Student work: Danny McMullen
CG Spectrum's online concept art courses offer a complete study pathway to get you industry-ready. Whether you want to freelance as an independent artist, or work at a major film or game studio, you'll learn job skills, master complex techniques and learn to communicate through art, creating compelling work that captivates and inspires.
Why learn concept art at CG Spectrum:
Progress faster with mentorship from respected film and game concept artists, and graduate with the skills to pursue your dream career.
Plan studies around your work and family commitments
Learn from experts who have worked on major films and games
Build practical job skills studios are hiring for
Pursue your passion and start working sooner
Get more out of your education! Industry-approved curriculum, live weekly sessions with your mentor, personalized feedback on your work, plus a supportive online community cheering you on.
CG Spectrum's online concept art courses are a complete study pathway to help you become a concept artist for films and video games! Learn how to plan, develop and present compelling industry-standard artwork, acquire critical job skills, and graduate with strong portfolio.
3 MONTHS
Course summary:
Both concept art and illustration are built on solid art fundamentals, so you'll start your journey by establishing a solid understanding of color, value, and light. Look at how physical attributes affect design choices by learning perspective drawing and anatomy, discuss indirect versus direct design briefs, plus how to develop ideas based on the information you’re given. Apply your new skills to design a character, and learn how to professionally polish and present your work.
Note: This short course is also the first term of the Foundations of Concept Art & Digital Illustration Course, so you’ll be one-third of the way through if you choose to continue!
6-9 MONTHS
Course summary:
Continue your concept art course by looking at how light and color affect mood, before moving on to the creation of stylized materials and textures. You'll find out how to develop an artistic style, and apply life drawing and dynamic posing techniques to create and present appealing art.
Next, you'll learn the fundamentals of environment and set design by starting with perspective drawing: the key to creating solid art. Discover how to visualize environments by building matte paintings from scratch using photo-bashing techniques plus the paint-over method to acquire lighting and perspective information from pre-rendered assets.
Note: The Introduction to Concept Art & Digital Illustration Certificate is embedded in this course. If you complete the 3-month introductory course, you'll be one-third of the way through this course.
9 MONTHS
Course summary:
Focused on career outcomes, the Advanced Concept Art Course is where you specialize and hone your skills as a concept artist.
In the creature and character design term, you’ll use anatomy, posing skills, personality and character traits, plus the environment to inform your designs. Create backstories for your characters and experiment with color, posing and lighting to engage your audience in the story.
You'll then learn 3D concept art, and speed up your workflow using 3D sculpting and kitbashing techniques to quickly block out, light, and render your art. You'll create dynamic compositions using Zbrush and Blender to develop your concept art skills further. Starting out by sculpting basic forms to generate quick renders, capturing detail, and lighting, you'll move on to more complex models such as the human form and environments. Finish with several pieces of original 3D concept art for your portfolio.
Your final term is dedicated to career development and portfolio preparation so you graduate ready for your career as a concept artist for film and games!
2 YEARS
Course summary:
Prepare for an extraordinary creative odyssey with our Bachelor of Digital Art, specializing in Concept Art. In this immersive program, you'll step into the enchanting world of imagination, where you'll master the art of Concept Artistry.
As a Concept Art specialist, you'll become the visionary architect of captivating worlds, characters, and stories. You'll harness the power of digital art to craft stunning visual narratives that breathe life into video games, film, animation, and more. Through a blend of theory and hands-on practice, you'll learn to create concept designs that serve as the foundation for awe-inspiring digital landscapes, compelling characters, and immersive storytelling.
But it's not just about technical skills; it's about honing your artistic vision, storytelling abilities, and the ability to collaborate seamlessly with fellow artists and creatives. You'll delve into the finer nuances of character design, environment creation, and visual storytelling, learning how to evoke emotions and spark imagination with your artistry.
By the time you graduate, you'll not only possess a stunning portfolio showcasing your mastery of Concept Art but also the skills, insights, and creative flair to excel in the dynamic world of digital artistry. Your journey to shaping the future of visual storytelling and entertainment begins here, where every stroke of your digital brush sparks boundless creativity!
Get direct access to passionate industry professionals with years of experience working with major clients and studios.
Award-winning artist Tyler has worked with major clients like Cryptozoic and Blizzard on titles including Heroes of the Storm, Warhammer, Rift, Star Wars, Hex, Warcraft, and RWBY.
Mentor of Concept Art & Illustration
Known for Hearthstone
Now art director at Phoenix One, Bernie created creatures, characters, weapons and FX concepts for cinematic trailers for World of Warcraft and more while at Blizzard.
Mentor of Concept Art
Known for World of Warcraft
Humza has worked for EA, Microsoft, Activision, LucasArts, Wargaming, Ubisoft, Fischer Price, Hasbro, Mattel. Credits include: Call of Duty, The Division 2, and the Sims.
Mentor of Concept Art
Known for Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell
Mentor of Concept Art
Known for Minecraft Dungeons
Peter is a freelance concept artist and has worked at DNEG as an in-house concept artist on diverse projects for film and TV. He has a particular passion for designing dark horror creatures.
Mentor of Concept Art
Known for Annihilation
Vicki's worked as an artist at companies like Turbine/WB Games, Proleteriat Inc., and Moonshot Games. Titles include: Infinite Crisis, Game of Thrones: Conquest, and Spellbreak.
Mentor of Concept Art
Known for Spellbreak
Brandon brings almost 20 years of experience as a video game concept artist with a long client list that includes EA, Activision, Capcom, Gree, and Disney Interactive.
Manager of Digital Painting
Known for Resident Evil
Award-winning artist Mike has worked with clients such as Marvel, Hasbro, Dimension Films, HBO, Electronic Arts, Warner Bros, Mattel, DC Comics and Cartoon Network.
Mentor of Concept Art
Known for Black Panther
Imery's first job out of school was on the Lord of the Rings Trilogy. 20 years on he's still working as concept designer and art director with top clients like Universal, Paramount, Warner Brothers, and Disney.
Mentor of Concept Art
Known for Warner Bros, Universal, Disney
Mentor of Concept Art
Known for Disney Infinity
Jonathan currently works as a Concept Artist at Square Enix. He has a passion for narrative arts and loves creating worlds, characters, and the stories they can tell.
Mentor of Concept Art
Known for Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers
In his 25 year career, Dave's worked as a 3D artist, and concept artist, art and creative director at studios like Framestore, LVTHN, EA and clients like Disney, Marvel, Nickelodeon to name a few.
Mentor of Foundations
Known for Tony Hawk Ride
Mentor of Concept Art
Known for Ghost Force
With a focus on illustration portfolio preparation, we help students build their competitive edge with high quality work that gets noticed.
I have never experienced such an explosive evolution in my art since attending CG Spectrum.
I have learnt an incredible amount, not only from my amazing mentor Eric Wilkerson but from the entire CGS community. Being part of such an amazing program has opened my eyes to techniques that have streamlined my process and increased my confidence tenfold. I highly recommend the Advanced Illustration Course. Buckle up, and knuckle down – this could be the course that changes everything for you.
Studying concept art and illustration through CG Spectrum has been wonderful!
From helping me in achieving a better workflow to improving on designing things out of my comfort zone, the course has given me more confidence as an artist. You can tell the mentors really put a lot of thought and care into helping you create your best work, as well as preparing you for success in the industry.
I learned so much in 9 months that my personal efforts at learning beforehand paled.
My experience with my mentor was fantastic. His own expertise was clear in how cleanly he was able to analyze my artwork and offer advice ranging from creating an effective composition, adding storytelling elements to an image, effective ways to paint over line work, simple brushes to generate quick and useful effects, and even just using the lasso tool in simple ways to expedite workflow.
These courses helped me learn much faster than in any other school or classroom.
I spent so much time trying to learn on my own using free resources - which worked up until a point. But it's that extra push a mentor will give you that really ties it all together. I couldn’t be more grateful for all the support this community and my mentor Eric Wilkerson have given me. Taking a rough concept to a fully-rendered illustration is something I never could have done before, and now I finally have the skills to make it happen.
I have nothing but great memories of CG Spectrum!
I was a bit unsure when I signed up for the concept art course because I had no prior experience, but it changed my life. I had a great mentor, Brandon, who would always push me to do better and I learned valuable things in each class. Now I'm closer to my dream job.
I learned a ton of great skills with CG Spectrum!
Brandon Reimchen was a fantastic mentor! I'm currently doing freelance work creating art assets for an indie game title. Thank you, CG Spectrum!
Thanks to CG Spectrum, I am a lot closer to my dream of being a concept artist.
The curriculum structure is very reasonable, with both academic basic theories and useful suggestions for career paths. Thanks to my mentors, Brian Huang and Victoria Sarkissian, who not only taught me drawing skills and design techniques, but more importantly, they also gave me the confidence to continue working hard.
The community is welcoming and helpful.
I couldn't be happier with my time at CG Spectrum. Communication with the mentors is really easy and they push you to achieve the best. I really enjoyed my experience. I would totally recommend.
Results of this course exceeded my expectations.
Eric Wilkerson is by far my favorite art teacher. He is patient, super helpful and encouraging. I had some self-discipline challenges but when I started the course, but he immediately set me on the right path and I started drawing and learning every single day.
Thank you CG Spectrum for giving me exactly what I needed to get started in this competitive industry.
I started the Concept Art & Illustration Course to create a stunning portfolio to apply for an internship. Without CG Spectrum I would never have been able to create a portfolio on a level that got me an amazing internship in Beijing.
I learned a ton of great skills with CG Spectrum!
Brandon Reimchen was a fantastic mentor! I'm currently doing freelance work creating art assets for an indie game title. Thank you, CG Spectrum!
Training with a mentor 1-on-1 was instrumental in learning what to expect in the industry.
Shortly after completing the course, I landed several long term projects. I'm very grateful for the time and patience my mentors gave me. Highly recommend CG Spectrum to anyone looking to learn new skills or up their game in the digital art world.
I honestly couldn’t have had a better experience with the classes.
I got an hour each week of dedicated one on one time with the mentor. He would give me critiques and paint overs of my work. The paint overs from a professional are the biggest benefit in my opinion. Not only are the classes immensely helpful, the staff are quick to answer emails and they even went out of their way to send my certificates to colleges here in the USA, which helped me get accepted to some of the top art schools on the east coast.
Email: hello@cgspectrum.com