Study digital painting
Student work by Gonzo Apestegui
Learn illustration and concept art from award-winning artists
Turn your artistic passion into a career with our beginner and advanced digital painting programs.
With an established digital artist as your guide, discover how to plan, develop and present compelling industry-standard artwork using Adobe Photoshop and graduate with original art for your portfolio. Traditional artists welcome!
At CG Spectrum, your career training includes direct access to some of the best digital artists who will share their experience working with clients like Marvel, Scholastic and Blizzard Entertainment.
Learn expert digital painting techniques and critical job skills such as how to market yourself and build lasting client relationships.
Our specialized concept art and digital illustration courses will get you job-ready and give you a personalized education experience.
Studying digital painting opens up a variety of career opportunities. Explore the career paths that could be yours after graduating at CG Spectrum.
Foundations
Take the first steps towards a career as a digital painter for film and games. Starting with art fundamentals, you'll discover how to create compelling art using Photoshop using professional workflows and techniques.
Advanced
Expand your digital painting skills and graduate with a strong portfolio of original work to show employers or clients. These courses help you specialize further and get industry-ready with invaluable career advice and support.
Introductory
Peek inside the world of concept art and illustration! Choose this course if you want to pick up a new hobby, learn the basics and start using Photoshop to create original art for film and games.
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 bioManager of Digital Painting
Known for Resident Evil
Eric Wilkerson
Eric is an illustrator/concept artist for film, TV, advertising, publishing, comics and games. Clients include Wizards of the Coast (Magic: The Gathering), Weta Workshop, Marvel, Upper Deck, Scholastic and Disney.
Read full bioMentor of Illustration
Known for Magic: The Gathering
Felix Bauer-Schichtegroll
Mentor of Concept Art
Known for Battlefield V
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 bioMentor of Concept Art & Illustration
Known for Hearthstone
Fang Jing
Mentor of Concept Art
Known for Minecraft Dungeons
John McCambridge
Mentor of Concept Art
Known for Game of Thrones (publication)
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.
Read full bioMentor of Concept Art
Known for Black Panther
Aleksei Shatunov
Mentor of Concept Art
Known for Aeon Must Die
David Malan
Mentor of Concept Art
Known for Disney Infinity
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 bioMentor of Concept Art
Known for World of Warcraft
Subroto Bhaumik
Mentor of Concept Art
Known for X-Men: Dark Phoenix
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.
Read full bioMentor of Concept Art
Known for Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell
Kinman Chan
Mentor of Concept Art
Known for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
Florian Escuer
Mentor of Concept Art
Known for Ghost Force
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 bioMentor of Concept Art
Known for Warner Bros, Universal, Disney
Nilah Magruder
Mentor of Concept Art
Known for Book & Comic Illustration
Dio Lee
Mentor of Concept Art
Known for Halo Infinite
Catalin Laie
Mentor of Concept Art
Known for Brother in Arms 3
Mike Meredith
Mentor of Concept Art
Known for Illustrations for children's market
Mike Yamada
Mentor of Concept Art
Known for Wreck it Ralph 2
Future proof your skills
We’re proud to say that with an 80% employment success rate the majority of our advanced graduates are now working in the highly competitive film and games industry.
Studying digital painting can lead to many different types of careers, including;
Discover more about concept art and illustration jobs, salary expectations and tips to meet the minimum job requirements on our careers page.
Why study at CG Spectrum
Get a more hands-on education with mentorship from top film and game experts, an industry-approved curriculum and a thriving creative community cheering you on.
By giving you access to the most talented artists in the industry, we help you to become well connected, trained and prepared for life beyond school.
What you get when studying at CG Spectrum:
- Get job-ready in half the time of an average degree program
- Personalized job-focused curriculum and training
- Private 1-on-1 or small group classes (max. 4 students)
- Live call with your mentor each week + recorded video critiques
- Flexible schedules & 100% online, study from anywhere!
Progress faster with expert feedback from your mentor and join an inspiring and supportive online community of industry experts and peers.
The CG Spectrum difference
Our mission is to make sure our students are best prepared for a successful career when they graduate.
We strive to provide affordable, high quality and personalized education and believe in the power of learning first-hand from industry experts who already established a fantastic career.
What makes CG Spectrum unique:
- Career services to accelerate your journey
- Quality education at a fraction of the time and cost of university
- Software licenses included, no additional costs
- Direct access to industry mentors with years of film & game experience
- Supportive and active community of peers, alumni & mentors
As an online school with students and mentors in 90+ countries, we're proud to bring the industry to you – wherever you are in the world!
This school WILL put you on the right path.
The knowledge and skills have helped me grow tremendously as an artist. I took both the Intro and Advanced courses with Brandon, and cannot speak highly enough of him. Not only does he genuinely care about his students, but he has years of experience that are invaluable. The courses are not easy, but designed to constantly push you in many ways. I recommend this school if you are willing to put in the time and effort, it is worth it!
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.
Highly recommend this school!
My teachers were very helpful and I have learned so much about the industry. The highlight I think is the community they nurture—I have great relationships with other students, alumni, and mentors from my time at CG Spectrum.
They give you the right tools for the right job.
I enrolled in the Concept Art and Illustration course without any art background (theoretical and practical). Thanks to my enthusiastic mentors, Eric Wilkerson and Brian Huang, and knowledgeable fellas in group chat, I was able to improve my skills in a short time.
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 staff are really awesome. They genuinely care and they work very hard for you.
There are plenty of extra curriculars on offer. You can drop in on fundamentals classes every week. The Technical Assistants run friendly competitions. They have workshops and Q&As with big-name studios like Industrial Light and Magic. You get out what you put in, but they do their best to make a lot of good available to you while you're there.
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.
It was literally the absolute best thing that has ever happened to my career and professional life.
I feel like I’ve improved not only as an artist but as a professional as a whole, as the classes integrate every single detail of the artist life. The doors really open for us all and there’s nothing I’d change.
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.
