Designing and Illustrating Antagonistic Characters
A course by Patricio Oliver, Designer, Illustrator and Teacher
Learn the creative process to create amazing characters with opposite qualities in a story
If you grew up dividing your time among comic books, films, and animated series in which two opposing forces confront one another, this course is for you. These influences are still present in the work of the editorial designer and illustrator Patricio Oliver. He has worked for brands like Pony, Kid Robot, Cartoon Network, and National Geographic Kids. Patricio has published comics focusing on themes like gender and diversity, as well as superhero comics with a very personal approach.
In this course, Patricio teaches you step by step how to build antagonistic characters by defining their motivation, history, and personality. Develop all of the visual aspects for a pair of characters with unique opposing attributes.
What will you learn in this online course?
20 lessons & 23 downloads
What's included in this course?
Get to know Patricio Oliver, his experience, and his main influences. Prepare yourself for a graphic adventure and learn how to develop two strong, antagonistic characters.
Discover how to write a character’s story and explore the keys to building two antagonistic profiles: archetypes, genre, sources, and references. Counterbalance their experiences and interpret them as parallel paths that are correlated with each other.
Create a visual mood board of inspiration, including themes, colors, forms, the flow of different elements, historical and architectural references, clothing, and accessories.
It’s time to give shape to your characters. Discover how to develop each character's color palette, diving into the fundamentals of color and working on each face with special attention to detail and shape.
Then, experiment with body positions and poses. Patricio gives you some advice on adding clothing and accessories, before showing you how to modify the shadows and highlights of your characters. Experiment with color and other final details and bring your project to life.
Assign names to your duo, establish action poses, and last but not least, decide what their unique powers are. Finish the course by creating a final composition that presents your characters.
- 100% positive reviews (18)
- 348 students
- 20 lessons (3h 50m)
- 23 additional resources (8 files)
- Online and at your own pace
- Available on the app
- Audio: Spanish
- Spanish · English · Portuguese · German · French · Italian · Polish · Dutch · Turkish · Romanian · Indonesian
- Level: Beginner
- Unlimited access forever
Recommended software & tools for this course
Adobe IllustratorWhat is this course's project?
Design two unique antagonistic characters that inhabit a shared universe.
Who is this online course for?
Designers, illustrators, cartoonists, and anyone who wants to get started with creating comics.
Requirements and materials
To take this course, you will need some basic illustration skills.
Although Patricio uses Adobe Illustrator, you can also use analog techniques. Depending on your preferred method, you will need materials like pencils, watercolor paper, a computer with Illustrator, and a camera (or your phone).
Reviews
Patricio Oliver
A course by Patricio Oliver
Patricio Oliver graduated in Graphic Design from the University of Buenos Aires, where he later taught Typography and Illustration. His style focuses on the synthetic and the dynamic to create organic geometry filled with color. He specializes in character design, comics, editorial illustration, and product design for character licensing.
He has worked for brands like Pony, Kid Robot, Cartoon Network, History Channel, and National Geographic Kids, among others. He also illustrates books and has published comics that focus on themes like gender and diversity, including superhero comics with a very personal approach.
Content
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U1
Introduction
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Introduction
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Influences
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What We Will Do in the Course
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U2
Concept and preparation
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Why antagonistic?
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Context and story of the characters
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Archetypes and gender: identity
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Documentation and mood board 1
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Documentation and mood board 2
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U3
Character design
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Color palettes
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Faces 1
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Faces 2
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Morphology
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Clothing and accessories 1
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Clothing and accessories 2
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U4
Pose, color and last details
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Highlights, shadows and details 1
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Highlights, shadows and details 2
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Action pose and powers
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What is your name?
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Character presentation
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Closing and conclusions
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FP
Final project
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Design and illustration of antagonistic characters
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What to expect from a Domestika course
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Learn at your own pace
Enjoy learning from home without a set schedule and with an easy-to-follow method. You set your own pace.
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Learn from the best professionals
Learn valuable methods and techniques explained by top experts in the creative sector.
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Meet expert teachers
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Certificates
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Get front-row seats
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Watch professionally produced courses
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FAQs
You’ll learn how to create fully realized antagonist characters—from their visual identity and story to composition, color palettes, clothing, and accessories—using digital techniques and historical and artistic references.
This is an intermediate-level course, ideal for those who already have basic illustration or design skills and want to deepen their understanding of character creation and visual storytelling.
You’ll need a computer with access to digital illustration software like Adobe Illustrator or similar, plus basic sketching supplies like paper and pencil for the initial stages.
Yes, the course includes methods for adapting characters and styles to industries such as animation, toys, publishing, and licensed products.
Yes, it teaches how to build characters’ narratives, motivations, and relationships, blending story and psychological depth with their visual appearance.
This course focuses on creating antagonists, covering archetypes, conflict structures, family ties, historical inspiration, and advanced techniques for visual and narrative synthesis.
Yes, you’ll learn how to apply stylistic influences like brutalism, realistic minimalism, and art déco in designing characters and environments.
Adobe Illustrator
Muy bueno
Um dos melhores cursos de design de personagens que tive a oportunidade de fazer. Muito explicativo e instrutivo. Aprendi muito e me diverti bastante
Muito bom! Só enriqueceu o que eu já havia aprendido.
Muy bueno!
Amazing course!