Design your own mechs with concept artist Gavin Manners. Learn mech theory, sketching, 3D modeling, Photoshop paintover, and presentation techniques to create grounded, functional, portfolio-ready mech designs.
$149
$89
Design your own mechs with weight, purpose and personality alongside concept artist Gavin Manners. You’ll begin with theory and real-world reference, defining your machine’s function, scale, and mechanical logic before moving into sketching and modular concept exploration. From there, you’ll build the design in 3D using simple forms, and finally paint over the renders in Photoshop. This course will teach you to create mechs that feel functional, grounded, and ready to step into. By the end you’ll have an entire series of portfolio-ready images of your design.
After signing up for our courses, many of our students have broken into the industry, leveled up their skills, and got hired for their dream jobs. With over 20,000 students from around the world, you'll be in good company.
Not sure which course is for you? As a member of Learn Squared, you'll get free access to the first lesson of every course to try before you're ready to buy. Sign up now to get instant access and start learning today.
A guided path through every stage of the course, broken down into focused lessons you can work through at your own pace.
Lesson 1
In this lesson Gavin will help you to come up with a mech design that looks cool while still feeling like it could exist. Then you’ll create multiple rounds of rough sketches to brainstorm the design.
Lesson 2
Now it’s time to refine your rough sketches into a page of clean line art drawings, showing breakouts of detailed body parts where needed.
Lesson 3
Armed with a set of detailed 2D plans, you’ll jump into 3D to begin modeling your mech. During this stage you'll also add simple cables, internal pieces and other functionality.
Lesson 4
In this lesson you’ll set up materials and decals, then light and render out your mech to prepare for the final paintover.
Lesson 5
In this lesson you’ll do your final paintovers, arranging your images into attractive presentations which show off all your mech’s functionality.
Gavin Manners is a principal concept artist at id Software known for his intricate, highly believable mech designs. His work combines the visual appeal of science fiction with the logic of real-world machinery, creating giant machines that feel heavy, functional, and grounded in practical engineering. With a strong eye for silhouette, mechanical detail, and purposeful design, Gavin builds mechs that go beyond cool shapes, giving each machine a clear sense of scale, structure, and purpose.
No rush. Not like there's any competition out there.
Free
Instant access to portions of this course and dozens of others
No credit card required
No expiration
Limited access
$149
$89
Get in touch for more information about discounts for teams, both big and small. Big savings either way.
tons of workflow crap and programs i would have never thought of trying.... PEEP DATTT!!!1
Designer
My career as a concept artist started after taking these courses. Much of what I learned I applied to my portfolio and in a couple months ... I got my first job.
Concept Artist & Illustrator
Learn Squared gives me the freedom and flexibility to learn from the best in the industry at my own pace.
Freelance Concept Artist
Join a devoted community of over 20,000 students from around the world.
Here's a full list of all the videos in this course.
In this lesson Gavin will help you to come up with a mech design that looks cool while still feeling like it could exist. Then you’ll create multiple rounds of rough sketches to brainstorm the design.
Now it’s time to refine your rough sketches into a page of clean line art drawings, showing breakouts of detailed body parts where needed.
Armed with a set of detailed 2D plans, you’ll jump into 3D to begin modeling your mech. During this stage you'll also add simple cables, internal pieces and other functionality.
In this lesson you’ll set up materials and decals, then light and render out your mech to prepare for the final paintover.
In this lesson you’ll do your final paintovers, arranging your images into attractive presentations which show off all your mech’s functionality.
Check out some of the amazing work Mech Design students have created by doing their homework.
