Let’s face it. Even with so many options available on the web, finding the best online courses for concept art is not a walk in the park. You have to toil and search all over the internet to find a credible course.
Fortunately, we are here to help. Whether you are a professional artist striving to upgrade your skills or a budding artist wanting to learn from scratch, we present to you a list of the best concept art courses you can find online.
Our list consists of the best courses from reliable learning platforms like Udemy, LinkedIn Learning, and Skillshare.
What is Concept Art?
Concept art is simply a visual representation used to convey an idea, a vision, a design or a mood, or set the tone for use in animation, films, video games, comic books, and other media. It tells a story of a design idea before the final production in the sense that it describes what a certain character, creature, prop or image might look like.
The main purpose of concept art is to reduce the margin for error and as a result, save on time and money used.
It also helps in planning so that everyone involved in the project does not derail from the main goal.
The role of a concept artist is to explore ideas and communicate them using visual representations to pass the message as effectively as possible. The concept artist must create several artistic solutions before settling on one that best describes the vision of the design idea.
The beauty about concept art is that you can specialize and focus on a particular domain or you can generalize and learn on all the intrigues of the trade.
Each has its own upsides and downsides, but whatever your preferences, you must know the fundamentals of art to become a competent concept artist.
A good concept artist should make a point to learn about lighting, shadows, color theory, animal forms, human forms, anatomy, and perspective, among other essential basics.
Best Online Courses For Concept Art
Nowadays, you do not have to go to a brick-and-mortar school to learn about concept art. The internet is awash with so many credible platforms offering various art courses, including concept art.
The best part is that you do not have to be a pro to learn these new skills. The courses offered are so much detailed but broken down into modules, making them easy to learn.
Interestingly, some of the courses offered on platforms like Skillshare are free, but there’s a catch since you have to pay for additional modules.
Here is a list of 7 online courses for concept that you should consider trying out:
What is Concept Art
“What is Concept Art?” is an introductory course for beginners, and it is available on LinkedIn Learning. The course is the brainchild of Patrick Ballesteros who is a renowned concept artist on LinkedIn.
To prove its popularity and credibility, the What is Concept Art online course has been bought by over 41,000 learners and counting.
The course is super easy to learn since its target audience is mainly beginners. You will learn simple definitions of concept art and how concept artists bring simple ideas into life by creating creatures, characters, and environments.
You will get a glimpse into the different types of art that concept artists design.
But that’s not all. You will also learn about the production process and how you can start your own journey into the world of conceptual art.
At the end of the course, you will receive a certificate of completion that you can display on your LinkedIn profile or print out and share with others.
Painting Environments
The creation of different environments is a vital part of concept art. Creatives in this line of art need to know how to create and paint the different environments to communicate the right message in the final production.
There is no better online course than this Painting Environments course on Udemy.
If you want to learn how to design and paint amazing landscapes for concept art, then this course is for you. It includes 4 hours of on-demand video, 15 downloadable resources, and full-time access to all the resources you need.
The course is tutored by Hardy Fowler who is an experienced illustrator and concept artist.
It is designed for three different types of artists, including budding digital painters, aspiring concept artists and students who want to learn new art skills.
The only slight challenge is that you must have good knowledge of Adobe Photoshop and Art Fundamental to enroll in this course.
The good news is that both courses are offered free of charge to all newcomers.
Character Painting
Another Udemy course that you should consider in your concept art journey is Character Painting. Character painting or character creation is a vital part of concept art – you cannot separate the two.
Any professional concept artist must have some skills in character creations for them to excel.
This course by Hardy Fowler will teach you how to create cool character art just like a pro.
However, you must have a bit of knowledge of Photoshop and Art Fundamentals since the course resolves around these two platforms.
Worry not if you don’t have Photoshop skills since they are both offered for free by the tutor.
Although the course looks complicated, it is so easy to learn. It is broken down into step-by-step guides for easier learning.
Besides, you will get unlimited lifetime access to all the resources you need, including 12 downloadable materials and 4-hours on-demand video.
Concept Art Architecture
Concept art is not just about sketching human characters, animals, and monsters. You will be required to create buildings and cityscapes as well.
If you intend to specialize in creating different buildings and architecture, then the Concept Art Architecture course is exactly what you need.
The course is available on Udemy at discounted rates and it targets digital painters, concept artists, and students of art.
It consists of 5 hours of on-demand video, 22 downloadable resources and you get full-time access to all the materials you need to learn about concept art architecture.
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At the end of the course, you should be able to create amazing cities and buildings using Adobe Photoshop.
The tutor will teach you how to use Photoshop for free if you do not have prior knowledge of this art software. You also need a pressure-sensitive tablet to practice your new skills.
Imaginative Drawing
Art is all about being creative and imaginative, and that is where the imaginative drawing course comes into play. Imaginative drawing involves creating concept art characters using a pencil or pen on a sketchbook.
It combines art styles and techniques from different art worlds to produce stunning characters.
This course is available on Skillshare and it consists of 9 very easy lessons. All the lessons are available in video format, meaning you can pause, play, rewind, and forward as many times as you want until you grasp the concept being taught.
You will learn how to draw your outlines, how to flesh out your drawings, and how to finish your drawing for the final production.
The best part is that you can access all these lessons on Skillshare for free once you sign up for their free trial offer.
Perspective Drawing
Concept art and illustrations are slightly different, but you need to learn about perspective drawing if you want to be a fine artist in both skills.
This course focuses on teaching learners how to break down complex concepts into simple easy to understand ideas using illustrations.
It has 9 different lessons that run for almost an hour in total. Each lesson comes in video format making it easy for students to navigate and choose their preferred class.
When you get a grip of things, you won’t even need to use a guide or grid to assist you in measuring different scenes.
The course is so details and it is sure to turn you into a pro within a few hours of practice.
Real Life Creature Creation
As your skills begin to advance, you will now be able to handle more complex projects. One of the most complex tasks in concept art is creating real-life creatures.
However, once you take the Real Life Creature Creation Course by Rayce Bird, handling such tasks would be a breeze. The course is available on LinkedIn Learning and it has over 47,779 learners with more enrolling every day.
The tutor is a Jack of all trades and is very knowledgeable in a number of fields, including graphic design, character design, creature creation, makeup, and tattooing.
When you undertake this course, you will not only acquire skills in concept art but also character design. You will be able to create 3D models to be used in films and comics.
Final Thoughts
Pursuing a career as a concept artist does not have to be hard as long as you have the drive and the passion to do it.
However, concept artists must have fine art skills to be able to explore ideas and convey the message behind them as quickly and as effectively as possible.
You also need to understand the key elements of art to become a competent artist and all you have to do is to join the best online courses for concept art as highlighted above.