What's your training like? How do you become a concept artist? Is there specific training?
TL;DRMost of the concept artists are self-taught or came from varied backgrounds, such as product design with a private master's course or a games art degree, rather than one specific training path.
I always liked to draw, and then I wanted to draw properly, got into the loop, learned what concept art was, and just liked it, started studying it by myself.
So no formal official training, just nose to the grindstone?
I graduated in product design. I started working in the product design and transportation design industry in a pretty famous car design company, manufacturer in Italy. I understood that it wasn't for me, really. Nothing particular. It was just too real, and I really like the virtual world a little more, so I did a master in concept art, still in Italy, did some indie work in Germany, moved here in production, became concept artist, became senior and lead.
They actually had a university program that you can master in for concept art?
No, it was a private academy. It was a very small course. The best thing it did was really introducing me to the people in the industry and motivating each other. The industry in Italy is not very big, so moving out was almost mandatory.
I'm self-taught as well. Mostly because concept art, I would say, is a bit more of a niche job, at least for now. So where I'm from, Germany, there are not really any, at least not any good schools that have concept design courses. There are some around the world. There are some very good ones. Usually they're quite expensive, though. I'm not saying they are bad, but I'm saying the schools are not as good as ones in other countries. So self-taught, was working freelance for a while, and at some point joined Star Citizen, and it's been very nice so far.
I have a degree in games art and design, which I call a gaming license. And I got that six years ago now. And I worked at Frontier for a bit, so I actually worked on Elite Dangerous for a bit. I was at Frontier, but the work they were giving me was not very exciting, because I was on F1 Manager as well. And if you're thinking, what on earth do you design in a Formula 1 management video game? It's a great question. I also didn't know what the hell I was doing. And then I messaged this guy, and he was like, yeah, OK, we'll let you in.