5 Things To Consider Before Becoming a Concept Artist. [Audio] 

+Luis Salas Lastra Nice! That is my thought too. On my new channel (that I am posting with) I do have a talking head. I am curious, would you like a video format? or an itunes format?

+Team Concept Art definitely a video format, because I don't use Itunes , I'll subscribe to your other channel as well

Thanks a ton. While there is video, I am trying to keep the video irrelevant so everything is purely listenable. ... probably counter to every logical art broadcast ever haha.

Same! I go through so many of these kinds of videos.

Welcome to the podcast world

Happy to help! Glad you stopped by.

+Pianodog Hey thanks!

Friggin Awesome!! Thanks for the comment bud, we have to chat some day.

Hahah nice!! 5010 SinMob 85' and beyond! Super happy you are inspired, just keep at it, and don't look too far ahead, just stay on task and get that task done to the best of your ability and you will do great!

@@RobBrownTV I draw Everytime I am addicted

Glad I could give some insight. Keep at it, and be happy with the small victories!

+Forest Hymn Hey cool! I was really considering assembling my own 'free art program' for people just starting, or wanting to see what it would be like to start. Does that sound interesting? The program would have homework suggestions, and a progression line for getting better.

Robert Brown That actually sounds fascinating! I mean... wow... it sounds like a big investment for the instructor, but I think people would be very grateful. I mean, it's extremely generous. I'd... be over the moon! I went to the wrong college to study art out of ignorance. The program ended up having only 1 class that taught digital painting. It was a good class. But $50,000 in student debt later, the other classes did not even teach the basic fundamentals such as perspective, visual library, values, etc... I didn't know that was what I was supposed to learn! But I shouldn't blame the school, it was my own fault. I hope it's not too late...

+Forest Hymn It's never too late! I just put up a line quality tutorial that might be fun. IMO, getting a good general education, is extremely valuable to design, so do not write yours off. Now it's time to seek a few of those building blocks with tutorials and what not.

Team Concept Art That is true... it did help in other ways, in a social sense. A lot of artists tend to be very shy, I was one of them. College does help improve communication skills.. which I guess is extremely important, in the big picture! Awesome, I will take a look at it. Yes - with all of these tutorials available, I'm thinking of spending a couple months just devouring and applying tutorials, from Feng's videos, these ones, and maybe also Scott Robertson's book "How to Draw" and "How to Render"... it should be a good time to learn. Thanks for the thoughts !

I drew during Art class, math class, and history... that is three hours, but I guess I know why I got F's in Math and History now.

@@RobBrownTV yeah you don't have to draw this much you just need to draw very regularly, promoting unhealthy work ethic is not a good thing TIME OFF IS A HUMAN NECESSITY PROMOTING THAT YOU NEED TO PUSH THESE EXCESSIVE TIMES IS BAD. IN ART SCHOOL YOUR BEST WORK IS MADE WHEN YOU GET THE MOST SLEEP

@@unfeadunicorn While that is true, you should be taking that time off very occasionally, you don't need that much rest time. Just enough to recover. It's like working out. 3-4 hours of drawing a day is totally acceptable for a HS student and probably needed if they want to be an artist. I wish I had drawn 3-4 hours instead of doing my hw. Hw and school get in the way of some people who want careers that are completely skill based, and they waste their time not building those skills with pointless work. He speaks truth. Sad, reality breaking truth. But truth. Time management is the enemy of everyone. Solve that, you can do all you need and more.

Danny Cruz You said it! It looks fun right?.. but eventually you need something to carry the day when the 'fun' wears thin ;). I believe a lot of programs would have you believe it's easier and more fun, and less work that most realize.

I would say be as open as possible to critique so that you can excel as quick as possible. I know a lot of artists that started in their 20's. I would also say learn 3D to help speed things along.

Rob Brown how do I develop my sense for what is "cool" I heard of a "visual library" but I have no idea how to develop one. I want to be able to see things with my minds eye. But every tutorial I read is "well you know, you just _feeel_ it and you know when it's right" doesn't help me understand.

Keep fluent in the latest trends, and get to know the zeitgeist. Go to museums, play games, watch movies, experience life and seek out creative endeavors. Put all that data into a mental database and try to see what compels you about why they are currently popular, why they are interesting, why they are good. See if you can find an element that you feel would make something from your database more interesting and cooler to you, and draw it.)

Hey Rob, im 27 and yeah i startet to actually learn this year. Of course i did draw when i was younger but never actually learned it. So i what got me back was actually 3d. Thing is as 3d artist i can do pretty well if i have a someones concept. But as i want to create my own characters id like to concept them on my own so i got back to drawing. AS im quite old for learning this thing im trying to dedicate as much time as possible so its around 4 hours a day for last 146 days and improvement is quite big. Thing is do you think that ability to draw and paint is also crucial for good 3d character artist?

honestly and off the record, I think 3-d is the way we will be doing concept art in a few years. While drawing is fast, 3-D is getting to be just as fast. It will take only a few innovations, and drawing will become a lost art. IMO, you should have a bit of the basics, so you can describe and make a plan for your model, but 3-D is a super strong way to get into the industry.

That is great news! I'm going to take a peeks at your channel now. Cheers!

+Jade wu Heya, you should join ConceptArt.org and DeviantArt, there are a lot of great tutorials. If you are in the States, you might consider one of the Gnomon workshops.

+Ryan Zingery hahaha! I think I stole that from one of my bosses.. happy to pass it forward.

I am not versed in who is the best right now. My best tip is to go to a school with working professionals as teachers. Gnomon, Feng's school, ACCD, SCAD are just a couple. You should consider coming to the west coast too.

Firewerewolf Sorry for missing your comment earlier. Thanks!

No problem, it's a bit old but a lot of it still rings true.

I love a couple games, and I like a few games, and the rest I am not into, although I can appreciate them. Some studios want you to be into their game, some do not care, but I think it is most wise to have a deep appreciation for a project if you apply for it. Never lead with, 'this is not my type of game'.

Nice!! Grab that draw time.

I will, thank you for the video. It has been very inspirational for me.

Thanks kindly! I didn't know if it was a good idea, but it did seem to help a couple people, so well worth it.

Hossein Taghizadeh Happy if it helps!

I think so. I also think that more and more design will be done though 3-d, so it is not a bad choice if you feel like 3d is your aptitude. There are a lot more 3d people than Concept Artists, and you always see an opening for really good modelers.

***** Shapes, ribbons and depth, I would definitely check out graphics, motion graphics, typography and interface (UI) design. It's a huge field with a ton of artistry, and story telling, but it's also free of having to love drawing.

+Jonathan Hernandez I think you got the hardest part done. Meaning, your foot is in the door! Make good friends, and keep an organized contact list and you will be in the big show soon~!

It sounds like I was in a similar boat as you are. When I was young and in High School, I never knew what design or what concept art was. Nobody told me it was a real job. I knew I had great passion for a skill set I had, but did not realize it was called entertainment design until I found out about Art Center in Pasadena at the age of 24. I honestly think having a few years of experience in 'life' is no problem at all, and can be an advantage. As far as should you go to university, I would say get the absolute best education possible for you. Some people have the resources to travel across the world, to go to university, and some can only get to youtube for tutorials. I will let you be the judge of what is possible for your budget, but my suggestion is to take the hardest road with the most work, and push to get the best results possible. Cheers, R

I got into modelling for two reasons, I wanted to learn it, but I also saw a spot where we needed rapid level building from someone that did not need much concept art to move forward. In smaller studios this is very handy. Also, many projects have lots of concept guys for preproduction, then cut back when they hit production, knowing both is a great way to keep on a project if you love it. Of the two, the drawing is the hardest so, imo, start there, then you will see how 3D fits with you personally.

Okay cool. Yeah see Im a fairly strong modeler, but perfecting draftsmanship and design skills is what I'm working on now, since I really want to get good at 3d design and that seems to be the best way to think/design quickly. I feel incomplete as an artist without being able to create. Staying on a project and being able to take things from design all the way to final assets would be ideal. Thats good to know, thanks!

GalaxyWing Actually, I would totally recommend it. Art school, is intense, it can be very competitive too. When I went, the avg student was 22. I would go to JC, and take a lot of drawing classes, and general ed. Rack up the sketching time so when you shoot for Art School, you have the beginnings of a portfolio, and your General Education units are out of the way.

Robert Brown Thank you so much! I'll definitely take your advice to heart, it really cleared alot of things up for me :]

I am not sure what is up with CA dot org, it used to be the standard but seems like it ended up being a marketing platform for a small section of the community. Everyone I know uses Art Station, and that includes Art Directors looking for artists for projects, some go to Deviant Art, but that site is very casual. Also, consider a dedicated Instagram and tell little stories there too. Good luck!

Thanks. Yeah Ive been pumping my instagram more lately. Its funny my 16 year old sister has more followers then I do but I think that is sort of a generational thing and the fact that its incumbent on how active your are. But Ill look you up on IG and give you a follow. Btw keep us posted your new space, looks awesome!

+Neo Neupane Cool!

Yuuva No sweat! I worry that there are some very glamours moments that get highly publicized and miss some of the reality. That's not to say it's not awesome.. but that it's different than what most people realize.

Akuma Ukpo Join Deviant Art and put some work up and get some reaction!

Robert Brown Hi Robert, thanks for getting back to me! Here's my deviantart: blythy.deviantart.com/

Cool!

+Angel Muro Very cool! I loved my time at ACCD. I am sure you will to. ..I am also super proud that you picked this video first ;), there are a ton of great videos out there.

I have a bunch of international friends because of the channel, and I understand the toughness. To me, you should get the ability to show your own style in a way that can be used in production for a market you know about. I have had friends work on projects for India, and they had to learn the style. That means, there is a market there, you just have to find it. It used to be, everyone wanted to look like Hollywood, but now I see that design is a much more worldly collaboration, and it will continue to do so. 2) So, apply the fundamentals to your own style, and embrace, and be confident with it, do not be afraid to be yourself. 3) In my market, the best art wins, it can be on paper, or canvas, a tattoo, or digital. Just make sure the way you present the art is clean, and well done. Check out Crash Mccreary, he became famous with paper and pencil. Also check out Kim Jung Gi, he became famous with paper and pen. Regarding getting a job, find a small one, and do really good work, do so much good work, they would be crazy not to ask you do do it again. Once you have a couple people that have to use you, slowly start raising your prices. Good luck! You got this.

Start drawing! Start with some of the basic tutorials on perspective and the basic shapes first)

Charles wood apologies for missing your question earlier. I think a good artist has a leg up on a bad one, as long as the good artist does not get comfortable with the fact things come easier for them at first. Talent > Degree for sure. ..but, both need a good network.

Hey thanks a ton, much appreciated!

welcome sir, anyways do you review online portfolio? I cannot catch your live stream due to time differences, thank you and morepower!

No sweat giving your portfolio a look. Hit me on FB.

Rob Brown wow thank you for that quick reply sir yes i will :)

also helps if you have an artstation.

I don't think gaining skills is ever a mistake. Especially if you can connect them to your overall goal and happiness.

BUGHUNTER6 Heya! Solid question. I understand the nerves of taking the risk. ..but, who is going to invest in yourself better than you will? There is a huge range of design/concept work and opportunities that are not always clear to young artists including, game designer, package design, info graphics, video production, twitch, youtubes, movie production, tv production, story boarding, product design, prop design, world building, environment design, theme parks, and on and on. It seems to me you have a very strong visual aptitude. I would spend a lot of time researching. In regards to becoming a good artist quickly, get with stronger/better artists and draw with them. It will be a bit tough on the ego, but it will make you improve very quickly.

Robert Brown Thank you for the encouraging words! I will take your advice.

BUGHUNTER6 Heya, I addressed your question in my new vid!

Robert Brown Awesome! I will be sure to check it out as soon as I can.

FZD is a good one, and I think he has a lot of great points. There is also another youtuber that is kinda like me, a bit more philosophical, and professional oriented than just watching speed painting. I will try to find him, and put him up.

Man, Sweden is awesome! We have a couple Swedes in our Discord server, so go to my FB to get a link. There are a few solid schools, but I bet they require traveling or relocating for a bit. There are for sure some decent ones in England.

moofushu Heya! Happy to reply. I should have elaborated a bit on the 10 hours, I think saying 'forwarding your drawing skill 10 hours a day' would have been better. Meaning, looking at tutorials, designing, sketching, doodling, painting, researching and going to classes. In your case, whit the solving what materials to use and problems, those are perfect to sketch out very loosely before you move to your 'big' drawing. I think fast loose, but accurate sketches are super important for the early stage of a design you describe. I like your idea of describing Art Center, I will do an episode on it. Cheers.

Robert Brown Thank you for the reply. I look forward to the Art Center experience video.

You will be reliant on being a remote artist. The first step will be to build your online presence and social platforms. Take your online image very serious so potential clients will view you as trustworthy and hard working. Put only great work on the web. Become friends of people on the forums, concept art.org, DA, CG hub, and things will start to open up. The better your work is, the faster it will open up for you.

Robert Brown lets say that years later when im good at concept art like most pros even thought i live in a country where artist dont exist will i still get a chance to get a job even online?

Dana AlMajid In our biz, the best portfolio wins. It will not be easy, but it is possible.

Hey glad you enjoyed it.

+Angel Muro Hey no sweat!

jacob boeser You are exactly why I made this video. It's a pita to figure out what directions to take. I can't imagine how hard it must be with all the 'noise' out there. One thing I noticed that is in common between all the jobs you mention is 3-D. Character design is 3-d anatomy and drawing, Game design is 3-d and writing/storytelling and scripting, environmental artist is 3-d, drawing, and shot composition. So firstly, I would get your hands on Maya, Max, or Sketchup (free!) and start learning how to model and see if you like it, and can picture doing it for the next decade. I would steer in your education towards programs that have design classes, that have structure and deadlines, and that give you all the fundamental skills to become a designer in the broad sense of the term (composition, construction, art theory, script writing, story telling, etc.). For 1. The best part of an education is getting the knowledge but also building the network that you will launch your career from. Get an education where the professors have worked in the industry. For 2. Companies want talent first, hard working, smart, then a degree after. ..but how do you find out which companies are hiring? The best way is to have a buddy already there telling you about a spot. Being one of hundreds of resumes from Gamasutra is pretty much terrible. Remember, HR will toss out 90% before ever showing the Art Director. So you need your network to find out about the best jobs. If you can get a network of already established people, talent, and learn the industry without going to school, go for it. For 3. Just today I drew in Pencil and Pen on paper for RIOT Games and they loved it. They were fairly crude thumbnails, but they got the ideas across very quickly and we are moving on to better and cooler ideas without a lot of turnaround time. Pen and pencil is a great way to start, but you should work towards a decent laptop, install photoshop and sketchup, get a side monitor, and a wacom pad and you are pro. Cintiq's are killer, and should be on your list fairly quickly, but they will not make your paintings better if you can't draw with pen and pencil. Cheers, hope that helped. R

Thanks man. It may not seem like it but you were the biggest help that I have come across so far. Unfortunately, I have a laptop and installed photoshop a while ago (I have a pretty decent lenovo) and photoshop was slow. So, being the gamer nerd that i am, I invested in building a beast of a gaming pc and now photoshop runs like a charm. But I will definitely look into those other programs you mentioned. Also it seems like you made up my decision of which school to goto. Univ. of Cal in Irvine has Computer Game science as an actual major, the school I wanted to goto was Cal. State Long Beach and just get into computer science. I chose Long beach only because they are closer to LA and have a better rugby team. But Irvine has what I want. But thank you man I really appreciate it.

jacob boeser I think you made a wise choice!

Victor Von Bonbon You should carry a small sketch book around with you, and sneak in sketches when you can. Speed sketching on the go will really help you get your skill dialed in. There was a time when I was a security guard, and a maintenance person at a pool. I used to doodle on everything during my down time. At that point getting 10 hours in was impossible for me too.

Thanks, been feeling a little discouraged. May I ask how you managed to start getting 10 hours in and pay your bills?

Victor Von Bonbon Hi Victor, This is Rob, I am replying on my Team ConceptArt channel. I used to paint graffiti on the weekends, 20 plus hours. In the evenings, we sketched and hung out with buddies who also drew. I think when I had a full time plus job I could only get 2-3 hours a day. Ultimately I went to art school and the hours went up. ..the thing was, that I then added student loans.

Team Concept Art I would imagine getting the time comes at a cost. Thank you for replying, I have a lot to consider.

Victor Von Bonbon Don't let it get you down, just plug away at it, and commit the time when you can. If you prioritize your drawing fairly high in your things to do it will add up quickly. 10 hours might only be possible after you are a full time student.

+InappropriateDirtyComments I believe that any way to get a good image done is a good way, as long as it is your own work! I often use 3D to mock up ideas.

Rob Brown amazing. I have a basic idea of 3dsmax, but I think it's a little cumbersome for mockups. What kind of 3d software do you recommend? I think Google sketchup can be quite strong considering how easy it is to use to make quick mockups for creating dynamic angles and accurate perspective.

+Rob Brown I personally use maya and I have used max, I have seen a couple really good artists use sketch up too.

Rob Brown hmm thanks for replying Rob!

I always try to, ;)

OBNfull1000 I know right? Funny, I have the same feelings at time. I also have buddies who are VFX supervisors who still feel pressure. ..just know it never goes away. My tip is to live a life that can deal with it, and you will be incredibly rewarded for living a life you love.

You should get on ArtStation and start an account. Also look for youtube tutorials in zbrush and post them. Don't be discouraged, it took me 3 years to learn to draw decently. You should also join the ArtCore facebook group, there are a lot of beginner art groups on facebook!

You are not alone! So keep at it.

+Rob Brown thanks.. :)

No problem)

Hey bro, you're good at zbrush right? Model the thing you want (eg a robot) then set it up to be the way you want to edit the overall thing in another program, colour it, and use that program (I use photoshop) to add more details to it. It works for me :)

I am 14. And my teacher says I am good enough to sit national 5 will that help?

Me at concept art?

Hi! The first step is to draw with pen on paper, start learning perspective and compositions. The step after that is to get a couple of gray markers so you can start shading. You want to be able to rapidly draw ideas. If you have access to photoshop, the final level is to get photoshop and draw your ideas using one of the wacom tablets.

Szczurzysława I'm going to have to disagree with you. The wonderful thing about creative fields (Like Concept Art) is that a degree and your schooling have barely any value in the vast majority of cases. If you were to go and apply for a concept art job, your degree and your school that you went to isn't important, your *portfolio* is the number 1 most valuable thing you can include. Proof of education in a degree or a diploma isn't as important as *showing that you can do your job well* If you maintain the attitude that you "have no chance to be concept artist without a proper school, papers, or that the industry is hard to get into." Then you won't, because you'll make excuses instead of *doing* it.

***** Well it depends, Going to college diffidently helps build a network. However it is not guaranteed. Neither is having a great portfolio as there are many factors that go into play when searching for professional work. Also not all concept art is the same and can get very technical. So having access to people within the industry helps in a university. I got a chance to go to school with major art directors in the industry. So its a 50/50 thing.

Vince Meadows well yes, i should rephrase that a degree in itself actually has value, but it isn't a required prerequisite in a lot of cases. Though yeah, networking is probably the main benefit

Szczurzysława Heya, I addressed your question in my new vid!

Robert Brown Oh, yay, I'm gonna watch it and check for sure!

Yeah you can get carpel tunnel in your wrists if you are not careful. Never draw with your wrist resting on the edge of the desk. Conditions can be anything from a sheet of plywood on sawhorses, to a nice air-conditioned office. Regarding hours, things have changed a bit since I put this episode up. Companies 'try' to keep the hour reasonable (due to several lawsuits) , but do you still end up going home after a day of work and need to work on your own projects. I think pay can range from 35k to 200k a year. 200k would be the very tip-top film artists 35 being an intern. I don't know the average, maybe 70-90k a year?

Ok thanks!!

GamesAreAwesome Hey no problem!

Hi Daniel! In a practical sense you would need to be able to draw fairly solidly. So work on that first if you don't have that already. Then I would look for angles in your Design career that match things in a concept career and I would apply to positions specific to those talents. So if you are an architect, try to find work concepting designing cool structures.

I am an architect, i love cityscapes. Thanks for the advise.Best regards.

+Daniel Pedrosa Also, (if you didn't know already) use different images to add texture to your drawings, it certainly helps a lot

Thanks Ariana i will try to insert more texture, i've been trying to make them by painting. :)

bob mckoy about the philosophy with other you will work it keep on!!

bob mckoy Cheers!

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

I agree with you, that is why I say it takes a lot of work. I do think that the workload is not often talked about though.

I love this question. I have seen both persevere, and both fail. In time, the gap between 'more' and 'less' talented people gets smaller, 'if' the less talented person accepts the fact they need to do the work to get more talented and they do not give up. A more talented person (and I have seen it in person) can fall behind 'if' they think they already know how to do everything. In the end, the very best quality artists I know, are gifted with better than average talent and better than average ability to seek more skill. They also pair this ability with patience and willingness to prioritize quality over quantity. Worth noting, they are all easy going and very cool people who get along great with everyone in a studio situation.

Robert Brown alright. Cool. Good answer XD

lol, you got this!

Rob Brown Been drawing since I was a kid. Had an opportunity to work with a gentlemen that did concept art for props. Just loved the whole idea of bringing someone's vision to life sort or speak. It just did not pay the bills, lol.

This was up when I only planned for an audio show. Now I just do video 👍.

haha, we do have a weird speaking tempo..

Bahahah! .. you know I can't listen to this one myself because I can feel myself searching to many times for what I want to say.

+Mario Cortez I definitely see your point, and thanks for commenting. I don't want to discourage people, but I do want them to know it is a very hard path, and you need to love it for more than money, in order to succeed. Many sources make it sound easy to get into. I don't sell anything, do workshops, or make money off the burgeoning concept art community, perhaps that is why.

if a person is discouraged by this, then really its better of searching what they really want to do no matter what.