The Learn Squared Podcast

The Learn Squared Podcast takes a closer look at the students, instructors, and friends of Learn Squared.

Episode 102 - Tsu Wei Chen 07/19/2025

Episode 102 - Tsu Wei Chen We welcome Tsu Wei Chen, who will be your guest for this episode of the Learn Squared Podcast. Tsu Wei shares his incredible journey, which has seen him work on titles like Invincible, Off The Grid, and Frostpunk 2, among many others. So tune in and hear how this all came about, his approach to the craft of being a Concept Artist and the navigating the highs and lows of his career, plus more. - FOLLOW TSU WEI - FOLLOW LEARN SQUARED - YOUR HOST /episode/index/show/learnsquared/id/37465735

Episode 101 - Florent Lebrun 06/28/2025

Episode 101 - Florent Lebrun Concept Artist Florent Lebrun is your guest for this episode of The Learn Squared Podcast. From starting out in Matte Painting to switching gears towards Concept Art and working on titles like The Last of Us 2, we hear how Florent switched gears once more to craft his short film The Lost Tower, which currently sits on over 2million views and was made entirely in Blender. Tune in to catch this and plenty more. - FOLLOW FLORENT - FOLLOW LEARN SQUARED - YOUR HOST /episode/index/show/learnsquared/id/37202775

Episode 100 - Miguel Nogueira 06/10/2025

Episode 100 - Miguel Nogueira Senior Concept Artist Miguel Nogueira is your guest for this episode of the Learn Squared, and Miguel shares how sticking to his passion and interests was key to forging a career in the entertainment industry, his secrets to improving as a creative, and what the next chapter in his career entails, plus much more. - FOLLOW MIGUEL - FOLLOW LEARN SQUARED - YOUR HOST /episode/index/show/learnsquared/id/36936950

Episode 99 - Joe Garth 05/31/2025

Episode 99 - Joe Garth Joe Garth returns to Learn Squared shores and brings with him a shiny new course in the shape of Unreal Engine 5 Environments Made Easy, which you can sign up for at https://www.learnsquared.com/courses/unreal-engine-5-environments-made-easy And in this episode, the evolution he and his toolset, Brushify.io, have gone through since Joe last appeared on the podcast 5 Years Ago, what you can learn in the course and the power and potential future of Unreal Engine and much more. - FOLLOW & LEARN FROM JOE https://www.learnsquared.com/courses/unreal-engine-5-environments-made-easy https://www.artstation.com/joegarth - FOLLOW LEARN SQUARED - YOUR HOST /episode/index/show/learnsquared/id/36800585

Episode 98 - Robbie Trevino 05/20/2025

Episode 98 - Robbie Trevino Concept Artist, Illustrator and Art Director Robbie Trevino brings his wealth of experience and creative flair to this episode of The Learn Squared Podcast! From building a super-portfolio that got him hired right away to how he developed his career with our industry's biggest studios, and in particular, how and why he creates the stunning art he shares with the world, plus much more! - FOLLOW ROBBIE - FOLLOW LEARN SQUARED - YOUR HOST /episode/index/show/learnsquared/id/36640600

Episode 97 - Paul Chadeisson 05/05/2025

Episode 97 - Paul Chadeisson The Iconic Paul Chadeisson returns for another episode of The Learn Squared Podcast, where our World Building instructor talks to us about his freshly released film SOLTICE 5: Forgotten Archives, a prequel to his SOLTICE 5 film that came out a few years ago, with both currently sitting at over 6 MILLION VIEWS. And we hear how this project came about, along with the surprises and challenges it presented along the way, giving us a fascinating insight into the exciting state and challenges of indie CGI Filmmaking and more! Definitely watch both films before picking up this episode. Links below - WATCH SOLTICE 5: Forgotten Archives - FOLLOW & LEARN FROM PAUL - FOLLOW LEARN SQUARED - YOUR HOST /episode/index/show/learnsquared/id/36441755

Episode 96 - Jessica Woulfe 04/23/2025

Episode 96 - Jessica Woulfe The Incredible Jessica Woulfe is your next guest on The Learn Squared Podcast, and we discover how Concept Artist and Background Artist Jessica went from falling in love with gaming thanks to Final Fantasy X to working on the AWARD-WINNING Astrobot! Enjoy this episode, filled with solid tips for conquering deadlines and staying ahead of your schedule, navigating your career, and much more. FOLLOW JESSICA - FOLLOW LEARN SQUARED - YOUR HOST /episode/index/show/learnsquared/id/36278255

Episode 95 - Joseph Cross 04/10/2025

Episode 95 - Joseph Cross The brilliant Joseph Cross drops by for this episode of The Learn Squared Podcast, where we get to hear his stunning and interesting journey from wanting to be a comic book artist to working on some of the entertainment industry's biggest and iconic projects. Like helping Bungie disrupt the industry by helping bring the Destiny Universe to life, and now doing It all again with Bungie’s forthcoming MARATHON GAME as an Art Director not to mention his work on Dune and more along the way. Enjoy an episode full of wisdom, career advice, how to navigate transitioning from Concept Artist to Art Director. How to nurture your inner belief and how to prime yourself when crafting a brand new IP plus more in this wide-ranging interview. - FOLLOW JOSEPH https://www.artstation.com/josephacross https://www.instagram.com/joseph.a.cross - MARATHON ARTISTS FEATURED - FOLLOW LEARN SQUARED - YOUR HOST https://www.instagram.com/dhandatron /episode/index/show/learnsquared/id/36082135

Episode 94 - Gavin Manners 03/26/2025

Episode 94 - Gavin Manners Concept Designer Gavin Manners is your guest for Ep 94 of The Learn Squared Podcast, and Gavin reveals his journey and approach to forging a successful career and keeping his skills sharp, a journey made more compelling considering he broke into the industry after he hit 30 and had worked as an Electrician, Interior Architect and Teacher before this. Jump in and catch the whole episode and hear how Gavin just got his dream job, staying healthy and plenty more. FOLLOW GAVIN - FOLLOW LEARN SQUARED - YOUR HOST /episode/index/show/learnsquared/id/35869820

Episode 93 - Rui Huang 03/21/2025

Episode 93 - Rui Huang The brilliant CGI Artist Rui Huang drops by Learn Squared Podcast HQ for this episode, where we get to hear how Rui's strong belief in his craft and work helped him go from dropping out of college and having no work to becoming a viral sensation and master of his own destiny! From mastering blender to create stunning shorts in EEVEE to mastering the algorithm and conquering social media. So tune in and hear how Rui's journey played out, how he got to work with Ben Mauro and Maciej Kuciara and why he loves Sci-Fi. Watch the full episode on The Projects Rui Screenshares at: 13:31- 13.32 - 13:44 - 35:17 - FOLLOW RUI - FOLLOW LEARN SQUARED - YOUR HOST /episode/index/show/learnsquared/id/35804290

Episode 92 - Marina Ortega Lorente 03/07/2025

Episode 92 - Marina Ortega Lorente Concept Artist and illustrator Marina Ortega Lorente joins us for today’s episode of The Learnsquared Podcast to talk about her journey as a Creative that began 10 years ago! And after working with clients such as Games Workshop to Magic: The Gathering, Marina shares the incredible drive for her craft and the highs that come with it but also the lows she has experienced, including being part of the recent layoffs over the last few years. Tune in for an insightful episode on art, creativity, navigating the industry, navigating low points in your career, and much more! - FOLLOW MARINA - FOLLOW LEARN SQUARED - YOUR HOST /episode/index/show/learnsquared/id/35559560

Episode 97 - Paul Chadeisson 03/05/2025

Episode 91 - Pierre Deschamps 02/26/2025

Episode 91 - Pierre Deschamps In this episode of the Learn Squared Podcast, Concept Artist Pierre Deschamps joins us and reveals his relationship with creativity and the power of his notebook! Pierre also reveals how Pablo Dominguez's Environment Concept Art course changed his workflow and discusses how mood can affect your art, his pursuit of scale, where he wants his career to go plus much more. FOLLOW PIERRE - FOLLOW LEARN SQUARED - YOUR HOST /episode/index/show/learnsquared/id/35438905

Episode 90 - Col Price 02/13/2025

Episode 90 - Col Price The mighty Col Price joins us for this episode and reveals what life is like working as a Concept Artist in Film, from the joys to the pitfalls, and why Concept Artists are massively underrated and underappreciated. Col also reveals his joyful experience on Alien: Romulus and how projects like that, whilst rare, could be the blueprint for creatives working in the industry. This episode was originally recorded in Dec 2024. - FOLLOW COL - FOLLOW LEARN SQUARED - YOUR HOST /episode/index/show/learnsquared/id/35270440

Episode 89 - Leo Avero 02/04/2025

Episode 89 - Leo Avero Concept Artist and Art Director Leo Avero is your guest for this episode. He gives a very honest and revealing account of how he became the creative he is today, which includes not only making cutting-edge imagery at One Pixel Brush but also founding his own game studio and developing his own team and game. From profound life experiences and being diagnosed with ADHD, Leo pulls no punches in sharing his knowledge. - FOLLOW LEO - FOLLOW LEARN SQUARED - YOUR HOST /episode/index/show/learnsquared/id/35145405

Episode 88 - Vaughan Ling 01/24/2025

Episode 88 - Vaughan Ling Heavy Paint creator Vaughan Ling joins us for this fabulous episode to share his exemplary career as a creative, from starting out designing toys, to working in TV & FILM and his collaborations with Alberto Mielgo. Alongside this, Vaughan shows his creativity knows no bounds with his ventures into the realms of programming, which evolved into his beautifully simple and creative painting app, HEAVY PAINT. - FOLLOW VAUGHAN - FOLLOW LEARN SQUARED - YOUR HOST /episode/index/show/learnsquared/id/34992110

Episode 87 - Gabriel Björk Stiernström 01/15/2025

Episode 87 - Gabriel Björk Stiernström Our Brand New Learn Squared Instructor, Gabriel Björk Stiernström, reveals all about his love of Space, Design and Art, as well as what went into his trilogy of courses STARSHIP DESIGN, PLANETS & STARS and GALACTIC CONCEPT ART. Gabriel is vastly experienced as a Lead Concept Artist at Goodbye Kansas who has worked on IPs such as Call of Duty, Elden Ring, Destiny 2, Secret Level, God of War: Ragnarök, Helldivers 2 and countless more. With a diverse body of work and experiences that spans fantasy to VFX and hyper-realism Gabriel's main passion is Space, and in this episode, we geek out over how to be great at designing Starships and all things intergalactic. - LEARN FROM GABRIEL - FOLLOW GABRIEL - FOLLOW LEARN SQUARED - YOUR HOST /episode/index/show/learnsquared/id/34866450

Episode 86 - Danny Chan 01/08/2025

Episode 86 - Danny Chan In this episode, Concept Artist Danny Chan shares his love of specializing in sci-fi and hard surface design and takes us through his incredible journey from crafting Minecraft worlds as a kid to walking the red carpet as a nominee at the BAFTAs before he even discovered the world of Concept Art! From going on to work at the likes of Cloud Imperium Games and now at Build a Rocket Boy, Danny shares hard-earned lessons about blending logic with creativity, adapting to life’s unexpected turns, solving complex problems with art and more! - FOLLOW DANNY - FOLLOW LEARN SQUARED - YOUR HOST /episode/index/show/learnsquared/id/34773680

Episode 85 - Carlos Pecino (Colorsponge) 01/05/2025

Episode 85 - Carlos Pecino (Colorsponge) The mighty Colorsponge, aka Carlos Pecino, joins The Learn Squared Podcast to share how he became one of the industry's leading CG artists. From graphic design and VFX to automotive design and co-founding Make Haste Corp with Ash Thorp, Carlos reveals his journey of mastering multiple disciplines. He opens up about his work ethic, highs and lows, learning from mistakes, and creating with passion. You don’t want to miss this inspiring episode - FOLLOW CARLOS - FOLLOW LEARN SQUARED - YOUR HOST /episode/index/show/learnsquared/id/34724250

Episode 84 - Antonio Esparza 11/28/2024

Episode 84 - Antonio Esparza Our BRAND NEW Learn Squared instructor, Antonio Esparza, drops by this episode to reveal all about his BRAND NEW course 3D Character Art (Available Now). Antonio also shares what it takes to be an elite professional, the traits you need to be a great collaborator, and how working with the likes of Sava Zivkovic Ben Mauro and on projects such as League of Legends, Destiny 2, Huxley, and more led to him launching his own studio! - LEARN FROM ANTONIO - FOLLOW ANTONIO - FOLLOW LEARN SQUARED - YOUR HOST /episode/index/show/learnsquared/id/34193230

Episode 83 - Jeremy Hunter 11/20/2024

Episode 83 - Jeremy Hunter Concept Artist Jeremy Hunter is your guest for this episode. He joins us to reveal how he switched careers, gaining his teaching qualifications and becoming a Concept Artist working in Game, TV, and Film. Not letting the rollercoaster of life derail him, Jeremy has also used his understanding of the industry to build a service catering to more original characters for artists to use in their projects in the shape of CG Characters. So enjoy this episode, which features some deeply honest tales from Jeremy and why he built this new venture. - FOLLOW JEREMY - FOLLOW LEARN SQUARED - YOUR HOST /episode/index/show/learnsquared/id/34034226

Episode 82 - Marco Gorlei 11/06/2024

Episode 82 - Marco Gorlei Concept Artist Marco Gorlei joins us for an amazing episode where he reveals the very nature of what makes him tick as an artist, how he became a Concept Artist and got work on projects such as Ghost In The Shell, Halo, Magic the Gathering and many more, how History influences his art and how he navigated the jump from studio to freelance and much more. - FOLLOW MARCO https://https://mgorleidesign.com/ - FOLLOW LEARN SQUARED - YOUR HOST /episode/index/show/learnsquared/id/33816830

Episode 81 - Harshanand Singh 10/16/2024

Episode 81 - Harshanand Singh In this podcast episode, we dive deep into the creative journey of the wonderful Harshanand Singh, aka Harsh. Hailing from Pune in India, Harsh reveals his unique experiences growing up in a family with a deep connection to the arts and creativity, how he built the career of his dreams as a Concept Artist and the sacrifices he had to make along the way. - FOLLOW HARSH - FOLLOW LEARN SQUARED - YOUR HOST /episode/index/show/learnsquared/id/33482272

Episode 80 - Darren Bartley 09/05/2024

Episode 80 - Darren Bartley Darren Bartley is your next guest on the Learn Squared Podcast, and Darren’s artistry is a joy to behold! Although, if you ask, he will state he is not an artist at all, as Design and world-building are where Darren’s creative mind is at! In this episode, Darren shares what he believes is critical to being able to be your best creative self and how he can give each of his worlds a unique voice, look, feel and much more in this epic episode. - FOLLOW DARREN - FOLLOW LEARN SQUARED - YOUR HOST /episode/index/show/learnsquared/id/32909297

Episode 79 - Daniele Solimene 08/22/2024

Episode 79 - Daniele Solimene Our newest instructor, Daniele Solimene, joins us to talk about his epic new course, Concept Art for Video Games. While excelling in your career is a serious matter, there is plenty of fun to be had as an artist. Daniele shares what went into his course that targets beginner, intermediate and experienced students simultaneously, the things you need to be successful at when producing Concept Art for games and why the role of a Concept Artist is incredibly influential. Also, get an inside look at Daniele's work on the upcoming Dune: Awakening and more. LEARN FROM DANIELE - FOLLOW DANIELE - FOLLOW LEARN SQUARED - YOUR HOST /episode/index/show/learnsquared/id/32629247

Episode 78 - James Clyne 07/31/2024

Episode 78 - James Clyne The Legendary James Clyne joins us for this episode, where he drops some juicy insights into the mentality and qualities you need to have to work in the entertainment industry, how to avoid its pitfalls, and how to strive for originality. James definitely knows a thing or two as he has worked in a multitude of roles from Concept Artist to Art Director, working for Hollywood’s greats like Steven Spielberg and James Cameron, to name a few, on movies such as Minority Report, Avatar, The Star Wars Universe, many many more, and recently as Production Designer for Gareth Edwards on The Creator. Also, look out for how James ended up at Syd Mead's house and how his career path was not exactly straightforward. FOLLOW JAMES FOLLOW LEARN SQUARED - YOUR HOST /episode/index/show/learnsquared/id/32364447

Episode 77 - Dan Martin 07/17/2024

Episode 77 - Dan Martin Senior Art Director Dan Martin is a friendly face over here at Learn Squared being one of our first students when we launched and is a bonafide creative in his own right. And Dan joins us to talk about many things we can all relate to as we move along our creative paths. From finding what your true calling is, how to identify when you need to make a change and over coming obstacles. We also share very personal stories around battling with depression and how we're dealing with it, so whilst not medical adivce we hope sharing and highlighting our lived experiences will be helpful. FOLLOW DAN FOLLOW LEARN SQUARED - YOUR HOST /episode/index/show/learnsquared/id/32178617

Episode 76 - Kris Brady 07/05/2024

Episode 76 - Kris Brady Brand New Learn Squared Instructor Kris Brady joins us for an inspirational episode where we discover his path toward mastery and talk about his incredible new course, MASTERING FILM UI. In this episode, Kris shares how he started when UI design and animation was a niche and how he levelled up and progressed over the years to work in Film (Black Panther, Love, Death & Robots, Aquaman & more) and curate the exact career he wanted. We also discover how Kris built his course with storytelling and artistry in mind and the best way to approach it. SIGN UP FOR MASTERING FILM UI FOLLOW KRIS FOLLOW LEARN SQUARED YOUR HOST /episode/index/show/learnsquared/id/32022612

Episode 75 - Mel Cummings 06/05/2024

Episode 75 - Mel Cummings Concept Artist Mel Cummings joins us for today’s episode. She reveals how she made it as a Concept Artist when her pathway to becoming one was not obviously clear and why this journey is one of the main reasons she mentors and guides upcoming artists when she is not busy working in TV and Games on titles such as Marvel's Secret Invasion, PUBG, APEX, and more. Mel also reveals her battle with depression, the tools she uses to help her with this, and how this made her understand herself better. - FOLLOW MEL - FOLLOW LEARN SQUARED - YOUR HOST /episode/index/show/learnsquared/id/31613597

Episode 74 - Alex Figini 05/22/2024

Episode 74 - Alex Figini Learn Squared Instructor Alex FIgini (Concepting in ZBrush) joins us for this episode to discuss many topics, including the current state of our industry, recent job losses, how AI technology is probably going to affect us moving forward, and why it is important for you to be different! LEARN FROM AND FOLLOW ALEX FOLLOW LEARN SQUARED (ALL First Lessons are FREE!) YOUR HOST /episode/index/show/learnsquared/id/31416677

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