Dirty Deeds – Concept Art Dump

If you’ve ventured here for some insight on how another creative has developed their own process and found a way to get the ball rolling on a large scale project… Then you’ve arrived at the right place!

The Beginning…

There is much to be said about developing a creative process that works and starting a large project will almost certainly cause this process to begin. For instance, my process is currently made up of 4 different parts:

  • Research
  • Thumbnails
  • Digital Renditions
  • And finally the clean final product.

Keeping things simple is usually the best way to go in the early stages.

Sharita Chase - Enso Studios

Artty's Arcade - concept sketch

Some challenges along the way during this step included choosing which characteristics would go into each individual deed card. Ultimately, separating myself from diving too deep into the Research part of the process helped me avoid overloading my brain with too much information. Pinpointing stuff like the art style was really the most research I allowed myself to do for this project.

Finesse that Mess!

Next up in the process are the Thumbnails! It was simple enough to create quick sketches of how I wanted this imaginary town to look. However, keeping the style the same has always been a challenge so focus on detail tends to becomes an obsession.

Once they were scanned and magnified on my screen they resembled something close to a hot mess. Stray lines, inaccurate light sources and viewpoints! Sifting through it all to create comprehensive rough drafts of all the Deeds in the game felt like a huge task. Looking back at everything, the hardest part was getting these little guys scanned and cleaned up for their debut!

Metro City Library - concept sketch

The Drs

Digital Renditions just allow me to make adjustments based on cleaner lines and some experimental use of tones. There are some below that help demonstrate what I’m talking about. Now I can definitely see which changes to make and play around with them until I’m satisfied with the result.

Caf Fiends - concept sketch
Lavanderia Laundr-o-mat - concept sketch
Marty's Circus - concept sketch
Metro City Super Store - concept sketch

The Wrap Up!

The beauty of the journey is being able to see the progression from one state to another in separate parts. This can also allow a better understanding of one’s own process and helps proficiency develop over time from practice.

Additionally, personal experience has taught me that every process is different for everyone so finding your own is just a matter of having a starting and end point to begin that amazing journey toward project completion!

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About the Author /

sharitac@enso-studios.com

I am a graphic designer at Enso Studios and needless to say I LOVE to design! My design process usually starts off as a huge mess with no regard for limitations. I like to think of myself as a person who is interested in many things, but realistically my interests are forever changing. In the end this usually helps me keep up with trends so my style never becomes stale.