What Style Do Concept Artists Use To Draw

Concept art is i of the almost sought-after creative fields in the games industry.

When the GamesIndustry.biz University put together its guide to getting a chore in game art, Teazelcat CEO and game manager Jodie Azhar pointed out that concept art roles tin can take hundreds of applicants for one position, making it one of the most competitive roles alongside character artists.

Olivier Leonardi, practiced art manager at Ubisoft Reflections, and then added that nearly everything in game development starts with concept art, making it an ideal expanse of specialisation for immature artists. But concept art is likewise widely idealised by outsiders, who don't realise what it really entails.

"A common misconception is that concept art is about doing absurd and pretty drawings or illustrations - it is non"

Pierre Armal, Shiro Games

"A common misconception is that concept art is about doing cool and pretty drawings or illustrations -- information technology is not," says Pierre Armal, concept artist at Shiro Games. "It is about ideas, and solving bug for the 3D artists and game designers. Drawing is merely a tool used to that end."

And it'due south non the only misconception about the field, adds Cécile Jaubert, likewise a concept and VFX creative person at Shiro Games. For instance, despite common behavior, you lot don't need to be a flawless illustrator to be a skillful concept artist.

"lxxx% of the chore is designing 'small things'," she says. "There'southward merely so many important characters in a game, but male child is there a lot of chairs and rooms and VFX sometimes. Y'all will spend a lot of time working on things that might seem insignificant, merely your work remains important for your coworkers.

"Y'all don't need to exist an incredible painter to be an excellent concept artist. The most important function of concept art remains practiced blueprint skills. As long as y'all depict (or photobash) well enough for people to understand your design and transcribe it in 3D or in a last second work, then you're doing your job."

Pierre Armal

Armal actually wasn't drawing until he started studying to work in the games industry. He went to a 3D graphics schoolhouse and started drawing after he realised concept art was what he wanted to practice, and then he started learning more about the field in his own time and through second art lessons.

On the other hand, it's Jaubert'south love of drawing that led her to concept art. She initially wanted to work in animation but following "a series of failed tests," and inspired by a friend who was following that path, she ended upwards enrolling into a generalist video game school.

"Nosotros studied a lot of things there: 3D, animation, only not too much 2nd," she says. "I am lucky in the sense that I've been drawing since I was young and information technology never really left me. Doing all these different things during school hours was motivating me to draw more than for myself on the side.

"But through school it also became apparent to me that I do like the 'puzzle solving' aspect of design, so little past little information technology became obvious to me that a good way to combine cartoon and design was concept art."

• The office and responsibilities of the concept artist
• Qualities, skills and good practices
• Advice for new concept artists

Layout exploration past Cécile Jaubert for Shiro Games' Darksburg (artstation.com/zellk)

The office and responsibilities of the concept creative person

Armal explains that concept art consists in the whole visual designing procedure of everything the player volition see: the characters, the environments, the colors, the moods, the style.

The office of the concept artist is crucial to exploring early game ideas, delving into what could work and what doesn't, and iterate speedily. That inherently means a lot of back and forth between art and design teams.

"Cartoon is i of the fastest -- and by proxy, cheapest -- ways to explore various possibilities for an chemical element of the game," Jaubert says. "Depending on the precision of the initial pitch, the exploration tin go really wild or remain centered around the same core elements but with a bit of variation. Information technology unremarkably takes [some] back and forth to find a design that fits the directors and when that's done, the concept is sent to other squad members that will be in accuse of making the last 3D -- or 2D, depending on the game -- model and breathing information technology, add together sounds to information technology and insert it in the game.

"Drawing is one of the fastest -- and past proxy, cheapest -- ways to explore various possibilities for an element of the game"

Cécile Jaubert, Shiro Games

"It is possible that in one case integrated in the game, the squad realises some things aren't plumbing fixtures -- that would accept been difficult to effigy out before being contextualised in the game -- so some retakes can happen, simply more than oftentimes than not the pipeline remains the same."

That too means that concept artists have to produce a lot of different visual options and directions based on the initial pitch, whether that'south a character, an environment, an object, or an power.

"Our art helps the rest of the team project into these possibilities in a more than concrete manner and brand choices from that," Jaubert continues. "Having a visual under the optics helps the directors meet which options fit more the feeling or data they want the player to have. It's much easier for everyone in the squad to hear, 'This blueprint feels scarier than this one, go along pushing in that direction' than, 'Make something scary' and go from there.

"We can never completely prevent large changes from happening and piece of work beingness 'thrown away,' as it is the life of every project, but we limit this as much equally possible by weeding options out beforehand."

Cécile Jaubert

While the part of the concept artist may be slightly different depending on the size of the studio, and evolves alongside development, information technology is the most crucial at the beginning of a project, every bit everything needs to exist fleshed out.

"That's the moment when nosotros need a lot of pre-production fine art to observe the game's direction and pattern the characters and environments that will later be built," Armal explains. "Because we are a small-scale studio at Shiro Games, as 2nd artists we have to design the UI, all the icons and interface-related things besides. When the production [reaches] the end, we participate in checking everything that tin be polished visually, in both 2D and 3D."

Finally, as concept art is a way to explore the game'due south atmosphere, storytelling will often transpire through the art, significant narrative elements are something concept artists often accept to keep in mind when working.

"I retrieve it's of import, while designing, to enquire yourself questions similar 'who?', 'where?', 'how?', 'why?'," Armal says. "For example, for a character, what do they do? Where practise they come from? What are they doing here and how practice they intend to achieve whatsoever it is they want to accomplish?"

Same goes with objects, Jaubert adds. You'll need to recall virtually how it will be seen in-game: will it be upwards shut? Or only from 1 angle? It's not all about telling a story or transmitting a strong intent for a character or surroundings.

"Sometimes it's just designing a chair that fits a room. But even so, yous can find trivial things to put in them. Your tools volition exist the shapes and colours you use, but call up too that a lot of the pattern will also come to life through the animations, sounds and effects of the last version."

Concept art by Pierre Armal for Shiro Games' Darksburg (artstation.com/sicaeth)

Qualities, skills and good practices

• The qualities of a adept concept artist

Concept art is the power to convey ideas in a visual class, pregnant that practiced advice skills -- both in your art and verbally with your colleagues -- is crucial.

"A good concept artist in my opinion is someone who has good and interesting ideas, is able to come upwardly with visual solutions to issues, and communicates that through clear and concise drawing and paintings," Armal says.

Jaubert adds: "Sometimes people aren't articulate on what they desire, so y'all won't e'er take clear cutting pitches to base yourself on for your design. Try to understand what they want, while also minding what you retrieve is good for the game."

Closely linked to communication skills, constructed thinking and problem solving are a must to be a good concept artist.

"Don't lose yourself in the details, particularly not at first"

Cécile Jaubert, Shiro Games

"Don't lose yourself in the details, specially not at first," Jaubert warns. "Like sculpting a rock, start with the big shapes and once those are validated, and so you can work on the details. It might too be upward to you lot to [make up one's mind] what the place of the element y'all're designing is in the game. A game designer will give yous parts of the information, a QA might complement information technology afterwards doing in-game tests, your art managing director volition also take their ain discussion about the element you lot're trying to design. But you lot need to summarize all these views together to work. On top of that yous'll also need to learn the visual and design manner of the game then that your concepts fit nicely in the universe."

Finally, curiosity is another fundamental quality to being a expert concept artist, as yous'll demand to learn well-nigh all sorts of unexpected things, from animal anatomy to engineering, to perfect your drawings.

"It'due south impossible to have cognition near everything, [and] you'll need to learn for each project you piece of work on," Jaubert says. "My best advice is to cultivate your curiosity, equally it is easier to learn something when you make information technology interesting for yourself. Marvel will also help you cultivate your own references and nurture your tastes, what will eventually grow to be your comfort zone, and what you similar working on the almost."

Concept fine art by Cécile Jaubert for Shiro Games' Darksburg (artstation.com/zellk)

• Adept practices for concept artists

In addition to cultivating the qualities listed higher up, Armal says that one of the best things yous can practice to meliorate is constantly feeding your "visual library" through reading, watching movies, or playing games. And regardless of your level every bit an creative person, you lot should always be working on your cartoon fundamentals.

"Sketch a lot, [do] drawing practice," he continues. "And have fun. If you don't similar to draw -- which was my example in the beginning -- learn to love it, information technology will exist incredibly worth information technology. My favourite [practice] by far is to build a larger personal projection, something you lot work on during a few months. Information technology trains you to work on designs that are cohesive together, and that's when I personally have the almost fun and come up with improve designs and ideas."

"Creativity and design are muscles that grow more flexible and strong when used oftentimes"

Cécile Jaubert, Shiro Games

Jaubert advises to sketch out your ideas oftentimes, even if they're random, which will also help find your ain style. At a basic level, you just demand a pencil and newspaper to practice, but the Shiro Games artists had a few recommendations when it came to software.

"Photoshop is an industry standard but there's a lot of them out there now," Jaubert says. "Krita, Gimp, FireAlpaca, Clip Studio Pigment, Paint Tool SAI... My advice is to attempt the ones you're curious about and come across their strengths and limitations. See how they work and which 1 clicks best with you.

"Creativity and design are muscles that grow more flexible and strong when used often. It doesn't mean yous have to draw five hours a twenty-four hours though -- just a sketch can be plenty. The thing is more to practice putting the idea down and 'making information technology visually real' rather than keeping it in your head, where it will always be a chip shapeless. The act of putting what is in your brain on the paper can be really tricky sometimes. Some ideas will be clear cutting, others will escape your grasp like water and it will be a struggle to actually draw them 'similar you want them to feel'."

Concept fine art often ways producing a lot of different visual options based on the initial pitch - Concept art by Pierre Armal for Shiro Games' Darksburg (artstation.com/sicaeth)

Advice for new concept artists

When it comes to finding a job as a concept creative person in the games industry, Armal advises to brand sure that y'all have work in your portfolio that actually matches the needs and projects of the studio y'all're applying for.

"If at that place's a studio you really really want to work at, don't hesitate to tailor all your work towards that studio," Jaubert adds. "Also don't hesitate to exercise fanart. Some people might say you lot should just do original work, simply fanart is an excellent mode to report designs you like, share your passion about something with people that like it too, and get noticed by people that work on said thing you love a lot."

"That shit is no joke, take care of your torso."

Cécile Jaubert, Shiro Games

Film and animation artists moving to games, which tin be a very logical sidestep, may take an advantage in terms of employability, but game artists trying to become into concept art also have the advantage of agreement the pipeline already.

"If you're coming into the game manufacture [from film], don't diminish what the knowledge you lot already have tin can bring you lot," Jaubert says. "Designing stuff for a game isn't and so dissimilar as for a movie -- existent or animation. Just call back to be mindful that game design has priority over visuals. You're making a game. Then the near important part of it is, does it feel good to play? Is your pattern helping that direction? And that'due south it.

"If y'all're already in the game industry, talk to the concept artists you know. Inquire them about their job. They might have precious communication for yous, and different from mine."

And as a last discussion, Jaubert says you should too be taking very skilful care of your body.

"Your hands and eyes are your tool of craft," she says "Even if you don't experience pain or problems, stretch them often -- each time you have a little intermission, or every ii hours if yous need a timed reminder, walk outside and do squats to shake off the long hours of sitting. Pushing until you experience discomfort or pain is the certain way to become towards injury that will accept you out of practising for months at a fourth dimension, and sometimes fifty-fifty years. That shit is no joke, take care of your body."

More GamesIndustry.biz Academy guides to Working in Games

Our guides to working in games cover various perspectives, from hiring to retentiveness, to landing the job of your dream or creating the right company civilisation:

• How to get a job in the games industry
• Mike Bithell: What I wish I knew when I started in games
• Is the games industry open to working form people?
• More articles about working in games...

Source: https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2021-01-20-a-brief-guide-to-becoming-a-concept-artist

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