Beginners Guide: Create A Retro Anime Character Illustration With Blender 3D

by Harry Helps in Training


Hello, and welcome to the exciting world of retro anime aesthetics in Blender!

I'm Harry, a seasoned 3D artist with over a decade of professional experience specializing in Blender tutorials.

In this class, we'll embark on a creative journey together, delving into the nostalgic world of retro anime aesthetics. Whether you have fond memories of staying up past your bedtime to catch your favorite anime or waking up early on a Saturday morning for thrilling battles between characters, this class is designed to replicate that enchanting aesthetic. Even if you're new to the world of anime, you'll pick up techniques that you can apply to various types of stylized renders!


My Blender classes are known for their clarity and ease of follow-through, thanks to my step-by-step beginner-friendly approach. In this class, we’ll use a pre-made character, which you'll gain access to both an untextured starter file and a fully textured end file, available to download from the project resources.

Please note that Blender version 4.1 or newer is required to use these provided files and follow along in class. You can download the newest version of Blender completely free from their website!

This class is meant for complete beginners to Blender. No experience in Blender (or 3d modeling in general) is needed to follow along, though it certainly wouldn't hurt! The included "Blender Crash Course" lessons will teach you everything you need to know to get started with the rest of the class.

I’ve also included a handy cheat sheet filled with important keyboard shortcuts, that you can reference during the class and in the future!

Throughout our journey, we'll focus on the low-fidelity and hand-drawn aspects of the retro anime style. From creating stylized anime materials with vibrant colors to accentuating them with linework that adds a hand-drawn feel, you'll learn all the essential elements of this unique aesthetic.

To recreate this nostalgic atmosphere, we'll also utilize layered compositing effects in Blender, adding all the low-fidelity artifacts that time may have erased from our collective memories.

As a bonus for students with access to Photoshop, we'll even place our final render on a real CRT Television for an authentic touch! You can see an example of this Photoshop mockup below!


By the end of this class, you'll be amazed at how convincingly you can transform your renders into images reminiscent of your favorite anime from childhood!

So, if you're ready for a fun and creative adventure, I invite you to join me in class! Let's jump into our first lesson together!


By the end of this class, you'll create:

This awesome retro anime inspired character illustration!



When buying this class, you'll receive:

  • 17 Lessons (with over 2.5 hours of focused instruction)
    • 1 - Introduction
    • 1a - Blender Crash Course (Part 1)
    • 1b - Blender Crash Course (Part 2)
    • 2 - Starter File Exploration
    • 3 - HDRI Lighting Setup
    • 4 - Creating the Sky Texture
    • 5 - Creating the Armor Materials
    • 6 - Adding Freestyle Linework
    • 7 - Compositing - Color Correction
    • 8 - Compositing - Pixelation and Smoothing
    • 9 - Compositing - Color Bleed and Mixing
    • 10 - Compositing - CRT Overlay
    • 11 - Compositing - Noise Overlay
    • 12 - Compositing - CRT Banding Overlay
    • 13 - Compositing - Vignette
    • 14 - Compositing - Lens Distortion and Final Render
    • 15 - Bonus: Using the Photoshop Mockup
    • 16 - Bonus: Class Project Explanation
    • 17 - Conclusion
  • An untextured starter file (Blender 4.1) is included so you can follow along with me in class
  • A completed end file (Blender 4.1) is included so you can check your work during class
  • A final render (.JPG) is included so you can use it as a reference during and after the class
  • A Photoshop mockup file is included as a bonus for you to display your render on a real CRT television (walk-through of the file provided in bonus lesson 15)
  • A handy cheat sheet (.PDF and .JPG) filled with important keyboard shortcuts, that you can reference during the class and in the future
Dev Fund Contributor
Published 13 days ago
Blender Version 4.1
License Royalty Free
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