Creating Characters: Asynchronous
Creating Characters: Online, Asynchronous
Greg Houston
Mondays
Schedule: 6 weeks - (Monday, March 9th- Monday, April 6th)
$350
Students ages 16 to Senior Citizen
*Please note: this is an asynchronous, online class.
Characters are everywhere—in graphic novels, comics, animated shows, video games, logos. The Hamburglar, Fred Flintstone, Captain America, Super Mario, Speed Racer, Cinderella—no matter they look like, no matter what they were used for, they all started as sketches on a piece of paper. Even the basic illustration might feature characters of some kind. Think of a Norman Rockwell illustration—any Norman Rockwell illustration—and you immediately think of characters. From the sailor getting a tattoo to the family serving up that Thanksgiving turkey. These people exist because the illustrator made them up. Whether, like Rockwell you’re working from a model or, like the guys at Hanna Barbera you’re making them out of your head, the basic seed for any character starts with the illustrator. Who is this character? Why does it exist? What does it look like? In this 6 week course, students will devote all their time to characters—from redesigning existing characters to creating entirely original ones. We’ll focus on what each character is about—who they are, where they exist. We’ll talk about costumes, hair, accessories, and anatomy. If you like characters, buddy, this is the class for you!
The class will be conducted online in a correspondence format. Each Monday morning, I will send a prompt (or assignment) in detail. Final art will be due the following Monday by 10:00 AM EST. A critique will be emailed back the same day along with the next assignment. Students are welcome to send questions at any time. If enough students are interested, a Facebook page will be set up for the class on which students will be encouraged (but not required) to post their work for critique from classmates.
Greg Houston is the author of "Illustration That Works: Professional Techniques for Artistic & Commercial Success" (The Monacelli Press, March 2016) and “Understanding Caricature” (The Monacelli Press, 2021)
Please note* instructors are not obligated to critique late work.