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.