Skills You’ll Learn

Elements of Visual Storytelling

Learn how to create cinematic scenes by studying film and traditional paintings.

Basic 3D Modeling

Learn how to create a basic 3D model in Blender to create a base for your background illustration.

Painting Background Art

Learn how to observe from real life and begin painting different textures and materials in backgrounds.

Color Theory and Psychology

Learn about the psychology behind color theory and how it impacts human behavior and emotions.

Lighting and Shadows for Storytelling

Learn different techniques for applying light and shading to enhance the immersion of your art.

Shape Language and Design

Learn how shapes evoke different human behaviors and enhance visual clarity of your work.

Class Summary

Visual storytelling is more than simply creating a narrative in an illustration. It’s a way of expressing an emotional journey and connecting with your audience that goes beyond words. It’s the experiences that you have gone through and a message from your authentic story.

This class will teach you a method to effectively plan out the visual storytelling of your illustration, and go through the fundamentals of how to paint a scene with a full background with 3D modeling, render characters, and the secret ingredients to tie the whole artwork together.

Class Takeaways

Students will be equipped to create full narrative illustrations with creative visual storytelling.
Skills to train eyes to view art cinematically and utilize techniques from oil painting to the digital artwork.
For those who have struggled in creating backgrounds or painting characters, I will share tips for using basic 3D modeling and the lasso tool for a more straightforward illustration-making process.
At the end of this class, students will have completed one full narrative illustration of a chosen story.

This Class Is For

For beginners and intermediate-level artists who want to improve their work to upgraded standards.
Students who wish to get started with the 3D-modeling program, Blender.
Anyone who is curious about the art world wants to create original visual stories.

Class Requirements

In this class, Adobe Photoshop, Blender, and PureRef will be used, but you can use different versions.
For more information on Adobe Photoshop, visit here.
For more information on Blender, visit here.
For more information on PureRef, visit here.
Students will have to purchase 'Adobe Photoshop' or other digital drawing tools. It is not included in the course package.

Curriculum

Creator

Samantha Sahagun

Hello, my name is Samantha! I’m mostly known as himaeart on social media platforms.

With a passion for connecting and empathizing with people, I switched my career away from medicine and found my true purpose in visual storytelling. From my background in oil painting and studying cinematography, I connect a lot of what I’ve learned from traditional art and films to amplify the visuals into my digital artworks. I typically create fan content for my favorite video games and shows, which has led to incredible opportunities in freelance visual development and illustration and becoming a guest artist in many projects. I have also worked with DeviantArt to represent them in the Comic Creator Connection at San Diego Comic-Con.

The power of technology is so incredible that we can share our knowledge and passions from a distance. If it weren’t for similar online courses like these, I would not have learned as quickly as I could have. After many years of studying with trial and error, I found effective techniques to help create the stepping stones to your progression in storytelling art.

I am incredibly eager for all of you to take this course, and together we can share our own stories to immerse ourselves in different worlds!

himaeart