Concept Artist

The visual look and feel of a game starts with concept art. As Concept Artist, it’s your role to visualise all kinds of game elements, from characters to landscapes to objects.

Using your skills in drawing, painting and 3D modelling, you will rapidly generate sketches for the artistic director or creative director. You help them solve problems and set the direction of the design early in the project.

Not only will your ideas drive the visual development through the project, they may also play a big part in announcing and marketing the game.

ArtEntry-level role

You’ll love this role if you’re into:

Designing things
Drawing
Telling Stories

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YOUR LEARNING JOURNEY

Most people working as Concept Artists have a degree. Above all, you should be someone that enjoys drawing all the time, and likes telling stories.

As a professional, you’ll be using a range of tools including Photoshop, Inkscape and Illustrator. We recommend you go to our tool picker to help you choose the right tool for your current level.

Working in the games industry is highly competitive and you’ll need to make sure your portfolio (a collection of your best work) stands out to employers and course leaders.

As a Concept Artist, your portfolio should showcase a range of art styles to demonstrate your versatility. Your characters and environments should have depth and personality, showing movement, texture and a good understanding of lighting. Although you should learn by copying and adapting others' work, when you begin putting your portfolio together, your work should always be original.

Once you have a portfolio, you can showcase it on platforms like Behance, ArtStation or through your own website. For more ideas, see our top tips page on building your portfolio.

Whatever role you are working in, it is essential that you understand the game making process. Get started right away in our build a game section, start modding others games or join a game jam to build up your skills and network.