Character Design at OTIS: Demos and Lecture Stuff

Here are a few examples of lecture materials and demos from my "Character Design: Next Steps" course at Otis College of Art and Design.  The first project, "Angels vs Demons" was a simple way to understand character archetypes.  During the first two weeks, my students learned how to apply Gestalt Theory and Principles of Design in the sketch/thumbnail phase to get interesting shapes/composition.

Next, I walked my students through my process for refining a thumbnail, establishing basic lighting and value ranges in grey scale, and how to apply Color/Light/Materials.  I went over the differences in approaching character concept art/illustration from a "line-based" approach or a "painterly" approach.  I find that many concept artists lean towards either being a "drawer" or "painter" and this was my way of showing them that there's no reason you cant do both.  Painting and Drawing are one in the same. 

Here is a material breakdown that helps my students understand material properties and complex stuff like transparency, reflectivity,