Drawing of a fish

Into the Ocean:
Character Design Essentials

Bringing your own original character design to life is one of the most satisfying creative things that you can do.

This class will teach you the essential skills you need to get started.

Watch the trailer.
  • Class duration: 1h 18m
  • Number of lessons: 18
  • Software used: Photoshop
  • Prerequisites: None
  • Self paced learning

"I've taken a ridiculous amount of character design and illustration courses and tutorials over the years, but this is honestly the best one I've ever watched."

"Knowing all the theory about shapes in character design is one thing, but this course actually made it 'click' for me in a way that no others have ever managed."

Eli Johnathan

(Student Feedback - Into Animation: Character Animation Fundamentals)

About the class.

Through many years of practice, I have come to understand how the application of a few simple principles can transform the quality of a character design.

In this class I will share those principles with you and cover the basics of how I go about designing animal characters for illustration or 3D animation.

Once we’ve discussed things in theory, I will then demonstrate how to apply this knowledge whilst designing a number of unique tropical fish characters.

By following along with the demonstrations and creating your own unique fish characters, you will gain valuable knowledge which can be applied to any other character design.

Selected student work.

Examples of fish character designs

This is just a small selection of the many projects submitted by students of this class.

These examples illustrate that it doesn't matter if you are working traditionally or digitally, you can apply the same principles learnt in this class.

"As someone who has very little experience when it comes to just drawing in general I found this video extremely helpful and easy to follow along."

Cain McMillan

(Student Feedback - Into the Ocean: Character Design Essentials)

What you will learn.

By the end of this class, you will have gained a solid understanding of some key principles which you can apply to your own character designs.

Once you are familiar with the design principles, you will apply your freshly gained knowledge to the creation of your own unique tropical fish design.

Good to know.

For the demonstrations in this class, I’ll be drawing digitally in Adobe Photoshop but this is not a software specific class and you are free to follow along using any traditional or digital medium that you choose.

Ready to get started?

  • Over an hour of lessons
  • Instant streaming access
  • One-time payment - Lifetime access
$30
+ tax
Profile picture of John Knowles

Your instructor.

Hi, I'm John!

Before building Into Animation I worked as an animator and animation director in children's television for over 15 years.

I love animation and my goal is to give you the best start possible in this exciting and rewarding craft.

Meet your instructor