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English, French, 4 more
Spanish, Italian, German, Portuguese
English, French,
7 more
Spanish, Italian, German, Portuguese, Japanese, Turkish, Polish
Sean Murray is an award-winning illustrator, who has built worlds for Lord of the Rings, D&D and Magic: The Gathering. He is also professor at Ringling College of Art and Design.
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English, French , 4 more 
English, French , 7 more
Develop a worldbuilding foundation rooted in visual storytelling principlesNail three different sketching methods: indirect, direct and no referencePull your viewer in with details, color and lighting tricksUse pencil drawing hand-in-hand with digital drawing softwareApply the ‘Ghosted print’ method to transfer a pencil drawing onto Bristol boardUse Sean's 3-layer sandwich method for painting artwork in PhotoshopCreate depth using fog layers, masks, and contrast techniquesLearn how to make confident, creative decisions at every stageProduce a complete, fully rendered illustration of your own fantasy worldPicture a single illustration that makes a viewer stop and think, “I want to know more about this world.” Award-winning illustrator Sean Murray has spent decades building worlds for Dungeons and Dragons, Lord of the Rings and Magic: The Gathering. He knows exactly how to make a single image feel like a window into an entire universe.
And today, he’s going to show you how.
You’ll start with basic visual storytelling principles and discover how to find inspiration everywhere, from museums and old books to other fantasy art. Sean then shows you three different sketching methods so you can choose what feels most comfortable for you. By the time you finish your sketches, you’ll have a strong, clear composition ready to develop further.
Next comes the tight line work. Using his ‘ghosted print’ method, Sean shows you how easy it is to transfer your rough sketch onto Bristol board. Then you’ll see his iconic ‘push-pull technique’ to create a crisp pencil illustration ready to be scanned.
After that, it’s into Photoshop, where he teaches his 3-layer sandwich method for digital painting, so everything stays clear, organized, and stress-free. You’ll work through color studies, underpaintings, atmospheric perspective, details, and rendering to bring your world to life in full color.
By the end of the course, you’ll have a finished illustration, a peek into another realm, and a repeatable process you can use again and again. You’ll know how to art-direct yourself, make bold creative decisions, and add realistic details that give your piece depth and believability.
Ready to build your own world?
7+ Hours of on-demand videos
157 Reference images8 Process images
Layered Photoshop files
7 Assignments (PDF)
Bonus material
Downloadable brushes
Certificate of Completion
Welcome to this course! Meet Sean Murray, an award-winning illustrator and worldbuilder who is here to show you his proven process for creating immersive illustrations from concept to finish. Sean shares the visual storytelling principles that transform a single image into a window into an entire universe. Ready to get started?
Before you can paint a world, you have to imagine it, and that starts with getting a lot of ideas down fast. Sean walks you through his entire sketching process, from finding inspiration in books, museums, and the work of legendary artists, to three different digital sketching methods: no reference, indirect reference, and direct reference.
You’ll also explore pencil sketching, learn to add values in Photoshop, and see how Sean art-directs himself to pick the strongest sketch worth developing. By the end of this section, you’ll have a refined, composition-ready sketch to carry into the tight pencil drawing stage.
With your best sketch chosen, this section is about commitment, turning that rough idea into a tight, finished pencil drawing that will anchor everything else. Sean introduces his go-to drawing tools and shows you how he sets up his workstation for a focused drawing session.
Using his ghosted print method, he prints the sketch onto Bristol board as a roadmap and works through the drawing with his push-pull technique to build depth, detail, and storytelling clarity. By the end of this section, you’ll have a scan-ready pencil illustration ready for the digital painting stage.
This is where your world comes to life in full color! Sean teaches his 3-layer sandwich method, a stress-free Photoshop workflow, and a process that keeps everything organized while you paint. Without the fear of losing what you’ve already created!
Working from color studies and an underpainting, you’ll develop the painting layer by layer, from foreground rendering and atmospheric perspective through to the big picture changes and final polish. By the end, you’ll have a complete, professionally finished worldbuilding illustration and a digital painting process that’s yours to keep.
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Sean Murray is an award-winning illustrator, who has built worlds for Lord of the Rings, D&D and Magic: The Gathering. He is also professor at Ringling College of Art and Design.
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