Concept Art (Evening - 10 weeks)

Course details

Location

Live online

Start date

20th March 2024

Application deadline

18th March 2024

Duration

10 weeks

Mode of study

Part time (Wednesday evenings: 7pm-10pm)

Fees

£905

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Course overview 

Craft cinematic beauty. 

This course is ideal for aspiring artists who want to get into nitty-gritty details of concept art production for video games, VFX and movies. 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.  

Our industry-experienced tutors will prepare you for the reality of working in a Concept Art department, through theory, industry analysis, case studies (based on popular video games and movies) and a lot of practice. 

By the end of the course, you’ll have created pieces of artwork to use in a portfolio to help you land the job of your dreams. 

Why choose this course

  • Based in London - home to some of the best video games studios in the world  

  • Industry briefs - work on industry-standard briefs and experience real-life scenarios, just like in a professional studio  

  • Professional input - our advisory board of experts, from the likes of DNEG (Avengers: Endgame and Oscar-winning Dune) and MPC (The Lion King and 1917), help keep this course relevant

  • Successful alumni - join our community of thousands of Escapees, many of whom have gone on to work at some of the world’s top studios. 47 Escapees worked on Avengers: Endgame, 36 on No Time to Die and 16 on Stranger Things

  • Fast-track learning - studying a short course allows you to learn new skills quickly, in a fast-paced environment, so you can start applying for jobs as soon as you’ve completed the programme 

  • Intensive training - we pack a lot into a few evening classes, and we recommend that you work outside of classes for an extra few hours per week to complete your assignments 

  • Flexibility - study live online and in the evening to fit the course around your professional and personal life and other commitments 

  • Strong portfolio - along with an Escape Studios Certificate of Completion, you'll leave with strong creative and technical skills and great pieces for your portfolio 

  • Small class sizes - a convivial environment allows students to assist and inspire one another and benefit from personalised feedback from tutors.  

Course modules

  • Silhouettes, shape design and their meanings  

  • Research for characters (references, style, mood) 

  • How to design and develop a character that works for production (exploration/sketching, costume design, turnarounds, expressions sheet, pose sheet) 

  • Painting and rendering a character 

  • Adding textures (photo-bashing) 

  • Basics of Photoshop 

  • How to organise layers on Photoshop 

  • Texture callouts for CG production

  • Thumb-nailing, sketching and research of ideas (references, mood, style) 

  • Creating a location (interior and exterior) that tells a story 

  • Isometric views, from sketch to clean-up

  • Adding colour (values, local colour and light) 

  • How to build a portfolio 

  • Portfolio review, feedback and correction 

  • Introduction to ZBrush, user Interface, image planes and Zspheres 

  • Blocking out characters with Zspheres 

  • Introduction to sculpting in ZBrush 

  • Sculpting on character to develop features

  • Adding hands, feet and clothing to characters 

  • Cloth features in ZBrush

  • Sculpting an anatomically correct torso

  • Sculpting a skull or head

  • Posing a character

More information

  • Adobe Photoshop 

  • ZBrush 

  • Blender 

  • Twinmotion

To apply, complete an online application form. Our Admissions Team will get in touch to take you through the next steps.

If you have any questions about your application or our entry requirements, get in touch!

As part of the application process, you will need to agree to our terms and conditions for your place on the course to be secured.

Minimum requirements

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.

If you’d like to discuss your circumstances before applying, contact us on courses@escapestudios.ac.uk or +44 (0) 203 441 1303.

Non-UK students

We accept international students for our short courses, with no difference in course fees or administration costs. 

The Standard Visitor visa allows students to come to the UK to study for a course of up to six months at an accredited institution. Depending on your nationality, you may need to apply for a standard visitor visa prior to departure from your home country. For more information visit:  

Contact us on courses@escapestudios.ac.uk or +44 (0)203 441 1303 for any questions.

We can provide remote access to our workstations during teaching time. Due to availability restrictions, we highly advise you to have your own set up at home to study in your own time.

More things you’ll need:

  • A strong internet connection

  • An external hard drive (minimum 2TB) to back up your work during the course

  • A three-button mouse (or optionally graphics tablet)

  • A computer microphone (and optionally a webcam)

  • Note-taking materials

If you have any questions about learning online or if you need help with what to buy, get in touch at courses@escapestudios.ac.uk.

Fees 

Live online: £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 six equal instalments, to be paid over the course length.

Contact our Admissions Team on courses@escapestudios.ac.uk or +44 (0)203 441 1303 or visit our admissions page for any questions about fees, funding and payment plans.

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.  

You’ll leave with an Escape Studios Certificate of Achievement, along with strong creative and technical skills and some great pieces of work for your portfolio. Ready to apply for jobs in the industry!

Our students have gone to work as both specialist and generalist artists in creative studios, across TV shows, films and commercials, at companies including Framestore, DNEG, MPC and Jellyfish Pictures. Read some of our Escapee success stories.

Check out our Careers Guide for more information about career opportunities and progression routes.

We pack a lot into each class of our evening courses, to be able to offer a learning option that is more flexible and fits in with your personal and work life. This means that contact time with your tutors will be intense learning and hands on. To make the most of this course, we recommend that you spend at least 10 hours working on your projects or practising your new skills in your own time each week. 

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Meet our industry-experienced tutors

They all have industry experience and are experts in their fields, including certified trainers for Unreal Engine, Autodesk and Houdini. They've worked at studios such as Walt Disney, EA and Framestore, on credits including Doctor Strange, Kingsman and Bond: Spectre.

Meet your tutors