Hey, i was sure where to post this thread, but here goes.... Me and a friend of mine are currently designing a game. There is one problem though: we dont have any concept art... all we have is crappy little scraps of paper with rough diagrams on them. Basically i would like know if there are any good tutorials on the net that show you how to layout, and draw game concept art. Thanks for your help :D

Can't say I've seen many. But if you've got an OK design doc, this doesn't hurt (as much). I sketch my own concept art too, and it only counts when designing levels and 3D models, IMO.

I don't really think concept art deserves a tutorial... mostly because it is not that different from normal drawing. However, tips and tricks for better concept drawing would be nice.

What I would say is.. for your concept art, draw all the things that the player is supposed to see. But focus on making them fast rather than good, don't color them.. just add notes to the drawings here and there about colors, poses, details.. it's like drawing your ideas.

You might just want to look on the net for some concept art to see what others do with their concept drawing.

My developr journal has some entriesdealing with concept art, but you have to be an artist to start with. I would suggest you team up with one.

I draw screenshots of what I expect the game to look like. This is especially useful for visualizing the interface, since it's the first and most important thing players will use (and thus the biggest factor in the "game breaker" department). Sometimes I'll do character, building, or level design --- like zarthrag says, it's great for visualizing these things before you start working, and you really shouldn't start working until you have a solid image of what you want --- but I also use it for diagramming. In the end, drawings account for at least 30 percent of my design document.

Concept art doesn't have to look poor, but you'll probably do some rough drafts before you're satisfied enough to make a final, polished version of anything. The importance is to get your ideas on paper as quickly as possible, so you don't forget them, and also because it's easier to analyze them visually. It also allows other people to see your vision in a way that words cannot describe.

Hold onto those scraps. You'll eventually come back to them, maybe even several months from now, and you'll be glad you saved them. I've got notebooks from early '98 that I still browse periodically for "new" ideas.

If you look around on the web, there are plenty of tutorials which relate to concept art. The main difference is that concept art doesn´t simply depict, it has to describe. That usually means that the concept drawings should be as rich in information as possible. If you draw characters, make sure you choose views that let the modellers get as many details as possible from it..
Don´t worry too much about quality, if the two of you know what´s meant by a sketch then it serves its purpose.

here´s a few random links to give you ideas:

www.conceptart.org
http://www.gfxartist.com/features/tutorials
http://www.3d-palace.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=26088

Hi There,

If you are looking for concept art tutorials then you can find those in couple of places. First of all, and everyone should know this one is www.3dbuzz.com. Buzz does not only do concept art tutorials but generally all sort of them on different topics. These are Free.

Another place where you can get some TOP quality tutorials is http://www.thegnomonworkshop.com/ . These guys are the high prists of video tutorials. I have seen one of their concept art tutorials and the guy shows you some amazing stuff. Unfortunatly it might be a bit to high level for most.

Still check it out if you can.

Hope this helps

Dan