Concept art

[V3N0M1300]

I've been unable to find any orthographic references of CnC-style infantry and I want to draw my own. Is it possible to do this without a wacom tablet? Are there any techniques that work well with a mouse?

[PermaGrin]

QUOTE (V3N0M1300 @ Mar 3 2010, 11:12 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Is it possible to do this without a wacom tablet?[/b]

yes

QUOTE (V3N0M1300 @ Mar 3 2010, 11:12 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Are there any techniques that work well with a mouse?[/b]

pencil + scanner

[Xzeion]

That really is about all you can do. Then use the dodge and burn brush to clean up the pencil drawing and go over it very slowly with the pen tool in photo shop to get those perfect lines you are looking for for modeling. If all you want to do is model off of the art than this should suffice but if you want to make it into actual art than it will just talk a lot longer than it would with a wacom. I have an intous 4 small and I love it. It is really nice to be able to draw right in photoshop and I feel like it takes my art to another level. Its well worth the investment to get one and even a small is more than sufficient though if you could afford it I would recommend the medium as the small is on a rare occasion a bit restricting. btw the small is only about 230 us dollars.

[Havoc89]

I dont think I've ever used dodge and burn tools for concept art.

I start by laying down the base colours, then figuring out the colour of the lighting (ambient, direct, and bounced). Then I start by choosing a lighter and darker colours of the base colours for light and shadows, which take into account the colour of the lighting, once that is done, then using various brushes with various opacity levels, I would paint in all of the larger detailed things, and slowly get to smaller details. Ofcource the more smaller details a part of the scene has, the more focus it will grab, so knowing what areas to have more details and less details is also very important.

Another really important thing to keep note of when making concept art is to always use real world references. Using other concept art as references isnt a good idea because the artists who would have made that piece may not have fully understood everything, and may not have used proper references. Sure you can use other concept art for inspiration, but it is generally not a good idea to use a concept art as your main source of reference.

If you want to make concept art, get a tablet, doesnt have to be a very expensive high end tablet, I use a simple $80 tablet, and it works for me. Also always get critiques, ALWAYS!

Good luck buddy.