Character Design Concept Art Masterclass by Giorgio Baroni

A step-by-step masterclass that walks you through the entire process of designing and concepting a professional character. You’ll learn how to plan your brief, use reference effectively, and build a character from thumbnails to a final polished render using industry-standard workflows.

🎯 What you’ll learn

• Plan and interpret a character design brief
• Create effective moodboards and use reference images
• Apply shape language and color theory to character design
• Develop thumbnails and refine them into detailed sketches
• Design costumes, props, and weapons with function in mind
• Render a final character with professional lighting and materials

✅ Requirements

• Skills: Basic understanding of drawing and digital painting
• Tools: Photoshop, drawing tablet
• Hardware: Minimum 8GB RAM, dedicated GPU recommended

📝 Description

This isn’t just another “paint a pretty picture” course. Giorgio Baroni breaks down the actual decision-making process behind professional character design. You’ll learn why certain shapes work, how to guide the viewer’s eye, and when to stop adding details.

The course focuses on building a repeatable workflow. You’ll start by reading a brief and gathering reference, then move into thumbnails and shape language. From there, you’ll tackle costume design, props, and color theory before finishing with a full render. Each step builds on the last, so you’re never guessing what to do next.

Giorgio also covers practical stuff like brush economy and layer management — the kind of efficiency tricks that save hours on real projects. And because this is a masterclass, you get all the custom brushes and assets he uses during the lessons.

🧑‍🎓 Who this course is for

• Aspiring concept artists who want a complete character design workflow
• Illustrators looking to move into game or film character work
• Artists who understand the basics but want to level up their design thinking

🧑‍🏫 About the Author

Giorgio Baroni is a character concept artist with over a decade of experience. He’s worked at Blur Studio and The Coalition, where he contributed to the Gears of War franchise. He also has five years of experience teaching game concept art, so he knows how to explain complex ideas clearly.

🏁 Final Result

• A fully designed and rendered character concept, from initial brief to final polished artwork, ready for a professional portfolio.