Have you ever wondered how the ideas behind your favorite characters came about? Character concept art brings these concepts to life, turning ideas into visuals that convey personality, flair, and emotion. It is the first step in bringing characters to life, from their appearance and personality to the small elements that set them apart and stick in your mind.
This blog will take you on a journey through character concept art. We will break down the process step-by-step and discuss some examples to help you better understand the idea.
Difference Between Concept Art and Character Design
Character design and concept design art are two distinct procedures and phases in the creation of visual material. They are frequently confused with one another. Let’s finally end this confusion.
The Character Design
The process of producing a character in its final form for use in a project is known as character design. Character design is a refined and detailed image prepared for introduction in a media file, whereas character concept art is a drawing that depicts an idea.
Character designers typically use professional animation tools, such as Adobe Illustrator for 2D character drawing and ZBrush and 3Ds Max for 3D character modeling.
Using a digital pen and other appropriate drawing tools is necessary for creating 2D characters and visual content production, which are then finished with coloring and 2D rendering. The concept design process requires specialized knowledge, techniques, and tools.
For instance, many game character designers take creative inspiration from polygonal modeling techniques. These techniques involve using polys, or polygonal shapes, to build a polygonal mesh that resembles a potential figure. To complete a character design, designers use texturing, 3D rendering, and animation.
Understanding Character Concept Art
Concept design art is the visualization of an idea or idea for a future project. This is an essential phase before creating any art project—comic books, video games, cartoons, advertisements, etc.—and therefore, concept artists produce a model sheet document to test and establish the look, movements, and facial expressions of a character, item, setting, and other aspects.
For instance, creating concept art digital illustrations for major and secondary characters in video games entails visualizing them. The artist frequently sketches video game character art in various stances and emotional states. The purpose of it is to convert an idea into a digital format by using an established idea as an example.
A Bit History
The origins of the word “concept art” can be traced back to the era of animation. Walt Disney Animation Studios started the method in the 1930s while creating their ground-breaking movies, which is how it all started. The studio was pushing the limits of animation and storytelling at the time, producing unimagined worlds with intricate detail using their creative inspiration. Disney’s artists required a way to create scenes, characters, and settings before they were fully animated in order to bring these creative fantasy art concepts to life. This gave rise to the development of what is now referred to as “concept art.”
Step-by-Step Guide to Creating Character Concept Art
There are five basic steps in the process of creating character concept art, which go from collecting references to rendering. In order to capture more attention, it is usually suggested to create a character with a striking and appealing appearance. So, let’s examine this procedure in more detail.
1. Research and References
Information gathering and inspiration-seeking are the initial steps in the creation of concept fantasy art. Artists must speak with the project’s art director to get additional information about a prospective product, its concept, and its style. After that, experts look for references to create a future persona that can appeal to the intended audience.
You can use direct or indirect references in the character design process. Direct references take existing character elements and apply them to the new design with little modification. Indirect references, on the other hand, are general impressions and familiarity with particular features derived from in-depth research of existing materials.
2. Draw A Character Outline
It’s time to bring a vision of a future character to reality using artistic techniques. It is preferable to begin by sketching a basic silhouette before adding anatomy and topological features. Furthermore, experts sketch multiple copies of a character through digital illustration in various poses, gestures, and facial expressions.
3. Add Core Details
At this point, concept artists use artistic techniques to specify the distinctive aspects of a character’s look. For instance, if the character is human, skin ornaments, costumes, magical abilities, scars, hairstyles, accessories, and clothes.
4. Do The Coloring
Experts pick a character’s color scheme, or the fundamental colors of their skin, clothing, eyes, and hair, based on the subject matter. Artists apply paint to characters by using animation tools to make them appear more appealing and realistic, either with traditional or digital pens and brushes.
5. Shading and Rendering
Artists use shading in the last stages of idea development to create a range of darkness that gives a character a more realistic and volumetric appearance. Ultimately, an artist sketching and rendering the backdrop and final versions of a character in one document combines many expressions to create a cohesive piece.
Examples of Character Concept Art Styles
In the upcoming projects, you will have several opportunities to bring your character’s creative inspiration to life. A combination of purpose, style, and genre shapes character concepts and art. Here, we explore various examples of popular character 3D concept art styles.
1. Fantasy Characters (E.g., Dragons, Werewolves)
Due to the concept of fantasy art characters, your imagination can roam to wonderful creative spaces full of charm and wonder. Skilled artists use tools, materials, and animalistic aspects exclusive to fantasy settings to produce artworks that breathe life into their characters.
Among the most well-known fantasy art characters or monsters in the world are Avatar, the Witcher, dragons, and werewolves. That’s why everyone adores them: they’re engaging, unique, and unconventional.
As a result, fantasy concept design art often involves designing a character’s vibrant skin with decorations, animal features, and magical effects.
2. Human Characters (E.g., Warriors, Wise Elders)
Because humans are so relatable, people enjoy watching them and using them as the primary characters in video games. With their styles and characteristics, we may simultaneously make them intriguing and distinct from our own experiences. With a few tweaks, envision the range of concept design art we can create featuring masculine characters.
Game character art involves proficient elderly guys, criminals, strong warriors, and charming little boys, which artists create. However, concept art for female characters can also suggest other personas, such as an older woman, a horsewoman, a mother, or a rebel girl.
3. Cartoon Characters (E.g., Mickey Mouse, Minions)
Concept design art for cartoon characters is typically fascinating and inspirational. Many well-known and beloved cartoon characters that appeal to both kids and adults are in the public eye. Mickey Mouse, SpongeBob, and Minions are a few examples.
The majority of character concept art for children is bright, cute, and geared toward creating a happy atmosphere, regardless of whether it is drawn in 2D or 3D animation tools. Simultaneously, cartoonish characters meant for an adult audience can be rendered more realistically and with softer hues.
4. Animal Characters (E.g., Simba, Bojack Horseman)
It’s important to decide whether an animal-based character you’re creating will be a regular animal, like Simba in The Lion King, or an animal-like creature with human-like traits, like BoJack Horseman.
Whichever style you decide on, it’s crucial to capture the essence of the character’s personality using the best 3D modeling software. Make a range of facial expressions to convey the following emotions: fear, surprise, delight, and rage. Consider the distinctive qualities that distinguish your animal-based character from real-world animals.
5. Comic Book Characters (E.g., Superheroes Like Spider-Man)
Character types found in comic books are not limited to superheroes such as Spider-Man, Batman, and Aquaman. Comic book-style concept design art focuses on a certain method of drawing and designing characters inspired by the primary archetypes: the adventurer, the hero, the magician, the sage, or the outlaw.
Outsource Character Concept Art
Creating expert concept art is an essential step in engaging your intended audience. However, to make concept art that does all of this, one needs an advanced level of drawing ability, imagination, proficiency with professional software and tools, digital illustration techniques, and a wide range of expertise. So, selecting a partner company or a top-tier character concept artist ensures that the result will be of high quality.
Anideos is a multi-award-winning 2D and 3D visual content production company. With years of experience, our company offers a broad range of services, including 2D and 3D modeling, sketching and rendering, animation, and concept art design of all kinds:
- Concept design art for characters that are the most vibrant and intriguing.
- Concept art for environments that create serene landscapes for any plot or genre.
- Creation of weapons, vehicles, and other things that give your virtual environment more depth.
- Truly captivating gameplay through well-designed game levels.
Final Takeaway!
Whether through a book or a movie, character concept design art always stays with us. You experience relatability and connection in one form or another. You begin to perceive and sense that personality. Artists using creative inspiration are able to give life to a visual figure with just a few brushstrokes, ideas, and different layouts. When this happens, you either find yourself admiring the character—like little Elsa and Anna in Frozen—or detesting it, like Jaffar in Aladdin.
Isn’t it wonderful how artists know what type of character makes us admire them each time we see them? Sometimes, seeing a cartoon or game character art you grew up with or were introduced to as a child will bring back nostalgic memories.
Character concept art is undoubtedly not easy. It demands a high level of creativity, devotion, and visual content production strategies.
Are you having difficulties making your own superhero? Or are you hoping to develop a persona that can capture the hearts of the people? We have the ideal solution for you! Anideos is here to assist—we are animation experts who make perfect characters for your upcoming project. Connect with us to discuss your idea now! Learn more about our 3D animation services.”
