More About Creativity

I was just looking through some of the concept art for Mass Effect, which is becoming a bit of a habit now. Looking at concept art, that is. Not Mass Effect, because I can't afford a 360.

Being in the position that I am, a wannabe concept artist/ designer of fun computer gamery stuff, I often make rounds around the websites of those top-level artists in the field; the likes of Feng Zhu and Keith Thompson, whose work just blows my mind - not just because of how well it's rendered, but because it shows intricate knowledge of composition, perspective, colour theory and, maybe above all else, how to make something look damn interesting.

And so, thanks to these high-end guys, I have a good set of examples in my mind of what's 'the best' when it comes to concept art. I strive to make my way to the top among them.

However this often leads me into thinking that every concept artist employed in industry is of their standard; that if you want to get a job, you'll have to be as good as that. This really isn't true, and the more you look at everyday games' concept art, the more you realize what's really important in this line of work.

And here it comes, dun dun dun dun riding from the horizon like a stampede of wildebeast, the word creativity.

So back to the beginning again: I was looking at Mass Effect's concept art, specifically some of the characters and locales, and it's not of flawless, photo-realisitc quality. It doesn't need to be. What it is, is creative. The characters are interesting, their features are illustrated clearly and the quality is only as good as what's necessary.

Don't get me wrong though, I've no doubt the artists in question could render work beautiful enough to knock one's socks off if they wanted to, but the point is, and what I've come to realize, is that it's not always about the quality of the painting when concepting - it's just about the content. It's about accurately portraying the feel and the mood of a place or character. It's got to be able to give someone else 'the idea' of the scene.

What I really mean then, is that I no longer wish to attribute a fantastic rendering with a good piece of work, because the work has to be interesting. It has to captivate, lead the eye around it, it has to be imaginative and make good use of composition. What it needs to be, really, is creative.