As the lesson's name implies it's time for some practice. The goal is to get a hang of creating concept art of environment. The lesson approaches the assignment step-by-step, in the same order as the actual workflow happens. First the reference board, then the thumbnails, and lastly refining one of the thumbnails.
Use a digital drawing software you, the demonstration has been done with Krita. The lesson includes two files for making thumbnails, one for Krita and one for Photoshop.
The theme for this assignment you can choose yourself, but the goal is to make landscape concepts, so keep that in mind. The point of this assignment is to familiarize you with the workflow, so you can keep practicing until you achieve the level where your concept art looks epic and awesome.
At the end of this lesson, you will have knowledge of environment concept art workflow and one concept that is more polished. Start the process by gathering references and building a reference board. For beginners, it's easier to start with simple designs, like valleys and mountains, with some structures in the distance.
The demonstration will be using the above reference board. The environment will have tall and rocky mountains with human-made structures on top of them. There will also be pine trees and plants like in the reference board.
Use the reference board as a guide, you should not copy it directly. As the name suggests, try implementing the same mood into your artwork. The example board, for instance, has vast mountains that seem to be calm and have gentle sun shining low. The trees appear almost magical-like and the vegetation has a unique appearance with the greens and pinks.
The files below have ready thumbnail setups, the first one is for Krita and the second is for Photoshop, so you can start quickly with those. If you have different software in use, unfortunately, you have to set the layers by yourself. Luckily, the Internet is full of good instructions that are often found in the software's own documentation.
Tähän tulee Thumbnail 1
Tähän tulee Thumbnail 2
Start with three color values and block the elements on the background with a lighter value. Then, with darker value, add the middle ground, and finally use the darkest value for the foreground. Don't spend too much time on one thumbnail, as you will refine it later on.
Keep the time on each thumbnail short, around one to three minutes. Some of the thumbnails may be less than ideal, but that's ok. The idea might have been great at first, but on paper not so much, but at least it has been tested. Remember composition: what elements you want to viewer to focus on, a castle, an altar, or ruins for example. Don't make the scenery too crowded or busy with elements.
Try to imagine a person into the scenery. Where are they coming from, where are they at that moment, and where will they end up?
Tähän tulee video, joka on noudettava Risestä.
If you are using some other software for the assignment, make nine rectangles for the thumbnail bases. To prevent the brush strokes from going over the rectangles, set up similar settings as the Quick Clipping Group. In Photoshop it's known as Clipping Mask, for example.
If you worry about composition, try the rule of thirds. Divide the image into nine even sections with lines, and the lines that cross should have the point of interest around them.
The next thing is to add more details into the thumbnails. After that, it's easier to choose the image with the most potential to be polished even more. Now you can spend more time with each of the thumbnails. Add more details, trees, define edges, clean extra lines, and do anything that will make the thumbnails more refined.
Tähän tulee video, joka on noudettava Risestä.
The first thumbnails only had three values, so we can start adding more details by lowering the brush opacity and maybe even test other brushes to add more texture. Decide where your light source is - is the sun shining high on the sky or is it just setting behind the mountains?
After refining, it's a good time to take a small break before you move on. Maybe ponder what thumbnail you will choose for the final polishing.
After the break, take time to choose one of the thumbnails that you want to continue even further. Either cut the thumbnail in the file and paste it to a new file or scale it bigger on a new layer in the same file.
This is the final step of this assignment, to create environment concept art.
Tähän tulee video, joka on noudettava Risestä.
Scale the thumbnail to your liking. The bigger canvas, the better the image quality will be. This prevents details from getting muddy and jumble. Keep in mind software performance, as bigger files will demand more from the computer.
Now it's a better time to fix the scale, the composition and focus more on the values. If you have structures in the distance, use more contrast and adjust the values to make them stand out. Try different brushes to add textures while still keeping the light source in mind.
Wonderful! These methods are not set in stone but are a good way to start. If you got the flow going, maybe you will color the polished concept art. Either way, it looks awesome!
Keep in mind that you should also study other artists' work to learn how they approach landscape art.