Digital Portraits: Draw Female Characters in Natural Light
A course by RaidesArt, Illustrator
Learn to illustrate striking digital portraits with a focus on lighting effects, textures, and natural details
Raide is an illustrator known for her portraits featuring strong female characters, where she celebrates the beauty of both women and nature by combining the two. When she's not sharing her work on her Instagram account, RaidesArt, which has earned her more than 360K followers, she devotes her time to drawing characters and storyboards for publishers and studios like HarperCollins and the German cartoon series Simsala Grimm.
In this course, learn how to illustrate an expressive portrait with a strong emphasis on the use of light. Raide teaches you the basic concepts of drawing faces digitally and adding lighting effects, shares her personal workflow, and guides you through the process of creating your own characters using these tools. By the end, you'll understand the relationship between light and shadow and know how to incorporate realistic lighting into your stylized artwork.
What will you learn in this online course?
15 lessons & 19 downloads
What's included in this course?
Meet your teacher for this online course, Raide. She tells you about her artistic journey as a freelance illustrator, her influences, and what currently inspires her.
Begin by creating a mood board to compile ideas for your portrait. Raide then introduces you to her preferred digital drawing program, ArtRage, and shows you the basic settings along with its main features. Learn the fundamentals of anatomy to draw realistic faces and experiment with adding primary colors, soft shadows, and highlights to your line art. Your teacher also demonstrates how to brighten up your drawings with different lighting effects and conditions.
Now it's time to start working on your final project. Using your compiled references, draw a rough sketch to outline your composition and determine the color scheme. Sharpen your line work, defining the other individual details as you go, before adding shadows and color to your portrait.
Move on to Photoshop and enhance the colors in your piece to make them shine. Retouch a few of the finer details, like strands of hair, using a variety of thin brushes. To wrap up the course, see how to export your finished file in ArtRage and share it on social media.
- 100% positive reviews (73)
- 2,011 students
- 15 lessons (1h 56m)
- 19 additional resources (6 files)
- Online and at your own pace
- Available on the app
- Audio: German
- German · Spanish · English · Portuguese · French · Italian · Polish · Dutch · Turkish · Romanian · Indonesian
- Level: Beginner
- Unlimited access forever
What is this course's project?
Draw a portrait based on a reference photo with a strong emphasis on the interplay between light and shadow, while focusing on important details such as your character's eyes and the texture of their face, as well as the overall mood and a natural background.
Projects by course students
Who is this online course for?
Anyone who wants to draw stylized portraits with realistic lighting effects using digital tools.
Requirements and materials
Basic knowledge of anatomy, especially facial anatomy, and a drawing program would be useful, but not essential.
For materials, you need a computer with access to Photoshop or ArtRage; you could also use a graphics tablet to complete the course.
Reviews
RaidesArt
A course by RaidesArt
Raide is an illustrator of German and Portuguese descent who has been drawing since she could hold a pencil; her biggest source of inspiration has always been her twin sister, who shares the same passion. She began posting her art online under the profile RaidesArt and gradually discovered a wealth of inspiration in the other artists she came across in the online community. Her Instagram account currently has more than 360K followers.
Raide specializes in portraits and highly expressive characters. Since graduating with a degree in comprehensive design, she has collaborated on projects for both individuals and companies, including the publishing house HarperCollins and the animated television series Simsala Grimm.
Content
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U1
Introduction
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About Me
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Inspirations
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U2
Mood Board and Basic Knowledge
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Creation of a Mood Board
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Introduction to ArtRage
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Anatomy of the Face
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Basic Colors: Adding Colors to the Face
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Shadows and Highlights
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U3
Making the Portrait
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Sketching: Composition and Light Source
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Making the Sketch
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Base Colors, Shadows, and Highlights
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Elaborate and Render Individual Elements of the Face
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Light and Textures
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U4
Color Editing and Export
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Color Editing with Photoshop
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Final Effects and Details
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Export for Social Media
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FP
Final project
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Digital Portraits: Draw Female Characters in Natural Light
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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
Each expert teaches what they do best, with clear guidelines, true passion, and professional insight in every lesson.
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Certificates
PlusIf you're a Plus member, get a custom certificate signed by your teacher for every course. Share it on your portfolio, social media, or wherever you like.
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Get front-row seats
Videos of the highest quality, so you don't miss a single detail. With unlimited access, you can watch them as many times as you need to perfect your technique.
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Share knowledge and ideas
Ask questions, request feedback, or offer solutions. Share your learning experience with other students in the community who are as passionate about creativity as you are.
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Connect with a global creative community
The community is home to millions of people from around the world who are curious and passionate about exploring and expressing their creativity.
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Watch professionally produced courses
Domestika curates its teacher roster and produces every course in-house to ensure a high-quality online learning experience.
FAQs
This course is designed for advanced beginners and early intermediates who want to deepen their skills in digital portrait drawing, character design, and creative illustration using programs like ArtRage.
You should have basic drawing skills and access to a computer or tablet with a digital drawing app like ArtRage. A graphics tablet is recommended but not required.
You’ll learn how to draw female faces with accurate anatomy, analyze facial proportions, and use stylistic techniques to enhance expression and lighting in your portraits.
Yes, you’ll discover how to digitally illustrate floral settings, organic textures, and natural backgrounds, then blend them seamlessly into your portraits.
You’ll learn how to prepare your artwork perfectly for platforms like Instagram—adjusting formats and sizes, adding watermarks, and protecting your art from theft.
The course shows you how to incorporate elements from animated films like Disney into your character designs and create expressive, mood-rich digital comics.
Through various brush techniques, color palettes, style analyses, and influencer spotlights, you’ll gradually develop your own unique digital drawing style.
Bellissimo corso, ho imparato tanto e migliorato moltissimo la mia tecnica di colorazione digitale! Grazie mille!
Increíble curso 100% recomendado
Es un curso muy bueno
Un curso que me resultó muy útil , para mejorar mis retratos y plantearme mejor aspectos básicos tales como la iluminación y el dar volumen. La forma de explicar por parte de la profesora me pareció muy adecuada y el proceso que llevo hacia el proyecto final fue el óptimo. Destaco también el uso de un programa distinto a los tradicionales ( Procreate y Photoshop), y que me parece más cómodo para el desarrollo de pintura digital. Muy Recomendado la verdad , aprendí mucho.
Good course. Fun and informative.