- passion, then there is nothing better for you than to get into the gaming industry. It is possible for artists to get into the IT field, but it is difficult. If an artist gets a job in the gaming industry, it is considered to be a great success. Game artists earn on par with technical specialists. It is clear why this issue is so relevant today. So how do you become an artist in the games industry, where do you start and where do you go?

1. Make not just a good, but an excellent portfolio

In the CIS, you've hardly heard of interns-artists in the gaming industry. If companies aren't hiring, how can you get noticed? The most important thing is your portfolio. Work on it instead of looking for an internship where you are more likely to be assigned small clerical work and not rewarded for your work. Try to make your portfolio work look like it was created by an in-house artist. They should be similar to each other. Directors want to hire professionals on par with their current employees. A quality portfolio is captivating. Therefore, you must do everything to make your portfolio seem 100% convincing argument in order to hire you.

Structure your portfolio and make your specialization clear. So that your portfolio is not postponed, we advise best work place first. If your goal is to draw characters, then include only characters in your portfolio. If you like to draw weapons and equipment, then, accordingly, your portfolio should include only weapons and equipment. Don't include everything in your portfolio, if you have four or five great completed works, include them. Sort your entries from best to worst (of the best). Leave your contact information in a prominent place. So that you can be contacted without difficulty, insert as many contacts as possible: phone, website, links to social networks, mail, skype, and so on.

2. Choose where you will work

Decide where you will work now. Choose a specific company, find out in which areas they work, study what their values ​​and goals are. Start from the information you receive. Look for a company that is as close in spirit as possible, because choosing a style that does not inspire you, in the future you will only dislike it even more, as well as your work.

3. Decide on a style

Study the company's projects and in what style they are created. Play their games, explore concept art. This way you can find out the specific style in which you will need to create a portfolio. Work in the target style. For example, if you want to draw like Minecraft, don't work on AAA horror. If you want to draw concepts, don't texturize. Moving in the other direction, you are just wasting your time. Get as much experience as possible in the direction in which you are going to develop.

In addition, your value in the market, as an expert on a particular issue, will increase significantly. Companies are looking for ready-made specialists and it will be more profitable for them to hire you than to teach a beginner. Therefore, your chances of getting a job in your portfolio will increase. Be versatile, but in your area.

4. Focus on the best

Constantly study the work of other artists, visit CG resources. Set a bar for yourself to aspire to. But, most importantly, do not copy the style of other artists. Be patient, over time you will develop your own own style. Compare your level with the level of well-known professionals and you will notice progress.

5. Choose the right tools

Having studied Photoshop, ZBrush, 3DsMax, do not forget that there are many programs that can make it easier for you specific tasks. Useful programs include Mudbox, Quixel DDo, and Substance Painter, as well as the helper programs Crazy Bump and xNormal. For example, Softimage XSI is great for modeling weapons and vehicles. Look for programs that are right for you. This will greatly help you in your work and increase your professionalism.

If you're good at drawing but don't get hired anywhere, don't hesitate to ask an expert for advice. Don't be afraid to ask employers the reason for the rejection. Consult with those who are already working in the gaming industry. They will point out to you your mistakes and shortcomings. This will help you in the future. Be active, participate in competitions and complete tasks. It will be impossible not to notice you, and this is also a big plus for experience and useful acquaintances.

7. If there is a desire, everything is possible

If you really want to get into the gaming industry and draw CG, then start working on it right now! Getting to work as an artist in a game company is not easy, but it is possible. Don't know where to start? Start with the above tips and the result will make itself felt!

When an artist talks about drawing, he imagines creating something beautiful, unusual, outrageous to others. He wants to interest everyone who looks at his work. The task of the artist when creating a character concept is one - to make something interesting for others. The work begins with the search for ideas. At this stage, there are many misconceptions that beginners have about how to make concept art of a character. In the work of the artist, the main thing is the solution of the problem that he set himself or received from the employer. Therefore, the basis of everything should be precisely the idea, which will then be captured in the form of an image.

Finding ideas for character creation

Some concept artists start not with the search for ideas, but with the implementation. They ask themselves the question of how to do something, as a result of which they move away from the essence of the task to thinking about its details.

When a character concept artist thinks about technique and tools, he concentrates on end result and instructions, searches the Internet for training videos and processes, where the already finished idea is rendered by others. It does not explain what prompted the creation of this character. Therefore, in trying to gain experience, you need to ask yourself the question not “how?”, but “why?”. Whatever the brushes and techniques of artists, even if others like them, we are talking about contact with the result of the work. Trying to repeat it, you can only learn to copy the idea.

Using references

Copying the finished results and studying the technique helps when working with painting, and in concept art, when creating something from scratch or when a clearly set task arises, you need to look for something inside yourself and work out the image yourself. Most often, novice artists do not do this, as they mainly turn to references.

References are not forbidden, but they are needed, like a theory, only when questions arise in the process of working on concept art. For example, when creating a weapon for a character, you need to understand its design. With a lack of information, you still have to look for it in all available sources. But before that, before drawing the concept art of the character, the artist must have a ready idea.

Importance of independent work

Simply processing ready-made images, and not creating new ones, the artist himself will quickly get tired of this, and will also not be of interest to the customer, since he will not be able to generate ideas at the proper level. Practice shows that in order to create concept art of a character, it is more and more often necessary to create artists-developers who are ready to generate ideas. But it is impossible to create something right away. In order to speak, you need to know the language, knowledge of letters and the ability to put them into words. Also in concept art. First, a thought appears that needs to be told, then it is transmitted in words and phrases.

Experience in creating a character from scratch

The greater the volume of developments an artist has, the more often he asks himself the question "why?", and not "how?". Developments are the attitude to plasticity, volumes, features of working with the form. With the improvement of skills, ready-made solutions appear when you need to portray something. But the idea always comes first. And only after its occurrence, you need to take up the tools and implement it.

If the implementation of the concept art of the character is put in the first place, then it is worth considering. Information available from open sources, is a formed idea of ​​accomplished artists. Therefore, just copying other people's ideas from time to time, if there is a desire to become a professional, this is not an option. If the artist is not in dialogue with himself, it will be difficult for him to create something original.

How to become a concept artist

When asked about how to become a concept artist, some people expect to receive a tutorial or course on tools. Professionals most often ask a counter question about why they have such a desire. Then it turns out that a clear understanding official duties and there is no process of working on art. There is only an understanding that it is interesting. But first you need to study ordinary things, the very alphabet of concept art. After you need to learn how to add from simple elements complex constructions and with their help to extract an emotional component from themselves, talk to themselves and work with their inner world. Then comes the story - the story of the hero. This is the process of creating a character concept. If it is interesting and the viewer likes it, the goal is achieved. If not, it will be a useful experience and turn into an operating time.

Difficulties in the work of the artist

Sometimes the artist is faced with the task of quickly making a concept, coordinating it, drawing and submitting the result to good quality. It is clear that in this case there is no time to live the hero and look for his inner feeling - what kind of posture he will have, what he will wear and where he lives. So there is no element of immersion. Work in this mode occurs in a stream, which can completely destroy creativity. As a result, the artist may lose interest in the profession, without getting any satisfaction from the work. First of all, in any creative process it is the inner feelings, the search for one's own role in what is happening and the realization of oneself that are important. Satisfaction from the fact that the artist managed to tell something through creativity, especially if the viewer approved of it.

The ratio of the mass and dimensions of objects in the concept

simple, basic elements artistic language are at the heart of everything - it doesn't matter if you need to draw a single object or a complex location. At its core, creating something starts with primitives. Common mistake novice artists, betraying unprofessionalism, is the presence in the solution of lines of thickness, which is the same throughout the object. If the thickness of all elements of the object does not change, a feeling of unrealism is created. The artist's understanding of the difference in masses, the ability to distinguish between the main and the dependent arouses interest in the object.

Therefore, it is important to remember that in any depicted object there should not be objects close in mass, especially if they are of different directions. All elements must have their own plastic and, of course, be located in their places. Dimensions need to be distributed so that the viewer's eyes have something to catch on and something to rest on.

How a concept artist's style is developed

Any image has its own structure, where the main and the dependent stand out. Each artist develops his own geometry and plasticity. This feature is called manner or style. Therefore, in addition to thinking through the masses and how they will be distributed in the object, the presentation of the material is also important. This is especially true for sketches. Attention is attracted not by complex, detailed forms, but by character, lively style. Therefore, plastic should revive the object. The line adds effect to the whole composition. This skill develops over time. But inside the creator there must be a constant dialogue with himself. It is the artist's own feelings of plasticity that create the attractiveness of concept art.

Features of working with primitives

Despite the fact that all subjects are very different from each other, the approach to their construction and implementation is carried out according to the same canons. It all starts with primitive shapes - circles, squares, triangles. With their help, it is interesting and easy enough to search for masses. Turning to primitives is where any drawing begins, since it is beneficial to go from simple to complex. This helps to avoid errors in further detailing.

Concept art for fantasy characters or game heroes also starts with primitives. They are able to tell about the nature of the object, help to work out and improve it. If you start right away with the details, then you can easily make a mistake in the dimensions and relation of the main and dependent. As a result, it will be simply unpleasant for the viewer to look at the picture, since he will not be able to select the main object, no matter how detailed it is. Therefore, it is important at the stage of primitives to understand how the nature of the object and the task of the artist affect the geometry of the concept, and then build the desired concept. This is how one develops one's own perception of the object.

Search for associations and work with images

The search for primitives and the variability of masses is one of the most important tasks when developing the concepts of characters in games, films, etc. Mass and dimensions refer to the surface. To help determine the correct ratio helps the definition of the word. For example, by designating an object as heavy, you can associatively select the desired shape and size for it. Therefore, to solve problems, you need to use verbal keys and, starting from them, create associations and basic geometry.

It also helps to work with layers, moving which is easier to create different sensations and distribution of masses. The background in the concept art is not needed, it is either gray or white. Color can highlight details, but the main thing is information. Do not mask it with unnecessary additions, which ultimately interfere with the review of the work. All silhouettes should be legible and easy to read. Search for ideas, variations of concepts through primitives, competent work with lines and correct construction is the basis for creating a character concept.

When you are an aspiring artist, the main thing is not to give up! The first few years, training takes almost all free time. And if it seems that the goal cannot be achieved, then the approach needs to be changed, and not the goal itself.

2D Designer of Plarium Kharkiv Studio Yuriy Ostapchuk spoke about the first year of studying concept art, shared links to useful courses and tutorials, and analyzed the process of creating his first series of works in the Environment Concept Art direction.

Why did you decide to study Concept Art and how did you start?

My work is more technical than creative, and I'm interested in creating something new.

I knew that I lacked artistic skills, so I went to classes academic drawing in our office 4 times a week. Redrawn. I watched everything I could find on CG: webinars, tutorials, interviews, streams. And I still watch something new every day.

Our concept artists sent me a couple of videos explaining the difference between concept art and simple art. it FZDSCHOOL channel, in particular the video “ Design Cinema Podcast EP 1 - Career in Concept Art". In Russian - stream with Ivan Smirnov and translation of Marc Brunet's lesson. Very helpful for getting started.

I tried to define some kind of pipeline, do some work on it. But this did not give any results, and I began to study more.

Did you study on your own or take courses?

I asked the teacher for classical drawing basic things in anatomy and proportions. Design issues were solved by viewing artbooks and videos. Then I decided to take the course. It makes no sense to take something top and expensive for a beginner, so I stopped at the online course of Olya Starodubtseva and was very pleased. This was the first step, after which I got some kind of result - as many as 2 characters.

Of course, I made mistakes that I saw after. But I understood the pipeline and got the first push. Courses make you work very hard. Some kind of schedule appears, you know exactly what to do and in what order, you are given corrections. In addition, after the training, I was able to communicate more substantively with the artists who work for us.

After some time, I also took the course of Max Kozhevnikov.

What was the most useful for you?

Community. To this day, I rely on the help of guys from different departments. This is the whole team wonderful people, which can help in various issues: characters, environment, 3D. Such communication can only be replaced by a large number of mentoring courses. And then your friends help you.

It is very difficult to study on your own. If you don't discuss what you're doing with anyone, chances are you'll do some stupid things.

What are you studying now and why?

The CG industry is constantly dictating new conditions. You do not have time to learn one thing - a new one already appears. While I was learning how to draw and create characters, the moment came when I needed to use 3D. In addition, our company began to move towards projects in the RPG genre, so I decided to master 3D Environment Concept Art. Started using 3D-Coat. At first he studied on his own, later he took a course from Jama.

I wanted to make a separate project in which I could show the maximum result and include 3D in my pipeline. This is how the Deserter Knights Hideout series of works came about.

Tell us about the main stages of creating a triptych.

I wanted to tell the story in three plans: we saw a place from afar, we approached it, we found ourselves in it. Everything. Very simple storytelling.

It took about a month for each work, from reference to final, as I often made mistakes. There are actually not 3, but 53, and 50, I hope no one has seen and will not see.

Idea. I was very inspired by Paul Verhoeven's film "Flesh and Blood" about defecting mercenaries. The lair of the runaway knights seemed to me interesting idea, it remains to make it original, with a twist.

Just a ruined castle is boring, so I chose an abandoned abbey. Gothic elements were meant to enhance the dramatic effect. As artistic image chose the nest. It has a rather expressive appearance: a lot of sticks linked together, spiked and quite aggressive.

In general, the image is knurled, and it was not difficult to collect references.

In addition, I was looking not only for the form, but also for the general atmosphere.

sketches. At the sketching stage, I decided on the composition, tone and lighting issues in the scene.

Blocking. I only needed general forms and light. For this, 3D-Coat fit perfectly. For rendering, I used KeyShot: I set the cameras (angles) and the general lighting of the scene using an HDRI map.

Of course, more detailed and accurate modeling is needed, but then I had not yet mastered 3D-Coat and KeyShot enough. Therefore, I made textures in Photoshop using photographs.

For final detailing, I used Jama Jurabaev's brushes and custom texture brushes.

Are you satisfied with the result?

Of course. I still have a lot to work on, but the results are there. Two of my works have been added to the 3D-Coat gallery.

I have received feedback from many artists whose opinions and criticisms are very important to me. Environment Artist from Stockholm Otto Ostera created the scene in Unreal 4 and a full set of assets using my concept.

It's very nice when your work inspires someone to create full-fledged game worlds. This, in fact, is the mission of a concept artist.

making of environment concept art

Want to learn how to do concept art but don't know where to start? This series will help you gain experience. Since the skill set in this field is rooted in traditional drawing and painting, you should still not expect that you will become another concept art superstar in the blink of an eye. Instead, treat this introductory course as an opportunity to get familiar with the tools. In these five short tutorials, I'll show you what it takes to get started on your digital painting journey.

You've probably seen enough of the concept art on the internet. Whether you're peering into the sprawling Martian landscape or trolls in rocky caves, it's likely that some concept artist had a hand in it. Although the process of creation is complex and fast, it can be divided into two main parts: design and execution. The first part, design, is deeply creative. How many horns should an elder dragon have? What kind of alien life form? Concept artists work long and hard to create uniqueness. Creativity of this kind is difficult to teach. The second part, performance, is exactly what this series of lessons is about.

Download the software

Before you begin, you will need Adobe Photoshop- There is a 30-day free trial on the official website. Once you're familiar with the basics, you can decide which of Photoshop Elements ($99) or GIMP ($0) fits your budget best, but for this series, I'll be using Adobe Photoshop CS5.

Get rid of the mouse.

Traditional artists use brushes and pencils, while digital artists use USB tablets. In addition to its pen-shaped form factor, this transducer differs from a computer mouse in another key way: pressure sensitivity. While a mouse is only capable of double-clicking, a USB tablet outputs gradations of intensity. Press harder on one of these knobs and you'll get a dark line; loosen the pressure to make it lighter.

The most common USB tablet brand is Wacom, and they offer an entry-level "Bamboo" model, a decent option in a range of tablets under $100. Although I have heard stories about digital artist, which prefers to use the mouse, but this is quite rare. To work in this series of lessons, it would be nice if you had some kind of USB tablet handy.

Welcome to Photoshop

Used for a variety of graphics tasks, Photoshop is an informative program that has menus and options in abundance. In general, however, digital painting only a small part of these proposals is required. Knowing what to show and what to hide will make your job a lot easier! Let's start by creating a new document.

When the new document dialog box appears, enter the following options, corresponding to those shown here.

Before we go any further, it's time to define a few things. In Photoshop terminology, a palette is a free-floating window that contains information (A). When you open the menu window (B), you can show or hide the palette. A checkmark means that it is now visible. The vertical palette on the left side of the screen is called the "tool palette". I'll select the brush by clicking on the brush icon.

Tool Properties

Whenever a tool is selected, the information displayed in the top bar will change. This part is called Tool Properties. In this case, there are three different properties that modify the brush. If your Tool Properties panel looks different than mine, you may have another tool active.

Pipette ( color picker)

At the bottom of the tool palette you will see two squares - potentially black and white flowers. These are the foreground and background colors. The color on the brush is "main". If you want to change the color, click on the main square, which will open the color picker.

Start Settings

Now that you know some interface basics, it's time to get ready to draw. The following required palettes should be displayed: Navigator, Layers, Tools.

The navigator will serve as a guide. It displays a miniature version of the canvas, and allows you to zoom and scroll. The small and large triangular buttons control zoom, and the red rectangle can be dragged to move the canvas when zooming. You can place these palettes anywhere, but I find it convenient to keep them on the left side of my window since I'm right handed.

Keyboard Shortcuts for Return

Sometimes operating software associated with digging through difficult-to-understand operating instructions. As soon as you try to do something creative, you get into the wilds of various menus. What could be better than speeding up your drawing with keyboard shortcuts? These combinations are not very bright to remember, but they are worth learning before moving on.

* I'm a PC user, so if you're on a Mac, please replace in each example with " ctrl" on the " command".

zoom: To quickly zoom in and out, click ctrl + + and ctrl + -

Scroll: If you have scaled up the canvas, hold down the Spacebar to temporarily switch to the Hand Tool ( hand tool), and left-click to move the canvas.

Hide Interface: Need more space? Hide the user interface with a button Tab. To show it again, click Tab second time.

Knowing these hotkeys is especially useful if you like the minimalism of the hidden interface. All hotkeys work whether or not their counterparts are visible, so you can zoom and scroll to hidden content with this interface. Full-screen drawing with a hidden user interface has a certain elegance - and can be bewildering to people at the next table in a cafe.

Review

If this is your first experience with Photoshop, you might be a little overwhelmed. Don't worry, everyone feels the same way when they dive into new software. To summarize the concepts covered in this tutorial, I've created a simple workout.

Homework: Practicing Basic Navigational Skills

Draw a red triangle at the top left of the canvas.

Change the color to blue, and draw a rectangle in the lower right quadrant.

Change the color to green and draw a squiggle connecting the two shapes.

Hide the interface with a key Tab, enlarge the canvas with ctrl + + so that only the red triangle is visible.

Scroll the visible part of the canvas while holding the spacebar, following the squiggles towards the blue rectangle.

When the blue rectangle is visible, zoom in to show the entire canvas ctrl + -

Repeat this sequence until you feel comfortable with basic navigation!

Now that we've dealt with some general questions, I will show the stages of developing a character drawn specifically for this article. Who he is and what he is doing now is not known to science. However, before becoming a man, he was an old stump of a willow that sprouted;) It looks like a tree-like native.

Where to start sketching? It is best to make a couple of sketches in any technique, any materials. Sketches will help determine the composition of the figure, its image. It won't take much time, but it will make the job much easier.

There can be from 2 to 10 such sketches, your choice. Then you can start drawing directly on the format. At this stage, we outline the position of the figure, its main proportions.

We continue to work out the total mass of the figure in the sheet.

Let's start sketching out some details (attention to detail is a holy rule for any concept artist!):

Approximately at this stage it is possible to give tone hatching.

We continue to pick up the tone.

We develop decorative details, show that the guy is a tree, give a light texture to the skin.

Increase contour contrast. Add bracelets.

We give the “color” to the skin, work on the contrast, correct, paint on, the work is nearing completion.

To be honest, it was originally planned to tint the paper and make beautiful highlights with white pastel. But an acute lack of time made me go a less creative way and perform toning using Adobe Photoshop :)

Adding a couple of highlights... So our tree-like native is ready! :)

While preparing this material, I also formulated several characteristic points regarding the development of a graphic concept, which should be paid attention to, especially for beginner artists.

1. How does the development of a game begin in a young, still emerging team? Usually, if there is a person who can draw, then he simply makes a series of sketches that roughly correspond to the subject. future game. What is the immediate error? And in the fact that everything is done “approximately”, there is no clear task, no clear theme, but, in fact, there are just a couple of drawings that say nothing about the graphic style of the game, because the one who worked on them doesn’t know much about it thought. Conclusion: you need to start drawing sketches after the developments on the concept of the game and the scenario appear. Instead of trying to “adjust” sketches of characters, architecture, etc. later. under the game design developed later. In general, you need to draw concepts in constant interaction with the game designer and screenwriter.

2. The team has already decided on the genre and style of the future hit. The artist starts sketching but only focuses on the characters, or only the weapons, or only the cars. What's wrong? And what is wrong is that in this way the general graphic style of the game does not emerge. You need to work on everything together and at once. The architectural environment, flora, fauna, weapons, spells, as well as fonts, interface and other graphics - all this should be harmoniously combined in your game.

3. The artist works everything together, he works day and night, creates a large number of sketches, but for some reason they make a positive impression only on him and his close associates ... But, they don’t like the players at all, or even worse, the publisher. Cause? It's all about the presentation! The best of the created sketches must be carefully, carefully redrawn to the finish. This is not a waste of time, this is the work of an artist!

4. Proportions, anatomy, composition of a figure in a sheet format, etc. Keep all of these components in mind when sketching. To come up with beautiful poses for your characters, you need to have a base of these same positions drawn from nature. Do not neglect photographs of people and animals, taken, for example, from magazines.

5. Attention to detail! Attention to detail! - once waking up from a nightmare in which, against the backdrop of the jungle from the movie "Apocalypse Now", to the music of the Doors, a loud voice flying over the sticky tropics along with the roar of helicopter propellers monotonously taught me: "Attention to detail! Attention to detail! ”, I realized that the details are very important, much more important than I thought before. Since then, I have never forgotten about the need to add more seams, fasteners, belts, scratches and other “little things” to the clothes of the heroes. Don't forget you too! :)

6. Experience. You can't replace him with anything. With experience comes understanding, with experience comes automatism and technicality. So draw, draw, and draw again! The more you work, the more opportunities will become available to you.

7. At the beginning of the article, it was already said about inventing a character, and that fantasy can be wasted irrationally. All this is true. But it's best not to invent anything at all! Release your mind to freedom, your subconscious will do everything for you, because it stores images of hundreds of thousands of people, characters, details! Live, from movies, books, games, dreams...

Perhaps, I will limit myself to this seven tips-analyses.

But, now it's time to talk about the presentation of your graphics. How to make it so strangers(e.g. players) appreciated your work? A bad presentation, or rather the lack of a presentation as such (we give out the work in a “naked” form, without any embellishments), can ruin even a very good idea! Do not show the players or the publisher your sketches - in your handwriting, no one will see what you see anyway. And, in addition, one gets the impression that this is not worked out, not detailed and according to by and large just an ugly job (you need to call a spade a spade: even a brilliant sketch, from the point of view of ordinary person, not an artist, may, alas, appear to be incomprehensible scribbles) and there is your final version. Therefore, the problem of presentation should be treated with all understanding, there is no need to rush to draw the annual volume of graphics in any quality in a week - the execution should be at the highest, your maximum level! Beautifully design your sketches, remember how much it improves the perception of the picture in traditional painting frame or passe-partout. Use backgrounds for your sketches: vintage paper for historical and fantasy themes, original metal records for cyberpunk. Sign the sketches in a beautiful, readable and appropriate font in style and size, people who will view them should know what is shown in the picture. Clausura can also be brought into proper form. In general, at the submission stage, a competent design approach is very important, the ability to give a “marketable” look to your work.