Saturday, July 9th, 2022 Posted by Jim Thacker

Tutorial: Designing a Transforming Super Mecha


The Gnomon Workshop has released Designing a Transforming Super Mecha, a new guide to concept design recorded by Digital Dimension concept artist Léo Chiola.

The workshop, which is suitable artists of a range of skill levels, from beginners to existing professionals, provides three hours of video training in Clip Studio Paint and Photoshop.

Discover how to create striking 2D character and vehicle concepts
In the workshop, Chiola sets out his concept design process for a character-to-vehicle transformation, from initial brief to final artwork, based on his experience working on animated series Transformers: Cyberverse.

He begins by exploring designs using rough lines and colours before choosing an initial sketch to develop into a final concept, creating clean line art in Clip Studio Paint and rendering the design in Photoshop.

Technical topics covered include how to set up inking brushes to work properly at any resolution, how to add colour variation for subtle details, and how to add effects to a final render.

The workshop also covers art fundamentals like shape language, the importance of a clear silhouette, how to convey emotion through design, and how to make use of reference images.

As well as the videos themselves, viewers can download project files including layered Photohop files for Chiola’s initial designs, and the finished concept for the character in mecha and vehicle modes.

About the artist
Léo Chiola is a senior concept artist at Digital Dimension Entertainment Group, creating character concepts, illustrations and comics for new animated TV shows Chase and Catch and Aiko and the Masters of Time.

He was previously a character designer at Boulder Media on animated series Transformers: Cyberverse.

Pricing and availability
Designing a Transforming Super Mecha is available via a subscription to The Gnomon Workshop, providing access to over 300 tutorials. Subscriptions cost $49/month or $490/year. Free trials are available.

Read more about Designing a Transforming Super Mecha on The Gnomon Workshop’s website

Full disclosure: CG Channel is owned by Gnomon.