Explore and learn how to create a CG character sculpt and model

Creature Concept Sculpting for VFX is a live/online course where will take you through the process of creating an industry-standard creature concept sculpt, ready to be retopologised, rigged and textured.

The course will begin by taking an initial sketch that has been designed by the Art Department, gathering reference and seeing how the design can be pushed for story purposes. We’ll then look at creating a concept sculpt in ZBrush before moving on to rendering production-quality turntables to make our asset ready for review and sign off.

Students who enrol on the course will also have automatic access to the following on-demand courses:

This is to ensure you are up-and-running from the offset for character creation.

Tutor Industry Portfolio

Course Details

Type: On-demand
Level: Intermediate
Lessons: 08
Duration: 20+ hours
Format: Video on-demand
Tools: Maya, ZBrush, Nuke, Arnold
Prerequisites: Introduction to Maya 1001
Course Access Time: Lifetime

Industry partners

Lessons in this course

Week 01. Blocking the Arm, Hand and Torso

In this lesson, Jon will be diving straight into the blocking phase of our creature, focussing on the arm, hand and torso. He'll also look at working with a basemesh, creating usable polygroups and general posing.
Week 02. Blocking out the Face and Back

This lesson will cover how to go about blocking out the primary forms in ZBrush, with a focus on proportion and anatomy.
Week 03. Blocking the Torso and the Legs

With the main forms blocked out, let's start layering in the secondary forms.
Week 04. Blocking the Hair and Teeth

In this lesson, we'll continue our blocking phase with a focus on the hair and the teeth.
Week 05. Refining the Concept

Here, we'll continue developing our concept sculpt.
Week 06. Blocking in the Costume

Here, we'll block out a costume for our creature.
Week 07. Creating our Presentation Pose

In this lesson, we'll continue working on our presentation pose for our creature.
Week 08. Finalising the Concept Sculpt and Creating Turntable Renders

This lesson will go through the steps of finalisting the model, so it is ready for surfacing and rigging. We'll ensure the asset completes the initial design brief, fix any outstanding technical issues, and finally, we'll create a series of production-quality renders.
Available on: 2026.05.01 9:00 am

Tutor: Jonathan Reilly

Character Art Director

With a professional career spanning roughly 2 decades, Jon is a well-established and versatile character artist. His roles have found him working on some of the most iconic characters in cinema such as Shere Khan for the Jungle Book, and Proxima Midnight for Avengers: Inifinity War. Jon has also sculpted numerous Street Fighter favourites for collectibles, and has also worked on multiple award-winning video games. Jon has been a guest speaker for both higher education institutes and industry shows and continues to share his experience and knowledge to the next generation of artists. So, if you want to know how to sculpt a character, Jon is your guy.

Course Fee: £299.99

Format: Video on-demand

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Creature Concept Sculpting for VFX 2025

Learn how to create and present an industry-standard creature concept sculpt.

Explore and learn how to create a CG character sculpt and model