Accept you ever wondered how video games come to accept such stunning landscapes, realistic characters and convincing settings? It takes a village to make the masterpieces we play today. I of the nigh important jobs in developing those masterpieces is the concept creative person. Concept artists substantially pave the mode for the game nosotros meet today.

The concept art behind a game normally drives the artistic style of a game. Such unique and notable examples equally Okami and Shadow of the Colossus owe their artistic excellence to the careful work of skilful concept artists. If you lot're not familiar with the glorious work that is concept art, here'south an introduction to the diverse online resources at your disposal.

What Is Concept Fine art?

Video game concept fine art offers insight into the nature of a video game's artistic direction. Concept fine art is an of import, although undervalued, aspect of gaming. The landscape and character concept fine art of today becomes the in-game content of tomorrow. The very all-time concept art often results in the best, and most immersive, games.

For the casual gamers, video game concept fine art provides fun wallpaper choices and an interesting await into a game'south artistic style. For the hardcore gamer, still, concept art provides insight into the artistic and graphical calibration of a game. It as well narrows the envisioned play styles, game mechanics, and genre of a game into a conceivable product.

There are many types of concept art, ranging from mural to grapheme art. Some websites focus on grapheme art and weapon design, while others while focus on the interior pattern of buildings. The splendid resources beneath have no detail artistic focus, but will provide you with plenty images to have y'all ogling for days.

ArtStation

ArtStation is a great resources for gaming concept fine art, and is used by some of the greatest concept artists in the globe. The pick library is staggering, and heavily game-oriented. ArtStation put a lot of effort in gathering the all-time quality works available online.

Renowned artists also employ ArtStation to display various official works. The list is vast, and includes members like Ben Lo, concept artist for BioWare and one of the leading concept artists for the stunning Bioshock Infinite.

Bioshock Infinite Screenshot

John Sweeney and Eytan Zana, both environmental concept artists for the video game company Naughty Dog, also provide incredible concept art for such games as Uncharted and The Last of Us.

The Last of Us Screenshot

ArtStation's use doesn't stop at providing excellent graphic resources for fans and artists akin. It also provides a magazines characteristic dedicated to reporting advances in digital fine art and design. ArtStation Magazine'southward content provides resource similar guides, tutorials, artist profiles, and news.

ArtStation Website Articles Screenshot
ArtStation Website Job Listings Screenshot

They also provide task leads for artists and graphic designers, making ArtStation a useful resource for both artists and fans.

Concept Art Globe

Concept Art Earth follows the trend of all-around concept fine art news and data. Along with providing training and inspiration, Concept Fine art World's news category as well provides a great resource for concept fine art surrounding recent games and movies.

These are some examples of what a quick tour through Concept Art World has to offering. Here's an example of Halo v: Guardians weapon concept art by creative person Sam Brownish.

Halo 5 Guardians Weapon Concept Art Example

Here's a character concept slice from Assassin's Creed Syndicate: Jack the Ripper (DLC) by artist Morgan Yon.

Assassins Creed Syndicate DLC Screenshot

Concept Art World is best used every bit a source of concept art news rather than an accessible library. Nonetheless, the quality of official piece of work nowadays on Concept Art World is stunning.

DeviantArt

DeviantArt is possibly the near popular creative work platform, used by beginner artists and experts alike. Professional gaming concept artists use DeviantArt ofttimes to display and preserve their work. Artists like Kienan Lafferty and Alex Flores are some notable examples. If you aren't familiar with their names, you lot're surely familiar with their work on League of Legends.

League of Legends Concept Art

Here's another piece on DeviantArt by Blizzard artist Luke Mancini, who has worked on the Starcraft series as well as Heroes of the Storm.

Starcraft Concept Art

Artistic Uncut

The previous resource are best used for finding concept artists. Creative Uncut is amend suited for finding concept art based on game categories. Although the library is somewhat limited compared to other websites, there's no question that they are high quality works. Hither an example of what you can find on Creative Uncut, from the popular Metal Gear Solid 5.

Metal Gear Solid Concept Art

In a consummate turn of visual way, hither's an instance from Creative Uncut'southward section devoted to Overwatch.

Overwatch Anubis Concept Art

Video Games Artwork

Video Games Artwork provides just what its name suggests: High quality video game artwork. It'due south a resources similar to CreativeUncut, wherein users are able to find images based on video game titles. Again, the library is limited, only they practice provide several pages of graphics for most supported games.

Hither's an example of a graphic symbol portrait from their Tomb Raider (2013) category.

Tomb Raider Concept Art

Here's a weapon sketch by the legendary Bethesda concept artist Adam Adamowicz for the popular game Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim, also nowadays on Video Game Artwork.

Skyrim Weapon Concept Art

PlayOverwatch

PlayOverwatch.com, the official website of the popular game Overwatch, is a brilliant example of how game developers can present concept art to fans. For one, PlayOverwatch provides fans with several impressive comics ranging in character use and discipline matter. The instance below comes from McCree's comic Train Hopper.

McCree Comic Train Hopper Art

If that's non enough, they also provide high quality concept fine art for every playable character. PlayOverwatch even goes a step further, providing reference kits for every character detailing character designs, color swatches, closeup details, and more. Below is a page out of Lucio's reference kit.

Lucio Reference Kit Concept Art

Kotaku

Kotaku is best known for their gaming content, merely they likewise showcase the creative work behind many popular games as well. Their Fine Art section is best divers in their own words:

Fine art is a commemoration of the piece of work of video game artists, showcasing the best of both their professional person and personal portfolios.

If a new game is coming out, y'all tin can exist sure that Kotaku volition display its concept art. Here's an example of the stunning concept art they recently released for Witcher 3.

Witcher 3 Concept Art

The Modernistic Art of Modernistic Gaming

Games don't become beautiful overnight. Concept artists dedicate their time to creating the video game worlds players enjoy before the world has been built. Their designs are the backbone of the characters we've become and so addicted of today.

Concept fine art isn't just a loose composition of sketches and creative pieces. It's the template upon which in-game worlds are created. Even if you've never bothered perusing a game's concept art before, browsing these sites will definitely requite you a glimpse of the masterpieces behind your favorite video games.

Are you a fan of gaming concept fine art? Which game's concept art impresses you the most? Let us know in the comments below!

Image Credits: Victor Maury, Ben Lo, John Sweeney, Eytan Zana via ArtStation, Sam Brown, Morgan Yon via Concept Art Earth, Kienan Lafferty, Luke Mancini via DeviantArt, Metallic Gear Solid V, Overwatch via Creative Uncut, Tomb Raider (2013), Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim via Video Games Artwork, Train Hopper, Lucio Reference via PlayOverwatch, Witcher 3 via Kotaku

How to Install the Nothing Launcher on Any Android Phone

Read Next

About The Author