Hi

[PeggyChung]

Hi everyone, let me introduce myself. my name is Peggy and im 15. i stumbled upon this forum by another forum that i usually roam through. i was really happy when i found it because concept art is pretty much what i want to do or major i guess when im out of highschool. im currently enrolled in a saturday class at the Art center. btw, quite a nice place it is. :cool: i would post up some of my art but i have no scanner yet, they ll be up and running as soon as i get it sometime this week. im just curious on some questions and im hoping someone can help me out on answering them. first is what did you guys major in? industrial design, illustration or other? second, what in the world is industrial design? what do you draw or what media do you use? i right away thought that if iwanted to be a concept artist i would take illustration but ive been told concept artists usually take ID? lastly, what can i do now to improve my skills before i get to college? ive been concentrating mostly on human figures lately, im horrible at perspectives though -.- alright this is a lot of ranting, thanks in advance for replys.

[Forge]

hi lady,
first reply huh :p
I'll try to give u some answers to your question:
- i'm graphist in a communication agency, concept art is more a pleasure for me... maybe one day but i'm only 19 so...
- i use ps 7, natural media of course but i really love painter 6 or 8 forget the 7...
there is no magical advices to learn to draw.... just draw again and again... mistakes will be your major teacher... When u see again a drawing u make 2 months ago, don't u find many errors u just don't see when u draw it ?? yes? u see you're already improving your skills... post here all people here (the most part...) will help u saying where you made mistakes... let's see what u do no matter what level u are... enjoy !:chug:

[egerie]

Hi there and welcome.

First of all, congratulation on a well structured, not butchered post.
Okay ! I had to sit down and think a bit about that one.. An Industrial Designer is like an architect for objects. It can go from coffee pots, to headphones to furniture to a specialisation in plastic, etc. Anything that has to do with human interacting with an object. I guess you can call it the science of ergonomy. Another possible specialisation close to industrial design is automotive design.

I'm not sure what is majoring here since I have an eclictic school history. I graduated in fine arts and went to have another diploma in Classic Animation. Sadly, I never attended any design courses but am planning to take side courses in .. industrial design :) If not only to learn these amazing marker techniques and speed rendering tricks.

I draw anything, with any media. I have favorites tho like shalks, digital paint (Photoshop and Painter), dry pastels, acrylic paint. The suport I usually choose are dark for Black Manners. Cardboard, paper, glued canvas, masonite are all ok. My favorite subjects are portraits and still life - mostly because it's the easyest to set up. I do have to kick myself in the rump to go out and do dynamic sketches..

I think every concept artist academic path is unique.. and unconventional. I guess that as long as you have a broad culture (for concept reference, etc.), push your skills all the time, be pationate and curious, you're good to go.
To improve, the forum has the moto of "draw til you drop". I'm sure you'll get the local madman ranting such things as "Draw every day ! Draw consistently ! Never stop !" but guess what ; he's absolutely right. Practice and understanding makes perfect, or at least gets you closer to perfection.
As for perspective, start by drawing perfect cubes :) I'll try to dig some old exercises if you want.

[mtw]

Industrial Design is about designing products. It teaches you to draw concepts of your product and to make a physical version of it (either a model or a real version). If you worked for a car company, you might draw an illustration of a car and then make a model of it from clay. The person who told you to major in this probably misunderstood your idea of concept art, and I would not suggest it.

What you should major in depends on what majors are available to you in the college you go to. I'm majoring in painting and drawing, but others might major in illustration.