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Advanced Concept Art Diploma

Study concept art online and unlock a career as an artist in the film and games industry

Overview

Concept art course run by top artists

Get job-ready with expert career training and mentorship

Focused on career outcomes, the Advanced Concept Art Diploma takes your artistic skills to a professional level. 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 study concept art at CG Spectrum:

  • Specialized focus on concept art for film, games & publishing
  • Be mentored by award-winning artists
  • Extra career support to get you in front of employers
  • Private 1-on-1 or small group classes (max 4 students)

[more]More[/more]

Get your skills to industry standard with advanced concept art training. With a seasoned concept artist as your mentor, you'll gain valuable insights into the film and games industry, build job skills, and graduate with a solid portfolio to impress employers.

Meet your mentor online for weekly classes, get personalized video critiques of your work, and 1-on-1 career support to get you ready to hit the ground running after graduation!

 

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Industry Qualification

Advanced diploma

Study duration

9 months

Commitment

20 hrs weekly

Skill level

Advanced

Prerequisites

Concept Art & Illustration Diploma or portfolio submission

Delivery

Weekly online classes, feedback and support

Included software

Photoshop, Zbrush Core, Blender

Start date

Oct 4, 2021

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Why study with us

Learn concept art from professional film and video game artists

Whether straight out of high school, changing careers, or upgrading skills, our specialized expert-led concept art training helps you build practical job skills and a competitive edge

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Flexible Scheduling

Plan your studies around your work and family commitments

Industry Mentors

Learn from mentors who have worked on major films and games

Job-Ready Skills

Build practical, relevant job skills that studios are looking for.

Payment Plans

Options to help you pursue your passion and start working sooner.
Curriculum

An industry-approved curriculum to launch your career as a concept artist

Term 1: 12 weeks
Characters, Creatures & Enhanced Workflow Techniques

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. 

How to:

  • Apply lessons from the diploma course to create higher quality art
  • Design incredible creatures and characters
  • Use story and posing to drive action
  • Build professional model sheets
  1. Character Design: Villains 01
  2. Character Design: Villains 02
  3. Character Design: Heroes 01
  4. Character Design: Heroes 02
  5. Character Design: Creatures 01
  6. Character Design: Creatures 02
  7. Matte Painting - Photobashing 01
  8. Matte Painting - Photobashing 02
  9. Environment Paintover 01: Design and Texture
  10. Environment Paintover 02: Polish
  11. Prop Paintover
  12. Zbrush Character Paintover
Term 2: 12 weeks
Introduction to 3D Concept Art

Speed up your workflow using 3d sculpting and kitbashing techniques to quickly block out, light, and render your concept art. You'll create dynamic compositions using Zbrush and Blender to develop your concept art skills further and learn industry-standard workflows. 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 complex environments. Finish with several pieces of original 3D concept art for your portfolio.

How to:

  • Use Photoshop, Zbrush, and Blender to enhance your concept art workflows
  • Gather strong reference material and create quick thumbnail sketches
  • Set up camera angles and lighting to capture detail and textures
  • Polish your work to a professional level using the latest studio techniques
  1. Zbrush Core Mini UI Navigation and Tools
  2. Zbrush Core Adding Objects
  3. Sculpting, Painting and Rendering a Character
  4. Applying Lessons 01 - Sculpting
  5. Applying Lessons 02 - Paintover 
  6. Refining Concept Painting 
  7. Introduction to Blender and Scene Brainstorming
  8. Scene Layout and Terrain Creation
  9. Importing Models and HDRI Lighting
  10. Compositing and Photoshop Methods for Environments
  11. Photoshop Paintover 01
  12. Photoshop Paintover 02
Term 3: 12 weeks
Portfolio and Career Development

This final term is dedicated to getting you job-ready! With your mentor’s guidance, you’ll polish your best pieces for your portfolio. As a diploma student, you can access additional career development services to learn how to develop your competitive edge, market yourself, and make the best possible impression in front of employers.

How to:

  • Polish your portfolio to impress employers
  • Be more confident with negotiation
  • Network and self-promote effectively
  • Tap into the hidden job market 

All diploma students receive additional 1-on-1 career support, portfolio reviews, and industry insights from CG Spectrum's Career Development Manager.

  1. Career Pathways
  2. Industry Overview
  3. Portfolio Upgrade
  4. Networking and Online Presence
  5. Resume and Cover Letter
  6. Job Hunting
  7. Freelance Work
  8. Interviews and Pitching
  9. Personal Projects and Challenges
  10. Working in a Studio
  11. Contracts and Negotiations
  12. Personal Roadblocks
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Mentors

Get direct access to highly acclaimed film & game concept artists

To be the best, it helps to learn from the best. All concept art classes are taught by industry mentors who have worked with major game developers, film studios and publishing giants.

Brandon Reimchen's Work
Brandon Reimchen
Brandon Reimchen

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.

Read full bio

Manager of Digital Painting

Known for Resident Evil

Imery Watson's Work
Imery Watson
Imery Watson

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.

Read full bio

Mentor of Concept Art

Known for Warner Bros, Universal, Disney

Esther Wu's Work
Esther Wu
Esther Wu

Triple-A game concept artist Esther has worked on titles like Forza 6, Destiny 2, Call of Duty Black Ops 4, and Back 4 Blood while at studios like Turn10, 2K Games, High Moon, and Turtle Rock Studios. 

Read full bio

Mentor of Concept Art

Known for Back 4 Blood

Brian Huang's Work
Brian Huang
Brian Huang

Art director and concept artist who has worked on PC/mobile games at studios such as Blizzard. Brian's work has influenced games like World of Warcraft, Starcraft II and Diablo 3.

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Mentor of Concept Art

Known for Star Craft II

Humza Khan's Work
Humza Khan
Humza Khan

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.

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Mentor of Concept Art

Known for Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell

Mike Thompson's Work
Mike Thompson
Mike Thompson

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.

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Mentor of Concept Art

Known for Black Panther

Tyler James's Work
Tyler James
Tyler James

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.

Read full bio

Mentor of Concept Art

Known for World of Warcraft TCG

Bernie Kang's Work
Bernie Kang
Bernie Kang

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.

Read full bio

Mentor of Concept Art

Known for World of Warcraft
Study Options

Small Class

The most affordable way to learn from top industry mentors in a fun, collaborative environment, while still getting plenty of personalized feedback.

  • Max. 4 students per course
  • Affordable high-quality education
  • Network while you learn
Study Options

1-on-1 Private

Progress faster and enjoy more flexiblity with private mentorship. Ideal for busy schedules, career-changers, or artists upgrading skills or changing specialties.

  • Maximum level of mentor interaction
  • Greater flexibility to schedule classes
  • Customized learning experience

 

Monthly
$1,185 USD

(9 x payments)

Save 10%

Per Term
$3,199 USD

(3 x payments)

Most popular

Save 25%

Upfront
$7,999 USD

(1 x payment)

Monthly
$1,485 USD

(9 x payments)

Save 10%

Per Term
$3,999 USD

(3 x payments)

Most popular

Save 25%

Upfront
$9,999 USD

(1 x payment)

Student Showcase

High quality student work that speaks for itself

With a focus on portfolio preparation, we help students build their competitive edge with high quality work that gets noticed. See what they are creating.

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Studios that hire our students

Our commitment to job-outcomes and focus on career development has helped graduates find work at studios all over the world.

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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. 

Brandon Jenner
Brandon Jenner
Concept Art

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.

Erika Horňáková
Erika Horňáková
Concept Art

Thank you CG Spectrum for giving me exactly what I needed to get started in this competitive industry.

I started the Concept Art & Illustration Diploma 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. 

Victoria Pascual
Victoria Pascual
Concept Art & Illustration

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