Pink workshop sign with paint splatters, scissors, and tools surrounding the text 'WORKSHOP' in bold pink letters.
Character Design: Driving The Story Character Design: Driving The Story
Sold out
Character Design: Driving The Story
$25.00

The Character Design: Driving The Story workshop at The Art Club is open to all all-levels students and focuses on how to design characters with clear personality, emotion, and narrative purpose. 

By grounding every design choice in the story, you will develop the ability to create characters that feel intentional, expressive, and believable. You will learn how professional artists use narrative to guide shape language, acting choices, and visual clarity so characters do more than look appealing. They communicate who they are.

By the end of the workshop, you will have strengthened your ability to:

  • Design a character based on story, not surface aesthetics

  • Translate story moments into readable, emotionally grounded drawings

What You’ll Make: A character design that is visually appealing and tells a compelling story.

CHARACTER DESIGN: DRIVING THE STORY

The Character Design: Driving The Story workshop at The Art Club is open to all all-levels students and focuses on how to design characters with clear personality, emotion, and narrative purpose. 

By grounding every design choice in the story, you will develop the ability to create characters that feel intentional, expressive, and believable. You will learn how professional artists use narrative to guide shape language, acting choices, and visual clarity so characters do more than look appealing. They communicate who they are.

By the end of the workshop, you will have strengthened your ability to:

  • Design a character based on story, not surface aesthetics

  • Translate story moments into readable, emotionally grounded drawings

What You’ll Make: A character design that is visually appealing and tells a compelling story.

Icon of a calendar with a square grid on a dark background.
Clock showing 10:10 on a dark background.
Map location icon with a white pin on a gray background.

Dates
-

Time
6:00 - 9:00PM PST

Location
The Art Club - Google Meet

Black and white cartoon of a robot face with round eyes and a smile.
A pink rectangular label with the word 'FORMAT' in white capital letters, with horizontal lines extending from both sides.

FORMAT

  • Class meets on Google Meet

  • Class recording available for 1 full year

  • The class enrollment is limited to a maximum of 50 seats.

Pink banner with the word 'FACULTY' in white text.
Black and white cartoon sketch of a man with glasses, a beard, and styled hair, labeled as Scott Epstein.

THE FACULTY

Scott Epstein is a Los Angeles based Visual Development Artist & Character Designer with 8+ years of experience in the animation industry. Scott has worked for such studios as: Sony Pictures Animation, Warner Animation Group, Warner Brothers Animation, Dreamworks TV, Netflix, Titmouse, Disney Jr., Oddbot, Wild Canary, Blue Zoo & more.

Scott is a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University's School of Drama, with a BFA in Scenic & Costume Design for Theatre, Film, & Television. Scott’s greatest achievement is being in the top .01% of Barbra Streisand listeners on Spotify.

You can see more of his work at: www.scottepsteindesign.com

Animated scene of a wedding in the rain with a bride holding a dog, surrounded by wedding guests with umbrellas and a church in the background.
Illustration of a king with a large beard and crown, surrounded by guards, featuring a banner with the text 'The King'.
Illustration of a princess looking at herself in a mirror with a worried expression, surrounded by sketches and different emotional expressions, with a title that reads 'The Princess'.
Animated scene of a queen with dark hair in a purple dress and a crown, holding a red gemstone, with four women dressed in dark robes and pointy hoods bowing before her, one woman pouring purple liquid from a pitcher into a cup.
Four animated monks in brown robes, each with different facial expressions and gestures, standing against a plain background.
Animated character of a man wearing a yellow sports jersey with the number 23, purple hat, beige shorts, and purple shoes, depicted in three different poses with a basketball.
Illustration of multiple cats in various humorous poses and expressions, some lying on furniture or on the floor, one sitting on an ornate chair, and one swimming in a fishbowl on a table.
Three animated women enjoying a celebration at a table with drinks, wearing colorful and stylish outfits, with one woman raising a glass and smiling broadly, another making a unimpressed face, and the third resting her chin on her hand.
Cartoon illustration of two women in a glamorous setting. One woman is standing with blonde hair, wearing a teal dress, next to a black cat. The other woman, with big curly hair, is sitting on a sofa, applying makeup, wearing a purple dress and a whi
A cartoon spider character wearing a witch hat and cloak, standing on a web with a spooky background of hanging lanterns.
A collection of animated characters dressed as scouts, including boys and an older man, engaging in various cheerful and expressive poses around a small table with a feather quill on a stand.
Two animated girls standing side by side, each holding a pink flip phone. One girl has dark skin, long white hair, purple lipstick, and a purple outfit with a purple bag and high heels. The other girl has light skin, black hair with pink streaks, and
A cartoon elderly woman with glasses, gray hair, and a yellow shirt holding a tray with a milkshake topped with whipped cream and a cherry, a burger, and fries. She wears beige pants, purple socks, and pink sneakers.
A cartoon depiction of a winged monkey with curly orange hair, purple skin, and a cigar in its mouth, sitting with legs crossed and holding a smartphone, with a cigar smoke rising and a small shadow beneath.
An illustrated scene from the fairy tale Snow Queen featuring two characters, one dressed as a queen with a crown and a yellow gown, and the other as an older man with a pink hat, a gray beard, and a white beard, standing on snow with a faint pink ci
A cartoon illustration of a large white tiger with black stripes, wearing a spiked collar and chains, standing next to a woman with blue hair, a black dress, and a red feather in her hair, against a plain background.
A cartoon witch with a blue hat and a black dress sitting on a broomstick, holding a broom, with a white brick wall background.
Six grayscale cartoon portraits of elderly men with long hair and beards, each with a different facial expression.
Sketch of two characters resembling fantasy wizards or elders with long hair and beards, holding staffs, wearing robes, and smiling.
Comparison of a black-and-white sketch of a wizard with a colorful, finished illustration of the same wizard, showing a cheerful wizard holding a spellbook.
Cartoon wizard with long hair and beard holding a staff, talking to a scroll with a face and wings.

Scott’s Credits

Animated characters from 'Action Pack' flying through a sky with lightning, with the title 'Action Pack' at the bottom.
Three animated dogs, each with black fur, red noses, and expressive faces, are smiling, winking, and wearing colorful clothing. They are holding up a platform with two animated mice, one tall and thin with big ears, and the other smaller with glasses
Poster for the Netflix animated series 'Kung Fu Panda: The Dragon Knight,' featuring characters from the movie, with martial arts poses against an orange and yellow background with mountain and pagoda images. Release date July 14.
Promotional poster for the animated movie "Tom & Jerry" featuring Tom the cat and Jerry the mouse in the middle of a city street, with tall buildings and traffic, and the tagline "Best of enemies. Worst of friends." at the top.
Poster for the animated movie "Merry Little Batman" featuring Batman and Batgirl inside a snow globe, with a cityscape background, and a black mountain with a bat symbol at the top. The poster includes the Amazon Prime logo, the release date December
Pink banner with the word 'WORKSHOPS' in white text.

Prerequisites

This is an all-level class. In order to have a productive learning experience for all, prospective students need to fulfill the following requirements:

  • Drawing/Painting software

  • Computer with microphone (camera optional) 

  • Access to Google Drive 

  • Access to Google Meets

A course outline banner featuring a pink background with white text that reads 'Course Outline' and a pink horizontal line underneath.

  • We’ll begin by exploring how story can shape a character’s design, using personality, background, and narrative purpose to guide our creative choices. From there, we’ll experiment with shape language, expressions, and posing to create designs that communicate who a character is and how they fit into the story.

A pink infographic banner with the word 'WHO' in a rounded speech bubble at the center.

Who is this Workshop for?

The Character Design: Driving The Story workshop is designed for all-levels of artists who want to deepen their understanding of storytelling in character design. While some foundational drawing and design principles will be reviewed, the class focuses primarily on using story to guide design choices, posing, and acting.

  • Current College Students – looking to strengthen their character design skills, refine their storytelling abilities, and receive practical exercises to support coursework or personal projects.

  • Professionals – in animation, illustration, or related fields aiming to sharpen core principles, improve storytelling in their characters, and elevate audience engagement.

  • Hobbyists – who want to explore character design in a structured, practical, and creative way.

A pink banner with the word 'OUTCOMES' on it.

Outcomes

By the end of this workshop, students will be able to:

  • Analyze stories effectively to identify key narrative elements that inform character design decisions

  • Design characters that are visually appealing while clearly communicating story, personality, and intent

  • Integrate storytelling into every stage of character development, creating more engaging and memorable designs

  • Use acting, posing, and expression to push design choices and reflect character psychology and emotion

  • Create expressive character poses and interactions that connect with an audience and communicate story moments

What You’ll Make: A character design that is visually appealing and tells a compelling story.

A pink banner with the text 'REGISTER NOW' in white, bold letters.
Character Design: Driving The Story Character Design: Driving The Story
Sold out
Character Design: Driving The Story
$25.00

The Character Design: Driving The Story workshop at The Art Club is open to all all-levels students and focuses on how to design characters with clear personality, emotion, and narrative purpose. 

By grounding every design choice in the story, you will develop the ability to create characters that feel intentional, expressive, and believable. You will learn how professional artists use narrative to guide shape language, acting choices, and visual clarity so characters do more than look appealing. They communicate who they are.

By the end of the workshop, you will have strengthened your ability to:

  • Design a character based on story, not surface aesthetics

  • Translate story moments into readable, emotionally grounded drawings

What You’ll Make: A character design that is visually appealing and tells a compelling story.

Pink banner with the word 'WORKSHOPS' in white text, black top border, and pink bottom border.

CONDUCT CODE

TERMS OF SERVICE

PRIVACY POLICY