Creating Illustrated Characters with Photoshop

You will begin the course by meeting Raeioul, Raúl with all the vowels, an illustrator freelance , editor and author. You will know its history, why, although it is a publicist by profession, he chose another path; and you will also see its influences.

As a course project, you will create characters based on a product or range of products. To do this, you will start by choosing a theme that will inspire the creation of your characters. You will do a brainstorming with keywords, in a concrete way that Raul will teach you. From there your 3 characters will come out.

Next, you will begin your research phase. You will save the reference images in a folder; It will also help you to have the product you are going to rely on.

To sketch! You will see some tips on what to consider in the first minibocets of each character, of various positions and with different expressions.

Finished the sketch and defined your idea, expression and position, you will pass it to Adobe Photoshop. You will import the references you searched for to your canvas. You will draw with a little detailed brush each part in a different layer to easily edit the sketch. Then, with a more precise and small brush, you will make the line again.

Raúl will explain how to define your colors, as well as technical specifications of light and color or external resources. You will create a palette ad hoc for each character, inspired by the product and references.

You will digitize with the pen. You will trace the drawing in layers and you will keep them. You will see how to modify brushes in Photoshop to get certain effects and textures. Then, you will give volume to your characters, defining where the light comes from. You will learn tricks and the fundamental tools to get the brightness.

Finally, you will work on the packaging of your illustrations to present your project, being able to help you with mockups of products. You will add some details like the background, and some typography with the brand name, et voilà : you will already have your product!