Pep Talks For The Beginner Concept Artist

 In the previous post we looked at the process of gathering references and applying them in design work with our coral-based architectural example. In this post we're going to be continuing on with that project, now looking at the idea of tonal referencing.  Tone and Referencing in Concept Art Alongside working out the physical designs of things/characters in the game world, the role of a concept artist can also entail exploring and providing indications of tone - the mood/feeling of a location or sequence in a game. Just as with design work, tonal exploration benefits from the reality-based foundation that referencing provides. Our surroundings convey plenty of tone in real life - just think about how cloudy, rainy weather make us feel compared to a clear blue sky - and it's important that we use that to our advantage in the form of reference. Introducing the Exercise Following on from my coral citadel design work that we looked at in the previous post, the next step was to be