Research into Concept Art - Part 2

Continuing on from the previous post I watched more videos on how to create good concept art, as well as some videos more focused on building a good portfolio. Below once again are the notes I took throughout each video. 

Video 3

Title: Sketchbook Tour - The Training Arc Sketchbook

Creator: Chroma Moma

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzJg_d4dlRo&t=464s

Accessed on: 26/01/24

This video goes through a sketchbook the creator Kenn (Chroma Moma) has completed, I think I have watched this video in the past as it helped me understand ways I could sketch out ideas better, but I think it will be useful to look at this again. He is an environment concept artist so I think he will show some of the ways he explores ideas.

He begins by explaining his goals with his sketchbook, as well as putting a date he started it - this is something I do with my sketchbooks already, but I think it would be helpful to begin a sketchbook more focused on ways I can improve on my journey with concept art.

Some of the goals he set himself were; to study environmental elements, learn/copy from real world examples and apply to his art, study film composition and lighting and master studies. I think I definitely want to evaluate my goals again when I start another sketchbook.

He shows lots of examples of studies he does of other concept artist work mixed in with real life studies of different real life objects. With his real life studies, he explains while showing the ins and outs of a suspension system, “It’s ugly but you learn a lot by doing it”. I think to have good ideas to work with on my own concepts, deconstructing things and sketching them in this way will be helpful. He also isn’t afraid to make notes on certain pages about things he is learning.

After carrying out an observation sketch of something, he recommends taking it and applying it to one of my own sketches, as this helps with retaining the ideas and designs.

I notice watching he uses a lot of pen, I don’t know if this is just convenience of what is nearby, but it made me think maybe this is something he does to have his ideas be as ‘done’ as possible, so he doesn’t linger on the same idea for too long. If it’s in pen you can’t rub it out and keep changing it, not to say an initial sketch couldn’t be in pencil, but he definitely seems to choose pen at least after that to make his ideas permanent. I think this would be useful for me to keep me moving through concepts.

He details how he was having tea and drew the hob and kettle to use in his own design, I think this definitely put emphasis on carrying a sketchbook around. It’s frustrating a bit because I used to do this, but uni and other life stuff makes me feel “too busy” to carry around a sketchbook and sketch anymore - which is definitely ridiculous, it’s something I really miss. So I definitely want to get back into this.

When Kenn arrives at a page that looks a bit messier, he explains that though it is messy, he found the page really helpful as it showed his process, his “working out”. A busy page with overlapping drawings, but not worrying about the page looking nice allowed him to get his thought process on paper.

He mentions that throughout the sketchbook, there isn’t necessarily one theme or direction, he just allows his ideas and observations to guide him to different places.

This was a really helpful insight for me to see how another artist works, and it definitely makes me feel less apprehensive to get back into sketching.

Video 4

Title: [ACCEPTED] UK Games/Concept Art Portfolio (Hertfordshire, UAL, Escape Studios)

Creator: gumfizz

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OstTMe2Ew4M

Accessed on: 26/01/24

After watching the previous videos with advice around concept art, I wanted to understand what makes a good concept art portfolio, while I still have a lot of skills to work on before my work is portfolio ready I want to understand what to aim for.

Beginning with this short 1 minute clip by gumfizz. This one I don’t have much notes to add, it is really short and I didn’t really find it helpful, the artist also works in a Japanese manga sort of style which isn’t really something I would want to do. After reading the description the artist explains that this got them accepted into university, so isn’t too relevant to me.

Video 5

Title: Level-up Your Concept Art Portfolio in 4 Weeks. Really.

Creator: Hardy Fowler

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5fPt3VW7SY

Accessed on: 26/01/24

Another video from Hardy Fowler came up when I was looking into portfolio tips, I liked his last video I watched as noted on a previous blog so thought I would look at this one to see if I could learn anything.

He explains from the start of the video that often studios already want you to have experience working in a studio, a way around this is to direct myself, be my own client and set myself projects to work on. This can help a portfolio look professional and cohesive.

He explains he wants this video to serve as a mini project, for the viewer to create 4 characters in 4 weeks. All within a certain theme or genre, with a different class/archetype for each of them. By doing so this makes the work look like it was done for a real assignment. I like his suggestion to do this and I think I will make notes here with the goal of doing this at some stage.

Understanding early on what I want the viewer to feel from looking at a character is important to understand early on, then I can design with this in mind. Fowler explains archetypes, and that often with concept art you can utilise the 80/20 rule, meaning 80% of a design can lean on common well known archetypes, but that extra 20% is the unique elements you want to add to the story.

I really like the way Fowler works on these portfolio ready designs, he seems to use the selection tools to act like his line work in a way, using it to guide him, then painting in the details within these selections. The gun in the design had no outline but was made with lots of selection box shapes put together.

As with the last video I watched of Fowlers, his process is really interesting to watch, and the final result is always incredible. I think he is an artist I could learn a lot from. The main takeaway I got from this video is that setting myself small projects with set themes can help me to create a professional looking portfolio.

Video 6

Title: Crafting a Killer Concept Art Portfolio: Tips to Get Your Characters Noticed

Creator: Hardy Fowler

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=msz07wR8KHk

Accessed on: 26/01/24

As I initially gathered all of the links for these videos to watch a few days ago I didn’t remember what videos I selected, so when I realised I got to look at another video by Fowler I was really excited!

Once again this video is around portfolio tips, but rather than giving an idea for a project, Fowler simply focuses on giving tips around having a high quality portfolio.

When designing a character and trying to tell their story, Fowler explains this process begins with the way the character is stood or is posed. This is the first building block for the rest of the design. Proportions are also important, he mentions that half of his time designing a character is probably spent getting the pose and proportions of the character correct. Once he completes a pose he will save them for future use, as they can serve as mannequins for future pieces.

He mentions when he has been involved in hiring processes with directors, it is usually the ‘people’ part of the art that makes someone lose out on a job. Essentially things like proportions, or the eyes looking weird, the hair being unrealistic etc. Even if the costume or design is great, these fundamentals can decide if you get the job or not.

Getting the face right is particularly important, as this is usually where the eye is immediately drawn to, even though it takes up such a small part of the complete character it has a big impact on what people think of the character design.

He mentions another thing that can be useful to make the characters look more interesting is to base them in reality, make them wear or do something that is relatable or the viewer of the character recognises. Giving an example, he describes having a hard as nails police chief character with scars on his lip from fights when he was a rookie. The character he works on in this video is fidgeting with her hands, which itself is very human and relatable, rather than standing with her hands by her side, rigid.

While archetypes are useful for getting ideas for characters, certain archetypes are done all the time, designing more background type characters can make a portfolio stand out more. He gives an example of a common archetype of a space soldier, instead of designing that, what does his mechanic look like? Instead of a Viking warrior what does the blacksmith look like? Or the Viking could have a unique spin. These type of designs make a portfolio look more mature and as though the artist has more experience.

Add bumps, imperfections, signs of culture, tattoos, piercings…something to show some attitude. Think about how I can add things to the character to show the audience the character has a story to tell.

Adding different views of a character can be helpful for 3D artists, I can add zoom ins on the side of the character showing close ups of what a tattoo looks like in detail or a shirt, maybe show different hair or outfit options.

Showing these elements within a portfolio shows a director that I can communicate my ideas well which is valuable, I can solve problems, not just paint.

Once again I thought this video gave a lot of insight into things to bear in mind when designing a character, and ways to make my portfolio stand out.

Video 7

Title: What You Need in a Concept Art Portfolio with Nacho Yague and Tim Warnock

Creator: ArtStation

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jByXfoPWsZc

Accessed on: 26/01/24

This video is Q&A style, and Nacho Yague and Tim Warnock go over some things that they think make a successful portfolio.

Firstly, more often an employer wants to know that you can generate ideas and ‘design’, while good quality rendering is great this shouldn’t be the focus in creating portfolio pieces.

Don’t show everything, just show your best work - with that said, do include the process and sketches behind final designs. Showing the thinking stages is important.

Yague mentions that using various sources of inspiration is important rather than just going to the same sources of inspiration.

Warnock goes into some common portfolio mistakes, neglecting value and colour, getting carried away with layer blend modes digitally rather than understanding how to build up colour and value which is important. Paying attention and making choices about colour rather than putting a colour on a blend mode and hoping it works. These tools are useful for quick iteration but it can be easy to lose focus on how to do this without the blend modes - in short don’t rely too heavily on these tools.

Yague also goes into a common mistake being that a lot of times an artist won’t be able to answer ‘What are you trying to portray with this?’, being too focused on the final result rather than thinking about why each part is designed the way it is. He also mentions that another common mistake is a portfolio being too big, keep to 8-10 images, no more.

While this was more of a general Q&A format I still thought this insight from artists in industry was useful. A lot of the points made mimic what I have learnt so far; focusing on design rather than final outcome, showing the sketches and ideas behind each piece, not filling my portfolio with too much work.