Digital Painting Studio Reviews 12

I strongly recommend taking up this mentorship with Hardy if you want speedy results in your journey on becoming a pro concept artist.

I would say the optimal time to take this course is when you already have a strong foundation in drawing skills. The best use of this mentorship is on design, polishing and building a portfolio. By building a strong foundation in your drawing skills beforehand, you will get the most value out of this course.

The more you put in, the more you get out. The more work you do, the more feedback you get, the faster you improve.

90% of the value here comes from the direct attention, coaching and guidance you get from Hardy. You're never confused as to what you should be doing next. You identify bottlenecks and weak points in your work and make plans as to where to focus on for the biggest impact. This lead to rapid progress in my work and probably saved me months if not years.

This was a 10/10 experience.

This was an excellent course focused on the skill of creating complete concept art and illustration. The course covers design-- from concept to design of a pleasing subject (character, creature, prop, environment), and rendering (painting techniques). During the live classes (and outside of class), Hardy freely dispensed any of the techniques or skills gained through his years of experience, apparently holding no information or insight as too precious to share. On the contrary, seems to enjoy empowering his students by sharing his knowledge.

In addition to the weekly live demonstrations (class size ~15-25), the course asks the students to complete myriad concept art assignments. They can choose to do a single project weekly, but without exception there are multiple projects they may complete in addition. Between the projects, the classes, and feedback from the teacher, one is able to get as much from the class as they are willing to put into it.

The teacher, Hardy, is an experienced and accomplished artist who demonstrated this experience and skill throughout the course. In addition to his solid communication skills during class (where he completes pieces in real time while talking about his process and fielding questions from the class), he was thoroughly accessible outside of class as well. He provided actionable and clear feedback and guidance on the pieces I worked on throughout the course (at multiple stages for each piece). He was consistently encouraging. He didn't hesitate to point out the strengths of my work, but was also honest and didn't shy away from showing where I might make improvements. This critique process involved Hardy actively painting over or otherwise manipulating my own work to demonstrate his suggestions. Hardy frequently reminded all of the students not to hesitate to ask him questions or for critique of their work.

I recommend this course to any artist who wants to learn or improve at the skill of concept art and illustration and is willing to put in the the time and effort to move closer to mastery.

This course/mentorship is a great investment for any artist looking to break into the industry. Even if you believe your skill level is lower or towards a more intermediate skillset, you'll improve as long as you put the work in! Even after the 12 weeks of classes are done where you learn design principles, painting techniques, tips about the industry, etc- you still are able to get 1 on 1 quality feedback. Once again, if you put in the work and are willing to learn you will gain so so much. Hardy's style of teaching and giving critique is great. He helped me out so much and is still helping me out with my portfolio. So, if you're an artist with a drive to learn and improve you will 100% see the quality of this mentorship.

i enjoyed this mentorship. Hardy is an amazing person and god tier artist with vast amounts of knowledge. he was always available and answered all my questions and gave great feedback. the class lessons are fun too and its cool to see all the artists working on the same projects seeing what they came up with and their personal developments.

i feel this mentorship is best for the artist who has a good understanding of form and the fundamentals and are looking to create their own concepts and stories. i do feel the mentorship is lacking is technical deep dives on specific subjects. so having a strong sense of skills and goals will be essential in knowing if this mentorship is right for you.

overall i enjoyed this mentorship and feel i have grown as an artist and am grateful for the experience.

This program is worth the investment even for fairly new artist. Hardy’s teaching style is easy to digest and his feedback is top notch. If you want to see that making cool art is something almost anyone can learn to do if they put in the effort, this program is for you!

this course is a highly polished and personal experience that helps set you up for a thriving Art career. With the modern, Industry relevant skills and techniques that Hardy teaches, the prompt video format feedback on your work, and the community with fellow students, this course meets you where your at than helps make you a stand out artist in the industry!

I joined the menthorship with Hardy (Concept Art-Academy) for 12 weeks and the gap of development is Huge. this program is built up so smart you can not, not profit from it. i was first insecure if my skilllevel is not high enough but also for that Hardy took time to wach my works and gave me green Light. And he was Right! i was able to really grow in this program. i recomend this to everyone who wants to reach multiple higher levels in his own art.

I had a great experience with Hardy. He helped me understand design better. Including shape language, readable silhouettes, and composition. And being able to ask questions and get feedback was very helpful. I would recommend this program to artists who want to understand their art more.

Hardy was exceptional, Im wrapping up the mentorship one. He gave quick fire feedback in video format. He gave great feedback and it felt like messaging a professional friend who could see all the 'stuff' and just tell me whats up. He could point out where I might find my strengths and where I was needing to push a bit more.

The course content itself was also excellent, Ive done a whole bunch of courses, like CGMA Illustration course last year, as well as a ton of proko content.
This was better, like CGMA was close and the Proko content is excellent - but this felt personal like the video format and real reply made a big difference for me.
Everything was explained in a smooth dialogue, plenty of great tips and easy ways for me to keep my art moving. Learning to see Design language in a simple format and the shape carving made it worth it for me.

I was part of the Anura House graduates. Hardy is a very present teacher, always willing to help with any issues students might have during their learning process. He also provides with a self-paced curriculum to follow after the whole course is over to help students honing their craft while portfolio building. Most of all, Hardy is always available even after the course, organizing monthly hangouts with former&enrolled students. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who wants to start building a good foundation to start their path in the industry.

I took the Concept Art Academy in 2023 under the Octo8 house, and every step of the way Hardy was attentive, and took time to give both personal and group feedback on my pieces. His feedback is in-depth and he goes out of his way to make himself available for students if they have a question or concern. The mentorship covers a little bit of everything and is heavily focused on refining your skill to get you industry ready.

Since then, I've done two kit courses as well. I still talk to Hardy today and he's open to giving feedback on things, even though I'm further than a year out from the mentorship. All in all I've had a fantastic experience with this company and I definitely recommend both Hardy's teaching and the Concept Art Academy!

Bad company pls stay away from this company