Here's the first look at some of the work from the Game Art Production course which finished in December.

Escape Studios has been approached to help with some of the CG and VFX work on an exciting new, non-profit project called Operation Chastity.

Few of you will have missed this morning’s headlines about yesterday’s violent student protests in London. Taking to the streets is not something that comes naturally to British people – unlike the French, who view student protests almost as a right of passage. So, having 50,000 of them marching in London shows the level of discontent over the government’s recent decision to increase tuition fees.

I was just looking over some of the people in our alumni group on LinkedIn and it was great to see the amazing list of companies Escapees are working at.  To the have the CG industries peppered with so many people from our courses is a great feeling and we'd love to hear from anyone who isn't in the group so we can see where you are and what you've been up to.

Calling all aspiring artists and CG wannabes!  Here’s your opportunity to build your dream career.  Today we launched CG Whiz 2010 our annual search for the hottest amateur computer graphics talent. We’re offering over £15,000 or $24,000 worth of prizes for the winners, thanks to our co-sponsors, The Mill, CG Society and 3D Artist.

Last week, I promised to share with you some more of the work that our students have presented to us at the end of their courses. This time, I have decided to show you the work of Tracey Chung, who recently completed our Character Animation course taught by Alex Williams.

A common misconception amongst Junior Artists when preparing their first reel is that they have to come up with some overly elaborate and complex VFX shot to wow future employees. These usually feature exotic spaceships, massive explosions and weapons of mass destruction. It doesn't have to be like that. So, what makes a good CG shot? I had a chat with our Training Development Director and Maya Guru Lee Danskin to find out.

I spent of lot of my time helping escapees find their first job. As part of this is, I maintain a network of contacts to help students get their foot in the door. We all know how important it is to know the right people and belong to the right network - something that not every student does enough of, but could help them land their dream job. 

Every budding professional needs professional software, so we have devised a brand new promotion to help CG graduates who want to pursue commercial work, get the professional set-up they need.  This means you can now upgrade student licences to full commercial versions for half the price, and be on your way to becoming a professional CG artist.

Following the success of our 500 competition, we’re launching another one exclusively on Facebook. We’ve improved the prize as well – not only will the winner get three months access to an online course of their choice, they’ll also receive a free critique of their work by one of Escape’s tutors, all experts in their fields. Four runners up will also receive critiques of a piece of their work.