CHARACTER DESIGN: MASTERING THE BASICS
In the Character Design: Mastering The Basics workshop at The Art Club, Chris breaks down the fundamentals behind creating simple, stylish animation designs, and shares what goes into his design process. Through lessons on minimalism & shape, students will learn methods to infuse more personality & visual appeal into their designs, and how to tie all aspects of a project’s design into a cohesive whole to benefit the end result.
Designed with both beginner/early intermediate designers in mind, the course can also be used by artists already skilled in illustration, comics, or kid lit who are looking to inject a strong yet simplified visual look to their designs. Whether it’s with animation in mind or just to minimize detail in order to streamline your workflow.
Topics include:
The Essence of Good Character Design
Minimalism in Design
Designing with Volume (Even for graphic or “flat” styles)
The Psychology of Design
How to “push” your designs to that next level
How characters, props, backgrounds & color work together
Participants may join as Active students, receiving drawovers and feedback, or as Viewers, with access to the live sessions and text chat interaction with other viewers.
Dates
Saturdays - March 14 & March 21
Time
4:00pm - 7:00pm PST
Location
The Art Club - Discord: <https://discord.gg/TZb8wK292j> Blue Classroom
FORMAT
Class meets on Discord
Active Students must uploaded homework to the Google Drive folder Wednesday before the next class.
Active Student spots are limited to 15 participants, and Viewer access is limited to 50 seats.
Active students will receive their feedback directly from the instructor as a layered PSD file, containing drawovers and notes specific to their submitted work.
THE FACULTY
Chris Battle is an Emmy & Annie Award nominated Television Animation industry veteran, best known for his work on hit Cartoon Network shows like Teen Titans Go, Powerpuff Girls, Dexter's Laboratory, and Samurai Jack, as well as projects for Disney, Marvel, Nickelodeon, Warner Bros, & more.
While working primarily in 2D television animation, Chris has also worked in features, 3D animation, video games, toys, kid lit, & consumer products. He has found one constant throughout all artistic disciplines: The strength of GOOD DESIGN always wins out.
After sneaking into the animation industry thru a combination of good timing, sheer luck, & a small amount of very raw talent, he found himself working with some of animation’s greatest talents who were often alumni of celebrated art schools. Chris found himself benefiting from their expertise merely by working alongside them and indirectly absorbing their design knowledge, thus gaining the art school education he never had. In this spirit, Chris is excited to share what he wished he had known in his early years - the basics of good yet simple visual design!
You can find more of work across all social platforms as @chrisbattleart
Prerequisites
This workshop is open to all skill levels. To participate as an Active Student and get the most out of the class, students should have the following:
Drawing/Painting software (Adobe Photoshop, Procreate, etc.)
Computer with microphone (camera optional)
Access to Google Drive
Access to Discord
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The workshop begins with a focused lecture covering the core principles of character design, including minimalism, shape language, volume, and visual psychology. Chris will break down what makes a character design clear, appealing, and cohesive, in animation and illustration workflows.
Following the lecture, there will be an Q&A session, and Chris will give a take-home design assignment to Active Students.
Assignment: Students will create a character illustration based on a provided prompt. -
Chris will review and discuss all submitted Active student work. Active students will receive live and direct feedback, with drawover notes delivered afterward as layered PSD files for personal reference. Feedback will focus on strengthening design clarity, appeal, and visual decision-making.
Viewers will be able to follow along during the reviews and participate in the discussions via live chat with other Viewers.
Who is this Workshop for?
The Character Design: Mastering The Basics is an all-levels workshop and is designed for:
Beginner/early intermediate designers looking to gain a base level understanding of how to design for animation
Artists already skilled in illustration, comics, or kid lit who are looking to inject a strong yet simplified visual look to their designs. Whether it’s with animation in mind or just to minimize detail in order to streamline their workflow.
Outcomes
By the end of this workshop, students will be able to:
Students will gain a base-level understanding of how to design using the Chris Battle method, and how to inject a strong yet simplified visual look to their designs.
Through lessons on minimalism, shape, & volume, students will learn methods to infuse more personality & visual appeal into their designs, and how to tie all aspects of a project’s design together to benefit the final product.
What You’ll Make: Active students will create a fully realized character illustration, with personalized feedback from Chris on improving clarity, appeal, and design choices.
