Skip to main content

10 things you can do to get started to become a concept artist


01. Sketch book- If you don’t already have one, you NEED to buy one and keep it with you. If you’re in still high school, start drawing things from life…NOW. Don’t just copy what you see, but see what you are drawing. 

02. Ask question- Why does the chair look the way it does? What material is it made of? What does metal reflect the way it does…why is the shadow there? You get the point. Ask a lot of questions and try to answer them.. if you cant figure it out ..Google it!

03. See, don’t look- There s a different between looking and seeing. Seeing requires effort. Don’t just look around your surroundings, learn to see it.  See the patterns in the wood grain, study the way light reflect on objects, and make little mental notes. This helps train your eyes.

04.Build a reference library- This is very important if you have not started one. Make a folder and start collecting images on the web that interest you. Gradually grow this inventory of references. I organized the images into different categories like for example mechanic, organic, people, textures and so on.  Look over them from time to time. This will help you build a mental visual library. In order to create very cool design, you need to be familiar with a lot of things in this world. To do that, you need to keep stimulating your visual brain with new contents.

05.Start a book collection- I buy a lot of books. I don’t buy just any books. I am very selective with the kind of books that I buy. I buy visual books that cover on nature, technology, and history. I also get concept art books.

06. Follow your favorite artists- Seek out a couple of your favorite artists that are doing what you want you do and retrace their career path and find out what they did to get where they are. Learn from them. 

07.  Have a web presence- Start a blog,  sign up as a member in art forums…participate and be active.  cghub, concept art, cg society are some you to start from.



08. Build a concept art reference folder- You need to do this for two reasons. 1) For inspiration and 2) you need to know what the standard is out there, so you know how high you need to aim for if you want to compete. Make sure you organize the folder relative to its category. Ex: Creature, sci-fi environments, vehicles and props,
Characters, could be different theme and styles

09.  Learn Photoshop- There are lot of online resource and tutorial you can access if
you make the effort to seek them out. This is a must on your to do list!

10. Read, read and read!-  I like to read stuff from Wire and National Geographic, magazines. It is very important to stay up to date with what is happening in the world.  A concept artist need to be at the forefront of the latest developments. 


Read more here.

Comments

  1. This is exactly what I was looking for. Thanks man :).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm very glad to hear that the information on this blog is useful to you. If you know a friend who can benefit from the information, please recommend this blog to him or her. Thanks. :)

      Delete
  2. I also enjoy this information. I am sure there are tons reading this, it is just that they don't comment. Please keep this content coming, it is truly helpful.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi there,

    Thanks for stoping by to leave a comment. Much appreciated to know people are actually reading this.
    I 've been a bit tight up with projects this past few weeks. I will start posting more content soon!! :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks so much for this.
    I need to get started on this ASAP. I'm a 24 year old and wondering if I might be too late to take this up as a career...

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi there,

    I enter Artcenter when I was 23 and gave it everything I got and made it thru and survive the program. I have seen people much older I was taking this up as a career. You are definitely not too late to start. Good luck!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Im 16 and I want to become a concopt artists some day. I hope this will help on my journey to get there.

    Thank you very much

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Portfolio Review Request

A very strong portfolio is the one most important asset you have that can help you break into the industry. Getting the first one is always the hardest! It gets easier from there. And first impression matters! It s very important you take it very seriously and understand what to include and more importantly what not to. Most company will judge your artistic value base on you best piece as well as the worst piece. In this case, less is more. A strong and short portfolio have more value than a big and moderate portfolio. You want to leave them wanting more! So lately, I 've been getting a lot of email interest for portfolio reviews. So if anyone is looking for portfolio feedback, please leave your name,  a brief intro, a link to your work. I wont have time to get everyone, so the first 10 will be the ones I will review. Read more here .

The Science behind Drawing!

There are some people out there that can draw from the day they are born. Then there are the rest of us who need to learn how to draw.  But like learning how to drive a car or ride a bike, there are steps along the way that you need to master for you to be able to perform those tasks effectively and efficiently. The act of drawing is no difference, it 's just a more challenging skill to acquire and require more time investment to develop. There is a science behind drawing and can be broken down to two major components. They are the physical and mental aspects. Physical: The act of sketching something require the muscles in your arm to extend in a specific direction to make a mark on the paper. Drawing for the first time can feel like writing with a left hand (if you are right handed). The lines aren't straight and your arcs are wobbly. But after a few days, you noticed your drawing hand is more steady and have more control over how you laid down the lines. This is caused