Need help learning to draw concept art !

botelhorui

<div class="IPBDescription">creating something new, but first on paper...</div>Hello,


I'm trying to create a map in spark, that is complex for a begginer like me, but I cant because altough i know what the final product is, I cant manage to formulate/think-of/know exactly/ all the forms/edges/angles/lightning/shadows/props/textures/(etc) that i should use then I simply can't start working on them.

So I tough, what about drawing all the ideas on paper before doing any mapping, but after some tries at drawing, i found it very difficult to develop complex objects. Thus I started looking for some inspiration/ideas/concepts around movies/games with space ships(...) themes, but no results on that...

As a result I ask someone tips for drawing concept art so i can easily "spark"(map on spark) my ideas.

One nice example from the NS2 Wiki site, is this concept art image;

<img src="http://www.unknownworlds.com/ns2/wiki/images/2/23/ModularMachinery_Environment.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />

TychoCelchuuu

Like 3 threads down buddy:

<a href="http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=108310" target="_blank">http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/index....howtopic=108310</a>

Evil_bOb1

If you can't draw it, you don't have the vision of the final product.

You have to make loads and loads of drawings of your idea. Each picture you do will make you think about new stuff and will refine your ideas.


Practice, practice, practice and more practice.

-Diesel-

If you are asking how to draw.... take some art classes.

Loey

start with a basic undetailed outline from a side view. dont bother trying to make that whole room in 1 go, practice and develop your skills by making parts of it. later on you can join them all together if you are happy with them.

Daworm

<a href="http://conceptart.org" target="_blank">http://conceptart.org</a> is a good place to talk about concept art and how to go about it.
They have online workshops from time to time.

Chris0132

Drawing's only one way to do it, it has the advantage of being doable anywhere you have pen and paper, but the disadvantage is you then need to convert it into the engine and unless you know a lot of modelling techniques and draw it with them in mind, you are probably going to have to strip a lot of stuff out.

On the other hand, you can concept in-engine, and this has the advantages of being perfectly accurate, doable without the physical training you need to be a good draftsman, boosting your skills with the package, and complimenting your ability to work from drawings if you do have them.

Personally I don't draw anything, haven't the coordination and don't see the point, I do everything in engine, if it doesn't work I do it again. Eventually I'll be so good at it that I can do it like lightning and I'll be able to pick up any 3d package and churn out good stuff quickly.

It's easy to work from good concept art and you do need it to make the game in the first place, but once you have some art you can make levels out of it without drawing.

doeseph

Unfortunately there are no "tips" that will make you magically draw concept art better. You could always do a boxing out of your level using cubes and rectangles.

Chris0132

<!--quoteo(post=1741842:date=Dec 1 2009, 04:33 AM:name=doeseph)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(doeseph @ Dec 1 2009, 04:33 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1741842"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Unfortunately there are no "tips" that will make you magically draw concept art better. You could always do a boxing out of your level using cubes and rectangles.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

Drawing is as much a physical skill as a mental one, even if you know what you want to draw, being able to do so requires physical practise, and some people like me are never likely to be any good at it, I've been writing for about fifteen years and I still can't read half of it and it takes me about a second per letter.

Crispy

You really don't need to be able to draw concept art to make good levels. Just begin with simple line drawings from a bird's eye perspective to get an idea for the general layout of your areas.

If you want to flesh out an idea for a physical object, just make some rough sketches from the top-down, front and side views. Try a 3D version if you want, but remember it doesn't have to be perfect. Most of the time these drawings are just to help you get more of an idea for exactly what it is you want. As long as you can see it in your mind's eye, with some editor practise you will be able to make it in Spark. Some people find it easier to go through this 'fleshing out' process in the editor itself.

Don't get too preoccupied with making pretty pictures unless you really want to learn to be a technical drawer.

doeseph

You can sit there and suggest he focuses on learning perspective and using plenty of photo reference, but none of that helps unless he takes the time to do it himself. You can't learn how to draw by reading.

moultano

If you're mapping it yourself, concept art doesn't have to be even basically competent. So long as you know what you are trying to express in your drawing, what it looks like doesn't matter. Here's some of my concept art from ns_shiva for ns1 with the final product next to it.
<img src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_VDbSvmyPAXo/RylpzdGXxqI/AAAAAAAAFE0/6Dt7U54P7Wg/s800/sketch_coolant.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />
<img src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_VDbSvmyPAXo/Rylp4NGXxrI/AAAAAAAAFFA/JA3A5Cbv-5o/s800/sketch_airlock.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />

Kouji_San

Hehe yeah I remember those, pretty cool to see them again... Anyway, I never really concept art and just wing it in the editor. Concepting stuff in the editor is kinda a hands on approach similar to sketching. What I do is just keep adding or removing stuff that looks either cool or totally whack, while texturing...

Chris0132

<!--quoteo(post=1741905:date=Dec 1 2009, 03:25 PM:name=doeseph)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(doeseph @ Dec 1 2009, 03:25 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1741905"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->I've spent the last three in a half years of my life dedicated to art. Studying anatomy, reading up on basic architecture, color theory, doing daily gesture drawings, speed drawings, and learning to understand form and composition have been just a few of the tasks required to get to where I'm at. I'm surrounded by other artists of various skill, some who took classes while others are self taught. Being able to draw is <i>very much</i> a skill that can be learned by anyone - but unlike most physical activities you can't simply tell someone how to draw, hell you can't even really show someone how to draw - they have to experience it for themselves. Books have been written which delve all the way into neuroscience to help explain the process of how the brain processes what it sees - because learning to draw requires you learn how to see.

I can sit here and suggest he focuses on learning perspective and using plenty of photo reference, but none of that helps unless he takes the time to do it himself. I'm just trying to say that you can't learn how to draw by reading.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

Which is exactly why I took up 3d work. 3d work is mostly mental, knowing how to do it is most important and you can learn that by reading or being taught, and I have a good capacity for learning things like that, I just can't move my hands properly to draw them.

The analytical skills are pretty important for both, if you're modelling an environment you need a basic understanding of engineering to make it look as though it would stand up, and you need to identify repeating elements in order to save texture and modelling space, and if you identify them first you can usually build the thing faster. Animators need to watch how people move (which does nothing for your social life by the way) in order to replicate natural motion on a rig.

Observation is certainly vital to good art in any medium.