Concept Art Styles & ideas

There are many styles and types of concept art required for video games, films, and animations. This article explains some style approaches to concept art as well as the main categories of concept art that you can create in painting apps like Clip Studio Paint. Although concept art is not material used in the final product, it is the foundation for the next steps of the creative team’s production.

There are two main style approaches to concept art: realistic or simplified. Realistic concept art typically follows realistic proportions and physical rules. This style may be more suitable for film or game design where the concept art will serve as the base for creating physical sets or 3D models.

Stylized concept art allows you to be more free with the expression and mood of the concept. This may be more suitable for cases where the end product is also stylized, such as character and background design for games and animations.

However, remember that the art style is less important than the idea being conveyed. Your rendering and visual communication should be clear in order to express the idea to the next artist, modeler, or designer who will work from your concept art. The more clearly you can convey your design on a single sheet, the less friction there will be between the concept and the creation stages.

To improve your visual language skills, study lighting and composition to ensure your artworks read clearly, particularly on more complex artworks such as environmental paintings. Drawing the same object, character, or setting from multiple angles will also help clarify the concept.

In the next sections, learn tips for the different types of concept art, from character design to prop design.

Character Concept Art
Environment Concept Art
Weapon and Prop Design
Mech/vehicle concept design

In video games and films, characters are an important element as the vessel that carries the story. Concept art for character design is typically based on ideas and direction from the director or scriptwriter, such as the character’s backstory and personality, important objects, and a broad description of their appearance. As a concept artist, you will work closely with the rest of the team to put the idea of the character to a visual design.

Initial sketches

Based on the provided character description, start by drawing several interpretations with different silhouettes, outfits and hairstyles. Make sure the initial designs aren't too similar to each other and think outside the box. At this early stage, there is no need to focus on the details, but make sure the character concept is expressed in the silhouette. You or your team will pick a sketch or combine elements of different thumbnails into one character design to refine.

Character sheet

Once the character design is decided, draw a character sheet that shows the character and their outfit from multiple angles. This is needed because the character or character model will be seen from many angles when it is animated, rendered as a 3D model, or brought to live-action filming. The character sheet can also include typical expressions and close-ups of any recurring motifs such as tattoos or accessories.

If the character has multiple outfit variations, draw references for both versions. For example, if the character has outerwear, draw variations with and without it to show the clothing layer underneath.

Background characters

Concept art for characters includes not only the main characters, but also supporting cast and background characters. You should think about how the cast of characters fit together, having enough cohesion to belong to the same setting, but visually distinct. For large casts of background characters such as villagers or townspeople in a movie or video game, you may need to create many variations on a similar design so that they are uniform in concept while having slightly different appearances.

Environment concept artworks are visual renditions of the landscapes and settings for films, video games, and animations.

Drafting

For environmental art, start out with thumbnail sketches depending on the setting you are creating. For some types of concept art, accurately conveying the mood for a project is most important, while for others, practical details are the priority. At this stage, it is more important to create a clear idea than a perfect finished artwork. Initial sketches will be in greyscale, with clearly defined foreground, midground, and background.

To begin with, it can help to design prominent landmarks such as focal buildings. For smaller settings such as a town square or a room, think of the floor plan and how the characters will interact with the space. The setting should match the characteristics of the story, while also feeling like a real place where the characters can exist.

3D models

If your concept setting involves buildings or other complex structures, you may prefer to create rough 3D mockups first. In painting software like Clip Studio Paint, you can import your 3D model and view it at multiple angles before painting the complete concept artwork. If you aren’t familiar with 3D modeling tools, you can use primitive models for cylinders, cubes and planes to arrange a simple composition directly in Clip Studio Paint. Using 3D models can make it easier to visualize the space and identify any problems in the initial stages.

Colors and finishing

Colors are crucial to effective concept art, as the color scheme can completely change the atmosphere of the setting. As well as local colors for each object, think of the lighting and weather too. Using tools like color adjustment or gradient maps in tools like Clip Studio Paint, create several variations. Even if you have a strong initial vision for the color scheme, an unexpected version may end up being the right choice.

The role of weapon and prop design is to visualize objects that characters or players interact with, including important accessories, items, weapons, and tools in video games, animation, and films. Prop design includes solving technical challenges to create realistic and immersive props. While game and animation can push the bounds of physics and realism, when designing for live-action film, the prop also needs to be viable as a physical object.

Sketching

It is essential for prop design to reflect functionality as well as connection to the story characters and setting. For the initial sketches, you can take inspiration from real-life objects or from nature, focusing first on the silhouette and primary shapes. You should consider what the prop is made of, its form and function, and how the character will interact with it

3D rendition

At the concept art stage, you do not need to create a fully rendered 3D model, but it can still be helpful to make a simple rendition out of cubes, cylinders, and pyramids. You can use apps like Clip Studio Paint to build a 3D mockup and paint on the wireframe to add details.

Finishing

For the completed prop concept design, add details such as textures or variations on the prop, making sure to clarify any questions that might arise when the next team works from your concept images. It can be helpful to add a character for scale on the model sheet.

Vehicle concept designers visualize ideas for cars, airplanes, ships, and so on. It is important to have a design that doesn’t just look cool. For example, the vehicle must be sturdy if it is to navigate rough seas or rugged mountain roads, and it should be streamlined enough to withstand the atmosphere if speed is a priority.

Sketches

For reference, learn from the history of real vehicles such as cars, submarines, and space ships. There may also be a designated shape language in the concept already, such as requiring rounded or angular designs for a particular group of characters. Sketch out ideas that match the art director’s vision, using actual vehicles or objects in nature as inspiration.

Function and texture

While refining the design, keep thinking about how each element serves the function. For example, the thickness of the material, locations of fuel tanks or engines, or any other necessary functions. You can add the material textures at this stage. Clip Studio Assets has a wide variety of metallic and wooden textures suitable for vehicle or machine design.

Final artwork

.Once the design is finalized, create a model sheet to show the vehicle from several angles. It’s also good to paint an artwork showing the vehicle in its intended setting based on the environmental concept art. In this artwork, include characters for scale, as well as any other details to help integrate it with the environment.