Mini-courseAdvanced
Weapon concept: sea demon
Twelve lessons and the full concept artist pipeline: reading the image, a reference library, silhouettes, clean line art, color, render and an assembled concept sheet.
- 3 weeks
- of study
- 3
- modules
- 12
- lessons
- 3 hr 20 min
- videos
About the course
Twelve lessons in three modules, about three and a half hours of video, three weeks. The first module is the visual language of a concept, reading the character’s image, a system for working with references and a study block for growing your visual library. The second is concepting silhouettes, sketches built on them and clean line art. The third is finding color, working with light and shade, render, extra views and laying out the sheet.
The usual trouble with a prop concept is a pretty drawing that says nothing about its owner. A sea demon’s weapon has to read as his thing: in the proportion of the grip, in the material, in the traces of use. So the pipeline starts not with a sketch but with taking the character apart and working out what the object has to do, and only after that come the silhouettes filled with black, where one thing is checked — does the shape read without details.
What you get at the end is a concept sheet: the final render of the weapon, extra views and detail callouts, laid out on one sheet for your portfolio. The work is done in Adobe Photoshop, assignments are handed in as PSD, references are gathered in PureRef — it’s free. A graphics tablet is recommended.
The mini-course comes with the Club plan and isn’t sold separately. An active subscription opens all the mini-courses at once. When you cancel, access closes; the marks on the lessons you’ve finished stay.
- Format
- Video lessons with practice after each one, your own pace — about 3 weeks
- Materials
- Working files and references for the lessons — yours to download
- Where to watch
- In your account: your progress and the rest of the plan’s courses live there too
What you’ll be able to do
- 01Visual languageunderstanding how shape and silhouette create character and meaning in a concept.
- 02Reading the characterbeing able to read a character and derive what the prop design needs.
- 03Working with referencesa structured system for gathering and using references.
- 04Silhouettes, sketches, linefinding designs and confident clean line art.
- 05Color and rendercolor layouts, light and shade, two ways to polish.
- 06Extra viewsknowing which details the main concept leaves out, and adding the missing visual information well.
- 07Concept sheeta professional layout of the finished piece for your portfolio.
Program
3 modules · 12 lessons · 3 hr 20 minEvery lesson opens with a plan — you watch them in your account
How it works
Watch the lesson
The walkthrough video and its working files open in your account.
Repeat it
Every lesson ends with practice — you draw right away, step by step.
Show your work
Post it to the shared feed, and Azat reviews the work on stream.
Who it’s for and what you’ll need
Who it suits
- The course is for anyone who wants to learn concept art for props and weapons — from the first read of the character to the final concept sheet. It suits beginning concept artists as well as artists who already draw but want a professional pipeline.
- If you want to work in games or illustration and need a piece for your portfolio, you’ll finish the course with a complete weapon concept sheet.
What you need to have
- A computer or laptop running Windows or macOS
- Adobe Photoshop — all lessons are taught in Photoshop and assignments are done as PSD files
- A graphics tablet (recommended)
- PureRef — a free program for working with references
- A computer or laptop with internet access to watch the lessons
SubscriptionClub — $33 a month
The course opens along with the whole studio
286 video lessons
Azat’s archive on drawing and painting
9 mini-courses
all of them, not just this one
4 reference packs
references and working files, yours to download
Streams and work reviews
Azat reviews work on the Sunday stream