Cenay Oekmen Talks Concept Art

Creature Concept Art by Cenay Oekmen

Cenay Oekmen is leading a new evening class in Concept Art, starting in March 2018 and digging into the skillset that allows digital artists to create stunning artwork and help shape the style and design of a project.

Concept Art sits alongside a number of other evening classes that we are now running, such as Storyboarding and Character Design, where we teach the skills that make up the pre-production part of our industry.

Production may get shipped to cheaper shores, but pre-production work tends to stay at home, and producers regularly complain of skills shortages in this area. We asked Cenay to talk a little about how he got into Concept Art, and how students can follow in his footsteps, and break into the industry.
 

As a child I was always interested in comics and movies, and I was practicing my drawing skills continually.

From a very early age I focused on how to learn traditional pencil drawing, and also learned how to use oil and acrylic paint techniques.  I also continually improved my skills by studying the work of other artists like Frank Frazetta, Boris Vallejo, Carlos Ezquerra, H R Giger, and Jim Henson.

My favorite project that I worked on was Enders Game. I was very lucky to have the opportunity to work on this film as not only was I working as a Concept artist and a DMP (digital matte painter), but I was also able to supervise the 3D team in the creation process of the asset build of my concept work.

Concept Art uses many different techniques, and software packages.  I generally use Maya to model the 3D geometry, Photoshop for texturing 3D geometry and for 2D digital matte paintings. I also use Mari for Texturing, Zbrush for displacement maps and concept work, and also Mudbox for texturing, displacement work and concept art.

Environmental Concept Art by Cenay Oekmen

Students on our Concept Art evening class can expect to learn how to use a number of the digital tools we that we, as digital artists, use to create our work.

In class, we will do one character and one vehicle concept with the help of 2D and 3D tools. Students will improve their knowledge and skills in the course, learning about the practice and theory of the world of concept art.

One of the most important aspects of being a good concept artist is to have a thorough knowledge of the digital tools now available.

Creature Concept Art by Cenay Oekmen

Students can improve their skills by studying the work of other artists, and also by looking carefully - with open eyes - at the world of nature, and all the beautiful creations she offers us.

Concept Art is a competitive career, and digital tools are now widely used in the industry, helping to speed up the way that art is created. It helps a lot if you know ZBrush and Photoshop.

Students should also create a wide range of different art work for their portfolios, demonstrating the ability to work in a number of different styles.

Cenay Oekmen is leading a new evening class in Concept Art, starting in March 2018. 
To see more of Cenay's work, visit his official site.