Beginner concept design critique needed please
hi, this year I began my art journey I am currently watching YouTube tutorials and trying to save for some online courses for concept art. I struggle a lot with conveying my concept ideas, for example the pieces i am displaying are for a fantasy island occupied by aliens and halflings (half alien half human) i would like some feedback on what works well and what doesn’t for the pieces I’ve created please.
the tree is one that will be on the part of the island occupied by the halflings, I wanted it to represent light and hope yet also look beautiful.
Rough sketches and plant exploration is destroying me at the moment I find it so hard to come up with a plant that looks poisonous yet indicting.
Replies
I think it's a good start :) Silhouette sketches are nice way to generate ideas.
Some things you could work on imo:
Materials don't read clear yet. What is supposed to be wood, leather, rock, metal, ...? What's the condition of the surfaces? What does the "hair" consist of? Potential ways to improve description: improve rendering of surfaces (takes time), photo bash and blend it in, additional notes and reference images, ...
With the character it would be nice to have additional angles to see how the costume is constructed and anatomy is non human. A neutral pose would help an 3d artist to better examine the proportions and potentially use as blueprint.
With the plants it might be fun to think about how they move while hunting, attacking and eating and sketching small, rough sequences explaining this. Basically put your design to the test.
I'd say try not to get stuck in polishing until everything looks super clean, most important is to get the idea across. Unless you enjoy polishing and want to go in the direction of painting or illustration.
Photobashing and using a 3d base are common techniques to speed up the process. It's good to make experiments.
Much success!
@Fabi_G thank you so much for your detailed response, I will definitely do some texture studies as well as for the plants I never thought about imagining how they poison/infect those around them I was so focused on visual rather than practical