circus of Movement: Simple Techniques to Bring Characters to Life
10. Draw a Circus of Line & Gesture: Design a Picture Book Character From Start to Finish
11. Watercolor Magic: One Character Five Ways
12. Illustration Masterclass - Exploring Technique and Style
13. Learn to Use Procreate: Design and Illustrate a Bear Character