Character Design Lab

Develop digital characters for your story with the help of a leading character artist

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Date To be announced

Available capacity 1010 participants

Language English

Duration 10 days

Skill Level intermediate drawing skills

Location Cesky Krumlov, Czech Republic

Price

1 700 EUR

per artist

Status 12. - 23. 8. 2024

JOIN LAB Funding for Czech Artists

The lab is focused on mastering the creative digital process of the development of the design of characters within the context of a story for digital film production.
You are a unique individual. You see things in a way different than anyone else. As an artist and designer, you are responsible for documenting your experience in the world and finding the best way to communicate why you find certain things interesting and appealing. All that has been done traditionally can be done with digital tools. Future use of AI will change the game. Being able to communicate ideas quickly and efficiently is the key to competitiveness. And originality in the digital market.

The goal of this lab is to help you give the digital tools to do just that, as well as become a better designer and professional concerning:

The principles of character design
Digital Draftsmanship
Heightened sensibilities to the subtleties and nuances of the stuff you care about
Using the tools as your digital assistant.
Stronger work ethic and digital organisation
Exposure to a broader array of design possibilities, tools, processes, and materials

Your mentors

Stephen DeStefano (TBC)

Full Bio

How it works

In the residential lab, you will start with characters based on your own project, and explore and develop their personalities, refining how they look individually and as an ensemble. The entire process will be demonstrated digitally.

You will help you explore, refine and ultimately enhance the unique flavors of your characters and how they will best support and reinforce the stories they are telling. You will be exposed to live demos of drawing digitally.

The lab includes

The principles of character design
Digital Draftsmanship
Heightened sensibilities to the subtleties and nuances of the stuff you care about
Using the tools as your digital assistant.
Stronger work ethic and digital organisation
Exposure to a broader array of design possibilities, tools, processes, and materials

Lesson plan

Character Design: A Method and Philosophy
Inspiration from Life, And what digital tools can be used in development.
Live digital demos in Photoshop
Caricature
Finding Appealing Shapes
Shape Language
Striking a Pose
The Power of Gesture
Experimental Design
Sculptural Drawing
Fluency in the Language of Design
How digital film production works, what tools are used and what are the future best practices in the upcoming AI world

Who is it for

The lab is aimed at both beginner and advanced visual artists – illustrators and designers. You should have drawing skills already at an intermediate level and bring your own projects to the lab to boost both skills, workflows and project.

Prerequisite

In order to be eligible for the lab, along with your registration you need to submit:

Portfolio to demonstrate expertise and experience in the field of visual art
Motivational letter
Emphasis on career motivation and vision for a project

Participants bring their own materials, computers with Photoshop and projects to work on.

Fees and funding

Fee

1 700 EUR per artist

General conditions

Possibility to pay in instalments.
We advise participants to apply for scholarships for participation fees and/or travel costs in their countries, as many public film funding bodies are usually supporting such training costs.
The fee covers the fee of the course. The fee does NOT include accommodation, board and tuition during workshops and travel.
Approximate living costs during your stay in the Czech Republic:

- Accommodation at the venue: 25 EUR / night
- Breakfast at the hotel – 5 EUR
- Restaurant meal between 5 – 10 EUR
- Grocery in general – 50 EUR per person a week

Funding for Czech employees and freelancers

Czech Labour Office (Úřad práce) offers to cover up to 85% of the course fee within the so-called POVEZ II project (Support of Vocational Training for Employees II). See the details and conditions here.