Introduction To Concept Art

Concept art is the form of visual art used to convey an idea within four specific categories which are: Building Concept Art, Environmental Concept Art, Weapon or Prop Concept Art, and Character Concept Art.

The use of concept art is very important to artists. It helps the artist visualize the key aspects of there art and understand the overall look and feel of how it came to be. It can be used to sharpen features that look out of place as a sort of mannequin of sorts, but with the ability to change the overall look and elements.

It's used to show the idea of the project before it takes on its final form and finishes changing.

For example, Kratos, Son of Zeus, in the God of War franchise, was not always as he looks in the game. 

Taking his features and trying to make a character with said features. Kratos is a tall, male, with tattoos on his face, he wields 2 blades with chains wrapped around his forearms.

It makes the viewers question the idea behind the art, how it came to be, why these specific aspects. These questions run throughout the making of the art.

It creates a visual design for something that does not exist yet. It gives way for something to be perfected and brought into the world the way the artist wants it to be. 

Another is Gary Goodspeed from the TV series Final Space. He looks much different to how he does in the series.

As you can see, there are different styles for each character to show the process of figuring out which one would work best.

In the end, he turned out like this. Different but keeping the same features as the concept art making sure that if there were any faults, they would be fixed.

Concept art is really important for artists as it helps so much to get a visual help to design a character the employer likes. Because when making concept art, you do not have the final say in the character, your employer has all the power.

It's even helpful in indie games. When making indie games, concept art isn't hugely needed but if used, boosts the artists confidence and can help define the product. It also helps marketing material. It truly depends on the game itself. Concept artists are responsible for the look and feel of the game. They create the environment, characters, props and weapons.

Pros and Cons:

Cons:

- Do you have the talent needed to make a living on your ability to draw?

- Strict deadlines

- No final say

Pros:

- Helps gain that visual image

- Has a creative work environment

- Decent pay

Conclusion: Concept art is a very handy piece of work to have, if you cannot get a image in your head of the character you wish to have, artists will be there to jot down notes and make many different styles of the idea helping the image get a visual grasp.

Here are some video's I watched about concept art:

1 - This guy talks about how to not to make all flashy and be quick and messy but good enough to let your employer see what the vision is. He also talks about how the character's personality can play a major part in their posture and expressions. It makes a great deal of difference when it comes down to the final idea. It's not just a bland, idle stance but something to get the feeling of. In essence, just stick to what is given to you and try multiple times before you start going for the finished project.

2 - This person talks about how to not limit yourself and try different things, expand the variety of things you add or take away from the idea. Research into things that you want, does your character/environment have any outlined aspects? Draw loosely and think inside the box. Do not try to overthink and just stick within the constraints. Do not try to make it nice fancy, all it needs to be is an drawing that gives an idea a visual image.