Class101 – Create Compelling Character Concept Art for Games with Jeffchendesigns Free Download

The Ultimate A-Z Guide to Compelling Character Concept Art for Video Games

Create Appealing Character Concept Art Portfolio with
Professional Artist, Jeffchendesigns

WHAT IS THIS CLASS ABOUT?

Discover the insider tools and techniques to fast-track your character concepts to a professional level.

Have you always dreamt of becoming a professional concept artist but never dared to try? or never even had a clue where to get started? Maybe you’ve been drawing all your lives, but not sure if you are doing it the right way. For all those questions, we have one answer for you: The Ultimate A – Z Guide to Creating Compelling Character Concept Art might be what you’ve been looking for all this time.

Truth is, if you’ve tried concept art before and failed, I’ve got one thing to say to you – it’s not, NOT your fault! Because learning off YouTube and Random Videos is Possible – But is Really Really Hard and Takes a Long Time!

Just like you – I was learning what I could off the internet and just making guesses and filling in the gaps as I went. Was I improving? Yes. But progress was SLOW. It wasn’t until I signed up for my first real art course to finally see my art skills take flight. And only with great fundamentals can you take the creations from your imagination and make them look authentic and credible.

“This course is the compilation of all my experience over the years, minus the mistakes, designed for up-and-coming concept artists of 202X.”

Think of this course as a roadmap to help you navigate the massive amount of information out there. Some of that information is good, some not so great, yet it’s hard to tell. This guide will help you to pinpoint the exact tools you need and steps to take to get you painting as a professional concept artist as fast as humanly possible. You’ll get all the most crucial lessons I’ve learned over the years and get to avoid all the pitfalls that I took to get here.

WHO IS THIS CLASS FOR?

This Ultimate A – Z Guide to Creating Compelling Character Concept Art is for beginner artists who want to take their concept art to the next level – and I mean it! As easy and hand-holding I’ve made the lessons, if you’re not ready to put the hard work in, then please don’t buy this course. But if you think you’re ready to put in the hard yards and take your first step into becoming a paid professional concept artist, then this is for YOU!

Don’t be scared, this class is designed to be easy!

I wanted to make this course mind-numbingly easy to use. Once you sign up, log in to your account, grab your favourite learning beverage (mine is cocoa), and I’ll take you through each step, one at a time, so you’ll never get lost or confused. Plus, if you ever want me to repeat something, you can rewind – or ask me during our feedback session.

WHAT WILL THE STUDENTS ACHIEVE?

“Create realistic, authentic and fantastic characters that people will come to know and love.”

In this course you will learn The fundamental tools concept artists use in programs like Photoshop, How to structure you own concept art portfolio, How to correctly use reference, The step by step guide to creating the art for your character -from thumbnailing, iteration to final render- and how to present it in a way that would attract recruiters and art directors from your favourite companies.

I want to help you breathe life into your creations. Whether your thing is dragons, monsters, cool heroes and heroines or giant mechs – I will show you how to break down your ideas into simple, digestible chunks and how to build it back up again on paper so you end up with something that’s beautiful and believable.

Imagine, being able to pull a concept from your head and see it come to life at your fingertips or on your screen – a concept that will be seen in your favorite games or in movies that others will come to grow and love and wonder ‘who thought up this magnificent thing?’ That will be you! You can do this!

Step 1: Designing your very own game character concepts

Welcome

Meet Your Instructor: Jeffchendesigns
Introduction to the course
Introduction to Tool

Chapter 1: Overviews of Photoshop Tools Used for Concept Art

Customizing an efficient keyboard layout and UI setup that works
Mastering layers
Mastering adjustment layers fundamentals
Using gradient maps to apply color to your greyscale art easily
Masking techniques to give you precision and accuracy
Keeping your art looks clean and manageable with various tools

Chapter 2: Concept art vs. illustration – what are industry expectations?

What really is concept art and what is our role in the industry?
The types of jobs out there for Concept Artists
How to write a brief for your personal portfolio

Chapter 3: Creating Reference Boards like a pro

Why reference boards are critical to producing good artwork
Different types of reference boards and why you should be using them ASAP
How to gather useful information from references for concept art
How to avoid the common pitfall of copying your references
Sneak peek into my own personal reference boards

Chapter 4: Idea Generation and secrets of how industry giants work

How to use reference boards to boost your creativity
The keyword technique – what it is and why it will fast track your idea generation
How to use storytelling to generate ideas

Chapter 5: How to thumbnail and sketch ideas

My guide to shape language for character design
Silhouettes vs Line art and when to use them
How to silhouette + example
How to line art + example
How to level up your designs to avoid boring, generic characters

Chapter 6: How to iterate and power up your strongest sketches

Why iterations are the most important step in character design
The kitbashing technique – speed up your iterations
The do’s and don’ts of iteration

Chapter 7: Applying color theory- the formula that never fails

Making the bridge between color theory and concept art to take your art to the next level
The easy breakdown: what colors are needed in character design
Color Scheme examples
Grayscale to color in concept art

Chapter 8: Tips and tricks- finalising your character to fit the trends

How to light forms quickly and efficiently, so they look believable
My stylized art workflow breakdown – shadows, lights, textures, VFX
What to keep in mind for game character style rendering
How to texture appropriately and mistakes to avoid

Chapter 9: My favourite finishing touch techniques

How to add insane looking VFX to your concepts so you can reach that AAA quality finish
Filter gallery options the pros use to add that extra “juice”
The relevant adjustment layers and how to use them to balance out the final details

Bonus Chapter: Presenting your concepts and acing Your Job like a PRO

Portfolios vs Social Media – How to set up your personal portfolio
Additional “callouts” art directors like to see
How to get the most out of posting on Artstation and Instagram

Outro: Thank you and Farewell

1. Congratulations on Completing the Course

About the Instructor

Introducing the Creator, Jeffchendesigns

My name is Jeff Chen and I’m a freelance concept artist with clients all around the globe including: Wizards of the Coast, Adobe , Netease and Team Liquid. Here’s why you can trust me, Jeff Chen, to help you learn concept art. I love teaching and regularly teach my group of private students. But I want to be able to reach out and help more people. To teach you through things that I can only wish someone taught me when I first started out as a concept artist.

This class uses Adobe Photoshop CC/CS
Adobe Photoshop is a subscription-based paid software
To take this class, you need to have access to Adobe Photoshop

People who want to build their original character from scratch
People who want to create original concept art
People who want to become a concept artist for the video game industry
People who want to create their original concept art portfolio that can impress the recruiters