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Concept Art TIPS
Concept Art TIPS
conceptualise, design and execute a believable world for characters to live in. But the success of
these environment concepts doesn't rely solely on the drafting skill level of the artist – it's the
whole package that makes the final product work effectively.
Visual development is simply the visual evolution from an idea to the final product. So it's
crucial that the structural makeup of the artworks in development occur in this order: concept,
design, technique. To think technique is the key to the success of the artwork is totally missing
the mark.
Here are my key tips that point towards a successful process in creating strong concepts and
compositions for animation.
So in the image above, the need for this image is to design an Asian fairy and her magical
environment. A second character is a design want, to exemplify the scale and dimension. The
design choice of the secondary character creates a relational affinity and familiarity between
the two.
Research gives a vision of functionality. What makes it dynamic is when I start sketching and
creating thumbnails while doing research. This keeps me from getting bogged down in reference
material. I trust my artistic instincts when I hit a design target from reference materials, and I
stop looking for more and start sketching. My approach towards design improved by doing this.
I've learned over the years not to go outside the box if what's inside it still works. At the end of
the day, it's how the story/idea could be told more effectively that influences your design
choices, not whether it's a safe or 'out there' idea.
These quick sketches give me two spring boards on retelling the story of the Titanic. The first
image is the inside-the-box translation, with a literal narrative of its present underwater
situation. Alternatively, I can go for the outside-the-box option by creating a juxtaposed imagery
of its supposed description and its present-day situation, encapsulated in a classic ship-in-a-
bottle setting.
These images are from a 90-minute demo process in a live workshop. The 18x24-inch canvas
gave me a good amount of arm flexibility. Then I took a hi-res iPhone photo and transferred the
file into Photoshop for value and colour.
Perspective is the placement of the camera and what type of lens is being used. Value translates
the application of lighting. Staging is the arrangement of different elements in the canvas using
the combination of shapes, sizes and overlaps, creating depth, dimension and balance. Colour is
the harmony of palettes and temperatures.
Perspective has a strong psychological effect on viewers' perception. Above, various camera
placements of the same subject and environment give different viewer perceptions. The
viewpoint is the audience's eyes.
When the artist controls selective seeing, the visual message becomes subjective. Subjective
means controlled perception. Controlled perception results in controlled context, and this
means the audience will have a singular interpretation of the story idea.
Value is the lightness or darkness of a colour. Every colour has a corresponding value and that
lightness or darkness depends on the amount of lighting applied to the colour. The three
important rules of value are:
1. It controls focal points – usually the brightest area, the highest contrast, or when a
predominant value encloses an opposite value
2. Value gives the illusion of three-dimensional form, when it shows the surface being hit by
light and the surface under the shadows
3. Value creates the illusion of depth (altering the range of dark and light creates distance)
The perception of mood or emotion of the story being told in the canvas is established by the
applied lighting translated into values. The success of colour composition depends on the value
composition.
I create a very quick thumbnail idea for composition and direction, then lay down the line work.
The column and the character are on two separate layers. Then I drop and separate the local
values using the Lasso tool. I also use a little bit of Airbrush to soften the edges.
Next I duplicate the desired layer to be colourised, then select it. I pick the desired brush and
then from the Brush Mode drop-down menu, I select Color (and I make sure to bring it back to
Normal mode after this step).
Using the Lasso tool, I select the cast shadowed surfaces. I soften the mask for the columns but
keep it sharp on the character. Consistency in lighting is the key for this step. I create separate
new layers for shadowed and highlighted surfaces and I increase the cool tone, then darken the
layer with the shadowed surface. I increase the warm tones and contrast on the layer using
highlighted surfaces.