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All Digital Illustration Courses

Illustrate Your Success: Specialised Degrees in Digital Illustration

Student Work: Ahmed Albastaki

Overview

Turn your creative passion into a career. Learn illustration with award-winning artists

Focused on the film, game and publishing industries, you'll learn how to create art for games, movie posters, comic book covers, trading card illustrations and more. Besides mastering expert illustration techniques from industry-pros, you'll also learn critical job skills such as how to market yourself and build lasting client relationships.

Why study digital illustration at CG Spectrum:

  • Progress faster with mentorship from professional illustrators
  • Create a polished portfolio that stands out
  • Receive career support and guidance
  • Choose 1-on-1 or small group classes (max. 4)
  • Study online from wherever you are

CG Spectrum's online concept art courses offer a complete study pathway to get you industry-ready. Receive a high quality education led by artists who worked with clients like Marvel and Blizzard Entertainment.

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Courses

Digital illustration courses that get you career-ready

Expand your digital painting skill set, learn best practices and professional lighting techniques. These courses are designed to give you the necessary skill set to prepare you for your illustration career.

Benefits

Why study at CG Spectrum

Get a more hands-on education with mentorship from top film and game experts, an industry-approved curriculum and a thriving creative community cheering you on.

By giving you access to the most talented artists in the industry, we help you to become well connected, trained and prepared for life beyond school.

What you get when studying at CG Spectrum:

  • Personalised job-focused training & career services
  • Private 1-on-1  or small group classes
  •  Weekly live call with your mentor + recorded video critiques
  • Supportive and active community of peers, alumni, and mentors
  • Flexible schedules and 100% online, study from anywhere!

As an online school with students and mentors in 90+ countries, we're proud to bring the industry to you – wherever you are in the world!

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Studios who hire our graduates

Our commitment to job-outcomes and focus on career development has helped graduates find work at studios all over the world.
Mentors

Be mentored directly by award-winning illustrators

Get expert feedback and support from your industry mentor in a live Q&A call each week. All CGS mentors are established artists with years of experience creating art for films and games at top studios.

Student Showcase

Explore student work and see what you can learn at CG Spectrum

Our students create quality work that speaks for itself. We provide you with the tools and resources to help you build a portfolio that gets noticed.

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Learn more about digital illustration

Discover free digital illustration resources and articles to inspire you on your journey into the film and games industry.

Frequently asked questions

Digital Illustration FAQs

Is digital illustration in demand?

Highly skilled illustrators are in demand due to the ever-growing gaming and movie industry. These industries are always looking for talented individuals to work on a variety of projects. Outside of the film and video games industry, illustrators are also hired to create trading card game art, book or comic book cover illustrations, movie posters and more.

These roles are extremely competitive (just head to ArtStation to see the standard of work top illustrators are producing!), so if you want to make it as a digital illustrator, you have to put in the work!

How do I become a digital illustrator?

Firstly, you need to develop your skills and expand your portfolio. This can be done by taking an illustration course, studying the work of other artists, and practicing as much as possible.

Secondly, you need to network and build relationships with people in the industry. This will give you the opportunity to learn about new projects, get your foot in the door, and show off your skills.

Finally, you need to be patient and persistent. It takes time and hard work to succeed in any field, but if you're passionate about art and willing to put in the effort, then a career as a digital illustrator could be right for you.

Can I learn digital art if I can’t draw?

For CG Spectrum's digital painting courses, basic drawing competency is required, as these are not drawing courses. If you are unsure if you qualify, please contact our admissions team.

Alongside basic drawing skills, you will also need basic computer skills as you will be using Photoshop and other software to learn how to create digital art. 

What digital illustration careers can I explore post graduation?

Our complete digital illustration study pathway (from introduction to advanced) gives you a solid foundation in digital illustration, as well as concept art (knowing both can open up additional career opportunities). You'll also have free access to career services including portfolio/CV reviews, application help, a jobs database, interview preparation and more.

Depending on your level of commitment, skills, and the quality of your portfolio, you should meet the minimum requirements to start applying for junior digital painting jobs such as:

Discover more about these digital painting jobs, tips, and salary expectations on our careers page:

What do you learn in digital illustration?

CG Spectrum's digital illustration course pathway covers everything you'll need to know to create professionally polished art for the film, video game and publishing industries. 

You'll start with the basics: understanding color, value, light, perspective drawing and anatomy. You'll then illustrate your own characters by applying life drawing and dynamic posing techniques to create appealing art. The course moves on to environment art and matte painting.

Finally, you'll learn art history, and experiment with composition to guide viewers to the action and enhance your story.

The end goal of a successful illustration is to accurately tell a story and sell a product. You'll explore various commercial markets and learn about creating book covers, card gaming art and marketing art for film and games. You'll also 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.

How long will it take to learn digital illustration?

How long it takes to learn digital illustration depends on a few factors, including your natural ability and how much time you're willing to dedicate to learning.

It's possible to become proficient in digital illustration within a few months. But to make a career out of it and produce an exceptional portfolio that meets industry standards, it will take longer. For even the best artists, art is a lifelong learning journey.

Our digital illustration study pathway is a total of 18 months, and is focused on creating a job-worthy portfolio. On completion of the full pathway, you will be ready to start applying for junior jobs. (Some of our most dedicated students have found work before graduating!)

One of the major benefits of our courses is having an industry mentor guiding you every step of the way, and sharing insider's knowledge based on their own experience as a successful working artist.

Can you do digital illustration on a laptop?

Yes! You can do digital illustration on a laptop. Though some artists prefer to work with a larger screen.

For our courses we recommend having a computer that meets the minimum system requirements for Photoshop, and a graphics tablet (see digital painting software and equipment).