Student Work: Ahmed Albastaki
Take your first steps towards becoming an illustrator with this intensive digital illustration study pathway. Focused on creating art for the film, game and publishing industries, you'll learn how to create splash art for games, movie posters, comic book covers, trading card illustrations and more!
Why learn illustration online at CG Spectrum:
Progress faster with an award-winning illustrator as your mentor, and graduate with the skills to pursue your dream career. See how our courses work in the video below.
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 illustration courses are a complete study pathway to help you become an illustrator for films, games, and publishing! 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 illustration and concept art 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 illustration 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:
The advanced illustration course is where you take your art fundamentals to the next level, and explore your career options as an illustrator.
Discover how to convey a compelling story through your artwork. Learn art history and examine how famous artists approached paint handling and gesture. Explore advanced painting techniques to mimic traditional media, and practice fine art portraiture and digital painting. Then experiment with composition to guide viewers to the action, and see how light, color and shape enhance your story.
The end goal of a successful illustration is to accurately tell a story and sell a product. Explore various commercial markets and learn about creating comic book covers, trading card gaming art and marketing art for film and video games. Experiment with hand painting, photo-bashing and 3D paint-overs. Assignments are treated like real commissions with hard deadlines so you learn to work under pressure.
Your final term is dedicated to career development and portfolio preparation so you graduate ready for your career as a digital illustrator!
Eric is a New York Times bestselling Illustrator, 2020 Chesley Award Winner for best hardback book cover scifi illustration, 2019 Chesley Award finalist and has been featured in multiple volumes of Spectrum Fantastic Art, Expose, and Imagine FX. He was also a finalist in the ARC International Salon. Over the past decade he's created art for film, TV, advertising, publishing, animation, comics, video games and even costume design.
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.
Not just for people wanting to break into the industry, it's also for professionals already in it.
I am a concept artist at Paradox Interactive in Sweden, and I wanted to expand my illustration skills, so I decided to take the Digital Illustration Course. I am loving it!! If you're a professional and want to learn a new skill, I would say go ahead! Expand your set of skills!
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
Eric Wilkerson is truly an excellent mentor.
It is a pleasure to be in his class. Firstly, he is so knowledgeable and his tutorials are packed with valuable information. Secondly, he is very patient and always takes time to find the best solution for problems his students encounter. On top of that, he is an AMAZING artist!
Email: hello@cgspectrum.com