How does concept art work?

Before a film builds a single set, someone paints it. Concept art decides what a film's world, characters and objects look like before anyone builds them. Carpenters, tailors, 3D modellers and the director all work from the same pictures. Artists start with thumbnails: quick, stamp-sized sketches, often solid black silhouettes.

Read how it works: How does concept art work? · The history of concept art · More boxes on Glassbox

Chapters in this interactive model

1. A design document for the whole crew: Concept art decides what everything looks like before anyone builds it.
2. Thumbnails and silhouettes: Dozens of tiny black shapes, because a good design reads even as a shadow.
3. Shape, value and colour: Paint light and dark first, then colour; let distance fade things; lead the eye.
4. Keyframes, environments and perspective: Block out the set in simple 3D shapes, pick a camera, and paint over it.
5. Turnarounds and model sheets: One design, drawn from every side at the same scale, so it can be built.
6. Tools, careers and your portfolio: From pencil and gouache to tablets and 3D: the tools changed, the thinking did not.