Brand: Coloso.
Price: 180 USD
Availability: InStock

Instructor

CJ Joaquin

Character Illustrator

Heyo! I’m CJ—also known as Ceej! I’m an illustrator based in the Philippines. You might recognize my work, most of them are fanart I’ve drawn over the years for various animated shows and fandoms (Miraculous, Naruto, Haikyuu!!, Genshin Impact, Spy x Family, and more), as well as my recent work from Webtoon’s Float.

My journey began with a simple and peculiar love for drawing. I enjoyed the process so much—just sketching lines with no idea where they would lead, and suddenly, there it was: an image! That thrill pushed me forward. I eventually pursued animation in college because I thought, “This is how many drawings I want to make!” That’s how excited I was about this path. Animation school has taught me so well, more in depth about art. I pursued character drawing—not because I don’t like to animate but something else from its essence, is that we can draw moving characters, without them actually moving. Through expressions, poses, and scenes, illustration carries a unique kind of storytelling, and it resonated with me deeply.

I’ve been drawing for more than a decade now, focusing mainly on character illustrations. I’ve worked as a freelance character artist for many years, and today, I’m genuinely grateful to have the opportunity to share the skills I’ve honed with all of you, friends!

Interview

Meet the Instructor

Question 01

What led you to choose this topic or theme?

When I was younger, I figured artistry would be my path, but as I dug deeper into drawing characters, I realized that anatomy drawing can create emotions and reactions if we understand the complexity of its aspects. By studying poses from specific angles, positions, and sequencing each part, the drawings convey a flow of expressions that feels similar to imagining a scene you’ve read or seeing something animated. That’s what sparked my interest the most about it. Additionally, learning how to properly detail with the flow of shapes, lines, and colors also enhances the art visually.

Question 02

What makes your class different from other classes?

As best as I can think of and also what I wholeheartedly want to provide for the students, I would like to approach the lessons in a more traditional manner in the aspects of continuous practice and exercising so they can adjust, importance of observation (references/inputting real life objects into their visual learning) and colors, understanding their uses to apply into moods. All are already very common for an anatomy drawing class but I would like to also tackle deeply into adding expressions; facial, poses, flow, mood of the action. As well as interaction between characters that will make them seem more natural. I am not a very technical artist. Albeit using digital, I am speaking of techniques/complicated shortcuts from various software. I do use less of them. I would also like to share how to work around tools that students already have by playing around with what they’ve gathered. And lastly, I would like to appoint comfort of individual stylization to students by making use of what the learned and tools they prefer. All of this, though, would be simplified into each chapters, sections, and provided materials.

Question 03

Could you please share how you started your journey in the industry?

I’ve been drawing since I was young, but my serious practice started in high school. I entered animation in college and briefly worked in the industry for half a year. I chose animation because, as a child, I loved drawing so much and thought, “I would be drawing a character hundreds of times a day if I choose animating.” Apparently, it didn’t work out so much because I was only really intrigued and deeply into anatomy drawing. I pursued this by drawing my favorite characters every single day since 2013 and uploaded them afterwards on my social media. I drew from fandom to fandoms and I was blessed to gain a huge following and even worked with Thomas Astruc (creator of Miraculous) for a brief time. From that point, my exposure and platform grew even more. I also got to work with Webtoon as the lead artist for the web series FLOAT by Kate Marchant. For 12 years, I have been drawing fanart, and I work as an independent freelance artist for various clients, from commissions to comics.

Question 04

What kind of industry developments to do you forsee, and how does this class prepare students for that future?

Flexibility—so that they can apply and manage solutions and have a better eye for making their illustrations without relying too much on references, with the comfort of their own unique styles, while individual objects in the drawing are clear and properly placed. Characters appear more natural with expressions even without dialogues. The work of character drawing is crucial for storytelling, so they can be used in various projects, like comics, storyboarding, posters, shows, animation, etc., so I hope my teachings will help them flourish and be flexible in creating while they’re in the industry. I also hope that, in the long run, students will have time to share their learnings, whether to teach, express, or storytell on their own platforms in the future.

Question 05

What are some essential skills or "must-have" tools in this industry,
and why?

Essential skills, or “must-haves” I would say, are references or study materials. One would say art equipment, but it would be the second. By simply observing images or real-life objects, staring, learning, and visualizing “how,” “what,” “why,” and “where” helps our visual prowess adjust and apply them to our work. Not only through studying, inspiration for making art is built from references. Obviously, not to a point where one copies the reference exactly, only to where it inspires the artist visually. Art is, after all, created by something inspired from another. Learning is never-ending. I myself collect images, magazines, and books that inspire me, and my skills continuously improve solely from learning by observing references and even feeling real-life objects or using my own body as a reference.

Question 06

How would you define success in this industry? What is the formula to success in your opinion?

While normally it’s determined as to attain one’s goal, success becomes something that changes over time depending on the experiences. As for myself, having to experience a lot of ups and downs so far, success is when it is both you’re doing well with your profession whilst not losing your spark. This industry requires both of those parts, and sometimes we struggle on balancing both. The job is crucial to support ourselves and expand the industry. Creativity is our selling point but it highly involves our passion, inspiration and motivation. Mixing both can drain our energies to the point of burning out and only succeeding in one won’t be fulfilling especially after working very hard to reach our goals.Our energies are immensely important. So whilst we focus on working hard for our skills, we also need to include stepping back and not pressure ourselves, along with keeping our health in check. Push in work, skills, passion, and rest, balance in these and we can succeed in everything.

Question 07

What are some common misconceptions about this industry, and how would you debunk them?

The most common misconceptions I regularly hear in my years (even to this day) are that working in the arts isn’t as valuable as working in every other useful field. The majority of people believe that art isn’t important and not worth investing in. It’s seen as an equivalent of a hobby. They demand that it needs to be sold cheaper, even though the process of making art consumes more man-hours and is made with either talent or years of long practice. Even the practice of art (investing in materials and education) is not very cheap. What people do not notice is that we’re already surrounded by art: architecture, designs, engineering, advertisements, even culinary; technically, everything that’s seen is art. A seller cannot finish a product without a design. We live by viewing images, admiring aesthetics, and indulging in films and shows. Art definitely brings life and delivers messages in a more impactful way than reading them in words. These jobs are only for artists and are as essential as every other successful work.

Question 08

Do you have any advice for your students?

Always practice and observe. Drawing is always trial and error, and always finish your work. Whenever you hit a wall, take a step back and find some inspiration outside of studying. Avoid overdoing it and pressuring yourselves to become better, you will definitely get better. Never compete; art is your unique way of expressing yourself.

Class Details

You'll Learn

References: Observation and Practice

Learn how to use references effectively by observing them correctly—understanding their purpose and structure without relying on direct copying.

Sketching to Lining Characters

We'll strengthen your skills through plenty of sketching drills using a follow-along method, and finish each exercise with clean, confident line art.

Full Anatomy Study: Proportions and perspective

Broaden your anatomy studies by exploring essential details such as muscles, bones, hair, and applied props, while learning how to express them accurately from various angles and in their proper placements.

Emotions: Poses and Facial Expressions

Dive deeper into creating livelier characters by practicing in drawing how they react, connect, and move within a scene.

Choosing Your Mood Colors

Understand the principles of values and color theory to ensure your scenes feel grounded in the right place, mood, and moment.

Shading, Lighting and Rendering

Enhance your cell shading by learning how to place accurate shadows and light, adding depth and clarity, it's so to appreciate the shapes, angles, and spacing within your illustration.

Curriculum

In-Depth Look

Release (Ch. 1 - Ch. 35) : 2026. 03. 04. (UTC-8)

**Class release dates and content are subject to change without prior notice.