How to Improve Your Environment Concept Design: Winter Castle
Artist Karina Shakbua recently transitioned from 3d modeler to concept artist. To boost her painting skills, she created a mountainous castle with impressive design and powerful atmosphere. In her breakdown, Karina explains her process, including:
Hi! My name is Karina Shakbua. I work at Wargaming, Ukraine as a concept artist, but I started as a 3d modeler. Growing up, my sisters and I played a ton of games, so I became very interested in video games and thematic magazines. Eventually, I started studying graphic design at the university. In my free time, I studied 3d programs in my free time. That put me on the path I’m on now!
1. Value Copies Warm Up
So, our first task was to draw some speed value copies. This exercise involves doing a photo study of someone's painting copy study, but with a very limited time of 20 minutes per piece.
The best thing about this assignment was that you had to focus on what was important, which meant understanding the value of each object and how it would be affected by different lighting.
For me, this kind of practice became one of the best things I could do to improve quickly while learning basic principles and more drawing methods.
As for lightning, we had to make tree compositions using different lighting scenarios. It was fun to experiment with lightning, but it was challenging without knowing the basics. Thankfully, the copy practice helps out with this as well. Especially when copying photos or old masters.
Enroll in Environment Concept Design taught by Concept Artist/Illustrator Simeon Schaffner.
2. Original Compositions
The task with 5 original compositions was probably the most interesting, I really wanted to implement the ideas that have been learnt during these lessons. I wanted to add something different to each composition. So for references I was trying to find unusual shapes with offbeat silhouettes, simple and somewhat eminent.
Read “7 Stages to Create a Majestic Bhutan Fortress Concept” to see more compositions come to life.
3. Color
I decided to move forward with my castle environment. For color and lighting, I already had an image in my head of what I would like to do, but it was fun to experiment with different times of day and color moods. But in the end, Aaron suggested the option that I originally wanted to do.
It worked best for the composition, highlighting the castle's silhouette with a bright light, but leaving a gloomy and cold mood.
Explore CGMA’s The Art of Color and Light course taught by DreamWorks Animation Art Director Chris Brock, Freelance Vis Dev Artist Garrett Lee, and/or Freelance Concept Artist/Illustrator Anastasia Shiyankova.
4. 3D Techniques
I was really enthusiastic about making the blockin of the concept in 3d. First of all, as I am a 3d modeler, I want to build my concept art workflow around 3d. I just think it is really handy workflow. And secondly I was really looking forward to learning 3d Coat.
Aaron showed us some cool tips and tricks on how to do a quick and interesting blockin, It was very helpful. So after I sculpted the main elements, I started to implement a simple render to have something to work with, basic colors and lighting. I did, I think about 6 different renders and experimented with combining them.
5. Art Direction
I have actually never tried to think through a concept in such detail before. It has many advantages, for example, development from the draft idea to completion occurs at this stage and not during rendering (which is not the best thing to do). So I started, of course, with more reference images.
You have a greater understanding and more deliberate approach and therefore a better quality. And the feedback at this stage is really important, because now you can see if it all fits together well. Whether the original idea has survived and how much the idea is embodied in the design and silhouettes of the main elements. The atmosphere, mood and setting are still ahead, but it is so much easier to combine everything when the design has already been thought out to the smallest detail.
6. Final Result
After combining all renders I did a few paintovers experimenting with scale of background, adding some elements etc.
Here is the final! Although it is difficult to evaluate your own work, I'm pretty happy with the result. And I know that there is still a lot to learn but this is a good start and it was a great experience.
Final Thoughts
- There were two reasons why I started to take classes at CGMA. One is that since I switched to concept art, I needed to improve my painting skills. Second, is that I did a lot of research and CGMA seemed perfect in terms of quality, high level of teachers and convenient schedule that I can combine with a full time job.
- The transition to concept art was rather complicated for me, even though knowing 3d is really helpful, so CGMA was exactly what I needed. It really improved my skills and helped a lot in a professional work environment. I am really happy with the result.
- Before I started taking CGMA classes, I did try a lot different online resources, but after the courses it is became obvious that the direct feedback from the instructor is extremely important, and thus progress is really noticeable immediately.
- I couldn't have made a better choice in my opinion and I am already planning to join another course this year. Cheers!
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CGMA provides comprehensive instruction for Art, Games, and VFX industries in a variety of courses for a range of students, from 2D and 3D artists looking to supplement their college studies to industry professionals looking to stay up to date on emerging trends and techniques in the field.
RELATED LINKS
Enroll in Environment Concept Design taught by Concept Artist/Illustrator Simeon Schaffner.
Read “7 Stages to Create a Majestic Bhutan Fortress Concept” to see more compositions come to life.
Explore CGMA’s The Art of Color and Light course taught by DreamWorks Animation Art Director Chris Brock, Freelance Vis Dev Artist Garrett Lee, and/or Freelance Concept Artist/Illustrator Anastasia Shiyankova.
