Reflection of Concept art

Having completed all of the conceptual artwork for my game creation I am very satisfied with the overall result. I am especially pleased with my portraits of the main character, as they are the highest quality drawings I have produced and I enjoyed using the different mark-making materials i utilised on them. There are also other aspects i think i could have worked on and improved within the collection of artwork.

When i began the process of planning and deciding upon the themes and ideas behind the concept art, i had already created and designed a game idea and so wished to expand this further with it's own concept art. The game's title is 'Spectre' and having it's own unique style, tone and atmosphere, i immediately thought it would be suitable to produce creative images from. The first three images i created were of the settings of the game (pictures of a city skyline, a sandy desert and a barn in the countryside) and i used coloured pastels to created misty effects, heat hazes and darkness using smudges. I think the material was suitable as they created a distinct effect and a certain tone to the scenery. Although the pictures are fit for their purpose and would easily fit in the game, they are very different to each other and have much variety- this would reflect the game's locations, but i feel that the images do not relate well to each other.

I drew two portraits of the main character (called Donatello), both of which i believe perfectly represent what mood and style the character would portray. The first image i drew in pencil and graphite, before colouring the background in solid black pencil crayon. I first felt that the image would be too dark (with the black background), but now that the image is done i feel that it compliments the attitude and tone of the overall portrait, bringing out the black and white traditional style of the main character. The second image is a close-up of the main character's face, sketched lightly with pencil and finished with shades of black paint. These two images are true representations of what i originally intended Donatello to look like, with the right darkness and modern attitude.

I then designed a logo for the game (which could be suitable as a title screen for the games 'start' menu). I wrote SPECTRE with a ghostly reflection of the title below in a lighter tone of pencil strokes, and to the left of the writing, a large pattern of a skeleton with angel wings and a swirling pattern spiralling around it which i created using black biro, to obtain a spidery, metallic effect. Due to the fact that Spectre is based on ghosts set in the modern World, i thought it was applicable to include this almost gothic, skeleton-angel. Another of my pieces of concept art was an observational drawing of a Ferrari F40 sports car. Although it may seem out of place, due to the darker content of some of the other pieces, i wanted a more fresh modern twist to this image. I coloured the Ferrari in the unmistakable red, which also contrasts the other concepts, but could easily be imagined racing around the streets of the night-lit city from the earlier piece of artwork i created (as i envisioned in my game idea).

For the final piece of concept art i was required to create an A2 sized poster that tells the story of the game through one image. Utilising the earlier painting i did of the main character, i once again drew and painted Donatello in the foreground. Over his shoulder a mysterious, shadowy silhouette can be seen (meant to represent the evil villain of the game, unknown to the main character, hence the appearance that the indistinct figure seems to be stalking upon Donatello) which i also sketched in black biro, using scratchy lines and cross hatching technique for the spidery effect. In the background there are three wind-turbines that i did little shading on, because they stand out amidst the dark, stormy nights sky which i painted with indigo watercolour paints- these represent the industrial, modern setting (such as factories) and present a striking background. Finally i wrote the title SPECTRE in bright blue pastel which i spudged to give a misty look, also colouring Donatello's eyes with the ghostly blue aura that the pastel can present, meant to link the two together- Donatello is the Spectre and so his eyes being in the same smokey style as the title links them as one.

Overall i am proud of the artwork and it's contrast of traditional methods and themes and modern twists, and how it fits wells with it's purpose of representing the game. I feel that i could have improved the overall artwork by including more rough sketches of other characters (of which i only did a couple) and people within the game, but i am pleased with the concept art i have completed.

The importance of Concept art in Games

Almost all types of the entertainment media industries, whether it be animated films, music album covers or computer games, all use concepts of their artwork during the development stages. The use of simple sketches and adding detail and colour later on allows for a smooth profession finsish to the end product.

In the case of games, the game's designer will have already thought of the chracters they want to inhabit their game, or the location that the game will be set within, and so the designer can describe their ideas to the artist, who can then translate these images into a visual representation. This process may seem to be a hinderance of the quality of the final ideas, but it is a great advantage to allow other members of a creative team to incorporate their influence into the game. For example; they could infuse their own signature style into the initial ideas, and then their own creativity is reflected in the game.

The artwork is built up, starting from simple pencil sketches with little detail and become more and more detailed and stylised. Some artists prefer to paint their artwork traditionaly with water colours and some artists prefer to keep their concepts in pencil, but refining them with, sometimes, extreme detail. There also stylised types of artwork. A good example of this is the manga style used by many Japanese artists, which are similar to characatures only more cartoon style. Some graphixc artists are specialised in that they use bold colours to create characters and images and characters that are more appealling to a younger audiences, such as Nintendo characters Mario, Donkey Kong and Kirby.

It is important for images to portray a certain feel or mood, or create an atmosphere (for example- dark, light, creepy, happy or moody).

Another example of a media that is evolving in the artistic side of games are graphics tablets. More and more artists are choosing to use a graphics tablet, which allows the artist to draw directly onto a pad which can use pressure sensitivity to draw images directly onto a computer. These images can then be edited effectively using a programme like Adobe Photoshop. Some very effective and high detailled pictures can be created simply with computer software. There are also some graphic artists who combine traditional methods with modern techniques- such as the artist Dan Seagrave, who is talented at painting but also edits his finished pieces using computer software.

An artist who inspires me is Yoji Shinkawa, made famous for his artwork in games such as the Metal Gear Solid series and the Zone of the Enders games. What strikes me with his work is the variety of material he uses- whether it be paint, pencil sketches or digital images, Shinkawa shows his talent through variety of methods. His style is also quite unique, with the use of certain colours and backgrounds, create a mood and feel that is unique to Metal Gear Solid. The images bellow are good example of Shinkawa's style of artwork, with high detailed, stylised people. The use of colour is also effective. The green image with the faces in the background is from Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, a game set in the jungle and forest and the art reflects this, with it's green spidery paintwork. The other image is the cover from the Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty game. This painting resembles the game in that the location of the game (An oil-rig called 'The Big Shell') is an orange building, and the game is a balance of dark and light- all of these aspects are displayed through the front cover, with the main character displayed in black and white with an orange background.