Concept Art for Animation: Designing Magical Environments

Concept Art for Animation: Designing Magical Environments

“And that's all! Thank you again for joining me; I hope you'll find all this new information helpful in your way to develop your final project (and all the ones to come!) Before saying goodbye, I'd like to do a quick summary of all the main steps I showed you. First of all, you need to develop an idea you want to explore. Write down your thoughts to identify your needs: what do you want to design? What is the story behind this object? How was it built? What impression does it need to create for the audience? etc. Then, start brainstorming keywords that will help you with your research. Look for logic associations to search from a different perspective, and look for feelings that might add emotional aspects to your design!

Go for research! Feed your brain with information until you feel that you have enough (for now) to start drawing. Organise your references most straightforwardly, so your thoughts are organised as well. Be selective with your references; use only those that awaken feelings, ideas in your mind. Then analyse what you have: what makes your object unique? What unites all these references, what specific details and features do you need to capture to develop a believable design? When you are ready to create, it's time to sketch your thoughts! Although it's a visual thinking process, it is supposed to be fun, messy, free of prejudice. Explore ideas until you find a couple of possible solutions for your design assignment. Try to stick to simplicity: one idea for one sketch. Analyse what you have now. Check with the references to ensure you haven't lost any important information. Now think about what you like and what might work. Combine those things in "Frankenstein" monster design! Once you establish your big idea, it's time to work on adding context. To sell the idea, add local colours to your sketch according to your references. And then add some background elements for the context. Don't be too detailed; this is not supposed to be a pretty final illustration but a concept, an idea, and it still should stay rough. Finally, breathe life into your design stage, the light on top of your local colours. Add some atmosphere and final touches to sell your design concept! Remember to participate in the class forum; I'll be there to guide you as much as possible but don't hesitate to engage with your peers; conversation is a great spark for new ideas. See you soon!”

Partial transcription of the video

“ Final Project Hi, again, and thank you for getting to the end of this course. It was a pleasure to be your teacher and share my passion with you. Now, it's your turn to create concept designs for your fantasy world. Please be creative, share your thoughts and projects with me in the Forum. Let's have a quick review of the course, so that you can start working on your own ideas right now. First of all, do your research. It's important to organize your thoughts and images at this stage of the process. The clearer the idea is in your head, the easier it is to visualize it. Then, to generate ...”

This transcript is automatically generated, so it may contain mistakes.

Course summary for: Concept Art for Animation: Designing Magical Environments

• Level: Beginner
• 100% positive reviews (70)
• 2617 students
• 5 units
• 25 lessons (5h 29m)
• 11 downloads

• Category

  3D & Animation, Illustration

• Software

  Adobe Photoshop

• Areas

  Concept Art, Digital Illustration, Digital Painting, Traditional illustration