Wip. Making concept art for building my world - please help me with this specific scene of a towering city with overlapping bridges and various levels of housing and other structures. I'll play around with it if no one replies. BTW, I'm going for steampunk with the nature aesthetic. And although it's dark and gloomy down below, the people light up the city with love and life. I feel so stuck now and often because I have never done concept art before. I would attach the inspiration and references, but I have over a hundred, and I can't choose only a few.
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Break out your favorite scritch that have meaning to you and add detail that makes them more visible to others, like building up a thumbnail, as it were.
I think currently the sketches are hard to read. You could fill in shapes in an image editing program to increase readability.
Regarding shots, you could do a more loose, zoomed out shot that describes mood and large structures, maybe a cross section of the layers. A single house/structure/column to show what the architecture looks like. And some props and small scale details that would fill the world.
Think of questions that are relevant for the world design and can be explored/ answered with the concept art: Where is the city located (valley, hole, canyon, on a wall)? Macro structures/ landmarks? Infrastructure/ means of transportation/ Sewerage? Specific game spaces/ stages/ gameplay?
Technique-wise I would use whatever works (except ripping other art): Photo-bash, overpaints, 3d blockouts, sketches, a mix of all those. In my opinion, concept art doesn't have to be super pretty and polished, but ideally focuses on transferring ideas.
I think a big aspect, even when designing fantasy worlds, is using references: Solutions in packed cities, what defines certain architectural styles, construction details, materials used, weathering/ damage? Taking notes from real world examples and let them inform the concept design will probably increase believability and familiarity.
Good luck!
You could use a looser, zoomed-out shot to describe mood and significant structures, perhaps showing a cross section of the layers. one house, building, or column to demonstrate the style of the architecture. And some decorations, both large and small, to fill the world.
Consider the following queries that can be explored or addressed with concept art and are pertinent to the design of the world: Where (valley, hole, canyon, on a wall) is the city situated? macro-structures or famous places? infrastructure, transportation, and sewage systems? specific game settings, playfields, or gameplay?
I would employ any effective technique (aside from plagiarising other works of art): Overpaints, 3D blockouts, and photo-bashing