1. INTRODUCTION

Hello everyone! I am Dani Puente and this time we will see how to make a concept art composition, for this we will talk about the different composition techniques such as balance and color to guide the viewer to the point of interest in our environment.

Shall we start? Open a new document in your Clip Studio Paint and let's draw!

 

File> New> 3000x2100 px Illustration (horizontal)> OK

 

2- COMPOSITION RULE

We will start by creating a new layer to draw our compositions.

We will make thumbnails with little detail to sketch an idea and a composition. These thumbnails are called thumbnails. To do this, using the “paint pot” tool, we will paint our new layer a light gray by “clicking” in the center of the canvas. Next, we will activate the grids to divide the canvas into three vertical and three equal horizontal sections.

 

View> grid (1)

View> grid settings> interval 100, number of divisions 1. (2)

 

Now, with the "snap to grid" button activated, as you can see in the following image, we will draw the two vertical lines and two horizontal lines with a light color that does not disturb the eye; so that the 9 divisions we create are equal.

Now we have created the basis to be able to carry out and follow the so-called "Rule of Thirds" this is a compositional technique widely used in photography, illustration, design ... Personally, it is the one that I recommend using the most because it will allow you to always balance your illustration of a simpler and more practical way. Those 4 points that stand out must be the guides where to place the points of interest in the image because that way we will achieve a better composition: compensated and balanced.

Next, we deactivate the grid and transform the layer with "cmd + T" (on Mac) or "cnt + T" (on Windows) to a much smaller size to fit about 6 or 9 thumbs, if you hold down the "key. Shift ”when scaling, the layer will not lose its original aspect ratio. Keep in mind that to duplicate the layer you just have to right click on the desired one in the layers panel and press "duplicate".

Before starting to draw I recommend several things:

 

• Find references and make a collage with the illustrations of artists that inspire you the most. This will help you to be more creative and achieve more richness in your scenarios.

 

• Balance your composition. When we talk about balance in an image, we mean how to distribute the weights or colors in space. I explain it to you in this image:

 

• And, finally, I recommend you avoid symmetry so that the environment gains in dynamism, interest, attractiveness and composition. Despite this, there are times when the artist decides to carry it out if he is looking for a more static, rigorous or sober image. It can be seen in these examples:

3- GUIDE THE VIEW OF THE SPECTATOR

It must be taken into account that in each image there is an element that is the protagonist, that is, that causes more interest than the rest of the objects in our illustration, in this way we provoke the viewer so that his gaze is directed to that point. How to do that? Here I show you the two most efficient ways:

• The first consists of the color tool, through it we can highlight our point of interest through warm strokes in a cold space (or vice versa). This is a technique that works very well thanks to the contrast of temperatures in the color palette.

 

• The second technique is based on orienting the elements of the composition to point or direct the gaze to the focus of interest, for example, making the clouds, branches, roads or rivers subtly point at it.

4- ADJUSTMENTS AND CONTRASTS. COLOR PERSPECTIVE

Finally, it is worth highlighting the importance of creating a favorable atmosphere and according to our idea in our miniature.

Through color (or through gray if it is in black and white) we will make our concepts work better and we will help the viewer to immerse themselves in the stories we tell through our ideas.

To achieve this, always use less saturated and more paste-like colors in the background, to give a sensation of distance and see their intensity and detail increasing as the shots are closer to us. Look at this image to analyze the distance and order of each plane:

Note: I advise you to incorporate human figures in some of your environment concepts to scale the composition. You'll see how this little detail gives life and realism to your thumbs.

 

I also leave you some examples in black and white so that you can see that the same principles work as with the color tool.

 

5. CONCLUSIONS

Note that the thumbs are indicative images, small sketches without too much detail to check if your idea and composition work, therefore, avoid focusing too much on the textures or detailing the elements of the illustration, and choose to focus on the image in general and forget the particular. Use no more than 4-5 colors or shades of gray and 2 or 3 tools. How can you see in the video I have used:

 

 

• Gradient tool for skies

• Pen Tool - Calligraphy, varying the angle in the lower panel "tool properties"

• Brush Tool - Watercolor - Blend watercolor for clouds

• And the soft Airbrush Tool to give atmosphere between the different elements and planes.

 

As you can see, it doesn't take much more to carry out these miniatures prior to our final art, just follow these simple guidelines and above all, enjoy the concept art!

I hope that my advice along with my video will help you and soon you can make powerful and balanced scenarios.

With all this, we come to the end of this tutorial. I encourage you to share with me on Instagram (@Danipuente_conceptart) the thumbnails that you have made through this tutorial, I would love to see them!

 

If you have doubts, I am at your disposal in my email danielpuentemorales@gmail.com.

 

A pleasure to draw for all of you!

If you liked it, visit my other tutorials in Clip Studio Paint: