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Creature Design

with Loopydave & Kenneth Anderson
4.7 (45)
See how Loopydave & Kenneth Anderson approach a real life brief of a croc going to the dentist from initial concept to final polished image. Compare the methods of 2 professional artists on the same brief.
English English, French [Auto], 1 more Spanish [Auto]
6+
hours
19
lessons
Beginner to Advanced
level
LoopydaveKenneth Anderson

Your Instructors

Two professional artists and character designers, Kenneth Anderson, from the UK, and Loopy Dave, from Australia, approach the same design brief of a croc going to the dentist.

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6+
hours
19
lessons
Beginner to Advanced
level
English
English, French [Auto] , 1 more
Subtitles
  • Spanish [Auto]

What you’ll learn

  • Learn about creature anatomy
  • Learn how to create a concept quickly
  • Learn how to go from ideas to sketches in a structured way
  • Learn how to create a clear story & message
  • Learn how to create a harmonious layout
  • Develop your skills in colour & lighting
  • Understand the complexities behind textures
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Description

In this course you’ll learn about creature anatomy, the importance of story telling and loads more!

But the coolest part of the course is that you’ll get to see how Loopy Dave and Kenneth Anderson approach a real life brief of a croc going to the dentist from initial concept to final polished image.

This will allow you to compare the methods of 2 professional artists on the same brief helping you find your own style whilst learning all the tips and tricks from these 2 masterclass artists!

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This course includes

  • 6+ Hours of on-demand videos
  • 4 Exercises (PDF)
  • Certificate of Completion
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Used in course

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What you'll need

  • Digital drawing software such as Procreate or similar (see examplesAffinity Photo, ArtRage, Artweaver, Astropad, Clip Studio Paint, Corel Painter, Krita, Inkscape, IbisPaint, GIMP, Rebelle 4, Photoshop, Paintstorm Studio, Procreate, MediBang Paint, SketchPad, SketchBook, TwistedBrush, Vectr...)
  • Some previous art experience recommended
  • You'll learn more if you have a drawing tablet
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Lesson Plan

with Loopy Dave
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01

Introduction

30:30

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Most of you have heard of Loopydave, a one-of-a-kind illustrator hailing from Australia. Now, he’s your instructor. Meet Loopydave where he will be exploring designing & drawing animals and the process of creating one digital painting from start to finish.

02

Ideas & Sketches

40:05

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In part 2 of Creature Design Loopydave will walk you through the idea and sketching process. Watch how he in a structured way develops to an illustration that will be followed through in subsequential videos.

03

Colour

38:40

Now we have created a design that is ready for us to work out the colour. In this lesson Loopydave will start off by sharing with you some concepts of colour itself and a few helpful terms, before he continues on with the illustration of Larry the Croc, by focusing on colour.

   Exercise sheet included

04

Lighting

30:00

   Exercise sheet included

In lesson 4, Loopydave will start off with a quick look at lighting: glance through some terms and fundamental ideas, run through a few lighting setups and how they might be useful, and talk about easy ways to go about using lighting in our art. He’ll also talk about ambient lighting and more. Loopydave will of course put Larry the Croc in the spotlight in this tutorial to apply all these ideas before moving on to textures in the next lesson.

05

Textures

29:27

   Exercise sheet included

The secret in painting good textures is understanding how they are different from one another. For example a crocodile skin looks different to that of its eyeball or its teeth. In this lesson Loopydave will go through the fundamental understanding of texture, breaking it down to four simple categories, in order to make the textures look right in the final illustration.

06

Final Design

49:00

In this tutorial we will put the finishing touches to our illustration as well as analyse the results.

   Exercise sheet included

Lesson Plan

with Kenneth Anderson
Expand all sections
01

Introduction

01:36

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Welcome to the tutorial! A quick rundown of the brief.

02

Brushes

04:56

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An overview of the main brushes Kenneth uses in the design process.

03

Blending modes & Layers

07:28

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See how Kenneth uses layers to start building up light, shade and colour.

04

Texture

03:08

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Using texture effectively to lead the eye and sell a design.

05

Tone and Value

02:18

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The importance of tone/value to an illustration and how it can be used to your advantage.

06

Shape

12:01

Using shape language to create a character design with unity.

07

Story

01:59

Using story to sell personality and bring life to an illustration.

08

Reference

02:22

Watch how Kenneth uses a reference to kick start the creation process and fill in gaps in his knowledge.

09

The process - Thumbnails

23:57

Starting with thumbnails, see how Kenneth starts to figure out his creature design.

10

The process - Painting

01:10:09

Using the thumbnail of his choice Kenneth starts to paint it up in this lesson.

11

Work in progress review

05:04

Watch Kenneth take a step back and evaluate his image so far. Is it working effectively?

12

Painting Continues

22:27

Using the notes from before, Kenneth continues painting.

13

Final thoughts

13:53

Kenneth looks at his final image and reviews the concepts used in its creation.

Student Feedback

45 customer reviews & ratings

4.7

Course rating

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5 star
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Best Suited for
All levels
The level is determined by a majority opinion of students who have reviewed this class. The teacher's recommendation is shown until at least 5 student responses are collected.

(Based on 45 reviews)

Most Liked
Clarity of Instruction 33
Great step-by-step process 33
Inspiring 30
Showing 10 reviews of
45
reviews & ratings
JR
James R.

3 years ago

Verified Purchase
Let me start off by saying I've NEVER placed a review for anything in my life. I've taken classes on Udemy, watched countless hours of youtube...this course, within the first half hour, heard the same things from other instructors but it never made sense till Loopy Dave explained it. He went into de
+ Show more
tail about WHY we're doing these things and broke it down to simple understandable terms. I was skeptical before buying but im super happy I did. Give that man a raise.
I recommend it for All levels
8 people found this helpful
C
Carsten

3 years ago

Verified Purchase
The more boring stuff like color theory is made exciting by the instructors attitude and humor. It makes one forget that some of the details are really dull. Great tutor. Thanks
I recommend it for All levels
3 people found this helpful
MT
Michelle T.

3 years ago

Verified Purchase
Great class, i love seeing how someone thinks through their process. It always helps me grow in my own vision. This is a great class, lots of great info and step by step to bring you along
I recommend it for All levels
3 people found this helpful
FL
Frederic L.

3 years ago

Verified Purchase
Great course that shows each time the whole process. It's very detailed, with a lot of tips and advice. It's also interesting to see 2 different ways of handling the brief by great artists.
I recommend it for Intermediate
1 person found this helpful
N
Natalia

3 years ago

Verified Purchase
I've learned a lot with this course! Really recommend this course!
I recommend it for All levels
SP
Skaiste P.

3 years ago

Verified Purchase
Great process comparison.
I recommend it for Intermediate
AF
Annaliza F.

3 years ago

Verified Purchase
loved it :)
I recommend it for All levels
B
Bertalan

4 years ago

Verified Purchase
I love it and I got the inspirations.
JS
Jeff S.

5 years ago

Verified Purchase
The Loopy Dave course is the first one I jumped into (haha). Love his style and he's a right jolly chap to listen to when he describes his process. Super happy with my decision to buy the whole series. I'm always open to learning new techniques and reinforcing good habits.
1 person found this helpful
MN
Memag N.

2 years ago

Verified Purchase
Fun and informative lessons, great to have insight into their workflows.
I recommend it for All levels
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About the Instructors

Loopydave
Freelance Illustrator 2 courses

Loopydave is an Australian-based illustrator whose work has appeared on DVD boxsets, advertising, comics, character design, festival posters, books, children’s magazines, but most important as he says: “When I was much younger, on my mother’s fridge door.”


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Kenneth Anderson
Illustrator & Character Designer 6 courses

Kenneth is a professional freelance character designer with 14+ years experience. Based in the UK, he has worked with companies like the BBC, Disney, Tandem films and Axis Animation. He also worked on Sylvain Chomet’s Oscar nominated film “The Illusionist” and the French feature Titeuf: Le film.  His specialties are story-driven character-based illustration and design for a variety of mediums, in particular children’s television. In his spare time, he enjoys creating characters, illustrating magazines and making games.


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Full bio

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