Welcome to Wacom Creativity Camp!
Want to create your own original character for comics, manga, anime, video games, an illustrated story, a Dungeons & Dragons campaign, or just for fun – but don’t know where to start? Join us!
Creativity Camp is a free online character design workshop series presented by Wacom in partnership with Best Buy. It’s taught by MCAD professor Lafe Smith, and is perfect for young folks, beginning artists, or anyone else who wants to strengthen their character design skills.
It’s free, and you don’t need any digital art tools to participate – pencil and paper is fine. Join us live on Zoom on Mondays, July 28 – August 18, 2025, from 3:00-4:30pm PDT!
On this page, you’ll find everything you need to know about the workshop series and how to register, and a wealth of curated resources for leveling up your character design skills before, during, and after the workshop series.
Once the event is underway, this is also where you’ll find recordings of past sessions, as well as the workshop materials and “homework” for each session, if you’d like to review or prepare for the next one.
Presented in partnership with:
Check out the trailer below to learn more about what the workshop series will cover:
Creativity Camp 2025 workshops
A free, live character design workshop series from MCAD Professor Lafe Smith
Character design resources
Want to extend your learning? Tips, tricks, and tutorials to design dynamic characters
Where to buy Wacom products
Best Buy is our preferred retail partner for Creativity Camp
Creativity Camp 2025
Live on Zoom: Mondays, July 28 – August 18, 2025, 3:00-4:30pm PDT
During this workshop series, you’ll learn the basics of how to create a character – including finding inspiration, sketching ideas, crafting silhouettes, and creating expressive faces and poses – and will end up with a complete model sheet for your original character! Throughout, you’ll also get expert feedback and support from a professional artist and art school professor.
Each session builds on the last, so if you attend every workshop you’ll have a completed character model sheet at the end. It’s OK if you can’t make it to every session, though – we’ll have recap materials and “homework” to get you caught up, and we’ll eventually publish recordings of the workshops on YouTube.
One more reason to attend live, though: we’ll be giving way Wacom drawing tablets during each session, and only attendees are eligible!*
*For legal reasons, only residents of the United States are eligible for product giveaways).
About the presenter
Lafe Smith is the Director of the Master of Arts in Graphic and Web Design program at Minneapolis College of Art & Design.
He is also an illustrator focusing on visual storytelling, emphasizing the combination of traditional and digital techniques. Smith has worked as a commercial storyboard artist, retail in-store marketing illustrator, and product branding illustrator, among other endeavors. He has a long history as both an artist and educator, and has created and facilitated numerous online courses in Character Design.
Session 1: Finding inspiration, practicing gestures, & building your character’s story
July 28th, 2025 / Live on Zoom
3:00 – 4:30pm PDT / 6:00 – 7:30pm EDT
In this first session, we’ll discuss what makes a good character design, including the power of an evocative silhouette. We’ll practice one of the most important exercises in our toolbox – gesture drawing – to build toward dynamic poses and silhouettes. And we’ll think about what story we want our character to be a part of, and how their design can help tell that story.
Session 2: Using shape language, research & references, and an intro to model sheets
August 4th, 2025 / Live on Zoom
3:00 – 4:30pm PDT / 6:00 – 7:30pm EDT
In this session, we’ll build on the foundation of Session 1. We’ll discuss shape language, and we’ll dig into the importance of research and references, including using mood boards as creative compasses for our designs. We’ll also start thinking about model sheets, and begin putting together the building blocks of our original character.
Session 3: Design details, expressive faces & poses, and assembling your model sheet
August 11th, 2025 / Live on Zoom
3:00 – 4:30pm PDT / 6:00 – 7:30pm EDT
The third session really gets into the details and specifics of our character! We’ll focus on expressive faces and poses for our character, and think about how the details expand our storytelling, from overall colors to hair to clothing to accessories. We’ll also move toward finalizing our character model sheet.
Session 4: Final details, high-level professional feedback, and Q&A
August 18th, 2025 / Live on Zoom
3:00 – 4:30pm PDT / 6:00 – 7:30pm EDT
The main goal of this session is to finalize our model sheets – and then get feedback on what we’ve done! Submit your work for review, and Professor Smith will give you personalized (positive) feedback on what you’ve created so far in the workshop. We’ll also have an open Q&A with Professor Smith so he can give you advice or insight about anything you want to know!
How to design compelling characters
Whether you’re creating a video game, comic page, or editorial illustration, you need your characters and designs to be dynamic and compelling. Make sure to attend the Creativity Camp workshop series for expert instruction on character design. If you can’t make one of the sessions, though, or are looking for more resources, check out all of the great content below!
Wacom’s preferred retail partner for Creativity Camp: Best Buy
If you’re just getting started a Wacom Intuos drawing tablet is a great choice. A Wacom One tablet or Wacom One display can take your creativity to the next level. And if you’re an art student or need professional-level creative tech in a portable package, a Wacom Movink OLED Pen Display might be just what you need.
Best Buy is a great place to get Wacom products, no matter which device you’re looking for! Click here to check out everything Wacom at Best Buy.
