Can We Learn to be A Concept Artist?

[darth massacre]

I dunno if its a valid topic for discussion. I've seen a lot of threads being started by high schoolers who are contemplating their future. Most of them ask something like:

"Which school is the best to for concept art?"

I dunno, can concept art be taught? Or issit a small part of the entire process that artists have to go through? I mean, since when did the pre production conceptualisation process in an animation/movie become an entire art course itself?

Maybe I'm a little behind time on this, but if anyone has views to share, please do.

[Daunting]

I was planning on starting an editorial or blog about concept art. Can never find much objective or subjective content on it. Even though 2d illustration is gaining popularity it still isn't talked about much. But I feel that the technical aspects of drawing and painting and learning different histories and cultures and futuristic concepts and different things can be taught. But putting them all together into your own unique concept is something that can never be taught.

[Molly]

I dunno if its a valid topic for discussion. I've seen a lot of threads being started by high schoolers who are contemplating their future. Most of them ask something like:
"Which school is the best to for concept art?"
I dunno, can concept art be taught? Or issit a small part of the entire process that artists have to go through? I mean, since when did the pre production conceptualisation process in an animation/movie become an entire art course itself?
Maybe I'm a little behind time on this, but if anyone has views to share, please do.

You know, to some degree, i dont think concept art can be taught in a class room. I believe there can be progresses towards it, but alot would have to come from the individual.
When I started college, all I knew is I wanted to do something related to art. Maybe something in comics,or magazine design - whatever. At the time, I had no idea that conceptual art existed.
Once I joined ca.org forums tho, my views changed, I thought yeah, maybe conceptual art is where i wanna go. I thought this for a while, (like the high schoolers) and looked round for a course in 'concept design' when i couldnt find one, I was stumped.
Now, i think otherwise and my direction has changed and become more realistic. I am an illustrator atm, and plan to stay doing this for a while, slowly work my way over to books and editorial mags - then hopefully through to concept art. Also, the workshops have helped me with my decisions. Watching the pros work, listening to them talk; their experiences..
My views changed when I saw the amount of hard work needed to be a concept artist. Your skills must be high, and your imagination must be broad - but knowledgeable. It takes a lot to remember things in your own head, and channel that back out to make a unique character.
If there is a course in concept design, I'd bloody well attend. What I miss most is artists banter about some fucked up alien creature you thought of who wants to suck your brains out, then going and drawing it!


Molly

[Sinix]

It can be taught as much as any other form of art can. You're given guides, examples, tips.. but it's always something you haveto develop. You might be given ideas on how to build your visual library.. but you still have to build it yourself. Schools are mainly there for discipline and inspiration.. they make you do something. They'll make you do concept art and you'll get better at it. What's the difference between being taught something and being forced to learn something?

In general though... if someone want's a school that is good for concept art, they need a school that is good for drawing.

Conceptart.org is the only school I've personally needed... damn, I didn't even want to be or have an interest in concept art when I stumbled in, must be a really good school.

[darth massacre]

In general though... if someone want's a school that is good for concept art, they need a school that is good for drawing.
This is close to what I am thinking. I feel conceptual artwork/design isn't easy to teach. You can be shown methods to research and be creative, but in the end it depends on an individual to learn more from current technologies or biological references, then put 2 and 2 together and come up with something cool and visually exciting while looking logical. I seriously don't think that can be taught but the experience can be shared to open a window for budding concept artists.

And one of my friends who used to work with me as a concept artist too said....anyone can have good concepts....but in order to communicate those concepts well, you gotta first learn how to draw.

[klinesmoker]

I'd toss my two cents for "can be taught, motivation not." If someone refuses to see the problems with there work, then no, it cannot be taught. I've never once been in an art class that taught anything more than typical grade school still-lifes. I taught myself, and ended up here. Since I've been here, my art has come a loooong ways, thus showing that it can be taught. That process, however, was only facilitated by my motivation.
Art school? If you think it will help, go for it. Learn to draw as much as you can. I, however, am of the school that you can learn just as much from drawing peeps at a local venue as you can drawing models in a classroom. it's your call.

[evildisco]

First as the question is posed, yes you can learn but that does not mean you can be a blank slate and learn all the knacks of it, otherwise, if everyone could become fully fledged commercial and achieve excellence, the entertainment industry would be a shitty and boring place to be.
Even though talent plays a very small role in an artist's path, the lack of it impedes any real progress, you can learn up to a degree but not all the way.

[Fipse]

I personally think that conceptart in its stricter sense cannot be learned simply by school. The schools, colleges wahtever can help you getting the craft right and maybe show some ways to develop ideas but I htink to develop a sense for general knowledge that goes further is very important. I´ve seen many designs here and on other sites that aren´t convincing to me because they are lacking knowledge in many areas.

I think it´s important to get beside the knowledge about colours, light, how to mix oilpaints a general knowledge about some history, biology, physics, geology and other sciences can help immensely to design. I´ßm not taliking about the drawing and painting part - I think it´s nice to do good portraits from life or other things - but to develop conceptart as a communication tool there has to be a bit more.

Fipse

[Brutillus]

although I speak from no experience, I would have to agree with others in this thread who have said that you can be taught the technical skills and pointed in the right direction, but you must learn how to combine design and creativity on your own. I thing I think is really essential, as do others here, is knowledge. it seems to me that the great thing about this area is that knowledge of almost any subject is relevant and applicable.

[insane visions]

:) :bashful:

[Sammy]

Telling a Concept Artist that they didn't need to go to school, or that all they need to do is draw well ....... Is a bit like telling a paleontologist that he didn't need to study Geology or Biology, that all he needs to do is dig bones out of the ground with effeciency.

Conceptual Art isn't art, it is design (in the context of a production) --- and design is a dicipline that needs to be refined.
You will need the techniques and skills of an artist to communicate those designs, but they are strictly for production values.
You will also need the disciplines of a designer, communicator, and the awareness of an audience/demographic.

Drawing nicely and making 'purty' pictures was about 15% of my personal education ... I mostly learned what other artistic techniques I do on my own time.
the other 85% was pure design - That's at least what I wanted, and what I feel helped me out the most.

[JoshuaTheJames]

Telling a Concept Artist that they didn't need to go to school, or that all they need to do is draw well ....... Is a bit like telling a paleontologist that he didn't need to study Geology or Biology, that all he needs to do is dig bones out of the ground with effeciency.




Hahahha...

[Feng]

Well said Sammy.

A lot of younger students i've taught, or people not from our industry, don't understand the notion of "concept art."

clients are paying for your design skills; to come up with something new and fresh. The drawing you are doing is merely a way for the client to understand what's going on in your mind. The better artist you are, the clearer your ideas will come across to the client. You are a designer first, artist second. To put it simply:

pure illustration (as in gallery art, or book covers, etc) = profit if made from the art itself. If the art is thrown away, so is the value. The artwork IS the end product.

pure concept art = money is made from the product, generated by the designer via sketches. Once the product is made, the original sketch could be put into the trash, it has no value (at least to the manufacture). The artwork is NOT the final product.

of course there is always a cross over between the two....but we won't go into that right now.

anyways, back on topic here: a concept artist need to have a vast image database in his/her brain. Schools can help you acquire this, but it also depends on the individual. A lot of my peers grew up the exact same way as me. We all loved to draw as kids; we all loved Star Wars/Aliens/Bladerunner etc movies. We all played video games or collected toys. We all built model-kits, Etc.. all those things we came in contact as kids fed our brain's visual libary, and taught us about how forms and shapes combine.

Art schools teach you mostly techniques. It is up to the individual to use those learned techniques to pull the images out of their head. The bigger the visual libary, the more creative the artist is likely to be.

If you work in the entertainment industy, having a vast art and movie visual libary in your head is issential. I can recall almost any shot from all the Sci-fi films, or any painting by Berkely, Mead, McQuarrie, etc. If an art director tells you to design something that feels like the octagonal blue room from Mead's painting, you better know which one he's talking about.

But to answer the question: Yes, school will definitely help....but not in a direct way. When you attend school, you will be surrounded by fellow students with similar interests. This "friendly compitition" will force you to study hard, learn from others, gain knowledge about things you weren't previously interested in.

As an instructor, one of the hardest thing to teach is design. How do you explain to students on what is "cool" or "looks right?" Very difficult. There are formulas and such you can cover, but in my experience, it all comes down to the student's internal visual libary. I can always tell which students has good design skills. Just look at their roughs or thumbnails - is the student trying to solve design problems? is he/she exploring different shapes and using new ideas? Or are they mearly sketching existing designs or copying others.

I remember taking a class w/ Scott R while in school. He gave out an assigment to design a pencil sharpener. Most of the students drew Bart Simpson, or Barbie, or a sports car, and just put a hole on the top. However, a small number of them actually designed something using new shapes and forms. Those are the ones who will become concept artists.


hope this helps.

-feng

[darth massacre]

THANK YOU SAMMY AND FENG!!!!
(Looks up in the sky and breathes relief).

That's what I felt too. I don't believe there's any program that teach what we call concept art. Though it may run close due to similar interests between classmates (sharing of information) or due to the nature of your professor's work experience....School is where we get exposed to it but we're not taught the actual concept art process itself but the skills needed to execute conceptual artwork.