Estimated tuition
$5K to $12K
Prices may vary on elective courses taken
Duration
18 Months
Prerequisites
Foundation & Design Program or a suitable portfolio submission
Estimated Salary
$65K to $174K
Based on US job data
Foundations & Design Program overview
Understand the role of a Character Designer in a Production
H.R. Giger, Phil Tippett, Ray Harryhausen, Stan Winston, Patrick Tatopoulos--all are rightly regarded as legends in the entertainment industry. Their visions have helped define popular culture, inspiring thousands of creative minds and entertaining millions worldwide. It’s clearly no overstatement to say that character and creature design is one of the most exciting, creative, and celebrated artistic disciplines. Gaining entry into this field isn’t always easy: this is where our Character Design Program comes in. Designed for those already versed in the fundamentals of drawing and design, this program carefully builds on those core skills to give students head-to-toe training in the art of human and creature character design for the entertainment industries. By the end of the program, students will be ideally placed to make the leap to a character design/concept art position at a film, animation, games, or print-based studio. To enroll in the Character Design Program, students will need either to have successfully completed the Foundation & Design Program or submit a portfolio that demonstrates sufficient core drawing skills and character/animal anatomy knowledge.
Story
Art/Pre-Production
Modeling
Foundations & Design CURRICULUM
Get a better sense
of our curriculum.
Winter
Spring
Summer
Learn from award-winning artists who've worked at top studios around the world
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Jonathan Valdez / Fall 2017
I cannot say enough about Patrick's ability to expressed and communicate his process. Patrick was extremely helpful to everyone during the Q&A and took his time with every single critique. I consider Patrick one if not the best teacher I had the pleasure of studying under. Patrick is a true master of Anatomy and I cannot recommend his class enough. I hope to one day have the opportunity to study under him again. Patrick if you get to read this, Thank you.
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Nancy Vw / Fall 2017
One of the best instructors I have ever had. My artwork improved considerably during this course, as did my understanding of the figure. The instructor is extremely sincere, and encouraging while having high expectations for excellence. I wish that he were teaching more courses. I would take them all.
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Sean Guzman / Fall 2017
Great job, especially considering it was the first class Patrick taught on the CGMA platform.
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Marcellino Tan / Fall 2017
All of the instructor should be like him.
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Mary Highstreet / Spring 2017
Fantastic class! Nate is a great teacher and an incredible resource, I'm so thankful for his dedication to teaching!!
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Devere Wint / Fall 2017
The course content is broken down structurally so that it allowed for nice linear progression and growth. I am leaving with a better understanding of character design.
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John Steventon / Fall 2017
Nate Wragg continued to impress me with his knowledge of the material, and the skills he displayed in demos and in the Q&S! He really knows his stuff, and the fact that he is willing to share that knowledge with us is really great. He is also open and honest about the industry, and what we will face when we get there. Honestly, I feel honored to have studied with him, and hope to work with him in the future.
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Melis Malatani / Fall 2017
Really enjoy Nate Wragg's approach to teaching online, it felt authentic, and really helpful. This was my second course with him instructing, both times were equally great.
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Tegan Clancy / Winter 2017
Like how clear and constructive the feedback was.
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Madeline Julyk / Summer 2017
I had a phenomenal time in this class, and I'm so sad it's ending -- Mitchell is funny, personable, knowledgeable, and is always responsive an attentive in and outside of the classroom. He puts a lot of effort and care into critiques and genuinely cares about the improvement of his students. If he ever has another class on CGMA, I'm taking it in a heartbeat. I can't express enough what a positive experience this was!
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Tessera Madison / Summer 2017
This has been a fantastic experience! Mitchell has been an incredible teacher. He takes the time to give each student detailed feedback. He is easily available if we have any questions or are struggling with an assignment. His lectures were extremely helpful and I learned so much. I am so grateful for this experience and would love to take more classes in the future!
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Lucca Medeiros / Summer 2017
The classes were really full of knowledge, and I learned a lot!
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Janna Sophia Koppenwallner / Fall 2017
-Thank you for the great class!
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Laurie M. Satizabal / Winter 2017
Bobby was a terrific professor, I will definitely take his class again!
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Rosemary Chalmers / Summer 2017
Bobby was very thorough and constructive with his feedback. He was also very encouraging.
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Melis Malatani / Summer 2017
Great instructor. An online course can be very detached from the real experience of a classroom, however Nate, really engaged us as students, through his lectures, and fast and useful critique, which made the whole experience more effective and real.
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Amber Kenneson / Summer 2017
Nate is one of the best instructors I have ever had--he communicates concepts in a very clear way that is easy to understand and put into practice. His feedback is always very specific, and he communicates both what IS working and what is NOT working--and as a result gives students a clear path forward in their work.
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Kate Dmitrieva / Summer 2017
Nate is a great instructor with very professional approach. Many thanks for his thorough feedback and always being there to help.
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Amber Kenneson / Spring 2017
Nate is one of the best instructors I've ever had! The way he explains and demonstrates things is so clear--he makes it easy for students to implement what he is teaching into their own work. I know my own work improved by leaps and bounds over the course of just 8 weeks, and I saw improvement in the work of my fellow students as well! Basically, I loved everything about Nate's course.
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Mei-li Liezl Buenaventura / Spring 2017
Really impressed with Ron and happy I took the class with him. I am definitely a better artist now than I was six weeks ago, and as someone who already has a BFA (and has taken many many figure drawing classes in the past), I was really happy that Ron was teaching such a technical way of approaching the subject matter. In our first lesson he mentioned gesture drawing and how frustrating he found it to be as it did not yield a usable mannequin, and as someone who learned the "old way", I can definitely agree. Really, really useful class, taught by a great artist! Thank you! :)
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John Waggoner / Winter 2017
A great teacher, Ron was able to be stern in his critiques while never seeming hostile or combative. I always felt that my improvement was his first priority. -
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Colin Rock / Winter 2017
Lemen is a great teacher who clearly cares about his students progress and takes the time to give thoughtful feedback.
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Paulina Ryguer/ Fall 2017
Ron Lemen is an excellent teacher, very communicative and invested in his students' improvement. There were a few instances when his feedback during the critiques/Q&A contradicted the information we got from his lectures. Ron's Q&A sessions were always informative and enjoyable. He encouraged discussions and answered students' questions in-depth.
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Rodrigo Gay/ Summer 2017
I truly was impressed by his skill. He dragged us from the simplicity to the complexity using a very simple method. I really liked the class. BRAVO!
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Firons Koh / Fall 2017
Love your digital portrait class, miss Melanie. I think I'll miss you!
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Angie Ngie/ Fall 2017
She's not afraid to repeat the same feedback where necessary, I appreciate her patience.
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Cathia Nofziger/ Fall 2017
Melanie is amazing and I learned so much from her. I am so grateful for all the time she spent coaching me and helping me improve. Wonderful teacher!
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Ilona Winkler / Winter 2017
élanie is by far the best instrcutor I had at CGMA so far. She is an amazing artist and shares her knowledge! And she also gives helpful feedback. Like really telling you what does not work at your drawing and why.
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Agnes Buronyi / Winter 2017
Melanie is a very nice and helpful person, she was actively participated on the forum, answered every question, and her feedbacks were great. She really cared about her students and helped us to improve.
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Ulina Small / fall 2017
He is a very personable guy. His spirit make learning this content fun. He is good at not only finding the students faults, but also remembering to point out the things the student has done well. -
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Amy Chen/ Fall 2017
He has a great personality that shines through in the lectures. His lectures are always funny, interesting, and informative. I enjoyed watching all of the videos and participating in the live Q&As.
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Adele Hentz / Summer 2017
My instructor was incredible, one of the best teachers I had ever had in my life and I want to take all of his classes. He has been such a fantastic help to my growth as an artist.
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Angie Avila/ Fall 2017
Great teacher and always made the class enjoyable.
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Matej Silecky / Spring 2017
Christian was a great instructor over lecture.
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Sebastian Posada / Winter 2017
Mauricio is awesome! :)
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James Pickard / Winter 2017
Really good mentor ship and instruction from Mauricio.
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