About us
We are the first physical, on-site Concept Art school in Europe, providing a solid array of courses that cover all the skills necessary that every successful concept artist needs to design and illustrate at the highest level.
Founded by Darek Zabrocki and Michal Kus in 2018 and is located in the beautiful city of Gdańsk in Poland. Our motto is “Motivation, Dedication, Discipline”. We abide by this motto through a program in which we strive to improve every term to give our students the best possible learning experience for this ever-demanding industry.
Our mission is to teach our students fundamental skills together with current industry trends and connect them with industry professionals in order to elevate them to the next level and make their dream jobs come true.
Our students got jobs at:
Our founders
DAREK ZABROCKI
Clients include:
20th Century Fox, Sony, Blur, Ubisoft, Paramounts Pictures, EA, Asus, Framestore, Universal, Wizards of the Coast, Valve
Darek is a Polish concept artist, creative director, and CEO at Focal Point School. He is known for his stunning environment and world designs. He was born in 1991 in Gdansk, Poland, and began his artistic career as a traditional painter before transitioning to digital art in his late teens.
Zabrocki has worked with a variety of high-profile clients, including Disney, Netflix, Ubisoft, and Sony, among others. He is particularly well-known for his work in the entertainment industry, where he has created many concept designs for movies, video games, and TV shows like Call of Duty, Assassin’s Creed, Planet of the Apes, or Love Death + Robots.
In addition to his professional work, Zabrocki loves teaching and mentoring people, which was one of the main factors that led him to start Focal Point School back in 2018. In 2022, he also started his own concept design studio, “Darek Zabrocki Studio,” which provides high-quality art services for the entertainment industry.
MICHAL KUS
Clients include:
Red Bull, EA Games, Jellyfish Pictures, Disney, Marvel, Platige Image, IO Interactive, Square Enix, Valve, CGMA, FZD
Michal is a concept artist and COO of Focal Point School. He is known for his incredible ability to create very detailed and immersive concept designs. He specializes in hardware designs and hi-tech military vehicles. Thanks to his passion for history and nature, he is able to give the soul to all kinds of hardware designs he comes up with.
Kus has worked on a variety of high-profile projects, including video games and blockbuster movies. Some of his recently published work can be seen in movies like ‘’Sonic 2’’ or iconic video games like the ‘’Battlefield’’ IP.
He is particularly recognized for his talent in creating sumptuous line art drawings and his highly rendered designs. His work often features a strong use of color, lighting, and mood, which adds to the immersive experience of his artworks.
Kus, similarly to Darek, loves teaching, and his passion for education is reflected through highly appreciated Focal Point School courses.
Why Us
The first Physical Concept Art School in Europe. Focal Point School strives to the utmost limits and guarantees its students through motivation, dedication, and discipline.
Art Veterans
Our courses are run by renowned concept artists working for high-profile projects from films and games industry.
Hybrid Teaching
You decide how to take your desired course. On-site or Online - they take place simultaneously for the most efficient learning results.
Course Structure
In order to pack the vast amount of knowledge in the most comprehensible way, we customize our courses so that the teaching method is efficient and easy to follow on all leves.
“FPS” Experience
We are now offering various Bundles so you’re not only saving money, but you’re going to experience more for less!
Testimonials of our amazing students!
Luca Monteleone
At Focal Point School you don't just learn how to do things, but you learn how to think about them. I discovered the right way to design and meaning behind it. That changed completely my view on the role of being a concept artist. Darek and Michal are not just amazing artists but great mentors who guide you throughout journey of learning the craft until you succeed in.
Samuele Bandini
Focal Point School was the catalyst for my career transition from illustrator to concept artist. Darek and Michal's mentorship taught me to move beyond mere software skills and focus on what truly matters: -A strong design methodology rooted in observation and understanding the subject matter. -I learned to deliver grounded, thoughtful designs that solve problems, an essential skill in this industry. The results speak for themselves: just a few months after committing myself full-time to the Advanced Environment Design and Advanced Digital Painting I got hired as a Concept Artist at a AAA studio. Couldn't be more proud now!
Giulia Gentilini
I would do this experience 100 times again if I could, and I recommend it to anyone who, like me, felt a bit 'stuck and stagnant.' Beyond the course itself, I am happy with the instructors and friends who truly wanted me to improve. They were always available for anything and had a watchful eye on what needed improvement. Here, I managed to find the tools to compensate for my weaknesses and understood the importance of the basics and fundamentals, which have become a sort of 'mantra' for me while working or thinking about a design project!
Christian Auer
I think a lot of new artists today can get somewhat overwhelmed by just how much material is out there and how much has come before them. For me, Focal Point School really narrows down that huge possibility space by focusing on my fundamentals and the most important aspects of my images.
Ede László
I have landed my dream job at Terraform as a senior environment concept artist and I thank Darek because basically, he was the one who pretty much kickstarted my career. And for that, I am still very grateful. At Focal Point School Darek explained how a regular pipeline works, how to treat clients, how to approach problem-solving etc. so pretty much everything that I needed to start my career. So this is good advice I think that people who attend FPS should do it in teams and on spot in Gdansk. The fact that we had each other and got to know new like-minded people was invaluable. Of course, Darek and Michal's classes were extremely cool and you learned a lot, but those classes wouldn't have mattered if we don't put in the work afterward.
Darek Kurczewski
Focal Point School defined what the concept art is, also I learned how to become competitive in industry. Focal Point School shown me how does the work as a concept artist looks like. I learned how to use references and how important it is to create believable artworks. I learned how to design things, whatever the style is. I learned that even the most complex projects base on simple forms.
Christos Marmreris
Focal Point School helped me understand the process of design, structure and 3d form way better. I rediscovered all the fundamentals again from a different perspective. The physical aspect of the class helped me learn how to brainstorm with others, explore ideas as a team but at the same time get accurate and to the point personalized feedback. Despite the fact I already had a very good knowledge of color, there is always new things you can learn, and FPS helped me understand the reason why colors appear the way they do and how can I use this to my advantage. But the most important treasure Darek and Michal shared, is the tools to further explore and learn on my own, the mindset how to pursue knowledge.
Dominik Zdenković
In Focal Point School I got insight into the techniques and types of tasks which are common in the industry, it helped me to think more about design and in general boosted my skills all around. Also I found that not only the volume of work matters, but also studying with intent and with feedback from good instructors and classmates helps a lot, not only to improve but to be more motivated.
Edmund Chan
Focal Point School helped me to break down the process of creating concept art and that every step is important such as getting references,sketching ideas to the final product. What I find useful about studying at FPS is my classmates. We give feedback to each other and point out our mistakes.
Nils Drechsel
In the advanced courses, I got insights into how a design pipeline would look like in a studio. Working on the assignments, especially for Dareks class, made me realise that I wanted to focus more on environmental concept art and design rather than just character art and illustration. Furthermore, Darek and Michal were able to clarify a lot of questions I had regarding concept art in general and working as a professional in the industry.
Other Professionals about us
"As an Art Director with more than 13 years of experience in the game industry, I can definitely say, that besides of the hard working and desire to learn and improve, there is nothing more important for the development of Artists' creativity and design thinking than receiving a constructive ,clear,regular and relevant feedback! This is why I was extremely trilled to learn, that two of the most progressing and young Concept Artists nowadays were going to share their knowledge with the aspiring artists from all around the globe!"
Eddie Bennun
Art Director @Ubisoft
"Darek's collaboration with us on NFS Payback has brought tremendous value to the project. He is quick to digest my vision and directions. Executes with precision, efficiency and delivers awesome high quality concepts. Always open to receive feedback, to iterate and improve. His works served as my best visual communication tool to direct and align all my art teams towards hitting my vision as well as motivates them to push the bar higher and higher each day. Above all, the concepts he produced for us on NFS Payback has inspired our teams beyond just the art department, across multiple locations worldwide."
Alitt Khaliq
Art Director @EA Ghost
"It was a great pleasure working with Darek.His sheer artistic talent brought ideas to cinematic life, and invigorated the project with excitement. He has a great eye for atmosphere and light; form and stunning compositions. He can quickly capture the mood of a piece; the overall dramatic feeling of a world or scene, rendered with a few brush strokes. I love his style, as It allows you to see and feel the end goal - and then build upon his vision with the details and planning. An absolute joy to work with. I would recommend Darek to anyone at an instant. "
Neil Scholes
CEO @Valkyrie Beowulf (One Strange Rock-National Geographic)
"This mentoring is a must take as I have always been impressed with Darek's painting and design abilities. He is extremely versatile and he constantly give back to the the community through his YouTube channel "levelup ". Through level up , he has helped so many people become better artists.I would highly recommend this mentorship."
Emmanuel Shiu
Senior Concept Designer (Game of Thrones, Terminator, Alien: Isolation)
"Darek Zabrocki is the kind of concept artist that is capable of creating almost anything and make it look cool. I always have been astonished by his technic and the way he managed to make it fit with any subject. The creation of the first physical concept art school in Europe leaded by him is one of the best news for the Industry I have heard since a long time. Longue vie à Focal Point !"
Nivanh Chanthara
Concept Designer (Ghost in The Shell, Deus Ex)
"Darek has been a key contributor to several blur projects over the past few years. His professionalism, speed, and tremendous skill impresses and inspires our modeling team to build upon the incredible environment paintings he generates with seeming ease! His process is wonderfully revealed in elegant progression from loose sketches to refined beauty."
Kevin Margo
Director @Blur
"I have had the pleasure of working with Darek on a set of concept art pieces for Assassin's Creed: Syndicate. His work has been a great source of inspiration for the team and it helped me solidify the artistic vision for the content that we were producing. His Environment work for ACS always established a strong and memorable mood. His compositions are dynamic and he creates a good sense of depth in his work by using solid value grouping and paying close attention to scale references."
Felix Marlo Flor
Senior Art Director @Ubisoft
"Michal’s work takes you to another world filled with imagination, fun and creativity. His unique forms and design language are immediately recognizable. Together with polished presentations and solid foundations, Michal Kus stands among the greats. His live presentations have inspired countless others, including myself and our students. Above all, Michal’s focus on education is a welcomed opportunity for us all to continue learning and sharing"
Feng Zhu
Founder @FZD School
Our partners
We corporate with the following companies to bring the best experience to Focal Point School students.
