Character Design with Neil Gray
Designing characters that draw from different inspirations purely from imagination is an extraordinary challenge for many artists.
The discipline of character design requires a level of understanding and decision-making and thinking about concepts, shape design, and other aspects that can make designing characters daunting and frustrating.
Neil gray has taken what he has learned through his art career to help you learn the art of character design.
Meet Your Teacher
Neil Gray is a self-taught character designer and illustrator who has dedicated his career to mastering the art of character creation. With a deep passion for crafting intricate armor and weapon designs, Neil has built a thriving online following and a distinctive artistic style recognized across social media.
Alongside his work as an Art Director and doing concept art at multiple game studios, Neil shares his expertise through 1-on-1 mentorships with Huckleberry Art Academy—helping aspiring artists elevate their design skills and develop their own creative voice.
Neil's Socials
1-on-1 Mentorships: https://www.huckleberry.art/offers/ADNkiMXF/checkout
Twitter: https://twitter.com/nrcgray
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/NRCGray
ArtStation: https://www.artstation.com/jazmataz
BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/nrcgray.bsky.social
What's in the course?
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Pre-recorded course lectures (21 total course videos)
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Pre-recorded drawing demonstrations with commentary (3 drawing demonstrations)
- Raw, unedited pre-recorded drawing demonstrations that cover full thumbnailing sessions
Character Design with Neil Gray is a video on-demand course you complete do at your own pace!
What character design is
Throughout social media, many images are conveyed as character design, but the level required for fast-paced industry work is often much different than the polished work you may see on the internet. Neil provides examples of the level required for industry-grade work, which was able to secure him his own role as Creative Director for a gaming studio.
Shape Design
Neil subscribes to the philosophy that everything is shapes -- the idea that great shapes ultimately comprise iconic character designs. You'll learn how shape design applies to different aspects of character design.
Thumbnails
This is where a lot of design work is done, thinking about anatomy, gesture, composition, and more. Neil takes a time-based approach that helps challenge him and ensures he focuses on the big picture of his designs and selecting the best from thumbnailing sessions.
Silhouettes
This is more than the overall outline of a character, but how that character can look throughout various mediums -- whether it's a character in an inventory screen, poised for social media sharing, or to give inspiration to a game development team, Neil will explain how he likes to approach silhouettes that are communicative of the character, even at a distance.
Gesture and composition
Neil discusses how he thinks about gesture and how he's able to examine his inspirations and influences to approach gesture with fluidity in mind. He also delves into cinema to explain how composition within films can help you think about composition for character design.
