Concept Art (Evening - 10 weeks)
Craft cinematic beauty.
This class is ideal for aspiring artists that want to get into nitty-gritty details of Concept Art production for video games, VFX and movies. The main goal of this course is to prepare you as an individual for the reality of working in the Concept Art Departments, as well as enhancing your portfolio to the point of it being "hirable" and competitive on the market.
This course will include theory, industry analysis, case studies (based on popular video games and movies) and a lot of practice. At the end of the course each student should have a body of new artwork that should be treated as possible portfolio pieces.
See also
- Location: Live online
- Start dates: 30th August 2023
- Tuition fees: £905
- Mode of study: Part time (Wednesday evening: 7pm-10pm)
- Programme duration: 10 weeks
- Entry requirements: Aged 18 or over, a good understanding of written and spoken English.
- Access to the Internet
- 3 button mouse
- Graphic Tablet (Wacom or other)
- A laptop or PC
- A microphone
- Webcam (not compulsory)
- Visual Development and concept art are important phases in the pre-production and production stages of the VFX, Animation and Games pipelines.
- Take your skills to the next level - If you love drawing and painting, this course will help you take your skills to the next level while learning the thinking process behind concept artwork and illustration.
- Learn from award-winning industry professionals; our tutors have not only been behind some of the best new talent in their field, but have an impressive array of achievements from their time practicing what they preach.
- The course is taught part-time and in the evenings, meaning you’ll be able to work around your day to day life with this option.
- Our small class sizes ensure that we deliver a personalised, student-led approach to learning.
- On completion of the course you will achieve an Escape Studios Certificate of Achievement, a well-respected qualification within the industry.
Week 1
- Silhouettes, shape design and their meanings.
- Research for characters (references, style, mood).
- How to design and develop a character tath works for production (exploration/sketching, costume design, turnarounds, expressions sheet, pose sheet).
Week 2
- Painting/rendering a character and adding textures photo-bashing).
- How to organize the layers on Photoshop (basics of PS)
- Texture callouts for CG production.
Week 3
- Thumb-nailing/sketching and research of ideas (references, mood, style).
- Create a location (interior and exterior) that tells a story.
- Isometric views - from sketch to clean-up.
Week 4
- Adding colour (values, local colour and light).
- Texture callouts for CG production.
- 3D tools like Blender/Twinmotion for environments.
Week 5
- How to build a portfolio.
- Portfolio review, feedback and correction.
Week 6
- Intro to ZBRUSH, User Interface, image planes and Zspheres.
- Blocking out characters with Zspheres.
Week 7
- Intro to sculpting in ZBRUSH.
- Sculpting on character to develop features.
Week 8
- Add hands, feet and clothing to characters.
- Look at cloth features in ZBRUSH.
Week 9
- Sculpting an anatomically correct torso.
Week 10
- Sculpting a skull or head.
- Adobe Photoshop (or other 2D digital paint software)
- ZBRUSH
We welcome and encourage applications from students with a variety of backgrounds, experiences and perspectives.
To study this short course, you must:
- Be over 18
- Have a good understanding of written and spoken English
- Feel comfortable using a computer
For questions regarding international applications and visas, check our admissions page for further information or contact our Admissions team on admission@escapestudios.com.
Evening (part-time) courses can be purchased directly via our online shop - just click the Buy Now button at the top of the page.
Alternatively, you can:
- Call our Admissions Advisors on +44 (0)203 441 1303
- Email us at admissions@escapestudios.com
- Reach us on LiveChat on Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm
Following your application, you will need to agree to our terms and conditions before your place on the course can be secured.
On completion of the course you will achieve an Escape Studios Certificate of Achievement, a well-respected qualification within the industry.
Our students go on to work in many areas of the industry as highly creative professionals. You'll find our alumni, dubbed Escapees, in many of the world’s top VFX studios, behind many Oscar and BAFTA-nominated films, 100s of award-winning films and television shows and 1,000s of award-winning commercials. Check our some of our alumni success stories.
This course will give you a distinct advantage in the field of storyboarding, you’ll get an introduction to concept art and gain experience working in a professional studio environment.
Fees
£905
Payment plans
We offer a range of payment plan options for all courses. Following an initial deposit at registration stage, your chosen payment plan will break down your remaining fees into up to five equal instalments, to be paid before the end of the course.
Contact our Admissions Team on +44 (0)203 441 1303 or admissions@escapestudios.com or visit our admissions page for any questions about fees, funding and payment plans.
Next steps

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Get a hands-on feel for what it's like to study with us by joining one of our online or on-campus practical sessions.

Meet the team
Book a one-to-one on the phone or on campus if you want to know more about our courses.
Meet our tutors
Our tutors have all sculpted their own careers in successful studios in the industry and are now sharing their expertise in the classroom. Packed with everything from Thor: Ragnarok, Black Mirror and Black Panther to the original Lion King and multiple PlayStation titles, their CVs don't get much cooler! They know exactly what skills you need – teaching you real-world tips and tricks, as well as the latest industry software and techniques to kick-start your career.

Industry Partners
Industry partners and advisors influence everything we do, from the curriculum we teach and how it's delivered to our webinars and events.
We work alongside an impressive list of VFX, Games and Animation studios including Industrial Light & Magic, Framestore, Blue Zoo, MPC, Jellyfish Pictures, PlayStation London Studio and Creative Assembly and many more across all our courses at Escape Studios.
With exclusive professional feedback, intensive software training and much more, our industry-led courses give you up-to-the-minute, inspirational knowledge and experience, tailored to the work you’re passionate about. Our Escape Studios alumni (Escapees) can be found working at a variety of studios including Pixar, MPC, Industrial Light & Magic, DNEG, Rockstar Games and Electric Theatre Collective.
Find out more about our industry partners.

Why Escape Studios?
Learn industry-relevant techniques from the experts, in a studio-like environment.
- Studio-experienced tutors. Our tutors have worked at studios including DNEG, Walt Disney Animation, EA, Rebellion and Framestore and their credits include Captain America, Black Mirror and Bond: Spectre. They speak at international conferences, like B’Ars (Spain) and VIEW Conference (Italy), write for industry-recognised blog Befores&Afters, and are authorised trainers for software like UnrealEngine, Autodesk or Houdini.
- Industry-standard facilities. Our central London campus is surrounded by world-leading studios and fully equipped with high-end hardware and the latest software.
- Industry partners. Our studio partners, including DNEG, Framestore and PlayStation London Studio, help design and develop our courses to make sure that what we teach is relevant to the current industry practices. You’ll also have access to events and webinars ran by our Student Experience team with industry speakers.

I've particularly enjoyed being able to learn with experienced tutors and being around other people who are passionate about building skills.
Malcom Kelley, Advanced 3D for Visual Effects alumnus