2D Academy Summer Course
DRAWING & CHARACTER DESIGN with Madeline Owen
Character design is a fundamental part of a creative artist’s life. It is obvious that characters play a fundamental part in the art field; well-designed characters are essential in painting, illustration and animation industry and even for certain technical documents. Therefore, it is of immense value for young artists to know what makes a great character design and how they can create well drawn and designed characters for themselves. In this unique 2-week workshop students will learn how to approach the art of Character Design and Illustration - whether their designs are meant to be for animation, illustration or simply to skillfully illustrate a person project assignment.
WEEK ONE
Students will employ the age old practice of doing a “mastercopy”, which is where the artist copies the work of more experienced artists to quickly learn the underlying principles used in their works. Embracing this process, students will learn basic anatomy, facial features, clothing, and general observational techniques.
WEEK TWO
Students will apply these concepts to their own characters, as well as explore ways to shift the personality of their characters and add emotional depth.
PREREQUISITES
This course is suitable for all skill levels but some drawing experience is preferred.
CLASS OUTLINE
Week 1- fundamentals
Lesson 1: We will look at different kinds of armatures and study how they are the same and different. What qualities does each armature have? We will copy 3-5 armatures in attempts to understand their structure. As we are drawing we will hope to figure out what makes an armature successful, and why are they important when drawing a figure?
Lesson 2: We will draw armatures over pictures/hand outs of figures. Then we will redraw the armatures next to the figures.
Next we will look at figures and draw the armatures of those figures based on observation alone.
Lesson 3: We will go over basic proportions of the figure and how to put basic muscles on top of the armature of a person standing straight. We will do straight on and profile versions. We will also go over the typical male and female differences, as well as kids and adults.
Lesson 4: We study handouts of poses and draw them- starting with the armature and then laying on the muscles, which we learned in lesson three. We will go over cross contour lines and how they help understand and describe the 3D forms. We will also go over drop lines and how this is helpful in copying poses and checking the proportions of our work. This lesson will be balancing conceptualizing basic anatomy with direct observational techniques.
Lesson 5: We will copy a character of our choosing using the tools we learned in the previous lessons.
Week 2- facial features
Lesson 6: Anatomy of the eyes. We will draw eyes in different styles from different angles.
Lesson 7: Anatomy of the skull and head shape.
We will draw heads in different styles from different angles.
Lesson 8: Anatomy of the nose and mouth.
We will draw the nose and mouth in different styles from different angles.
Lesson 9: What are the principles of drawing hair?
We will cover how to approach drawing long and short hairstyles.
Lesson 10: The students have the choice to draw a whole portrait, or add facial features to an existing figure(s) they drew in the previous week, for both options the students will use a reference.
DELIVERY METHODOLOGY:
This class will be conducted as in-person learning, held at the 2D ACADEMY’s own premises in Bellevue, WA ~ although students will be offered an opportunity of remote learning as the class will be recorded and streamed simultaneously via Zoom. (Location address: 15015 Main St., Suite 208, Bellevue, WA.) Note: There will be a maximum of only 7 students allowed in attendance for in-person-learning.
REGISTRATION & PAYMENT: CLICK HERE
Cost: $500 per student. ($450 for registration and payment by June 6th.)
Payment methods:
i) Check to "2D Academy"**, ii) Zelle or PayPal to "[email protected]".
** Checks should be mailed to: 2D Academy, 15015 Main St. Suite 208, Bellevue, WA98007
SCHEDULE:
WEEK ONE
Students will employ the age old practice of doing a “mastercopy”, which is where the artist copies the work of more experienced artists to quickly learn the underlying principles used in their works. Embracing this process, students will learn basic anatomy, facial features, clothing, and general observational techniques.
WEEK TWO
Students will apply these concepts to their own characters, as well as explore ways to shift the personality of their characters and add emotional depth.
PREREQUISITES
This course is suitable for all skill levels but some drawing experience is preferred.
CLASS OUTLINE
Week 1- fundamentals
Lesson 1: We will look at different kinds of armatures and study how they are the same and different. What qualities does each armature have? We will copy 3-5 armatures in attempts to understand their structure. As we are drawing we will hope to figure out what makes an armature successful, and why are they important when drawing a figure?
Lesson 2: We will draw armatures over pictures/hand outs of figures. Then we will redraw the armatures next to the figures.
Next we will look at figures and draw the armatures of those figures based on observation alone.
Lesson 3: We will go over basic proportions of the figure and how to put basic muscles on top of the armature of a person standing straight. We will do straight on and profile versions. We will also go over the typical male and female differences, as well as kids and adults.
Lesson 4: We study handouts of poses and draw them- starting with the armature and then laying on the muscles, which we learned in lesson three. We will go over cross contour lines and how they help understand and describe the 3D forms. We will also go over drop lines and how this is helpful in copying poses and checking the proportions of our work. This lesson will be balancing conceptualizing basic anatomy with direct observational techniques.
Lesson 5: We will copy a character of our choosing using the tools we learned in the previous lessons.
Week 2- facial features
Lesson 6: Anatomy of the eyes. We will draw eyes in different styles from different angles.
Lesson 7: Anatomy of the skull and head shape.
We will draw heads in different styles from different angles.
Lesson 8: Anatomy of the nose and mouth.
We will draw the nose and mouth in different styles from different angles.
Lesson 9: What are the principles of drawing hair?
We will cover how to approach drawing long and short hairstyles.
Lesson 10: The students have the choice to draw a whole portrait, or add facial features to an existing figure(s) they drew in the previous week, for both options the students will use a reference.
DELIVERY METHODOLOGY:
This class will be conducted as in-person learning, held at the 2D ACADEMY’s own premises in Bellevue, WA ~ although students will be offered an opportunity of remote learning as the class will be recorded and streamed simultaneously via Zoom. (Location address: 15015 Main St., Suite 208, Bellevue, WA.) Note: There will be a maximum of only 7 students allowed in attendance for in-person-learning.
REGISTRATION & PAYMENT: CLICK HERE
Cost: $500 per student. ($450 for registration and payment by June 6th.)
Payment methods:
i) Check to "2D Academy"**, ii) Zelle or PayPal to "[email protected]".
** Checks should be mailed to: 2D Academy, 15015 Main St. Suite 208, Bellevue, WA98007
SCHEDULE:
Madeline Owen:
Madeline’s years of intense Atelier (traditional art) training have equipped her with extremely solid drafting skills among other talents. From this training, she has created works in many styles -- from traditional and realistic oil painting to digital illustration to stylized sketches, dynamic drawings, and graphic novel illustration and storyboarding. Taking this extensive training and bringing it to young artists everywhere, Madeline is excited to offer her “Anime Character Illustration” summer course through the 2D ACADEMY.
Madeline’s Education & Training
- 2D Academy – Assistant director of Fine Arts program 2021 - present
- Gage Academy of Art - Foundation Figure Drawing course taught by Melissa Wienman 2013-2014； Mark Kang O’Higgins Atelier 2014-2017
- Carlos Madrid Still Life painting workshop (student and assistant) 2016；Steven Assael Figure Drawing Workshop (awarded full scholarship) 2016
- Animation Mentor Storyboard Fundamentals 2021； Intermediate Storyboarding 2021；Storyboarding with Kris Pern 2021
- New York Academy of Art Undergraduate program (awarded full scholarship) 2017