To start my research into understanding concept art and its practices within the games industry I first wanted to understand what concept art is in its broadest definition.
I felt that this would be a good way to approach the topic of research as there often seems to be conflicting opinions on what is considered concept art and I find myself not understanding what is required to create concept art.
One of the repeating themes of defining what is concept art that I have found is that concept art is used to ‘convey’ the ‘look and feel’ of a project along with the goal for that concept art to be a ‘visual representation’ of an ‘idea’ rather than a final polished art piece.
In its earliest form concept art was a term used by the Walt Disney Animation Studio in the 1930’s, my research led me to find out how Walt Disney had plans to make his first animated feature film and so travelled around europe collecting illustrated books of fairy tales to inspire him, it was then he hired artists to work at the Walt Disney Animation Studio with the task to ‘draw as they pleased’ and to inspire the studios animators by taking them in unexpected visual directions with ‘inspirational art’ which was the name for concept art at the time - artists were free to let their imagination roam. Their ideas manifested into these drawings and paintings which would lead into the next stage of pinning down the story in the form of storyboards.
As an avid actor and storyteller Walt Disney had the ability to bring a story to life; which he would convey through his own talents - often acting out scenes and dialogue and so I believe he wanted this dedication of conveying in the work of the artists he hired.
It was through animation historian Dider Ghez’s book series ‘They Drew as They Pleased’ I was able to find out about these artists; one artist in particular I wanted to research more into was Gustaff Tenggren.
They Drew as They Pleased: The Hidden Art of Disney's Golden Age: The 1930's, Didier Ghez, 2015
Gustaff Tenggren was a Swedish-American artist who created early concept art for the animated film ‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs’, he could be considered one of the earliest prominent concept artists and the first to work on a large production feature animated film.
Snow White and The Seven Dwarves concept art, Gustaff Tenggen, ???
Before working at Disney, Gustaff started off as an illustrator for books and newspapers, mostly going unnoticed until he was contacted to illustrate the Swedish folklore and fairy tale anthology ‘Bland tomtar och troll’; this led his art to be more recognised and as the successor of John Bauer he went on to illustrate ten volumes along with being commissioned to create 32 illustrations for Grimm’s fairy tales by a Danish publisher in 1923.
Unknown illustration from Bland Tomtar och Troll annual, Gustaff Tenggren, ???
Winter Trolls by Candle, Gustaff Tenggern, ???
Looking into the making of ‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs’ I found that it was Gustaff’s concept art that heavily influenced the overall look and feel of the film; shifting from a cartoony style taken from the studios previous animation productions such as ‘Silly Symphony’ to a european storybook-esque style much like the fairy tales Gustaff had illustrated before.
I feel with a shift in context there was a shift in the art style and reflecting on older material played a role in this.
Research Reference:
https://www.illustrationhistory.org/genres/moving-image-concept-art
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7X8u-EjADw
https://d23.com/they-drew-as-they-pleased-book/
https://www.societyillustrators.org/gustaf-tenggren
https://www.millesgarden.se/files/other/pdf/TenggrenVaggtexterUtstallningen2020Engelska.pdf
http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.com/2017/05/tenggrens-concept-art.html
They Drew as They Pleased: The Hidden Art of Disney’s Golden Age: The 1930’s, Didier Ghez, Pete Doctor, 2015
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