Design a Character in Photoshop with @JackieDroujko (Ep 3) | The Brief | Adobe Creative Cloud

Adobe Creative Cloud
24 Apr 202405:42

TLDRJackie Droujko, a character designer for Disney TV and other major studios, shares her creative process in an episode of 'The Brief'. She is tasked with designing a character that reflects qualities she admires in herself. Jackie is inspired by her love for elf characters and her recent interest in Muay Thai. She sketches a character that appears to be a determined, passionate, and ruthless anti-hero. The character is depicted as an elf who has just finished a boxing match, exhausted and covered in sweat. Jackie uses charcoal sticks and her own wardrobe items to add personal touches to the design. She experiments with lighting and textures, and after several iterations, she finalizes the character with a villainous glow and a subtle background that sets the scene. The final illustration features elf ears, charcoal hand wraps, and a strong, passionate elf character, embodying Jackie's artistic vision and personal interests.

Takeaways

  • 🎨 Jackie Droujko, a character designer for Disney TV, shares her creative process in designing a character with qualities she admires in herself.
  • 📦 Adobe sends Jackie a box of inspirational items to spark her creativity for the character design.
  • 🧝‍♀️ Jackie relates to the elf ears in the box, as her Dungeons & Dragons character was an elf, and decides to incorporate this into her design.
  • 🥋 She decides to give the character a muay thai background, reflecting her own passion for the martial art.
  • 💪 The character is designed to be determined, passionate, and ruthless, embodying Jackie's own traits.
  • 🖌️ Jackie goes through multiple sketch variations, taking over an hour to settle on the final design.
  • 🤼‍♀️ The character is depicted as exhausted and angry after a boxing round, with a sleek and fit appearance.
  • 👀 Jackie experiments with the character's eyes, ultimately deciding on a more normal look instead of the initially considered villainous traits.
  • 🧵 She uses textures from Adobe Stock to add detail to the character's shirt, demonstrating a technique for incorporating found materials into artwork.
  • 🌟 The character is given a villainous or anti-hero vibe with the use of lighting and color, including a red bounce light and blue rim light.
  • 🎭 Jackie adds final details like charcoal as war paint and sweat to enhance the character's appearance and mood.
  • 🌟 The final illustration is a blend of fantasy and personal interests, with a subtle background that places the character in an environment.

Q & A

  • What is the name of the character designer featured in the video?

    -Jackie Droujko

  • What company does Jackie work for when creating characters for TV shows?

    -Disney TV

  • What other companies has Jackie worked with on projects?

    -Netflix, Warner Brothers, and Nickelodeon

  • What was the task given to Jackie by Adobe?

    -To create a hero or villain character that incorporates qualities Jackie likes most about themselves

  • What item from the box sent by Adobe did Jackie relate to and decide to use in her character design?

    -Elf ears

  • What personal interest of Jackie's influenced the character's activity in the design?

    -Muay Thai kickboxing classes

  • How long did it take Jackie to sketch the initial concept of the character?

    -Over an hour, going through about ten variations

  • What was the final decision on the character's role in the story?

    -An anti-hero

  • What technique did Jackie use to add texture to the character's shirt?

    -She imported a woven texture from Adobe Stock and applied it using selection and overlay techniques

  • Why did Jackie decide to change the boxing gloves to hand wraps?

    -She felt the gloves were too clunky and did not fit the sleek design of the character

  • What color adjustments did Jackie make to the character's eyes to enhance the villainous look?

    -She initially made the eyelashes white and the eye whites black, but later decided on more normal looking eyes

  • What final details did Jackie add to the character to complete the illustration?

    -Charcoal on the face and body as war paint, gradients, RGB split, noise, and additional sweat details

Outlines

00:00

🎨 Character Design Process with Adobe's Inspiration

Jackie, a Disney TV character designer, introduces the Brief series, where she receives a box of items from Adobe for inspiration. She's tasked with creating a character that reflects her favorite qualities. Jackie incorporates elements from the box, such as elf ears and charcoal sticks, into her design. She also adds a personal touch by including her love for muay thai, envisioning an elf character who is passionate and ruthless. The design process involves multiple sketches, color choices, and adjustments to achieve a dramatic and moody illustration. The final character is an anti-hero with a sleek look, incorporating textures and details to enhance the character's appearance.

05:02

🌟 Final Illustration and Background Story

Jackie concludes her character design with a detailed description of the final illustration. The character is portrayed as an elf noble who must fight to save her father's land, with a subtle background that places her in a specific environment. The use of red bounce light gives the character a villainous glow, while blue rim light adds contrast and pizzazz. The character is depicted as sweaty, angry, and determined, with hand wraps that emphasize her physical state. Jackie expresses satisfaction with the final piece and invites viewers to engage with more episodes of The Brief and to try Adobe Creative Cloud for their own art creation.

Mindmap

Keywords

💡Character Designer

A character designer is a professional who creates the visual appearance of characters for various forms of media, including television, film, and video games. In the video, Jackie, who works for Disney TV and has also done projects for Netflix, Warner Brothers, and Nickelodeon, is a character designer. She uses her skills to create a unique character that reflects qualities she admires in herself.

💡Adobe Creative Cloud

Adobe Creative Cloud is a subscription service from Adobe Inc. that gives users access to a collection of software for graphic design, video editing, web development, and photography. In the context of the video, Jackie uses Adobe Creative Cloud to design a character, showcasing its capabilities for creative professionals.

💡Elf Ears

Elf ears are a common fantasy element often depicted as pointed and slightly elongated, characteristic of elves in various mythologies and fantasy genres. Jackie relates to elf ears because her Dungeons & Dragons character was an elf, and she incorporates this element into her character design to reflect her personal connection.

💡Muay Thai

Muay Thai is a form of martial arts that originates from Thailand, often referred to as 'the art of eight limbs' due to its use of fists, elbows, knees, and shins. Jackie mentions attending Muay Thai classes and decides to give her character a similar background, indicating that the elf character is also a practitioner, adding a layer of toughness and athleticism to the design.

💡Sketching

Sketching is the act of creating rough drawings as a preliminary step in the design process. Jackie spends over an hour sketching her character, going through multiple variations until she is satisfied with the design. This step is crucial for visualizing the character's form and movement before proceeding with more detailed work.

💡Anti-Hero

An anti-hero is a central character in a story who lacks conventional heroic attributes but is still considered the protagonist. Jackie's character is described as an anti-hero, suggesting a complex personality that may not strictly follow the moral code of a traditional hero but is still compelling and drives the narrative.

💡Lighting

In the context of art and design, lighting refers to the way in which light interacts with objects and spaces to create mood, depth, and realism. Jackie uses different light sources to add drama and mood to her character illustration, emphasizing the character's emotional state and the intensity of the scene.

💡Textures

Textures in digital art refer to the visual and tactile qualities of a surface, which can be simulated to add realism and detail to a design. Jackie uses a woven texture from Adobe Stock to add depth and interest to her character's shirt, demonstrating how textures can enhance the overall look and feel of an artwork.

💡Braids

Braids are a hairstyle where three or more strands of hair are woven together. Jackie mentions her difficulty in drawing braids, which is a common challenge for many artists due to the complexity of the intertwined strands. Despite this, she uses braids in her design to add a level of detail and cultural authenticity to her character.

💡Sweat

In the video, sweat is used as a visual element to convey the character's physical exertion and emotional state. Jackie wants her character to appear sweaty and exhausted, which adds to the narrative that the character has just come out of a boxing round, emphasizing her determination and the intensity of her training.

💡War Paint

War paint traditionally refers to the paint or markings used by warriors to signify tribal affiliations, intimidate enemies, or for ritual purposes. In the context of the video, Jackie adds charcoal as 'war paint' on her character's face and body, which serves to enhance the character's fierce and battle-ready appearance.

Highlights

Adobe sends creators a box of inspirational items to create a piece of art.

Jackie, a character designer for Disney TV, shares her art and teaches when not making movies.

The challenge is to create a hero or villain character incorporating qualities the artist likes about themselves.

Elf ears and charcoal sticks from the box inspire Jackie's character design.

Jackie's personal interest in muay thai influences the character's activity and appearance.

The character is designed to be determined, passionate, and ruthless.

Sketching took over an hour with ten variations before settling on the final design.

The character's vibe is of someone exhausted and angry after a boxing round.

Boxing gloves were swapped for wraps to maintain the character's sleek appearance.

Three different light sources are used to create a dramatic and moody atmosphere.

Rough and loose lines are intentionally kept to reflect Jackie's artistic style.

Colors are chosen from the original concept sketch to maintain consistency.

Jackie experiments with making the character's eyes more villainous but opts for a more normal look.

Textures from Adobe Stock are incorporated into the character's shirt for added detail.

The character's hair, styled in braids, is a challenging detail for Jackie to render.

Charcoal is added to the character's face and body as a form of war paint.

Final details include gradients, RGB split, noise, and dust particles for added depth.

The character is envisioned as a noble elf who fights to save her father's land.

The background is subtle, placing the character in an important environment.

Red bounce light and blue rim light add a villainous glow and contrast to the character.

The final illustration features a determined, passionate anti-hero elf character.