Class Concept Art

This curricular unit introduces students to the fundamentals of concept art for entertainment media, bridging artistic research and creative execution. Students learn to translate ideas into original, production-ready designs by exploring the key pipelines for characters, props, and immersive environments. Through a mix of theoretical insights, technique demonstrations, observational drawing, and field research, the course builds a practical methodology for visual communication. Students refine their skills in drawing, color, and visual composition while developing research habits like mind mapping and reference gathering. By analyzing industry case studies and working through practical assignments, students build a professional workflow to create original content tailored to games, culminating in a final showcase portfolio.

Not applicable

Analysis of case studies within creative fields (video games, animation, fine arts, history, society); Development of thinking methods and information gathering (references, mind maps, etc.); Design principles; Character development techniques; Observational drawing sessions adapted to character creation; Work presentation sessions; Production of a final portfolio.

Theoretical-practical classes using presentations and technique demonstrations conducted by the instructor; Creation of characters, environments, and props through the application of technical and artistic knowledge; Thematic fieldwork: field trips and observational drawing sessions to complement the proposed exercises; Presentation of developed work; Portfolio creation.

Holmes, M.C. (2016). Designing Creatures & Characters: How to build an artist?s portfolio for videogames, film, animation and more . Canada: Impact Books. Lilly, E. (2015). The Big Bad World of Concept Art for Videogames . Designstudio Press. Silver, S. (2017). The Silver Way: Techniques, Tips, and Tutorials for Effective Character Design. Design Studio Press Solarski, Chris (2012) Drawing Basics and Video Game Art: Classic to Cutting-Edge Art Techniques for Winning Video Game Design . New York: Watson-Guptill Publications. Stanchfield, Walt (2009) Drawn to Life: 20 Golden years of Disney Master Classes . Taylor & Francis. 3dtotalPublishing (2026).Designing Imaginative Environments: Creating locations and landscapes for concept art and illustration. UK: 3dtotalPublishing. 3dtotalPublishing (2017). Mythical Beasts: Artist?s Field Guide to Designing Fantasy Creatures. UK: 3dtotalPublishing. 3dtotalPublishing (2018). Creating stylized characters . UK: 3dtotalPublishing