Concept Art vs. Illustration
This post was updated on March 31, 2021.
In the entertainment industry, there are so many different artistic job positions that understanding what distinguishes them can sometimes appear difficult. Concept artist, illustrator, character, environment or world artists… the list is endless. At our studio, artists fall into two categories: illustrators and concept artists. Their paintings can look alike, so what does really define an illustrator as opposed to a concept artist?
Different Purposes and Audiences
During the pre-production period, the art team calls on concept artists to create a first visual representation of various elements of the game. Once approved, all the teams working on the project use those concepts as a reference to create the in-game universe and characters. Illustrations are ordered nearer the end of a project once the design work is complete. Illustrators take these elements and embellish them in composition and storytelling. In other words, concept artists must think out of the box, unlike illustrators who must unveil real beauty of what already exists.
The example below will help the reader understand that difference. In the first image, we see a woman in different poses, whereas the second image shows a jester playing the guitar and dancing. If you put yourself in a 3D modeler’s shoes, it is more convenient to build a model from the first image than the second.
To what extent Can an Artist be Both a Concept Artist and an Illustrator?
Like in all professions, artists have their strengths and weaknesses and these traits usually dictate wherein the production line their skills will be of the most use. Illustrators must show above all artistic expertise and ability for storytelling. To create high-quality concepts, speed, curiosity, and creativity are essential. Having a deep understanding of a broad range of things, such as mechanics, fashion or nature can be very useful for concept artists because their job is to take disparate ideas and put them together in a new format.
Concept artists' ideas take precedence over their artistic abilities, that’s why it's not always easy for an illustrator to switch positions and create a new design that needs to be more functional than beautiful. Telling a character’s story without the context a background offers can be overwhelming if you prefer the storytelling aspect of painting. This type of artist will naturally head towards illustration. If you have a practical mind and you prefer creating designs from scratch, then concept art is made for you.
Our experiences, education, and interests also guide our career choice as we already mentioned in the 3 Keys to Becoming a Better Artist blog post. When we think about our personality impact on our career choices as well, we might consider few things before making big decisions. Concept artists shouldn't expect to be in the spotlight, for example, most of their work being thrown away or only used internally. Therefore, being a concept artist requires a lot of patience and composure. The illustrator must be patient too, in the sense that he spends numerous hours working on a single image to achieve the level of rendering needed.