Can it become reality? (move me if needed, I wasn't sure about the right section)

[Lior Schiller]

The dream is to become a concept artist.

Since no one in my country even know what a concept artist is, I would love if someone could explain how it works.

Can it actually be a goal? People are making a living just from being a concept artist?
Concept artist means technique + imagination?
Do you need to know 3D modeling for being a concept artist?
Who will be a concept artist, the one at the fine arts major, illustration major or game design major?
Is there any freelance opportunities? Working overseas possibilities? It's common?


Thank you in advance.

[thesinfulsaint]

Hi Tipa! Yes, there are people who make a living solely as being concept artists. Concept artists are responsible for developing the feel of game/film that they are working on. They do character design, environment design, and prop design. It is extremely helpful to have a background in 3D modeling to become a concept artist; know both Maya and ZBrush, if possible. Most of the time, someone who wishes to become a concept artist majors in illustration. Fine Arts is...not what you want. Game Design, depending on the school, tends to lean more toward 3D work. I believe that there are freelance opportunities depending on the studio you wish to work for.

I clicked on your blog, and saw that you were from Israel. I go to animation school in Florida, and I have a couple of friends at school who are Israeli. So yes, working overseas is very possible. I hear tell that there is a bit of an animation/concept art market in Israel, too. I believe there's a small studio in Tel Aviv..?

[Peter Coene]

The dream is to become a concept artist.

Since no one in my country even know what a concept artist is, I would love if someone could explain how it works.

Can it actually be a goal? People are making a living just from being a concept artist?
Concept artist means technique + imagination?
Do you need to know 3D modeling for being a concept artist?
Who will be a concept artist, the one at the fine arts major, illustration major or game design major?
Is there any freelance opportunities? Working overseas possibilities? It's common?


Thank you in advance.
Actually, I saw some postings for conceptart related jobs in Israel on creativeheads.net

[corky13]

Can it actually be a goal? People are making a living just from being a concept artist?
Concept artist means technique + imagination?
Do you need to know 3D modeling for being a concept artist?
Who will be a concept artist, the one at the fine arts major, illustration major or game design major?
Is there any freelance opportunities? Working overseas possibilities? It's common?

1. Yes

2. Yes

3. No (but wouldn`t be bad if you could use 3d progs)

4. The one with the better portfolio

5. Working in a foreign country becomes more and more common. And there is also the mighty internet ^^

[Farvus]

:up:
What corky13 said.

[M.C.Barrett]

You're taking a good first step. These are exactly the questions I asked before I made up my mind to pursue my goal, and I asked working artists. If you want to be a concept artist working in the game industry, it would serve you well to have some understanding of and appreciation for product design, advertising design, cinematography, architecture, anatomy (not just people!), and anything else that is remotely applicable to building imaginary worlds, making them fun, and most importantly, selling the game. Your portfolio will get you further than any degree. That's not to say education isn't necessary- you need it to develop crucial doodling skills that will be invaluable to not looking completely useless in design/story meetings.
The surest way to succeed is to figure out what it really is you love to create, and develop that with the intention of bringing yourself to market as a highly desirable resource. Don't force yourself to specialize in something you don't really enjoy. If you don't love working in 3D, then you're probably not going to put much love into your 3D work, and that always shows. If you choose to pursue a degree, then choose your degree plan based on how the skills you would learn in those classes will help you better create what you love to create. The degree itself is meaningless.

[Lior Schiller]

Thank you all for your answers.

3D really isn't my thing.

There are only two serious art school in Israel (for my opinion). One of them have only Fine Arts degree (which is not actually a degree, but I guess it doesn't really matter), the other one have fine art, animation and graphic design- with illustration specialty from the third year. I think it's a bit of a waste to study two years something that doesn't interest me at all for the third and forth year illustration. If I want to study illustration, I need to study overseas, but I can't see that happening financially.
So, the thesinfulsaint, I would like you to contact me to those Israeli classmates if you don't mind and they don't mind.

There is a little gaming market for my knowledge, but they don't have any results, so I don't really know how it works.

I planned to start fine arts in three months, but maybe it's a mistake? I thought that the techniques are the same even if the expected results aren't the same. So if I'll be in a illustration mind, it'll be good enough.

What do you say?

[JustinBeckett]

Here is a good place to start:

http://www.conceptart.org/wiki/doku.php

~JB