Confident Costume Design with Leslie Tran

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Leslie Tran returns to teach the fundamentals of costume and fashion for character design. You’ll learn design skills, technical skills, as well as professional and portfolio skills in this class. Students will learn the fundamentals and insights to designing costumes and characters: style, fashion, costuming/dressing, silhouette etc. In addition, there will be a focus on improving the following key skills: anatomy and gesture, stylization, rendering and linework, and presentation and composition.

We’ll Cover:

Week 1: Teacher, student, and course introduction & overview 
– Lecture: Importance of Costuming for characters, building and finding
references
– Demo: Learning design from fashion references
Week 2: Intro to Design Theory – Applied to Costume Design
– Lecture: Applying design theory to your character’s outfits
– Demo: Brainstorming, sketching, outfit designs
Week 3: Shape, Gesture, and Movement – Building Your Foundation
– Lecture: Applying design theory to your character’s outfits
– Demo: Brainstorming, sketching, outfit designs
Week 4: Color, Value, and Design – Extending Creativity pt. 1
– Lecture: Value design, and value schemes
– Demo: Designing costumes with value in mind
Week 5: Color, Value, and Design – Extending Creativity pt. 2
– Lecture: Understanding color and creating color schemes/gamut.
– Demo: Coloring outfits, designing color themes, etc
Week 6: Technical Crash Course – Drafting, Anatomy, Perspective, Drapery – Sharpen The Sword
– Lecture: The techniques behind creating successful outfits
– Demo: Using fundamental art skills and applying them to designs
Week 7: Rendering, Textures, Textiles, Lighting, and Presentation – The Final Stitch pt. 1
– Lecture: Texture, lighting, and importance of material expression
– Demo: Applying texture and lighting to your design
Week 8: Rendering, Textures, Textiles, Lighting, and Presentation – The Final Stitch pt. 1
– Lecture: Rendering and presentation skills
– Demo: Finishing your drawing via different rendering styles and how to
present it in your portfolio.
Week 8 Bonus: Portfolios and Navigating the Labor Market in a post-AI World
– Lecture: Resume, job searching, and portfolio tips

Duration: 8 weeks
Date & Time: Sundays at 3PM ET starting August 2, 2026
Skill level: All skill levels welcome
Tiers: 12 Critique spots, unlimited spectator
Critique Students:
 Will have recorded video reviews of their homework/classwork in addition
 Welcome to ask me questions throughout the week
 Class participation is heavily encouraged
Spectator Students:
 Will have access to weekly office hours.
 Welcome to ask questions on discord (I will answer when I can), and email
me as well.
 Class participation is mildly encouraged. But heavily encouraged to do
homework/classwork
Format: 4-5 hour live class with combination of lectures, demos, and feedback. Recordings will be provided within ~2 days of each class.
Office Hours
– Every week, there will be a time block where ANY student can have a 1 on 1 with the instructor.
Materials: Any digital or traditional mediums. Paintovers will be done digitally.