So what is Concept Art?

[Zilant]

Sketched?
http://www.disneyfrontier.com/pirates_online/Shanty_Interior_2.jpg

Or Rendered?
http://www.canmag.com/images/front/movies2005b/wows28.jpg

With copious verbage?
http://animationarchive.net/Feature%20Films/The%20Lion%20King/Model%20Sheets/KMP-DVD1791.jpg

Or no words at all?
http://animationarchive.net/Classic%20Characters/Model%20Sheets/miceduck01-big.jpg

Sketched in multiple positions?
http://www.legionsofgotham.org/SUPERFRIENDSmodelsheetsWonderWoman.jpg

Or rendered in a single position?
http://us.movies1.yimg.com/movies.yahoo.com/images/hv/photo/movie_pix/walt_disney/pirates_of_the_caribbean__dead_man_s_chest/concept_crew3.jpg

Or Sketched in a single position?
http://www.rpgplanet.com/starwars/pics/swgcreaturejune.jpg

Full View in the void of white space?
http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20030910/OriginalJetConcept.jpg

Or with parts unseen with a complete background?
http://www.cgexplorer.com/_sys/images/speedy-dragon-concept-art.jpg

"T" position?
http://z.about.com/d/compactiongames/1/0/W/M/ageofempiresiiiconcept009.jpg

Or Dynamic character defining Pose?
http://cache.kotaku.com/assets/resources/2006/11/f2_artwork2_1024.jpg


Concept art seems to be such a broad catagory,
Ranging from sketches on a napkins (swear to god, I still have that gamepro article), to things I'd expect to find on a museum wall. How much of this is marketing? How much of it the practicality of a deadline?

What the heck does a Concept Designer actually turn in at the end of the day?

[Prometheus|ANJ]

Mmm... semantics? I guess Concept Art is... Art showing a Concept :O

However, when it comes to semantics, I really do prefer to not let things become too broad, because then the words we use lose their meaning and we talk past each other. Saying that Concept Art could be 'almost anything' renders the term pretty useless (even if it's true, since anything really could be Concept Art depending on the context of its presentation).

Generally, personally, when someone say Concept Art, I think of a subject (or subjects) without much background, maximized readability through use of a good pespective and lighting, and polished enough to just deliver the point. It might be posed, but not in way that obscures too much detail by overlapping. Concept Art to me is that first state of a design where it's still kinda floaty, then comes orthos and details start to settle in, then comes modelling or finished art with even more details.

But of course, clients have different requirements on the level of finish and such. Some take scribbles, others need glitter sprinkled surfaces to be able to appreciate the underlying scribble. In some cases you need to show a mood or something purposefully obscured, etc etc.

I think I've seen this thread before.

[Wasker]

Concept art is being able to visualize the vague ideas your client(s) have. Concept art is creativity. Concept art is a part of a process.

[Seedling]

Concept art is a form of illustration. It differs from other forms of illustration in that its primary function is to communicate specific things to a second artist who will use it as guidelines or blueprints to make the finished product, rather than communicating that idea directly to the audience. Concept art is only pretty secondarily. And typically, the so-called “concept art” shown on the websites and publications of companies is actually either marketing art, or it is concept art that has been sanitized for public consumption.

Those are some good samples, by the way. However, there’s a lot more to concept art than just characters.