A Question for the Concept Artists

X-One

While I'm most definately not the greatest concept artist, I find myself all to often completely humbled by some of the artists on these boards. While it does act as a source of inspiration, it also acts as a form of discouragement.

My problem, or so it seems, is to be able to come up with interesting ideas and forms from my mind. I have no problem copying, and I don't find much challenge in it. I often take that extra moment to really study form, and understand how it works, etc.

My problems is in the actual execution of a concept that is both interesting and practical. I have a habit of always starting with forms I know, or moving towards them eventually for one reason or another. By that, I mean that it's always humanoid or animal based. While that in itself is not so bad, coming up with an interesting design to lay on top of the form has always plagued me.

So, my question is, how does one build on their visual vocabulary, other than observation? Could be a really stupid question, and I may simply lack a half decent imagination, but if it is possible, how would one go about sparking ideas.

Sidenote: I've tried silhouettes as well as the random adjective/noun combo picking from a hat practice. While they are useful, I find them limitted in my success.

bah, I was about to delete this, but didn't want to waste my chance and an insightful response. (I personally just came to the conclusion that I just plain suck

Forgive any typos, as I'm jumping between work, and sentences

killingpeople

i have more of a general comment to offer, rather than suggesting some good study ideas:

artists can go through this. i'm like this all the time; always thinking my art sucks and my brain has become incapible of functioning how i want it to that day, not feeling "imaginative or creative". i'll hate every idea that surfaces, every line carved into the paper, and wished for something interesting to present itself. sometimes it just takes time. my advice, is to relax, get happy, and try to not take it so seriously. i think the best thing to do is to slow down, until you calm down and try again.

Snowfly

I think whatever your skill level, you're always going to go through that. So what you do is conciously set out to draw something interesting.. try evaluating your designs the same way you would evaluate an essay you wrote. Try to figure what works in it and what doesn't it, by checking it for structure, flow, efficiency, maybe just the right amount of flourish...in other words, be objective.

Why count out observation entirely? The key to building your visual vocabulary is by observing everything you can. Think of your knowledge as a kind of depot. The more you know, the deeper your imagination can be. You say the shapes you draw come out human or animal. It might be time to start digging up images way outside your comfort zone. Try drawing mammals with the skeletal structure of insects, or draw vehicles and weapons with shapes derived from the letters of the alphabet.. Coming up with inventive forms is all about taking what you know and mixing them up in ways that seem fresh, because no one's ever tried them before.

FunkaDelicDass

Some good advice already. Here's my input:

Kind of what Snowfly said, a good way to exapnd your box of ideas is to start looking at more and more art. Even stuff that doesn't catch your interest. Try breaking different compositions down. Find out why certain pieces work, take those ideas and apply them to your work. When I'm in a rut, I start browsing through some of my art books, Spectrums, Art of 'Insert Movie/Game Title', etc. Reading also gives me lots of ideas, be it fiction, history, or Natinal Geographic. Sometimes you just have to stop and take the time to absorb other material.

On one hand, your style is your own, and you should accept your ideas and not fight them. On the other hand, eventually artists get tired of what they're doing and try to make a conscious effort to do something different. That's a tough decision to make, and it can drive you crazy. If it stops becoming fun, or if you're really not learning anything, then it's time to stop. Hope that helps.

JordanW

Snowfly has some really good advice there. The more you know, the more diverse shapes, forms, ideas, etc you're exposed to the more creative you'll be. Look at as many artist's work you can but dont stop there always be thinking about design and function when looking at everything around you.

Now when it comes down to actually getting your juices flowing I recommend doing things like drawing pure black silloutes quickly just to get interesting shapes down. Dont worry about the details or how it works, just think about form. Doing color thumbnails quickly is also a good exercise. One thing I like to do is grab a brush in photoshop or painter that i've never really used much and just start throwing down lots of lines and color to make something with it. It's really great cause it gets you out of habits.

You will for the most part always go through times of not knowing what to do or being stressed out about your own art. What you can do is learn to deal with it better and work yourself out of it, but sometimes it just takes taking a break to interact with someone or do something for a short bit to get your mind off things.

gauss

well i happened to have extemporaneously and at length commented on the subject of concept art in this thread, i think you might find some of the comments useful:
http://boards.polycount.net/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=74051&an=0&page=0#74051

at MoP's prompting i think i might expand it into a proper article with more examples and post it later.

something else to remember on this subject, as a corollary to snowfly's comment: to expand your visual vocabulary, it's a good idea to expand your literal vocabulary as well. to wit: have you ever noticed how, upon learning about the particulars of a given subject or even basic object, you're that much more aware of it? to me, it's really fascinating and vital to my work as an artist to become aware of extremely specialized jargon and vocabulary.

the most obvious example for artists is anatomy: the more you learn about the smaller specific details of the human body, the more aware you'll be of them when you draw them. where's the zygomatic arch? and just the what the hell is a frenulum? what's an epicanthic fold? knowing that it's called an epicanthic fold instead of clumsily saying something like "that fleshy bit above your eyelid that's more pronounced in certain asian ethnicities" empowers you--not only to be a more aware artist, but allow you to speak on the subject as well. but anatomy is only the beginning.

want to draw guns, but have trouble? learn the parts of a gun. check out a book or a website that explains the basic principles in action. if you know what a charging handle is, you're more likely to remember to draw it on the gun. then before you know it, what was once a confusing mass of tech-y looking bits is now an open book to you, and drawing them is a relatively simple affair.

this goes for basically everything. if you want to draw interesting robots, learn a little more about how actual robotics function. specialized knowledge, or even just the related vocabulary, will help 'unlock' a lot more creative approaches to familiar subject matter.

X-One

Much appreciated all, as it's reassuring. As an artist, regardless of skill, you always you there is more to learn. I most definately have a long way to go.

Gauss, I gotta say I've never really given much attention to the names of some of the finer details, but now that you mention it, I do see how it could help a ton. I'll have to keep that in mind.

Snowfly

Amen gauss.

Past learning the names of things, learn how they work.