Want to Get Into Illustration and Concept Art (long post)

Shtreimel

First of all, sorry for my shitty English, if you guys don't understand a certain sentence just quote that sentence and tell me that you didn't understand what I'm trying to say and I'll do my best in order to phrase it better.

Hello Polycount, I'm posting it here because I didn't found any other sub-forum that suits it better (if there is another sub-forum that fits this post better just tell me ).

I want to get into concept-art and illustration, I want to be able to create art on my own from scratch like these concept arts http://imgur.com/a/uJ5qP .

I either really want to get into illustration art, my aim is to be able to create art in like this:

http://puu.sh/at58x/a30cdefdf4.png

(Dandinem, that talented artist made this amazing illustartion and it is "based" on Lycan, an existing Dota character and either "based" on item set that he has made / concepted or something like that , I'm not sure but the point here is that I want to be able to illustarte things for example like Dota heros in certain situations with different weapons or clothing or something like that)

Another example is this amazing art by Kunnka :

http://kunkka.deviantart.com/art/Clash-of-Heroes-II-400794488

(Existing characters but he put them in a certain situation)


So here is the question, how do you recommend me to get into it?

(How to practice, tips, in what order to learn and train on each subject and which subjects to train on, books, sites that can help me learn it like Ctrl+Paint and Digital Tutors (I'm using the right now to learn it), and things like that)

(I got an old Wacom Bamboo tablet that works ok, if it is needed I can upgrade to a newer/better one I either got a sketchbook for practicing and drawing for fun when I'm out of my house.)

I know the road is really long and the major part of learning concept art/ illustartion is practicing and drawing as much as I can but I would really love to get some tips and advices from you guys


Sorry for the long post and have a great weekend!

PyrZern

Well, first of all, welcome. Glad you decide to come online looking for answer or helps. Also, for choosing Polycount ^^ (unless you post this everywhere, duh :P )

I think it would help us a bit too if you show what you currently can do.

Now I'm not an illustrator. I can barely draw crap myself. But, in theory, there are a few things you'd want to master.

If it's characters you like to draw; then, anatomy, shape, form, and silhouette are things to master. You don't have to be really good at designing stuff if you just want to create nice beauty illustration of an existing character. But it does help to have good eyes for details and good taste to it. (I'm told my designing taste is very twisted...)

Now, if you want to do concept art, then it's about drawing characters from multiple views. Frontview, sideviews, 3/4 perspective. Head shot, mug shot, and so on. Usually not much of lighting is around in concept art. Also, it's about details. How does the shoes actually stay on. Shoelaces ? Buckles ? Straps ? Concept art is about how things work. How is the clock actually clipped onto the shoulder pads. How does the sword look like when it's drawn/unsheathed.

On the other hand, illustrations are more about presentation. Which action pose to give to characters. What angle. What perspective. Character expression is as important as action. How characters interact with the world around, with other character, or with himself (reloading bullets, scratching his chin, etc.) Also pay more attention to color and value, contrast and so on. Making things pop is really important for this..


But hey, this is just a theory.
A GAME theory. O o'

Two Listen

If I could offer one piece of advice, it would be to work smart, not just hard. Yes, it is important to draw. But you will not get (drastically) better just because you put hours in, you won't become masterful because you draw 100 faces every day for the sake of it. Study, experimentation, self critique - these are things you simply can't ignore if you're truly looking to improve.

I don't think there is a magic cycle of what to do first, a proper order to learning things. Part of the learning process is how what you choose to work on will wind up tying together. The important thing is to try and learn from everything that you do, be it painting a face, sketching a pose, or even just observing the scenery on the drive to your day job.

For the sake of it I'll throw in this link, just another online tutorial thing, just one I've always liked: http://androidarts.com/art_tut.htm

Shtreimel

Thanks for the insights and advices, I'll try to use them as much as I can!

Any other advices and insights?