An Exploration of Concept Art and It's Impact on a Final Product

AN EXPLORATION OF CONCEPT ART AND IT’S IMPACT ON A FINAL PRODUCT

Alex Kelley

Contents Page Introduction Past Practise Unused Product Reflection Discourse Future Conclusion Image Referencing Reference List

Introduction Concept art is something that a lot of people are aware of, yet its significance is often overlooked due to the behind the scenes nature of it.

However, it is perhaps one of the most important resources available when it comes to creating anything, whether it be a videogame or movie, as the development and experimentation concept artists go through on a project can ensure not just the creation of a solid design, but a believable world.

The main focus of this investigation will be on videogame concept art, and within that character development. However, alternative media (such as movies) will be explored where necessary.

A concept artist can be defined as “a designer who visualises and creates art for characters, creatures, vehicles, environments, and other creative assets.” (Concept Art Empire 1, 2018), so in turn, concept art could be defined as this aforementioned art that brings these worlds to life, “expanding it, clarifying it, and deepening it.” (Robinson, 2013, Pg 5).

Building from this, it can be said that “The main goal of concept art is to convey a visual representation of a design, idea, and/or mood for use in films, videogames, animation, or comic books before it is put into the final product. In other words, it aims to convey the overall design vision rather than specify everything in exact terms right at the start” (Creative Bloq, 2012) and also “It’s much easier and more cost effective to rework some concept art than it would be to have to redo an entire model” (Game Art Complete, 2009, Pg 103).

This particular purpose relates closely to a certain demographic, these being investors, producers or stakeholders who perhaps hold the fate of a project in their hands, metaphorically, so the concept art produced can literally be the difference between a project going ahead or fading away.

“These people need to understand what we are thinking at every step of the process to reduce the likelihood of going in the wrong direction down the line - its saves them time (and money), and it saves you the frustration of having to do a major re-work.” (Photoshop for 3D Artists 1, 2011, Pg 15).

Past

Concept art is not a new thing, despite it perhaps gaining popularity and public recognition in recent years. It can be considered to have been around for as long as things have needed to be designed for a project. The success of these projects, although not solely due to the concept artists involved, can be considered to owe a lot to these artists, as the work they did ensured something amazing was created that resonated with audience members.

A prime example of this is Ralph McQuarrie, who helped bring Star Wars to life, with his original concepts and character designs still having an impact on the Star Wars

universe today. A recent example being Darth Vader’s helmet in ‘Star Wars: Rebels’, which opts to stick closer to McQuarrie’s concept art, rather than the previous on-screen depictions. In an article dedicated to McQuarrie’s influence on ‘Star Wars: Rebels’, it is revealed that “The character Zeb is modeled after McQuarrie’s own original idea for Chewbacca, and an earlier design for Jabba the Hutt appears on the show as Azmorigan, a crime boss.” (Star Wars, 2016). Relatedly, during the concept art stage of ‘Star Wars - Episode 1: The Phantom Menace’, “it became the lot of the conceptual artist to figure out what the director would want, perhaps even before

the director necessarily knew he wanted it.”

(Bresman, 1999, Pg V), which links to how important the role of the concept artist was and still is, as the director George Lucas relied heavily on their talents to help bring his vision to life and “give his characters form” (Bresman, 1999, Pg V).

In the past, concept art was often created in a traditional manner, through the use of pencils, inks and paints on paper, as opposed to the majority of today’s concept art, which is heavily digital. This connection to traditional ways of creating concept art has not been fully left behind however, as some artists still work this way.

Despite this lack of technology which would allow things like mistakes to easily be undone or effects to be added, concept art was still created with an amazing attention to detail and a real imagination that allowed them to really come to life. Some artists today aim to capture the feeling of some of these older pieces of concept art, emulating brushes and textures through digital means.

Practise Practice is often essential to the success of not just one drawing, but in concept art’s case, the success of a whole project. On top of technical skill, a good concept artist is also expected to have knowledge on much more, whether that be the design world around them or the ever changing trends of their given industry. “It’s really important for concept artists to build a strong visual library which acts like a database of ideas, shapes, fabrics, textures, and other similar concepts to draw from.”

(Concept Art Empire 1, 2018). This kind of research on their behalf allows them to be accustomed with seemingly even the minutest details, which can give them the edge over other artists, as the concept art industry is notoriously competitive.

A concept artist has different kinds of software and hardware they use in order to get the best results they can. When asked about the current software and hardware used by designers, concept artist Robert Green commented: “Well a concept artist’s main tool of the past 15 years has been a Wacom tablet and Photoshop… you don’t really need anything fancy to get the basics going, and this is all you actually need to perform any of the tasks you will ever be asked to do as a concept artist, however if you want to perform these tasks at a speed and with a quality that rivals industry leading concept artists you will need to start to learn more tools than the basics. There is a HUGE list of tools that concept artists are currently using and this list seems to change almost on a monthly basis.” (Green, 2018).

Practice not only applies to the abilities of a given artist, it also relates to the development and evolution of an idea.

“Before your favourite game heroes (and villains) looked all sexy and bad-ass as 3D models, they started out as fugly drawings on a napkin or raw sketches on a tablet” (Venturebeat, 2014), showing that a finished product doesn’t just appear out of thin air, they have to start somewhere.

“Typically the character design process starts with a briefing of the character.” (Concept Art Empire 2, 2018), however, sometimes an artist doesn’t always have a lot to go on, having only a “character’s personality, some visual features, or anything relevant to the design.”

(Concept Art Empire 1, 2018). Despite this openness perhaps seeming daunting or intimidating, it can allow for the possibility of development and experimentation.

After the initial briefing, artists will then usually go into the rough planning stage, with one notably useful way of gathering ideas being through the use of ‘Thumbnails’.

“Thumbnail sketches are very small scribbles, designed to be fast. They’re for putting down what you feel and emptying your mind of your current thoughts so that they may be replaced by more ideas.” (Photoshop for 3D Artists 1, 2011, Pg 14).

An artist commented on this process, saying “I’ll start by going completely crazy with thumb nail sketches. This stage can happen in a sketchbook or directly in Photoshop.”

(Photoshop for 3D Artists 2, 2011, Pg 10).

When discussing his process for creating something, another artist admits to often questioning “Does the design stand out as recognisable on the very first viewing? This should be clear even on the thumbnail. Is the design clear and understandable, even from a distance?” (Photoshop for 3D Artists 2, 2011, Pg 11), which shows that even during early development, an idea should have the makings of something iconic or recognisable, and if not, something needs to be done to remedy that, even if it is through something as seemingly trivial as the shape of a character.

One designer commented “It enhances the amount of thought given to an objects recognisability from a distance, so a character is easily recognised from far away.” (Photoshop for 3D Artists 1, 2011, Pg 16).

The evolution of a character can be rather extreme, an interesting example of this being videogame character Crash Bandicoot, who’s final design is almost completely different to some of his earlier designs. A lot of the early concept art of this character is crude and rough, with most of them being sketched in pencil. However, looking past the mark making methods, aspects such as the shape of Crash is wildly different, with him being far more round, giving him a more cartoonish look. If this line of design was followed further, the character may have ended up look too weird or generic, perhaps leading to the character fading into obscurity, as opposed to rising to gaming fame. Although the success of a franchise doesn’t necessarily solely hinge on the design of one character alone, it can in some instances.

“When Naughty Dog presented their game (Crash Bandicoot) to Sony’s Japanese division for sale in Japan, Sony executives expressed their dislike for the character and the renderings presented at the meeting. During a break at the meeting, the artist behind the rendering only had 15 minutes to fix them in order to get approval. Her efforts proved to be effective as Sony Japan agreed to purchase the game after the changes were made.”

(Youtube, 2013, 1:36). This quote puts into perspective how good concept art can actually directly affect whether something gets made or not.

Other times, certain aspects of a character’s development can be rather minute or seemingly trivial. An example that perhaps personifies this point is the concept art surrounding the ‘Bioshock Infinite’ character Booker DeWitt.

As the protagonist, a lot of thought and detail will have been put into Booker, from this personality, back story, and of course his design. This is a character who we see, over the course of the game, evolve from a rather cold, selfish and rough man, into the sympathetic hero, so getting his look right was essential. We as the audience need to relate and connect with this character, and the concept artists explored several different avenues when it came to this.

Eye colour, body shape, height, age and facial hair types are just some of the ways concept artists explored the character of Booker in immense detail, eventually coming to a final design that perfectly encapsulates the character.

Furthermore, aspects of the narrative are visible in his design, with his clothing aligning with the time period and details such as the ‘AD’ brand mark on his hand, allowing the character and the setting around them to become believable and intriguing respectively, to the audience.

Unused No matter how good a piece of concept art is on a technical level, concept art may sometimes be scrapped. The reasons for why exactly this happens vary between projects, whether it is due to money, time or complexity.

In the case of the enemy ‘The Rumbler’ from ‘Bioshock’, one designer stated it was left out of the original game as it “was a little too colourful and saturated and didn’t quite fit the more realistic earthy subdued tones of the other Big Daddies (enemies within the game).”

(Leffelman, 2010, Pg 49). However, as was the case with ‘The Rumbler’, sometimes things live on, as with the release of the second game, ‘The Rumbler’ was finally included, meaning that the character and it’s concept art was eventually put to good use.

However, not all things see the light of day, with characters, levels and in some cases full games, never being released, despite their massive fan base and followings. There is often more at play than artwork not being ‘good enough’, as huge projects such as ‘Star Wars: 1313’ or ‘Half Life 3’ had phenomenal artwork, but still failed to be released.

Aspects of the plot and setting of these games can be clearly seen within pieces of artwork, giving fans a solid understanding of what they could have expected.

When asked about his personal experiences with something becoming unused, artist Rob Green commented: “It happens all the time and it hurts at first but you just start to learn to be less emotionally attached to your work... that way its a bit easier to bin it. Usually its not a case of the design being bad, because you can always rework and iterate on a design until it is good, usually when something gets dropped its just down to the feature that the design was supporting getting cut.

You might create 20 images for a new level, only to find that 6 months later we discover there isn’t the budget to create that level right now so it never comes to fruition...

Sometimes that could be frustrating if you put your heart and soul into those designs but at the end of the day… this isn’t your project that you are working on, it is someone else’s and you are still being paid regardless. You will have things that do end up in the project that you can be proud of so a few things getting cut doesn’t really matter too much anyways.”

(Green, 2018).

Product It can be said that “Visual development is simply the visual evolution from an idea to the final product.” (Creative Bloq, 2018), which suggests that development, and by extension concept art, can be considered a recording of the process between an initial idea and the final, finished design. The ‘final product’ in question can come in different forms as this could not only refer to the last or best design, but could also apply to how this design is utilised.

Not all final pieces of concept art look the same, with one designer commenting “If you feel you can sketch a character using plain old line work, then so be it. If you need to put in some value to bring out the form, then do that. There is no single answer for everyone.”

(Photoshop for 3D Artists 1, 2011, Pg 15). An interesting example of final pieces of concept art impacting a final product is the character design of Isaac Clarke.

Early character drawings had little resemblance to what the player would eventually know to be Isaac, but a design was chosen that had more depth than simply ‘looking cool’. His iconic design features heavy ‘ribbing’, which according to ‘The Art of Dead Space’, was an integral motif to the universe they were trying to create, with this visual being “repeated in the architecture of the Ishimura (the ship and primary location of the first game),

the layout of the Sprawl (the primary location of the second game), and the seared ice-plains of Tau Volantis (the primary location of the third game).” (Robinson, 2013, Pg 13). This very specific design choice conveys several elements of the narrative, as well as making everything in game feel connected.

The use of a neon blue for his helmet’s face plate and his spine display contrasts heavily from the rest of his suit, as well as his environment, both of which often consist of dark, metallic surfaces.

Additionally, a lot of the ‘final’ illustrations of Isaac display a certain visual style, having a loose, raw look, whilst still keeping a high level of detail. This is derived from the rather consistent use of brush strokes, which makes the images feel like they ‘flow’ in a way. The artist responsible did not rely on the use of heavy lines, opting to let the use of colours to create the shape and form of the character and their environment, as well as a more heavy reliance on the use of dark, defining shadows.

Due to the use of colour and shading, a sense of lighting is achieved, which further puts into focus the texture of his suit.

These details help these images and the character within them feel plausible. Some of the concept illustrations put Issac in a scenario, and these pieces go a long way to create mood and atmosphere, with some having a sense of isolation, whilst others have the exact opposite, with Issac being portrayed as being nearly overwhelmed.

Many of the final pieces of concept art for Isaac were immensely detailed, with many looking as if they were already in-game and due to this, the character in the final game looks almost exactly like the final concept art pieces they created. This blurred line between artwork and ‘real’ is due not only to the concept artists and their skills, but to the animators, who worked closely with these designs to ‘make’ the character, capturing the exact desired look.

Before a design can be used for something, “finished pieces go to the art director who critiques the design. If the director has any changes these paintings will be updated accordingly” and then “once the character’s design is finalised, it’ll be used as reference for everyone else in the creative pipeline.”

(Concept Art Empire 1, 2018).

From there, these concept art pieces “might go to the 3D artist for modeling and rigging. Or if the project is 2D animation the character design might go to storyboard artists.”

(Concept Art Empire 2, 2018). This highlights how without the approved concept art, other people within a project would be unable to do their own jobs, as they would have little to nothing to work with, which could be disastrous to a project’s success.

“Design needs to be more than just beautiful art. In addition to being aesthetically pleasing, it needs functionality.” (Bresman, 1999, Foreword), which can be applied to the idea that “Just because something looks great on paper doesn’t mean it will work in the real world.” (Bresman, 1999, Pg 2), as when it comes to animating or creating it physically, it may not be functional in terms of being too expensive or complicated. The believability of the characters and worlds designed for a project do not “rely solely on the drafting skill level of the artist- it’s the whole package that makes the final product work effectively.”

(Creative Bloq, 2018), highlighting that team work, or at least the implementation of different, varying skills, makes something come to life for an audience, not solely the artwork.

When asked about what it was like seeing something going from rough drawings to a fully rendered character, artist Robert Green commented: “It can be quite magical, especially at the start of your career. You tend to get kind of used to it though and you sort of transition from the final product being the big payoff to the actual process/journey of getting to the final product being the payoff. This is probably a result of a lot of designs not getting used, you get your enjoyment elsewhere.” (Green, 2018).

Reflection

Another artist had a similar point of view on the reflection process, commenting:

The design process does not necessarily stop after the final product has been made. Many concept artists have reflected upon their own work, with some having quite interesting insights and opinions to share. One designer said “Art wells up in you, and for a moment, you become it... convinced of its bone deep perfection. You won’t know until weeks later whether -on that day- your ideas were avant garde... or just plain psychotic.”

(Thomas, 2010, Pg 4).

“Every time I make an image, I tend to like the image for a couple hours then I’ll look at it and spot all the mistakes and think it’s terrible…

That’s not a bad thing though, the second you look back on your work and think “yeah, that’s a flawless image” is the second you stop improving. Its a process of trial and error, you keep doing it and correcting your errors until you get it right, the problem is it’s impossible to ever get it right!” (Green, 2018).

However, sometimes it may be the opposite of this idea. An artist may not initially like a drawing or character design, but after leaving it and coming back, they may actually end up appreciating it.

It may be that an artist still dislikes most of an image, but are able to scavenge an idea from it that ends up evolving into something much greater. Without this process of reflection being so sown into concept art, characters may not reach their full potential, ultimately leading to a poorer overall audience experience.

According to Doug Chiang, during the development of ‘The Phantom Menace’, he and his team had a particularly difficult time with the design of the character Sebulba’s Podracer (his personal racing vehicle).

He stated “After trying various orientations, I presented to George (Lucas) our two best options and asked which solution was better.

George chose neither. Instead he took the model and aligned the engine cowlings into an X shape.” (Bresman, 1999, Foreword).

This shows that sometimes a design team, no matter how big or talented, can still suffer from tunnel vision, getting themselves stuck on a certain idea path that proves to be unsuccessful. But it also goes to prove that sometimes, an outside perspective can provide a fresh observation that leads to the final, iconic design.

Discourse There may not be any arguments as black and white as ‘for’ or ‘against’ concept art, but there are examples of more specific debates. Some people may not understand or appreciate the importance of concept art and the developmental process associated with it, seeing their work as ‘unimportant’ in comparison to something that is ‘finished’.

Some fans may prefer unchosen designs of something, as opposed to the final design that we see being used/ influencing the final product. Although a lot of time, thought and effort has often gone into a character’s final appearance, some people may still disagree with the designer’s choices. One particular example of this could be the ‘The Joker’ and his overall design in the movie ‘Suicide Squad’, which some people liked, while many people were not happy with his unconventional design in comparison to previous depictions. Concept art reveals that the Joker seemed to have a more classic appearance, which perhaps would have not only led to a more positive reaction to the character, but also the film as a whole.

Another source of debate is the topic of the impact of digital technology and the ramifications it has had on not just concept art, but the art world as a whole. Digital may be perceived as taking over completely, leaving the more traditional methods of creating concept art in the past. The industry could be perceived as holding the digital process of creating artwork as the expected standard, which has led some people to feel like ‘print is dead’ and that traditional artists have no chance in today’s industry. On the other hand, others may welcome technology and what it brings with it, understanding that digital has it’s advantages over older methods, such as being able to quickly undo or edit a mistake.

Future It can be theorised that over the next few years, technology will continue to evolve, bringing with it new and revolutionary products. Most of the tools associated with concept art are completely different now, in 2018, when comparing them to 1988, for example, so it can be assumed that in 30 years time, it may be completely different again. Using the idea of trend forecasting, it can be predicted that due to the introduction and rise in popularity of technologies like VR (Virtual Reality), creators will continue to explore these technologies, potentially leading to them becoming interlinked with concept art, allowing for the creation of 3D models and then the further exploration of them in a 3D environment, which could be perfect for getting across an idea in a more immersive or ‘real’ way.

Another interesting way concept art has been linked with technology is through the use of a virtual art gallery. An example of this being the ‘Museum of Orphaned Concepts’ from ‘Bioshock’, which was a ‘level’ that allowed players to walk around an area containing pieces of unused concept art and character models. This gave players an unrivaled level of interactivity with the concept art, perhaps exclusive to videogames, making it feel real when put in the in game world.

One source commented on the trajectory of concept art, saying “The field of concept art is growing fast, but it’s also incredibly competitive (...) but it’s also incredibly unique. Being able to envision ideas, create full designs, and see them come to life is truly magical.” (Concept Art Empire 1, 2018).

With the rise in popularity of videogames, concept art may continue to gain public acknowledgement and acceptance. Over the next 5 years, the video game industry will most likely continue to grow and expand, leading not only to an increased awareness of concept art, but also an increase in the amount of concept artist jobs available.

A concept artist’s place in the future can be assumed as being secure, as it is a role that will always be essential to a project and it’s development, unless some unforeseen alternative arises. “With visuals being the highest priority within a videogames overall development, the job of a concept artist will be continuously sought after and yearned for” (MediaHammer, 2010), which aligns with the idea that something will always need designing, essentially meaning that concept art as a job and art form, will continue to exist.

Conclusion In conclusion, a solid and in-depth look into concept art has been conducted, with the analysis and exploration of not only different characters from various projects, but also different stages and types of development, culminating in a more clear understanding of what concept art entails. This research aimed to shine some light on to the process of those who work behind the scenes, who perhaps go unnoticed most of the time, who’s contributions towards a project are often unknowingly under valued or unrecognised. I feel that I have achieved the goal of gaining a further, more detailed look into concept art and based on what I found out over the course of this research, through reading books and articles, to watching videos and interviews, to conducting interviews, I feel as though I now know, even more than before, that a concept artist is not only useful to a project, but essential to most, if not all, projects.

Without a concept artist, and by extension, concept art, we would not have a lot of what we have around us in terms of iconic and memorable characters or places in our favourite movies and videogames, with some of the most influential and loved franchises perhaps not taking off both financially or in public popularity, with some maybe not ever being made in the first place.

To summarise this whole research project...everything has to start somewhere.

Word Count: 3,103

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Warner Bros/ DC (2016) Joker Early Concept Batmobile [online] Available at: https://i0.wp. com/batman-news.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/vehiclesix-5831570c1fde45e@2x.jpg?fit=3000%2C1289&quality=80&strip=info&ssl=1 Accessed on: 14/12/2018 Warner Bros. / DC (2016) Suicide Squad Joker Concept Art [online] Available at: https://i.pinimg. com/originals/a5/a2/c3/a5a2c3814666eea467fb25689872c800.jpg Accessed on: 26/11/2018 2K Games/ Gearbox (2012) Salvador Development [online] Available at: http://www.gamebanshee. com/images/sobipro/entries/1858/gallery_24_1858_img.jpg Accessed on: 14/12/2018 2K Games/ Irrational Games (2012) Booker and Elizabeth Concept Art [online] Available at: https:// www.creativeuncut.com/gallery-22/bi-booker-dewitt-and-elizabeth.html Accessed on: 06/12/2018 2K Games/ Irrational Games (2007) Museum of Orphaned Concepts [screenshot] Taken on: 06/12/2018 2K Games/ Irrational Games (n.d) Rumbler Concept Art [online] Available at: https://i.pinimg.com/ originals/da/26/db/da26db4afcdd213823c9e5486e94e5d1.jpg Accessed on: 26/11/2018 2K Games/ Irrational Games (n.d) Rumbler In Game [online] Available at: http://vignette3.wikia. nocookie.net/bioshock/images/c/cb/Rumbler2.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20120420222759 Accessed on: 26/11/2018

Reference List Bresman, J (1999) The Art of Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace London: Random House Concept Art Empire 1 (2018) What Is A Concept Artist [online] Available at: https://conceptartempire.com/what-is-concept-artist/ Accessed on: 12/11/2018 Concept Art Empire 2 (2018) What is Character Design? (And What Does A Character Designer Do?) [online] Available at: https://conceptartempire.com/character-design/ Accessed on: 12/11/2018 Creative Bloq (2018) Concept Design Tips for Artists [online] Available at: https://www.creativebloq.com/how-to/concept-design-tips-for-artists Accessed on: 11/11/2018 Creative Bloq (2012) Just What Is Concept Art [online] Available at: https://www.creativebloq.com/ career/what-concept-art-11121155 Accessed on: 11/11/2018 Gahan, A (2009) Game Art Complete Burlington: Focal Press Green, R (2018) Concept Art Interview with Alex Kelley Hill, M (2011) Photoshop for 3D Artists United Kingdom 2: 3DTotal Publishing Leffelman, PJ (2010) Deco Devolution: The Art of BioShock 2 [s.l] : Take Two Media Hammer (2010) The Importance of Concept Art for Video Games [online] Available at: https://mediahammer.wordpress.com/2010/02/26/the-purpose-for-concept-art-in-video-games/ Accessed on: 11/11/2018 Robinson, M (2013) The Art of Dead Space London: Titan Books Star Wars (2016) A Long Time Ago: The Original Trilogy’s Influence on Star Wars Rebels [online] Available at: https://www.starwars.com/news/original-trilogy-star-wars-rebels Accessed on: 19/11/2018 Thomas, J (2010) Deco Devolution: The Art of BioShock 2 [s.l]: Take Two Venture Beat (2014) From Concept Art to Polygons [online] Available at: https://venturebeat. com/2014/05/31/from-concept-art-to-polygons-the-evolution-of-a-game-character/ Accessed on: 11/11/2018 Weir, J (2010) Deco Devolution: The Art of Bioshock 2 [s.l]: Take Two Yeow, D (2011) Photoshop for 3D Artists United Kingdom 1: 3DTotal Publishing Youtube (2013) Five Facts - Crash Bandicoot: Rooster Teeth [online] Available at: https://www. youtube.com/watch?v=GVcciVg-CWQ Accessed on: 12/11/2018