Learn from a master in this three-hour workshop by the Director of Visual Development at Marvel Studios, Andy Park. Sharing the wealth of his experience from a 20-plus-year career designing heroes and villains for movies, comics, and videogames, Andy breaks down his digital painting workflow for creating character concepts in Photoshop and reveals the importance of storytelling in the creation of a successful design. Whether you’re designing a character, environment — or any visual element of a film, TV show, videogame, or comic book — you’ll uncover a treasure trove of Photoshop tips and tricks used by industry pros in this step-by-step lecture.
Jumping into Photoshop, Andy walks through his complete workflow for designing a heroin character using the theme “Goddess of War.” The workshop uncovers Andy’s approaches to problem-solving a creative brief and his strategy for researching inspiration and references to help inform the design process. The lecture details how he explores character poses in Photoshop and shares the important design choices that need to be made along the way to help tell the story and function of the character. The second half of the workshop focuses on rendering techniques in Photoshop, taking you step by step through the various stages and digital painting tricks Andy uses in his daily workflow to take concepts through to final presentation.
8 Lessons
Andy Park discusses his career path before diving into his workshop. His path has followed a natural evolution from comic book artistry to video game concept design and finally to leading visual development at Marvel Studios. His diverse background across visual media has uniquely positioned him to shape the iconic look and feel of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He explains how his journey demonstrates that artistic skills can transfer and build on each other across industries, ultimately leading to a dream role that combines his comic book origins with blockbuster filmmaking.
Duration: 2m 28s
This lesson demonstrates a professional character designer's systematic approach to tackling design challenges, emphasizing why successful character design requires balancing thorough research with creative interpretation. Andy shows how to transform cultural mythology and diverse visual references into a cohesive design concept while maintaining focus on the ultimate goal of visual storytelling. His methodology offers a practical framework for both novice and experienced artists to approach character design projects with purpose and direction.
Duration: 15m 22s
This lesson emphasizes why successful character design begins with strong foundational skills in figure drawing and anatomy, combined with an iterative approach to pose exploration. Andy demonstrates how digital tools can accelerate the creative process, and explains why the underlying knowledge of human structure and form remains the cornerstone of compelling character design. Speed and exploration in the early conceptual phases allow artists to discover the most effective ways to communicate a character's essence before committing to detailed work.
Duration: 19m 30s
This lesson showcases a comprehensive approach to fantasy character design that balances mythological research with creative interpretation. Andy demonstrates how working with values first and staying zoomed out helps maintain focus on overall composition and character relationships rather than getting lost in premature details. The design philosophy emphasizes creating visual contrast between related characters while maintaining thematic unity, resulting in a compelling trio that feels both cohesive and individually distinct.
Duration: 21m 52s
This lesson effectively shows how concept art rendering is fundamentally similar to traditional painting techniques, just executed digitally. Andy explains why successful character design comes from understanding the story and personality behind the character, then from using technical skills and artistic principles, such as contrast and edge variation, to bring that vision to life. His process requires patience and constant problem-solving, but offers the rewarding experience of creating something entirely new that expresses the artist's unique voice and interpretation.
Duration: 53m 47s
This lesson demonstrates how professional concept artists blend technical digital painting skills with storytelling and character development. Andy shows that successful character design goes beyond technical execution. It requires an understanding of narrative purpose, the use of color psychology, and making countless small decisions that can work subconsciously on viewers. His iterative process of constantly adjusting, experimenting, and refining while maintaining the overall vision is pivotal to the creation of professional concept art.
Duration: 31m 51s
This lesson reveals both the technical and conceptual depths of professional concept art creation. Andy demonstrates that successful character design goes beyond individual figures to consider relationships, hierarchy, and storytelling within the composition. Most importantly, Andy emphasizes why concept artists are valuable creative collaborators whose unique perspectives and ideas are just as important as their rendering abilities. The final artwork simply serves as the primary means of communication for these creative contributions.
Duration: 26m 41s
This final lesson concludes Andy's painting masterclass with the presentation of his final piece and his closing thoughts for artists looking to design characters for the film industry.
Duration: 34s
Primary tools
For this workshop you’ll need:
* Note that these programs and materials will not be supplied with the course.
Skills Covered
Who’s this Workshop for?
This workshop is designed for intermediate to advanced digital artists, concept artists, and character designers working in the entertainment industries. Whether you're already working in film, gaming, or comics, or aspiring to break into these fields, this intensive session provides insider knowledge from a Marvel Studios professional.
Students, freelancers, and studio artists looking to elevate their character design skills will benefit immensely from Andy Park's proven workflow. The workshop offers valuable insights into industry-standard processes, helping participants understand how concept art functions within major productions and how storytelling drives successful visual development.
Learning Outcomes
By completing this workshop, artists will master professional character design workflows and storytelling techniques used in major entertainment productions.
Key skills include:
- How to approach and problem-solve creative briefs like industry professionals at major studios.
- How to research and gather inspiration effectively to inform character design decision-making processes.
- How to explore character poses digitally while making strategic design choices in Photoshop.
- How to integrate storytelling principles into visual design to create compelling, functional characters.
- How to execute advanced digital painting and rendering techniques for concept art presentation.
- How to navigate the complete workflow from initial concept through final polished presentation.








