Fantasy Illustration
Learn how to create art for fantasy card and board games!
Skill Level: Advanced
Duration: 8 weeks
Begins: Oct. 8th, 2023
Lessons: Live online with feedback
Price: $695
Instructors: Clint & Diana Cearley
THIS CLASS IS FOR:
OVERVIEW
If you aspire to create engaging art for fantasy games and publishing such as Magic: The Gathering, D&D, and Pathfinder, then Fantasy Illustration was made for you!
You'll join industry experts and MTG illustrators Clint and Diana Cearley for eight weeks as they take you through the process of creating an illustration to fulfill a provided mock commission. You'll be pushed and encouraged to achieve the best piece possible for your portfolio! Each week you'll progress farther with instruction, demonstrations and tailored feedback that will help quickly advance your skills.
From rough sketches and reference gathering, to composition and value studies, we'll touch on it all. Focus will be on given to learning efficient and reliable workflows that you can use for future projects as well as learning how to tackle the complex subjects of composition and lighting with confidence. This class will give you a taste of what it's like to work on a fantasy commission, with the safety net of dedicated instructors who do it for a living.
Videos and books can't answer your questions but in this class you'll have ample opportunity to chat with the instructors and get your art and industry questions answered. Whether life messes with your schedule or you live on the other side of the world, it won't be an issue as every live lesson is recorded for later re-viewing.
Please note that this class is not suitable for beginners. It is aimed for those who are preparing a portfolio to get professional work and those who are getting small gigs but want to level up their art.
Don't miss this opportunity to learn from the best and take your art to the next level! Only 15 spots available.
Those who want to...
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Build skills to create art for fantasy card and board games
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Learn professional workflow that will give reliable results
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Learn strategies for engaging composition and lighting setups
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Create a new fantasy portfolio image
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Receive weekly feedback and guidance from professionals
SCHEDULE
Sundays 7pm - 9:30pm
Oct. 8th - Dec. 3rd (no class Nov. 5th)
Lessons prior to Oct. 29th are in GMT+1 time zone, later lessons are in GMT
"This class was by far the best online illustration course I've ever taken. I've taken courses at CGMA and mentorships from other artists and I've never gotten so much out of a class as I have with Clint and Diana. I highly recommend taking any of their classes."
-Student Feedback
HOW THE CLASSES WORK
WATCH THE LESSON
Catch the weekly teaching in the live Zoom session or watch the recorded lesson later. Review of homework will be provided during the 2.5hr lesson time. Lessons will come with assignments and opportunity to ask questions.
COMPLETE THE HOMEWORK
Practice what you learned from the lesson with the provided assignments then upload no later than 12 hours before the next class. Allocate 15 hours per week to complete the homework to reach a satisfactory level.
RECEIVE FEEDBACK
The instructor will review your previous homework and give suggestions for improvements during the following week's lesson. Feedback may include a drawover, paintover, or discussion (situation dependent).
INSTRUCTORS
CLINT CEARLEY
Founder and Senior Instructor
Clint is an illustrator and concept artist who has worked on Magic: The Gathering, D&D, Smite, Artifact, and for companies such as ImagineFX, Simon & Schuster, and Scholastic. He served as a Senior Art Supervisor with Blizzard. Trained in traditional and digital media, Clint has fifteen years of experience teaching art and is the creator of the Swatches Youtube art channel.
DIANA CEARLEY
Co-Founder and Senior Instructor
Diana has created concept art and illustrations for video game, tabletop and publishing clients including Magic: The Gathering, Dungeons & Dragons, Hex Entertainment, Aethera RPG and has been featured in ImagineFX, and Infected by Art. Diana served as an instructor of digital painting, life drawing, character design, as well as the Director of Studies at Syn Studio Concept Art School.
INDUSTRY SKILLS
This class is designed to provide tips and coaching for those aiming to be professional illustrators or concept artists. As such, this class will require moderate to high intensity and focus from the student to complete. The information and skills being taught will only be gained with hours of intentional practice on the homework assignments, and following the processes that will be exampled. Serious art students should find the class and homework enjoyable, educational, and challenging. Hobbyists will likely find the homework assignments considerably more intensive and regimented than they are used to.
ADVANCED
This class is advanced difficulty. Students should already be capable of: painting an accurate photo study, sketching a proportionally accurate figure and portrait, understand 2-point perspective, and shading basic forms accurately without reference. We will not be covering basic drawing, painting or other fundamentals.
If you have not had training in drawing, anatomy, perspective, and shading, then this class is likely above your skill level. If you are unsure if you have the skill necessary for this class, please contact Clint at clint@swatchesacademy.com and include a link to your online artwork, and we will let you know.
Note, Clint and Diana will be using Photoshop for all classes but you may use the art program of your choice. For a guide of the tiers, go here: Tier Examples
PORTFOLIO & CAREER
"Excellent value, excellent instructions and the extra content is a lot deeper than what you usually get in online classes."-Student Feedback
Students will also receive access to a variety of resources and upcoming events!
DISCORD: You will have access to two private class Discord rooms on the Swatches server (https://discord.gg/KsVYfge) where you can socialize with your classmates whether through messages and images or video chat.
PORTFOLIOS: Receive free access to two upcoming live presentation on portfolios: Concept Art Portfolio (Dec. 12th) and Illustration Portfolio (Dec. 14th). For Concept Art Portfolio you'll join Diana Cearley for a presentation where she'll address a variety of topics on building a concept art portfolio including choosing a direction when you're starting out, personal artwork vs professional artwork, what to do if you aren't finding work, and practical info on types of files to use and how many images to include.
For Illustration Portfolio you'll join Clint Cearley as he addresses common issues on building an illustration portfolio such as what skill level you should be at before looking for work, how to build a starter portfolio that can get you work earlier than most, what kind of images should and shouldn't be included.
CAREER: Students who complete their assignments on time and finish the class (whether joining live or absent), will be invited to attend a bonus Career Discussion (Dec. 10th) with Clint and Diana Cearley. This will be a practical and candid discussion on making a living as an illustrator and concept artist in the today's industry. Topics such as income, finding clients, and pitfalls to avoid, will be covered. Questions will be welcomed.
PDFs: In addition to the recorded lessons, every week you'll also receive a PDF copy of the class presentation for future referencing and saving.
FAQ: Read the most frequently asked questions about classes here.
STUDENT GALLERY
Student work created in this class: