—Roles within Animation—
- Concept Artist: A concept artist creates a variety of initial ideas for a project which portrays different looks and styles that the project could use based off of the story created by the writer.
- Character Designer: A character designer creates model sheets and finalised designs based off of what the concept artist has created and what the producers want. The model sheets ensure that the animators stay ‘on model’ throughout the course of the production.
- 2D Animator: A 2D animator can have a variety of jobs from creating keyframes for an animation to drawing the in-betweens of those keyframes. They can also refine sketches to clean line art that stays ‘on model’ based off of the model sheets the character designer creates.
—Skills needed to be a Concept Artist—
- Time Management – You will need to be able adapt quickly to changes in schedules and deadlines as if you fall behind so does the whole project.
- Attention to details
- Communication – You will need to pitch and describe any design ideas or concepts you come up with to others.
- Team Work & Self Management – You will need to be able to rely on others and keep yourself on track so as to not delay anything as you are working as a part of a wider design process
- Experience in a range of Creative Software’s – Software used can differ from studio to studio.
- Resilience – You need to be able to receive feedback and constructive criticism and adjust your work to meet what the director/client wants.
—Entry Level or Previous Experience—
It is difficult to become a concept artist straight out of University but not impossible; it’s often preferred if you have some past experience.
I really like the idea of working as a concept artist/ character designer for Studio Meala as they are located in Roscommon, Ireland and I feel it would be a good starting point to gain some experience in the industry. In the post it doesn’t specify that you need past experience.
—CVs—
—Showreels—
The first few aren’t for concept art but I liked the timing and editing used.
CGI Animation Showreel HD “Animation Show Reel” by AnimationCafe Studio | CGMeetup – YouTube
Game animation reel Joshua Ararao – YouTube
The next few are for concept art and are very different compared to the other showreels. I like the use of zooming and panning camera movements on the still images and the quick, punchy editing.
CGI & VFX Showreels: “Concept Art Reel 2018” – by Marcin Rubinkowski | TheCGBros – YouTube
Javoraj – Concept Art Showreel – YouTube
When creating my own CV, Cover Email and Showreel I want to have a theme that travels across them. When creating my Showreel I think I’ll make it more like the first two examples above as I have more animated work than still images but in the future I hope to make a showreel more like the second one with time lapses of work and interesting camera movements.