The videogames business has become one
of the biggest industries around, not just by
the sheer volume of cash it rakes in, but also
by the amount of people it employs, which
in the last 30 years has grown exponentially.
Advancements in technology have allowed
game worlds to become larger with a higher
fidelity of detail, which means that the need
for concept artists is at all-time high.
That means greater specialisation too.
Where once a concept artist would have
been a jack-of-all-trades, drawing whatever
was required, now one may be solely
responsible for creating weapon designs,
or environments, or character and monster
designs. But despite such a broadening of
the field, with so many roles up for grabs, it’s
still a hugely competitive field.
All in the mind
To put it simply, concept artists are people
with vivid imaginations responsible for
designing the visual side of a project. The
majority of a concept artist’s time is spent,
as you’d expect, generating images. This is
usually done as a 2D piece that’s hand-drawn,
painted or created in Photoshop. But it’s never
just a case that the art is completed and the
team moves on – there are always several
rounds of feedback from the initial sketch all
the way to the final photoreal illustrations.
This is done all the while respecting the art
director’s overall vision. They also offer artistic
1 The Witcher 3
2 Halo: Reach
3 From Jessica
Cheng’s
personal
portfolio
4 Assassin’s
Creed: Odyssey
5 Halo 5:
Guardiansguidance to the wider team on the game’s
assets and features. “Considering the broad
range of themes, subjects and responsibilities
that our profession may involve, I’d say a
typical day for a concept artist just doesn’t
exist,” says The Witcher 3’s senior concept
artist, Jan Marek. “One day may be all
about designing a specific non-playable
character, another will be about tweaking a
sword sheath design, and another still – a
nightmarish monster.”
A lot of their work also involves research.
“A good concept artist should always analyse
and understand what they’re designing
before starting to work on it,” says Gwent
art director, Katarzyna Redesiuk. “That way,
they’re able to achieve the most believable
and in-depth designs.”2
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