In this short course, you'll build your understanding of digital painting fundamentals, and see what it takes to make a career of your craft. Be mentored and inspired by an industry expert with years of experience creating art for the entertainment industry. Basic drawing skills required. Traditional artists welcome!
Why study digital painting at CG Spectrum:
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Discover how to create artwork for the entertainment and publishing industries. Whether it's concept art for film and games, or book cover art and trading card illustrations, your highly experienced and passionate mentor will help you get started in this creative field.
This course forms term one of the Foundations of Concept Art & Illustration Course, so on completion, you'll be one-third of the way through!
Certificate
3 months
20 hrs weekly
Beginner
Solid drawing skills
Weekly online classes, feedback and support
Adobe Photoshop
Jul 10, 2023
Whether straight out of high school, changing careers, or upgrading skills, our expert-led digital painting programs help equip you with the latest skills used in the industry
Plan your studies around your work and family commitments
Learn from experts who have worked on major films and games
Build practical and relevant job skills that studios are looking for
Pursue your passion and start working sooner
Start your illustration and concept art for beginners course by establishing a solid understanding of color, value, and light. Then you'll 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.
*This short course is the same as the term one of the Foundations of Concept Art & Illustration Course, so if you choose to continue after completing your certificate, you'll already be a third of the way through!
Get started with the intro course and graduate with the option to continue to term 2 of the foundations course
To be the best, it helps to learn from the best. All digital painting classes are taught by industry mentors with years of experience working in the film, game and publishing industries.
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 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
Mentor of Concept Art
Known for Minecraft Dungeons
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
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.
Read full bioMentor of Concept Art
Known for Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers
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
Mentor of Concept Art
Known for Disney Infinity
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
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
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
Mentor of Concept Art
Known for Ghost Force
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.
Read full bioMentor of Concept Art
Known for Annihilation
Mentor of Concept Art
Known for Book & Comic Illustration
Mentor of Concept Art
Known for Halo Infinite
Mentor of Concept Art
Known for Brother in Arms 3
Mentor of Concept Art
Known for Illustrations for children's market
Mentor of Concept Art
Known for Wreck it Ralph 2
The most affordable way to learn from top industry mentors in a fun, collaborative environment, while still getting plenty of personalized feedback.
Progress faster and enjoy more flexiblity with private mentorship. Ideal for busy schedules, career-changers, or artists upgrading skills or changing specialties.
(3 x payments)
Save 10%
(1 x payment)
(3 x payments)
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(1 x payment)
For this course, basic drawing competency is required, as this is not a drawing course. If you are unsure if you qualify, please contact our admissions team.
Alongside basic drawing skills, you will also need basic computer skills and a computer that meets the minimum specifications (see next question).
Software:
You will purchase Photoshop (photography plan only) for the length of your studies and be reimbursed for the cost by CG Spectrum.
Hardware:
You will need a computer that meets the minimum system requirements for Photoshop, and a graphics tablet (see digital painting software and equipment).
Studying digital painting can open up a variety of career paths in the entertainment industry.
This short concept art course will get started on your journey, but in a competitive industry, continuing your studies with the full concept art and digital illustration study pathway (the Foundations of Concept Art & Digital Illustration course and then specializing in either Advanced Concept Art or Advanced Digital Illustration) will better prepare you for a job in the industry and help increase your employment opportunities.
The advanced course covers more complex techniques and includes an entire term dedicated to career development and portfolio preparation to get you industry-ready.
Some of the junior digital painting jobs you could pursue after completing the full study pathway include:
Discover more about these digital painting jobs, tips, and salary expectations on our careers page:
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Experienced, successful and friendly mentors.
CG Spectrum has pushed me closer to my dream of being a concept artist. The mentors are amazing, which really is their unique selling point! Very glad to have taken both the illustration and concept art course, and the advanced concept art course.
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.
It's one of the best discoveries of my life.
Never been so happy to study before. I've learnt so much in such a short time, and not only with the awesome mentors here, but thanks to this big community too! Thanks, CG Spectrum!
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.