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bongoshock — Crane creature concept
Published: 2007-07-16 18:16:51 +0000 UTC; Views: 6289; Favourites: 101; Downloads: 129
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Description
Here is a creature concept I put together in preparation to apply for concept art jobs in the video games industry.the prompt was - make a cranelike creature for an alien planet that eats cat-sized lizard-fish. the environment it lives in is swampy and there are lots of wild flowers.
Here i've prepared a full color concept, some orthographs, and a small bunch of silhouettes.
If this were a video game, I assumed the crane creature would be a background critter just to add to the environment so I didn't want to go too over the top with it.
The creature evolved from a predatory freshwater fish into a cranelike creature with two legs. the fins are colored to blend with bird-of-paradise type flowers. The silver-blue color of the scales reflect sunlight and reduce the creature's shadow on the water.
On its back, the dark mottled markings break up the creature's shape and help it camouflage so that predators can't see it easily. It's not a very mobile creature, but has sharp eyesight and the ability to dive when needed.
The bird-of-paradise flower like fins are also used for an elaborate courtship dance.
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Comments: 37
So nice Q~Q I want! Seems like it would probably be a very early creature though like one of those missing links lol anyways great work
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Did you get the job? If I was hiring, you'd have it. I love completely fictional yet awesomely realistic creatures.
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i sure did!!! thanks for the nice comment!
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realistic and in the same time really strange, just the way I like it
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All I msut say is that I want one <33
Also, the design work is done really well^^
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they'd be easy to keep huh? can't fly off can they! ehehehe
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wow...your in the EXACT position i want to be in right now...
aside from this unique drawing, how did you get involved with the buisness?? where can an un-n-comming designer like myself find work to partake in, such as this?
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It is also important to have connection...so i guess make friends with people...don't be afraid to ask , "hi, will you review my artwork and give me some useful suggestions?" Try to give your art as much exposure as possible...but of course you have to be sorta of within or at least close to the industry standard to compete...have to be pretty solid...cuz remember your art will be put next to someone's else's who also want the job. I guess just practice like there's no tomorrow...lol understand it, learn it, and apply it. I know you are not asking me i just read it and thought i'd comment on this topic too.
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hey...any help i can get is much appreciated...thanx for the advise!
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I would say connections and training are what counts. I took a look at your gallery. the traditional work shows alot of promise!
If you haven't yet graduated high school, I would suggest you looke here for secondary education [link] - I just graduated from here, and that's where I got all my training and industry connections. The allure of the school is that it is small and only taught by industry professionals. (and not small pros either. My teacher Rog in particular did the game covers for titles like Spyro, Dead to rights, Rainbow six, Brothers in arms, blood wake, various crash bandicoot, the lord of the rings games, etc.)
The concept art teacher there is David Levy [link] who was lead concept artist at Ubisoft for Prince of Persia- the two thrones, and also did work on Assassin's creed. The school is extremely helpful with job placement and helping students get internships and industry connections.
Now, if you can't manage to find a good school to boost you ahead, I would say you've got a long but not impossible road ahead. For those who can't find good schools, it is really important to learn by emulation. Look for gnomon DVDs from the Gnomon workshop to teach you in 3d programs and photoshop/painter. look at already established artists like the above mentioned David Levy, or Craig Mullins [link] , or the massive black studio [link] . conceptart.org and cgtalk.org have weekly sketch challenges that are open to all but in which many professionals participate. those are good to practice. Photorealism is all the rage lately in concept art since graphics can be pushed so far on computers and on next gen consoles.
But don't neglect your traditional portfolio. so few people have that nowadays that it becomes a tremendous advantage over your competition if you have a good one. So draw, sketch, and paint!
After long hard practicing and portfolio building, your next step would be to find video game companies in your area. Use gamasutra.com to look for those. that site is like monster.com but for video games people. You'll want to take internships anywhere and everywhere for everything. Even if you're the coffee boy, you'll be making important people connections that will get your foot in the door. Nepotism is the modus operandii in games. It's not out of corruption so much as security. If an art director sees you have an awesome portfolio but doesn't know you, and happens to have a cousin with a not so great portfolio, but whom he knows he can trust- he's going to hire his cousin.
Most of all, don't get discouraged. Once you get to the point of applying to companies you'll find that HR and Art Directors are extremely busy and may not get back to you promptly or at all. If they tell you 'thanks but no thanks' it might be a good idea to say 'thanks, and can you suggest what I can do to improve my portfolio to be considered?' - they may not get back, but if they do, you'll get solid good advice on what the next step is.
I hope this is useful advice. If you have other questions or anything, go ahead and note me and I'll help you out as best I can. I'm still a neonate in the games industry, but I can share from the limited experience that I have and from what professionals have told me.
cheers!
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wow...thank you so much for taking the time to do this. It's like you've put all the little details into a nice package for me. 
Again, thank you, and ill definatly hit you up with any future questions i might have!
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Your portfolio isn't lacking, haha. I wouldn't even expect you to even have a portfolio at this point. Well, really what a professional portfolio does is showcase what your different skills are- not just your best work. so alot of my finished peices don't even go in my portfolio. (a student portfolio on the other hand is usually a hodgepodge of your favorite peices that just show you can draw and are worth taking on by a college)
You have to decide first what field you want to go into wether it be commercial illustration, concept art, or 3d modeling/texturing, then you have to hand pick which of your peices best proves your ability to accomplish the job you want.
My portfolio is tailored to concept art, but if i wanted to prove I could make 3d models, I'd change the contents completely.
I would suggest looking for wacom tablets online. Look for wacoms from the intuos line. those are best tailored to artists' needs. You should be able to get an good size intuos of an older version relatively cheap online. The older intuos are still great quality and wacom is well known for durability and longevity. There are like a billion wacoms at my school from 6 to 1 years old and they all work perfectly. the only time i've heard of a wacom breaking was from my friend drew- and that was because he forcibly snapped the stylus open.
Sorry about the overly wordy responses hehehe. anyways, glad to help!
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no, no, absolutly not...don't apologize for anything. again, i am forever greatful that your taking you time to help me along
as for tablets, my friend has one, i just never really found an interest in using it...till now. I was looking at an Intuos 6X8...found some used ones off ebay for a nice $125-$180 lightly used (beats the brand new $299-$320 prices i was lookin' at...haha)
this is not a foreign medium to me, and its great to have [all] you helpful artists to show me the ropes! Just wait for my paycheck this friday, cash it monday, and try it out by next week.
thanks again, it's always nice to gain tips/techniques from those who are more experianced than i...ill let cha know how it all comes together (haha, already got a nice sketch planed out: [link] )
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I've been looking at a bunch of different places. this concept is one of two i'm preparing to show to NCsoft. they have a pretty high quality bar
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that's way awesome. i was wanting to work for bioware, but my dad said i wouldn't really get too much freedom creative wise. i would always be doing others ideas. is this true?
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well, the idea that you can get paid to draw from purely your own ideas is almost never true. Mostly that is because a collection of random cool ideas rarely coagulates into a beleivable and solid game. Studios pay beaucoup money for game scripts and professional art direction to make sure the execution of those scripts is top notch.
However, that doesn't mean you'll be drawing already conceived characters and things.
Usually how it goes is that an art director will give you a prompt from which you use your imagination to fill in the blanks. for instance- say i get a prompt that says- " in the desert level, there is an alien creature that we need to be an enemy. it has to camouflage with the dunes and be really fast. It has a biological canon-like weapon on its left shoulder. "
I would then come up with 3 or 4 different ideas of what that creature might look like. The art director then chooses one from those and probably suggests some things for me to change. I would do that and then go on from there.
I think you can get plenty of creative freedom in games. it varies from company to company and project to project. In bioware you would have quite a bit of freedom since the games they make are fantastical. they want to see you come up with ideas no one else has had before and usually art directors are really nice guys who are open to suggestions. if you say 'hey ____, i just had this awesome idea for the ____ level.' they will probably listen.
Games companies, especially like bioware, ubisoft, and THQ are always pushing the envelope. they are fighting to make things that people have never seen before, so alot of that is left up to the artists.
Almost no game company will squash your creativity, and those that do probably aren't a good match for you.
I hope that's helpful. BTW, I interviewed with Bioware, so that's all the personal interaction i've had with them. From that interview, though, they appeared to have high standards for skill and creativity.
I hope that's helpful!
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wow, yes that assisted me alot. That actuly makes alot of sense and sounds really fun. It sounds kinda like art class, in the sense of they give you a main idea/subject and you have to do the rest. thanks so much for the info, it is greatly appreciated. 
BTW, how was the bioware interview? where they nice? did it seem like a good job to go for? (that isn't the best way to put it, but i'm sure you understand what i mean...)
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The art director i interviewed with was nice and interesting. That would definitely be a good place to work. The only drawback i had in the interview was on my side. my portfolio did not have enough paintery cg concepts in it. I'm working on that now.
Thanks for the wellwishing!
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your very welcome! thanks again for the info.
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ooo nice!! Must be pretty hard to balance all that weight from the neck and head. ^_^
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lol...hardcore...
was thinking...it'd be such a pain to animate this thing walking with all the follow-through motion..o man...haha
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do you think a significant head-bob would help with that? It was kinda what I was envisioning.
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oops...link didn't work...here:
[link]
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I think not so much a head bob but more so a neck bob...to balance itself...the head would have to remind pretty still and just trailing behind the moment of the neck which trails behind the body (if you decide to lead the walk with the body)...The bobbing motion would be more significant if you lead with the head...which can be harder to do...the momentum has to be like a horizontal "S" curve (going back, down, then forward)...sorry I don't remember all the correct animation terms for them...easier to just show with a pic...here:[IMG][link]
hope this is not too confusing...>.<
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lol, i think i get what you're trying to say. I was more picturing this guy walking like a heron. The head always is positioned above the center of gravity and the legs don't bend alot. so basically, similar to what you linked but not as extreme.
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hehe...I thought you were gonna animate it...so i went on and on...it looks cool! Good luck with your job hunting!
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oh! haha! i can't animate for beans LOL
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it is ok...that's why we leave the job to the animators. ;D
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I wouldn't know what to do if i was out feeding fish and saw this thing looking over at me. o_o
lol ---Love the head and neck--- very slender and cool-lookin :3
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you wouldn't feed it some stale bread? I mean, it's only like 4 and a half feet tall. couldn't hurt ya.
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lol Awww C'mon! :c You can never go wrong with a 50-foot fish-bird~!
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