Types of Concept Art
Concepts for art are often divided into different categories that way artists are not spread too thin in fields they are not masters in. The most often seen ones are that of character conceptual art, creature art, item art, and background and scenery art. Artists tend to have extraordinary skills in all of these but are often specialize in only one or two. The different art categories are linked with the overall themes of the game which are regulated by the Art Director who will make sure all the artists are working within the same parameters to get the best results.
Character Concept Art
Character Concept Art such as this piece, taken from the art book THE ART OF DRAGON AGE INQUISITION shows the creative process of one of the game's characters, Solas, as the team develops his look after many renditions to match the ideas that the other creative teams gave them.
Item and Object Art
Item art helps the modelers figure out the shape and feel of the creations they must make when modeling the game in 3D. This also helps them figure out what colors should work best and what textures they should create to match the 3D models.
Creature Concept Art
Creature concept art serves a very similar purpose as character art. It shows the design of the creature and how it looks at multiple angles and views to help the modelers get a better look at the overall piece. It also places the creature in a scene so the feel of the creature can be observed.
Background Art
Background art serves an important purpose because many games use the environment incredibly to help show the feel of the world. It creates an environment and an atmosphere that players will be traversing for hours on end so it must be interesting enough to hold their attention for such a period of time.