What is Concept Art?
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Concept art is art focused more upon the ideas presented and is used to help design products for creation. This art is crucial to the pre production process of creating a video game and it influences projects well past their release. Hundreds, if not thousands of pieces of concept art are created to fill the creative needs for big games, conceptualizing every minute detail. From character design to the tone of the story, a concept artist is there at every step to make sure the overall feel and aesthetic of the game is best for the intentions of the project.
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Purpose |
Concept art is a broad subject that encompasses a variety of themes with a multitude of responsibilities for the artist. They have to establish a decisive theme and aesthetic early on in the development cycle. That way those creating the game know what they are supposed to be doing. They also have to design the individual characters, objects, landscapes, and everything else before a 3D model could be created for the game. For all intents and purposes, an artist must create a "blueprint" of the game before it is produced. As video game art books and many other examples show, something such as a character, goes through a myriad of different iterations and ideas before the final design is nailed down and ready for rendering.
When asked about the importance of conceptual art for the development Ryan Camu, the Production Director at Pipeworks Inc. told me that concept artists have one of the most important and difficult tasks in the creation of a game; creating a majority of the game visually before it is even produced and having to have a hand in pretty much all stages of production to make sure everything is cohesive and aligned to the spirit of the work In the info graphic below, the duties and purposes of concept artists and the art they create are shown when in different stages of developing a video game. |