Tapiocats

This post was created as part of the Coloso Supporters event. I received no financial compensation; I was only given free access to the following course for review purposes.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8

What did I think of the course?

I LOVED IT! I learnt a lot from Anh, and the progressive course structure allowed me to build confidence and new skills.

I am not a true beginner, and many tutorials online are a bit boring to me because they always start with the basics. But I am also self-taught, and need guidance for more advanced concepts. This course struck the perfect balance between revisiting the basics and introducing complex notions in a non-intimidating way.

Being a Visual Development course, you also learn about building a career in the industry. While interesting, these parts weren't really relevant for me. I wouldn't have it any other way though, and I knew this choosing the course. For anyone looking to work professionally in animation, this course is definitely full of useful advice!

I followed this course over a period of 4 weeks and… I think it's too short to get the most of it! I will definitely go back to some videos and exercises. It's the type of course you can rewatch and get something new from it every time. I also really appreciated the brushes and the demonstration files provided. (maybe I need to chill with the brushes, I've been going crazy with the textures… But they're so FUN)

HOWEVER. I got to follow this course for free, but I want to keep in mind this costs over 100$ normally. Before this Supporter event, I wouldn't have even considered dropping such a big amount in an online course. Now... Well, it's still a lot of money, but I can understand how this could be a justifiable expense.

The course is high quality, with lots of lessons, exercises and materials provided. It directly supports the artist, which is also very important. In a way, I think it could be considered as a cheaper alternative to private art lessons, especially when you want to learn a specific set of skills.

In order to get the most of it, I think it's important to do your research first and make sure the course targets exactly what you want to work on in your art, and that you have the skills to follow the lessons. Some courses, like Anh's here, do not cover in detail the basics of shading and perspective for example. Beginners could then find exercises frustrating and discouraging, which is not what you want from a premium course like this.

All in all, I am very happy with this experience and would definitely follow a Coloso course again! I hope my review helped you discover Coloso courses, and more specifically Anh's.

Let me know if you follow a course! Make sure to use the promo code in the link at the end of the post (this is not an affiliate link). I look forward to sharing new art soon :D

This post was created as part of the Coloso Supporters event. I received no financial compensation; I was only given free access to the following course for review purposes.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8

This is the last part of the course… The final assignment… Drawing my character's bedroom, as a full background set.

This is intimidating but it's ok, each step is guided by Anh, who works through her own example alongside.

This is my art?? I did this???

It's strange, I am proud of the end result and I can tell it's a big improvement from my previous pieces, yet I can still see so many areas to improve! This is a good sign though, it means I know what to practice and how.

Before ending this course, Anh provides lots of advice for anyone looking to work in the animation industry, or more generally trying to have a professional art career. I think it's interesting to listen to, but as a hobbyist I am clearly not in the target demographic. Nevertheless, I'm sure the networking and portfolio advice are valuable! I'll definitely go back to these in the future if I look for freelance illustration jobs.

One thing I found potentially very useful for someone looking to get a job in the industry is a list of organisations and resources for finding professional support and community (ex. Women in Animation, Warrior painter… etc). They are mostly based in the US though.

Anh also gave an AMAZING list of art resources! I didn't know a lot of them and I can already tell they'll be useful.

Schoolism: Online art classes by industry professionals

Feng Zhu School Youtube Channel: Concept-art oriented classes

Animation Mentors: Online animation school

IAMAG Master Classes: Interviews and masterclasses from industry professionals

The course ends on a note about mental health as an artist, with advice on how to avoid burnout/artblock. Anh says it's often caused by having too many expectations and taking yourself too seriously. In hindsight, this also happened to me ahah... Taking the time to learn and experiment was healing and very rewarding. I'm proud of the progress made!

Here is a video of my painting process for the final assignment. See you on Part 8 for my final thoughts about the course!

This post was created as part of the Coloso Supporters event. I received no financial compensation; I was only given free access to the following course for review purposes.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8

It's time to do some character design! Yippee!!

Before starting the exercise, Anh showcased multiple examples of professional character design works that illustrate the core principles covered in previous lessons.

©️ Art of Prem - https://theartofprem.com

Exaggerating features allows the character designer to convey emotions, personality, and backstory through a character's appearance. A design should allow the audience to be able to get a rough sense of who the character is and what they're about. This is achieved through colors, shape language, silhouette, poses, and attitude.

Anh suggests approaching character design starting from the character's personality first. This will be useful for the upcoming exercise: creating our own character design using everything we've learned so far.

She shows an example using her own work. I decided to use the same prompt as hers - a 19 y/o mage using plants and potions to heal people - and started researching designs for my own character.

I want a character who is cheerful and passionate about her craft. She likes reading and is full of energy. She can be messy or mischievous at times, and is outwardly confident but a bit shy with strangers.

I came up with 3 potential designs. I didn't like my first attempt, as she looked way too young to be 19 asdfhjdl. My second attempt was much better in that regard, but she didn't read as "a mage" at a glance. I built on her attitude and worked on a more cheerful and mage-like design for my third attempt, which ended up being the one I settled on.

After cleaning up the sketch, Anh gives another assignment: drawing more poses for this character that convey her personality and the type of attitude she would have as a character in an animated show.

Time for adding colors to the design! Here too, I try to use my new knowledge about color language and color theory.

This is the final result after adding the last highlights and details:

What do you think? :D

This post was created as part of the Coloso Supporters event. I received no financial compensation; I was only given free access to the following course for review purposes.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8

This week has been a bit rough... The posting schedule for Part 6 will probably be slightly delayed.

I still managed to follow the next lessons in the course when I felt better. I think this is where things get serious: we'll be learning background and character design basics.

Anh's explanations are very much oriented towards the animation industry. Most of the principles here are, as I've said in previous posts, useful across all visual media. But her background in animation makes this section quite valuable for anyone looking to start a career in the industry.

As always, we can rely on the Big / Medium / Small method to build an animation background. And just like with prop design, shapes and colors do a lot of the heavy lifting in conveying information about a location. Of course, the perspective has to make sense too.

This might sound like a lot, but it doesn't feel as daunting as it used to for me. The exercises throughout the course have kind of already broken down all the steps that go into designing a full background, and noticing that change in confidence is really exciting!

Anyway, before getting into the next assignment, Anh shares some of her experience working in the animation industry; more specifically the differences between Union and non-Union studios. This isn't really relevant to me personally, being non-American and not planning to work in animation professionally. But I still appreciated getting a look at how the industry works over there, and I think it could be really helpful for someone just starting out their career.

Now, it's time to paint organic elements!

I added more leafy details, and voilà! :D

The same process can be applied to clouds.

Anh really encourages experimenting and embracing imperfections when drawing organic shapes. That said, I think it's still important to not get too wild with it. Keeping the volumes of the object in mind while adding highlights just makes the whole thing easier in my opinion.

On another note, I REALLY like the brushes provided with the course's files. I started using them progressively and they all have such nice textures. I'll definitely keep them around after the course ends.

My favorites might be the "Brayer Kyle 1" (it changes hues!), the "Line brush" and the "Oil_01".

This post was created as part of the Coloso Supporters event. I received no financial compensation; I was only given free access to the following course for review purposes.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8

This session will introduce color theory! But before that, Anh takes a moment to talk about "The Art of imperfection".

Imperfection is essentially a way to make your art feel closer to your audience.

It can feel like giving a back story to objects sometimes. It's pretty fun! I already try to do this in my art, and it was nice to see how a professional uses this concept.

While Anh (and most other artists I know) draws her line-art on a separate layer over her draft, I personally like cleaning up the draft until it becomes a line-art, all on the same layer. I like how the general energy and imperfections are transferred from the draft to the final piece with this process.

Now, onto color theory. Anh's explanations are in-depth without being overwhelming. It's definitely one of the better guides I've had the chance to watch online!

She showed different ways to practice and experiment with color theory. For example:

Using a main color that evokes a feeling opposite to the mood of the piece (red for peace and quiet, blue for dynamism, black for lightness...)

Painting with big hue variations to create contrast, while keeping value differences minimal

While I might not have the time to try them all right now, I definitely would like to revisit these ideas in my next artworks.

Then comes study time. To be honest, mine did not turn out how I expected.

I'll try practicing different ways to influence mood using a reference photo thanks to her example.

Finally, it was time to color the dresser using all the knowledge accumulated so far!

How did I do?

This post was created as part of the Coloso Supporters event. I received no financial compensation; I was only given free access to the following course for review purposes.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8

The next lesson is all about designing appealing props! I warmed up with a nice exercise about transforming simple shapes into intelligible drawings. Doodling with a purpose!

I remember doing this when I was bored at school... It's pretty fun doing it again with a better understanding of what to look for. It's a great way to loosen up, and I think with time I'll get more creative with my designs thanks to this exercise.

I really needed this lesson. I've been so clueless this whole time. I can't believe it. Prop design is as important as the characters or art style.

Anyway, Anh demonstrates how she would design a "plant witch's" dresser using what has been showcased before, like the Big / Medium / Small principle. I decided to use the same prompt and make my own version.

I think I did pretty well. It definitely has more personality than what I could have drawn before, and I had a lot more fun doing it too.

In addition to prop design, there was also a quick reminder on how to set up and use a perspective grid. I'm personally comfortable using Procreate's assisted perspective tool for now, but it feels a bit limited sometimes. So the "perspective brushes" (which can be downloaded with the course materials) are a welcome addition.

All in all, these were eye-opening lessons. It feels good to understand why my backgrounds never felt quite right... Something new to include in my next pieces!

This post was created as part of the Coloso Supporters event. I received no financial compensation; I was only given free access to the following course for review purposes.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8

The course I chose starts with an introduction detailing all the different topics that will be covered. Among others, i was really excited for these in particular :

Shape language

Color theory and how to choose the right palette

Introduction to background design, set dressing

Embracing imperfections

Portfolio building tips

The Visual development aspect was quite intimidating for me at first. Being a pure self-taught hobbyist artist, I was afraid the course would be too academic for me. But Anh's teaching is super relaxed and fun.

The entire course is taught using Photoshop. This is my main issue, being an Adobe-phobe. The shortcuts and tools mentioned in the course don’t match those in Procreate, which is what I use. So, there's some translation work I have to do. Still, everything covered in the course is applicable to visual media in general, so it's definitely helpful.

This post was created as part of the Coloso Supporters event. I received no financial compensation; I was only given free access to the following course for review purposes.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8

I'll try to share my thoughts and progress over the next four weeks. I hope my experience with this course can help anyone curious about online art classes too!

What are cats dreaming about ?

Artfight attack for @herzspalter and their character Arvatris ⭐ He was a ton of fun drawing and animating !

HD static version under the cut 👇