Character Art School is an online school for artists who want to draw and paint characters properly — for books, games, animation, manga, comics and concept art. It was built around one idea: most artists are not short on tutorials, they are short on a system. A path to follow, a deadline that arrives whether or not you feel ready, and someone who will tell you the truth about your drawing.
Who teaches here
Character Art School is taught by Scott Harris, a professional character artist, illustrator, painter and concept designer. Scott is Art Director of DAS: School of Art and Design and of Character Art School, and the author of Draw Manga Style: A Beginner’s Step-by-Step Guide, published by Quarry Books. He has worked with Sony, Epic and Oxford Press.
More than 300,000 students have taken his courses, which hold a 4.6-star instructor rating. His teaching is deliberately plain: no filler, no mystique, and no technique taught before you have a reason to use it.
What you can learn
The school covers character art from first principles through to finished professional work. Every course is self-paced video with downloadable material, and each one stands on its own:
- Complete Character Drawing — gesture, anatomy, faces, hands, poses and clothing, from the first line to a finished character.
- Complete Coloring & Painting — light, shadow, colour theory and rendering, in digital and traditional media.
- Anatomy Art School — the figure built from the skeleton out, so proportion stops being guesswork.
- Perspective Art School — one, two and three-point perspective, and characters that sit convincingly in space.
- Manga Art School — anime and manga faces, hair, bodies, expressions and full illustrations.
- The Complete Copic Markers Course — marker technique from blank paper to finished illustration.
- The Complete Procreate Masterclass — brushes, layers and a full painting workflow on iPad.
- Creativity and Fear — the working habits that get pieces actually finished.
How the school works
Courses can be bought individually, or the whole library can be opened with a single membership. Membership adds the parts that video on its own cannot give you: a monthly assignment with a real deadline, and critique — your work reviewed out loud, with the specific thing that is holding it back named plainly.
Everything is recorded and stays available for as long as you are a member, so a busy month costs you nothing but time.
Elsewhere on the site
The school also publishes Character ArtSketch, long-form interviews with working character artists and illustrators about process and craft, and a blog of practical drawing advice. Scott takes a small number of students for one-to-one coaching.
Questions about a course, a membership or an account? Get in touch — the team reads everything.