Critical Report

Concept Artist

Artist Workflows

Research

When producing a piece of concept art, the artist must utilise their own work flow that takes them through the development process in stages, the first stage that the majority of concept artists go through before brain storming is researching their assigned theme, this research can consist of books, documentaries and art pieces produced by other artists to give you a grasp on how to depict the theme. Researching the theme surrounding the art you wish to depict prevents you from making guesses as to how the character should look and instead allows you to provide yourself with references and information as to how everything should look alongside the implementation of your own personal touches. Researching the theme teaches you the rules and shows you whats real before you begin designing your own art piece. Some artists will begin sketching and creating thumbnails whilst doing research, this prevents them being bogged down in reference material and allows you to trust your artistic instincts by hitting a design target from the reference materials. Researching also includes gathering references which give the artist a sense of how to correctly sketch the style and proportions of a character in that theme whilst also using them as inspirational and motivational material that helps to develop the artists production to presentation standards.

This video presents a guide on how to best utilise references for producing concept art and shows that creating concept art requires a lot of ideas generation, researching and experimentation before you start developing your final piece.

Master the Fundamentals

Some artist may attempt to at first master the fundamentals of sketching before producing design concepts, this includes learning how to control your hand and getting it to work with the device you intend on drawing with so the two become one together and improve your coordination, many artists including myself primarily focus on studying anatomy and how to manipulate it as this is still an area that many artists struggle with. If an artist is moving on to a different theme they may feel inclined to change up their art style and an appropriate way to adapt to a new art style is learn the fundamentals of how to draw the initial outlines so that they can adapt to drawing lines and forming them so they have a suitable sketch ready for the implementation of detail. Mastering the fundamentals allows the artist to use what they have learned from researching anatomy as tools towards creating their own characters. The fundamentals do not just include mastering a single perspective as an artist may wish to depict their character from a different point of view, this will lead them to having sessions based around experimentation in perspective and manipulating the anatomy of their character in different stances as to get initial ideas in perspective sketching. Within each art style the artist is required to understand the fundamentals of drawing in that specific style so that they are able to move onto creating a character.

This video focuses on the fundamentals of drawing by showing you the importance of planning an outline of your character through the construction of initial sketches constructed by using simple shapes and line work that when produced allow the artist to design over this outline and use the fundamentals they have learned to implement detail and create a realistic character.

Historical Influences

Space Invaders (1978)

Space Invaders holds its place as one of the most iconic titles in the industry being among the first popular titles to ever be released, today it is now included in the retro genre and is known for its fun and repetitive game play despite the simple art style and user interface.

Due to its simplicity space invaders did not hold much potential to have mind blowing concept art developed for it due to the graphics of the game which were made up entirely of pixels placed onto a black canvas, though despite this there are images of concept art available that show sketches and drawings that were made during the development of this retro classic :

This picture shows original concept art sketches that was produced for space invaders showing that despite the simplicity of the game and graphics used there was still an opportunity for an artist to produce various character concepts and you can see that they have even replicated each character into pixel art, this must have left some room open for the developers for choosing an art style for their game as the artist has given them 2D characters alongside pixel art characters which shows us that even this early on in the beginning of the industry concept artists still inflicted a significant impact onto the production of the title.

Despite Space Invaders possessing a very simplified art style and game mechanics with myself only being able to find one image of concept produced for the game it does still have an impact on my chosen profession as the sketches drawn for Space Invaders show the amount of influence concept artists have on these projects as it can lead to the developers deciding on an art style that has been used by their concept artist especially if they have used more than one art style such as the image above which shows the artist has drawn 2 different styles with one eventually being chosen for production. Space Invaders serves as a good example for how influential concept artists are to the overall production of the game as they provide the developers with the look and visual feel of the game.

Call of Duty (2003)

Call of Duty (2003) was the first of one of the most iconic and popular franchises in the gaming industry, today the call of duty series spans through multiple time periods and settings with some going as far as into the 2080s despite opposition from long term fans. With the franchise branching off into a variety of settings depicting various scenarios this gives concept artists an extraordinary opportunity to produce fantastic art work presenting the concept of each game through digital and traditional artwork. With the first ever game taking place in the Second World War concept artists were prevented from being limited to depicting one setting over and over again as they did in Space Invaders. The setting of this game set the range for concept artists to depict the war in art as far as the Caucasus and as far down to North Africa alongside the Middle East.

This is a game that I have played multiple over the past few years and despite its age the graphics still hold up and the art work produced for the game adds an intense atmosphere to the overall setting with pictures of US soldiers in bombed out ruins with anti air fire in the distance. Each piece of concept art produced for this game possesses a depressing tone due to the dark colours and layout of each art piece which has helped the developers to depict the conflict accurately without any glorification of the time period.

The concept art produced for this game seen in the above images accurately sets the tone for games settings as we see bombed out cities, abandoned husks that were once cars, vehicles and trenches. The impact this games concept art has had on my chosen profession is that it has allowed developers and producers to be able to accurately depict a dark time in history within a game whilst still being able to make it fun whilst maintaining the serious and disturbing reality of what is happening in the game has once occurred in reality. Thanks to the concept artists who worked on this title games that are produced today surrounding this theme are able to maintain the serious atmosphere that it takes place in whilst being able to maintain high quality entertainment value. This game shows that concept artists set the rules for how a conflict should be represented in a game and what type of message it should send to those who play it.

Another impact this game had on my chosen profession is that it is among the first games to have digital artwork created for it as the majority of productions before such as Space Invaders utilised traditional means for creating art work whilst call of duty 2003 went with using new software for the production of their concept art which gave their artists more to create the best images possible as well as providing them with an extended range on how they can edit their images such as messing around with the brightness and contrast. Overall this game is one of the first to allow concept artists to fully utilise their skills with a greater range of functions rather than just being limited to a sheet of paper and pencil.

Halo CE (2001)

Halo CE (2001) holds one of if not the highest positions in the FPS genre and the gaming industry as a hole being one of the first major fps games to be produced as well as being the precursor to a world renowned franchise now spanning multiple games and industries. Being the first fps game that I ever played this title awed me with the way it depicted the science fiction genre and the future as the genre of the game is a personal favourite of mine and is one that I have produced various art pieces in with my recent final major project being focused around this particular genre.

The impact his game has had on my chosen profession is massive as it is still one of the leading franchises in the industry with countless pieces of concept art being created each year whilst it is also one of the first fps games to utilise the science fiction genre and depict it in a futuristic, mysterious and moderately realistic setting thanks to the work done by the concept artists that were given this assignment. The concept art produced for Halo CE includes character and environment designs as well as weapons, vehicles and structures which all helped the rest of the team to see their ideas in a visual format that allowed them to create the game and get the best results possible.

Another impact this game has on concept art is that the work produced from it has inspired countless artists around the world and has served as inspirational material for other science fiction military shooters which gives concept artists a chance to depict the science fiction genre in their own art style as well as design their own fan art from the existing franchise such as designing their own characters, vehicles, and armour.

This game has also had an impact on the technology used by concept artists as during the development phase of this title concept artists were able to use digital art to create images instead of just being limited to traditional means, this as I have said previously for Call of Duty 2003 allowed the artists to extend their artistic abilities to creating unique and intriguing art pieces do not just utilise imagery but lighting and composition alongside it as these have now become main features that must be included in an art piece.

These images present a series of concept art pieces that present digital sketches of characters and a vehicle, these serve as a visual example once again of the influence concept artists have on the production of a game as we can see that one character has been designed twice with both designs holding some major and minor differences from one another which allows the development team to select which design they like best or which they would like to see improvement on. The concept art once again goes to show that the look of the game all goes down how the concept artist visualizes it when reading the brief they are given.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (2011)

The game Skyrim holds its position as one of the most popular and well known RPG games in the industry, known for its immersive world and character customization to the amount of side quests and locations for you explore being near limitless, Skyrim became a great opportunity for concept artists employed by bethesda to use their full range of skills in creating an immersive fantasy world set across a variety of biomes with a wide range of characters, monsters, outfits and weapons that needed to be given a visual appearance.

The impact this game has had on my chosen profession is that the concept art produced shows what the artists in this industry are capable of doing as for skyrim they have taken the theme fantasy and have depicted it in an utterly different way than it has been before as they have utilised their own art styles in bringing a fantasy realm to life with art pieces that immerse you in the world whilst providing a comfortable atmosphere. It has also shown that despite fantasy normally including graphical content such as popular mmorpgs such as World of Warcraft concept artists have been able to manipulate this towards a different path and have presented it in a more gritty and darker art style that is more grotesque and violent than concept art seen in any games produced prior to skyrim. This title has also shown how effective concept art is at gathering attention and hype towards a product as prior to any gameplay footage of skyrim being shown a series of concept art pieces were released which depicted the setting showing all the locations and immersing the audience in the atmosphere by just looking at it, this shows that producing concept art is an effective strategy for game studios as it helps them to generate hype for their upcoming game as well as attract attention from major publishers and producers by creating art work that accurately depicts the type of world that the players want to see in their game whilst allowing the concept artists to use the full range of their abilities in presenting these features.

Due to Skyrims release in 2011 the overwhelming majority of concept art that has been produced for the game has been done digitally, this is primarily because of the features and functions available in this art form as it has allowed the concept artists to further develop the art pieces they create whilst maintaining them in an organised fashion what makes sense to the viewer whilst utilising the functions available on the software they are using to implement edits on the layers they have as to create a moon or starry night sky which prevents them from having to rely on drawing every aspect of the image.

Skyrim Concept Art

In this album is a series of concept art pieces for skyrim, each piece presents an intriguing and mystifying location whilst maintaining an aura of eeriness that seeks to make you eager to avoid and explore it at the same time. Each image produced in this album has had an effect on concept art as a whole due to the fact that each piece shows how effective concept artists are at twisting a theme to fit a certain genre as some depictions of locations look as if they are set in a horror game whilst some holding an aura of adventure.

The impact of this game has allowed concept artists to be viewed as a crucial element of game design whilst also showing how effective they are at being able to grab an audiences attention towards the studios product before the game is even officially showcased. It has allowed them to be noticed for being able to depict a setting appropriately where many other artists would fail at doing so due to the complexity and variety of the fantasy setting.

The Witcher 3: Wild hunt (2015)

The Witcher 3 ranks among the most highly rated open world games of all time due to how open the game is to the player with side quests, massive expansion packs as well as the attention gripping story line which further immerses the player in this dark and open fantasy universe. Being named game of the year in 2015 Witcher 3s concept art presents some of the best fine art work ever created by concept artists in the games industry which once again shows how crucial they are to building up an audience for the production. Below are some examples of concept art developed for Witcher 3 by freelancers and some of CD Projekt Reds own artists.

These concept art pieces each immerse you in the world of this game as each artist has succeeded in being able to utilise lighting, colour and perspective in designing intriguing and eye catching art pieces that prepare the audience for what they will see in game. The concept artists also once again as most productions do presently make use of digital art, this can be seen to have greatly improved their art work as it gives them a much larger range of possibilities as well as giving them more control over what they imprint on the canvas, this has had an impact on the profession as a whole also as it allows the developers to see their ideas come to life in a much better and more colourful fashion than what could ever be produced on paper as working with a graphics tablet allows them to create more immersive and beautiful renditions of characters, weapons and environments.

Another impact this game has had on my chosen profession is that it has shown the promotional capabilities of concept artists which if the producer is unable to see them capable of generating visual aid for the production of a game they are at least able to produce concept art that will grab an audiences attention and immerse them in the world before the game has even released which once again helps them to generate hype for their upcoming product and it gives the concept artists more recognition and chances to find further employment in the games industry.

Contemporary Influences

Modern Software

Photoshop

Photoshop is essentially and industry standard software program that allows concept artists access to a wide array of brushes for download whilst also being flexible. This has impacted the career I have chosen as the fact that this program allows you to create art and alter photographs from start offers you a wide and almost infinite range of options for what you can create. This program also makes it easy for concept artists to share work with one another and even cooperate on certain art pieces thanks to the implementation of the Creative Cloud which allows artists collaborative access to each others work. Due to its functions and features Photoshop has become the standard industry software that every concept artist works with which means that any aspiring concept artists are going to have to undergo a steep learning curve before mastering this program but despite this it has had a positive impact on my chosen career through the action of allowing concept artists complete control over what they put on the canvas.

Digital Drawing

The creation of digital drawing has led to almost a revolution in the art world as most sketches and conceptual pieces produced today have been drawn through the use of a graphics tablet and specific software that allows them to create their art. This form of art work allows artists to use layers, brush sets, colour palettes and pressure sensitive strokes which gives the artist a greater range for what they can create which is further than anything they could do traditionally. The impact this has inflicted on concept art is that it has allowed those who work in the industry greater control over what they draw as well as allowing them to learn new techniques whilst being able to greatly expand their artwork beyond just a sketch or character design as the software available today allows you to create an entire world in a singular art piece. Digital drawing has led to the use of graphics tablets which every concept artist must become experienced with although it does require a steep learning curve as you have to learn to coordinate your hands and eyes without viewing them all at once which can be a great difficulty for some artists including myself but these devices have allowed the profession to become more than just about creating images but now revolves around telling stories through the use of imagery.

Robert Chew Concept Artist/Illustrator

Robert Chew is a concept artist currently employed at gearbox software working on AAA game production, throughout his career he has produced impressive and intriguing artwork that has never failed to tell a story. He is an artist that although I have only recently discovered reinforces my perspective on art as a way of telling a story through imagery as each piece conceptual piece he has produced features an environment and multiple characters in the scene which forms backstory to who these characters are and where they are located whilst also exploring sci fi and fantasy elements that are based around a real world issue such as his Big Five series which is an album of concept art pieces featuring Drones created from the image of animals defending wildlife from poachers in Africa. He has impacted my chosen career by cementing the fact that stories can indeed be told through creating art work as the art work that I am aiming to create will feature unique environments and people that I intend to not just be featured as filler content but will serve a greater purpose as a whole. His Art work also inflicts an impact on the industry as a whole as it may inspire other concept artists to follow his work flow of implementing stories into every piece they create.

Social Issues

The fact that concept art allows artists to create whatever image they have in mind and tell whatever message or story they want to an audience has led to some controversy and issues as to what type of art should be allowed as many artists have chosen to produce explicit concept art that can be disturbing or inappropriate for certain audience members to view. Concept art that is the most controversial tends to include vast amounts of gore, and nudity which is distasteful to certain audience members. Despite being controversial these art pieces tend to speak out a message that is more or less political in nature and the graphic content of this artwork tends to receive the response that the artist is looking for as people are attracted to viewing controversial material due to the amount of hysteria it can stir up.

Certain art pieces can also put into question ones belief and influence the way of thinking due what can be seen in the image, this is an issue with many religious art pieces as viewers will shun them and refuse to view any of the artists content as to avoid having their beliefs questioned in art form.

Whilst the vast majority of controversial concept art contains these graphic visuals there is another issue about what can and shouldn’t be distinguished as artwork as many people believe art is the images you produce onto a canvas using traditional or digital means along with others who believe that art work can be created through using live models or inanimate props which has led to some controversy as some of these art pieces featuring props and live models are created just to stir people up and create a large controversy leading many to dismiss this as a proper form of art work.

Bibliography

ANON

In-text: (History.com, 2019)

Your Bibliography: History.com. (2019). [online] Available at: https://www.history.com/news/most-controversial-art-in-history [Accessed 26 Jun. 2019]. Copy bibliography citation Copy in-text citation Check for grammar