Drawing Animal Characters with Human Personalities

Explore anatomy, perspective, volume, light, and shadow to bring human-like animal characters to life on the page

• Introduction
• Preparation
• Designing the Characters
• Developing the Scene
• Final Details
• Final project

Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Bugs Bunny, Scooby—some of the most iconic characters in the history of entertainment have one thing in common: they look like animals but behave like humans. This duality makes for relatable and eternally memorable animated stars. Award-winning character designer Florian Satzinger has harnessed the power of this dynamic to create universally recognized cartoon personalities, collaborating with household names like Warner Bros. and Disney.

In this online course, learn to draw human-like animals, from the first pencil sketch to the finished artwork in Photoshop. Florian walks you through his entire process, exploring depth, perspective, form, movement, lighting, and color. Design the characters that define your viewers’ childhoods and live on in their memories forever.

• About Me
• Influences
• Materials: Analog and Digital
• Lines and Layers
• Understanding the Canvas
• The Reference Laboratory
• The Perspective Stage
• The Anatomy Laboratory
• The Loose Lines and Line of Action
• Adding Costumes and Props
• Key Colors
• Finding Positions
• Creating the Lines
• Adding Final Colors 1
• Adding Final Colors 2
• Creating the Scenery
• Lighting and Shading
• Final Color and Clean-up Work
• Closing Edits
• Drawing Animal Characters with Human Personalities