Create your own page of expressive characters!

Let yourself loosen up by creating an entire page of people with different expressions, body shapes, and more. While Charly will be drawing digitally, you can do these exercises with whatever medium you prefer, though something that allows you to work pretty quickly is ideal.

To start, you’ll want to warm up by spending 5-10 minutes each drawing as many different eyes, noses, and mouths that you can. Try to push yourself to work from your imagination so you don’t get too hung up on drawing something exactly as it looks in real life, but if you’re feeling really stumped you can pull up some reference photos for inspiration. (We've included Charly's final page of features in the class resources if you need an extra boost.)

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Next, set yourself up for success by creating palettes of skin tones that look great and clothing colors that pair well with them. We've also dropped Charly's final color pairings in the class resources in case you're having trouble getting yours just right.

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Finally, play around with quickly drawing a bunch of different head and shoulder shapes, and then bring them to life by combining the different facial features you created earlier and adding fun clothes and hair.

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Remember to let go of the need to create something perfect and just have fun! You don’t have to show these to anybody, but if you’re feeling up for it, share your final group of characters in the project gallery to inspire others with your unique style and creativity.

Resources

Connect with Charly on Instagram and on her website.
Check out Charly’s other classes on her Skillshare profile.

Explore More Classes on Skillshare

Fun With Faces: Create a Stylised Digital Portrait — Charly Clements

Digital Illustration for All: Discover, Cultivate and Share Your Unique Personal Style — Laci Jordan

Mixed Media Illustration: Create a Self-Portrait with Watercolor, Gouache & More — Maria-Ines Gul

Alexandra Szalontai

Freelance Illustrator

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