Social Media Illustration to Anime-Style Cel Shading by Ixy

Ixy has 700,000+ followers for a reason — his work pops in a feed. This class breaks down his full workflow for social media illustration, from 3D models and photo references to fast cel shading that still looks pro.

🎯 What you’ll learn

• Drawing bust-up character illustrations optimized for social media feeds
• Building characters quickly from 3D models and photo references
• Ixy’s cel shaded coloring method and anime-style finishing tricks
• Speeding up work with Free Transform, shortcuts, and CLIP STUDIO PAINT Assets
• Using cropping and posing to change the mood and impact of the same art
• Growing your account and monetizing through FANBOX, Skeb, and commissions

✅ Requirements

• Skills: Basic drawing fundamentals, familiarity with digital painting workflow
• Tools: CLIP STUDIO PAINT EX 2.0.0, drawing tablet, one-handed keyboard (optional but helpful)

📝 Description

This isn’t anatomy class. Ixy skips the heavy theory and shows you how to ship. You start with 3D models to nail the pose in minutes, then switch to photo references when you need something more natural. No stiff ID-photo look.

From there it’s all about cleanup. You’ll do line art that doesn’t look traced, lay down flat base colors, then push it with cel shading. Ixy walks through his actual color picks — why he chooses certain shadows, how he keeps the screen balanced, and how he finishes it so it reads as proper anime without over-rendering.

Speed is half the class. Expect a lot of Free Transform, custom shortcuts, one-handed keyboard setups, and CLIP STUDIO PAINT Assets. He also shows how to spot that “something’s off” feeling and fix it with transform tools instead of redrawing everything.

Last part is social. What cropping works for icons vs. headers? Bust vs. waist-up vs. full body? What facial expressions and hand poses stop the scroll? Then Ixy gets practical about followers, reach, and money — FANBOX, Skeb, and what freelance skills you actually need beyond drawing.

🧑‍🎓 Who this course is for

• Beginners who want to post anime-style art without getting stuck on anatomy
• Illustrators who use photos or 3D but their work still looks stiff or awkward
• Artists who want to grow on X / social media and turn followers into income

🧑‍🏫 About the Author

Hello, I’m Illustrator Ixy. I work in corporate design, light novel illustrations, and character design, plus board games, card games, YouTube streams, and a radio show for aspiring artists.

Past work includes character design for Struggle F.O and illustrations for titles like You Can Do It! SE and the Pass! Basic Information Series. I’ve also taught as a part-time lecturer at Yoyogi Animation Academy and guest lecturer at Human Academy. In this class I focus on what actually helps freelancers now: simple, fast character work built for social.

🏁 Final Result

• Three finished portfolio pieces: 1 character built from a 3D model, 1 character built from photo references, and 1 polished practice illustration combining both with full cel shading — all cropped and tuned for social media posting.

📢 Guys, this is a Group Buy campaign, check the GBC forum thread to get access

You can find the course preview in the download section below.