Mists of Pandaria Concept Art

When it comes to gaming and game art, I always find Blizzard's concept art to be triple-A material. The art very accurately reflects the mood, feel and atmosphere of the environment, and these things are reflected well in-game. I try to learn what I can from the Blizzard artists, and see what they include and feature in their environments - so that I can try and replicate it when I come to produce my own concept art. 

Because Blizzard are a such a successful company, they can afford to be picky when it comes to who they employ, so they are able to attract and make use of some of the industries' best concept artists, which I think makes it a brilliant reason to keep an eye on the art they produce. These pictures were produced for World of Warcraft's latest expansion pack, set in a far-east environment. It's very different to anything they have produced so far and so it is a very fresh perspective on the game. From a game perspective, they have to look brand new, but retain an ancient vibe more fitting of the story in which the land in the concept art is set. From an art perspective, they are incredible pieces in their own right.

Part of me loses all hope of becoming better when I look at these pictures; I have a long way to go. But the other part of me is inspired and I find myself wanting to practice, practice, practice - in order to become better. I have promised to myself that I will improve on my art skills as looking at concept art such as this, I have reflected on many of my own problems and found some criticisms.

I put effort into my art but I rarely invest time; often I feel like I rush to 'get to the point', to finish the overall idea of the drawing whilst sacrificing the quality of how well that idea is presented. I feel that if I build up my drawings with sketch lines and gradually building on the foundations, I can do art a lot better than what I do now. These are among the basics of drawing, but it got to the point where I started to go beyond basics, now I think I find myself needing to go back to them. I feel it will be a benefit for me to at least try, and if not - or even if it does work and my art improves, I will continue to reflect on how to make it improve even more.