TOP 10 TIPS FOR ENVIRONMENT ART (FEATURING YOUR ART!)
Summary
TLDRIn this episode, Tyler Edlund shares valuable environment design tips for visual and concept artists. He critiques artwork from the community with a Pokémon theme, highlighting key design principles like visual hierarchy, rule of odds, depth of field, and balance. Tyler emphasizes the importance of structure, lighting, and scale, offering detailed feedback on submissions. He announces a new community challenge inspired by 'The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild,' encouraging artists to submit their themed artwork by May 20th. Join the Discord for more details and to participate in future challenges.
Takeaways
- 🎨 The video is a tutorial on environment design tips for visual development artists, concept artists, and anyone looking to improve their design and painting skills in creating scenes.
- 🌟 The episode features Pokemon-themed art from the community and announces the next themed challenge, which is related to the game 'Breath of the Wild'.
- 👤 The speaker, Tyler Edlund, is a professional in art and design, with a passion for Nintendo and video games, and he shares his expertise in teaching and critiquing art.
- 🎮 Tyler critiques the visual design of the recent Pokemon games 'Scarlet and Violet', noting the lack of texture and imaginativeness in their environments.
- 📸 He compares the Pokemon games to other RPGs like 'Nino Cooney' and 'Dragon Quest 11', which have more detailed and creative visuals and design.
- 🏆 The community challenge involves reimagining scenes from 'Pokemon Scarlet and Violet', encouraging artists to improve upon the original game's visuals.
- 📐 Tyler emphasizes the importance of design principles such as the rule of odds, visual hierarchy, and depth of field in creating compelling environment designs.
- 🌞 He discusses the need for balance in exposure, suggesting that too much saturation and brightness can be overwhelming and advises on creating a sense of depth with lighting.
- 🌳 Tyler points out issues with scaling in environment design, using examples to show how incorrect scale can disrupt the viewer's perception of a scene.
- 🔄 The video stresses the significance of unity and balance in design, suggesting that too much symmetry can be as problematic as too much asymmetry.
- 🛠️ Lastly, Tyler advises artists to focus on structure when designing environments, highlighting the importance of planning and sketching before adding details.
Q & A
What is the main theme of the video?
-The main theme of the video is providing environment design tips for visual development artists, concept artists, and anyone looking to improve their sense of design and painting for scenes, with a special focus on a Pokemon theme.
Who is the host of the video?
-The host of the video is Tyler Edlund, a professional artist and designer who also does a lot of teaching.
What specific Pokemon games are mentioned as having lacking visuals?
-The specific Pokemon games mentioned are Pokemon Scarlet and Violet.
What two other RPG games are mentioned as having excellent visual design?
-The two other RPG games mentioned are Ni no Kuni and Dragon Quest 11.
What is the first principle of environment design highlighted in the video?
-The first principle of environment design highlighted in the video is the 'rule of odds,' which involves using an odd number of repeating elements for a visually pleasing composition.
What does Tyler emphasize about visual hierarchy in environment design?
-Tyler emphasizes that visual hierarchy is crucial in environment design, as it determines which elements are prioritized and emphasized in a scene, guiding the viewer's focus.
What tip is given regarding depth of field in environment design?
-The tip given regarding depth of field is to use out-of-focus elements in the foreground to help create a sense of depth, and to further emphasize depth by managing the edges and shapes around the main viewer.
What is one issue Tyler identifies in Corgi's submitted artwork?
-One issue identified in Corgi's submitted artwork is the excessive overlap of elements, which creates visual congestion and detracts from the overall clarity of the scene.
How does Tyler suggest balancing light and shadow in a scene?
-Tyler suggests balancing light and shadow by desaturating colors, lowering brightness, and strategically placing shadows to frame the main elements and create a more harmonious and visually balanced scene.
What are two key tips Tyler provides for improving environment scenes?
-Two key tips Tyler provides are ensuring proper scaling of elements to maintain realism and using lighting effectively to separate components and create depth in the scene.
What does Tyler recommend for achieving a sense of unity and balance in a design?
-Tyler recommends creating asymmetry within a symmetrical framework, breaking up repetitive shapes, and strategically placing elements to guide the viewer's eye and create a cohesive, balanced design.
What structural advice does Tyler give for starting and finishing an environment scene?
-Tyler advises blocking out the perspective, drawing a grid, and planning the structure with perspective to ensure consistency and avoid structural issues that can undermine the effectiveness of the scene.
What is the theme of the next community challenge mentioned in the video?
-The theme of the next community challenge is 'Breath of the Wild,' inspired by the new game 'Tears of the Kingdom.'
What is the due date for the next community challenge submissions?
-The due date for the next community challenge submissions is May 20th.
Outlines
🎨 Introduction and Theme Announcement
Tyler Edlund introduces the video, focusing on environment design tips useful for visual development artists, concept artists, or anyone interested in improving their design and painting skills for scenes. The episode features viewer art with a Pokémon theme and a challenge announcement at the end. Tyler briefly discusses his love for Nintendo, video games, art, and design, despite his limited history with the Pokémon franchise. He critiques the visuals of Pokémon Scarlet and Violet for their lack of texture and imagination, prompting the Discord community to reimagine and improve these environments.
🖼️ Example of Good Design: Arnie's Artwork
Tyler showcases Arnie's colorful artwork as an example of good environment design. He praises the use of the rule of odds, visual hierarchy, and depth of field. The main character is emphasized through framing and value structure, creating a visually pleasing layout. Tyler suggests further enhancing the depth of field and highlights the importance of triangulation in design.
🌳 Overlapping Elements in Corgi's Artwork
Corgi's artwork is used to illustrate the principle of maximizing overlaps in environment design. Tyler notes that while the visual path through the picture is effective, the overlapping elements create a congested appearance. He suggests spacing out elements strategically to improve clarity and depth. Tyler emphasizes the importance of balancing light and shadow and demonstrates how to adjust exposure and saturation for better visual impact.
🏙️ Scaling and Lighting in Justin's Artwork
Justin's cityscape artwork highlights issues with scale and lighting. Tyler explains how inaccuracies in scale, such as oversized trees, can disrupt the scene's realism. He advises using atmosphere to separate elements and create depth. Tyler also suggests adding details like docks, boats, and roadways to enhance the environment's continuity and sophistication. He recommends observing lighting references to avoid a flat appearance and achieve better light and shadow balance.
🌟 Unity and Balance in Kau's and Tabor's Artworks
Kau's and Tabor's visually striking artworks demonstrate the importance of unity and balance in design. Tyler appreciates the symmetry but suggests breaking up symmetrical elements to create more interest. He advises toning down certain aspects to emphasize key features, using lighting to frame important elements, and adding wildlife or other details to enhance the scene. The balance of elements is crucial for a cohesive and engaging environment.
📐 Importance of Structure in Ashton's and Super Arts' Artworks
Tyler discusses the importance of structure in environment design, using Ashton's and Super Arts' artworks as examples. He stresses the need for solid perspective and consistent structure to avoid inconsistencies that can undermine the artwork. Tyler recommends blocking out perspective, creating grids, and doing thumbnail sketches to ensure a strong foundation. Proper planning and drafting are essential for creating compelling scenes.
🎮 Next Challenge Announcement: Breath of the Wild Theme
Tyler announces the next community challenge, themed around The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. With the upcoming release of Tears of the Kingdom, he encourages viewers to create art inspired by the new game. The challenge deadline is May 20th, and submissions can be posted in the Discord link provided. Tyler expresses his excitement and invites the community to celebrate the franchise together through their art.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Environment Design
💡Visual Hierarchy
💡Rule of Odds
💡Depth of Field
💡Maximizing Overlaps
💡Balancing Light and Shadow
💡Unity and Balance
💡Structural Help
💡Pokemon Theme
💡Breath of the Wild Theme
Highlights
Introduction to environment design tips for visual development and concept artists.
Special episode featuring Pokemon-themed art and a community challenge announcement.
Discussion on the visual shortcomings of recent Pokemon games, 'Scarlet and Violet'.
Comparison of Pokemon visuals with other RPG games like 'Nino Cooney' and 'Dragon Quest 11'.
Emphasis on the importance of visual hierarchy in environment design.
Use of the rule of odds and creating a dynamic scene with visual triangles.
Advice on maximizing overlaps in environment design to create depth.
The significance of exposure and balancing light and shadow in scene design.
Critique on the lack of visual hierarchy causing visual confusion in design.
Importance of scaling elements correctly to maintain scene credibility.
Suggestion to use lighting to enhance depth and separate elements in a scene.
Recommendation for creating continuity and depth in environment scenes.
Highlighting the importance of unity and balance in design composition.
Tips on using structure as a fundamental starting point for environment design.
Announcement of the next community challenge with a 'Breath of the Wild' theme.
Encouragement for artists to participate in the challenge and celebrate the franchise.
Transcripts
hello folks and welcome today we're
going over some environment design tips
these will be great for visual
development artists for concept artists
or for anyone looking to improve their
sense of design and painting when it
comes to painting scenes this particular
episode is going to be special because
I'm going to be featuring your art and
we're going to have a Pokemon theme also
stay to the end and I'll announce the
next themed challenge we'll have and
these are of course all over at the
Discord link below
[Music]
alright so I'm Tyler Edlund I love
Nintendo I love video games I love Art
and Design I do it professionally I also
do a lot of teaching
I don't have some big history with the
Pokemon franchise itself I dive into
some of the games with my kids but I do
enjoy them nonetheless but I did notice
with the recent releases scarlet and
violet that the visuals were kind of
lacking both in in regards to their
technical presence and even some of
their the imaginativeness with them as
well as you can see here are two
screenshots from the game it's all right
right it doesn't get your creative
juices going uh the first one it looks a
little better than the second one here
but but again it lacks texture they
overall feel pretty bland there is again
a technical aspect with these with and
I'm not going to get into that for this
particular video and that's why I task
the Discord members with the challenge
this month it's like what ideas could
you have to reimagine or to improve some
of the scenes and environments from
Pokemon scarlet and violet so we're
gonna really look at that
um and as you know like yeah it's it's
not always just about style because I do
think if Pokemon is a stylized game it
is for children but I think there's a
way to do that well there's a way to do
that better here are just two
screenshots from two other awesome RPG
games that are very similar
stylistically to the Pokemon franchise
both Nino Cooney and Dragon Quest 11.
they were awesome they were amazing a
lot of creativity went into them in
every little texture every little ounce
of design especially ninokuni that game
is top brass when it comes to design and
Aesthetics uh but who's really surprised
by that it was co-created with Studio
Ghibli as well as the popular Japanese
developer level five and of course
Dragon Quest 11 is a very old very long
franchise you know from Square Enix and
it again it does the stylized Aesthetics
very well so with that said let's get
into the art some of these will be
examples of what to do and some of these
will be example of what to avoid
first up we have this awesome amazing
colorful piece from my good pal Arnie
bill in here and this is a great example
of what to do the first awesome thing is
using the rule of odds right like there
is a lot of repeating elements
we have like various types of characters
again a nice simple odd amount of them
often work very well it's a very nice
safe choice to do the other awesome
aspect that I like and again an awesome
principle environment design would be
visual hierarchy this is high up on my
list of very important things so if we
look at the three elements
right like which one's being prioritized
it's very clear in what is being
emphasized here and and that's the key
is emphasis that would be this main
character down here it's not only Being
Framed within this Frame like we could
literally see in our eye the human eye
always goes to an object in a window
that's being framed like that visually
speaking and of course the value
structure most important the values are
very high so yeah having rule of odds
and visual hierarchy is very important
for environment designers
the other awesome aspect that I like
about this is the depth of field not
only do we get the cactuses out of focus
in the foreground and it helps again
really sell that sense of depth so much
that I'd actually probably encourage him
to go a little bit further with these
shapes with some of these shapes or
edges around that main viewer like again
the mountain far in the background I
think that's going to really help
further emphasize that depth of field
another little bonus tip that I like
that Arnie did is not only does he have
rule of odds visual hierarchy and depth
of field but they're actually making a
nice little kind of Trifecta of a design
like when you can triangulate almost
anything in a particular scene surely
it's a way of creating interest because
triangles are Dynamic right as a shape
so when you kind of break things down
visually into shapes and there's a lot
of visual triangles in this particular
scene it makes for a very
pleasing layout personally I would have
just closed the arch but again I think
it's a wonderful piece thank you Arnie
alright so similarly here up next for my
next big tip uh would be from Corgi uh
thank you Corey for submitting your work
I think this is awesome first and
foremost and it does show a lot of
awesome qualities that we looked at with
Arnie's but I do think this is a great
opportunity to to show another major
principle and element when it comes to
creating environment design and that is
to maximize overlaps now this is
overlapping them almost maybe maxed out
too much so we have to have a little bit
of a reservation when it comes to that
so for example we have like a nice
visual path through this picture again
I'm always a huge fan of that it's a tip
in itself but it's getting a little
congested with how these things are
overlapped in place see like this is
overlap this is overlap this that piece
is overlapping that it's overlapping
this right it basically this whole area
here is a big cluster of information and
not to say that is wrong because it's
not wrong but I personally would
recommend probably to space things out a
little and pardon me for my quick little
mock-up here uh it's a little rough but
just to kind of get the point across you
know we move some of the trees out right
over to here we blew these up
have them break that boundary out of the
frame and then of course we can really
emphasize this nice little Archway here
personally I never had the time to move
the character I wouldn't align the
character because that would make a
tangent which is kind of a tip in itself
and when you have things aligned in
certain odd ways in the scene that makes
a form of tangent I'd probably just
offset the character have it be right
there you know but overall I think just
getting again a little bit of a sense of
atmosphere in there and to space out
strategically how and where things are
overlapped will certainly help your
scenes
with these two pieces I want to
demonstrate the importance of exposure
and balancing light and Shadow again
these are both really awesome creative
scenes they're fill of color full of
life and energy I love that but I would
say maybe they go a little too far with
that so like let's look at temu's piece
here first right it is
loud visually it's very loud very high
intense yellows Blues it's all maxed out
in terms of saturation and intensity the
chroma is so I would say like a little
bit of balance with that desaturating
that lower the brightness a little bit
then strategically play some shadows and
seeing help frame their image so for
example this is on the foreground if we
were to make this whole area here kind
of in Shadow that would help frame and
create a sense of depth and
this is kind of what I meant by that so
again I simplified some of the shapes in
the background that just kind of helps
communicate some of that visual noise
adding this whole area in Shadow to
start to emphasize
the main characters here and as well as
the Psyduck it's it's all about balance
so again it's a little less saturated
it's a little less intense overall and
similarly with with this piece it's the
same thing it's it's getting hit by this
very intense white basically everywhere
and it's blowing out all the highlights
in the scene
but again unlike Arnie's the other thing
that this suffers from is a lack of
visual hierarchy right that's kind of
the issue here is is we got like a path
right or if we follow that that that
water or the river I and I think that's
good right visual paths are good but
what exactly is being emphasized around
that visual path here is it these sets
of rocks is it this area right here is
it the Sun and mountains in the
background again it really could be any
of these or maybe none of those all the
same and why I pick those specific
things because light and attention is
being deliberately brought to all of
those components so again you would want
to ask yourself when designing a
particular scene what do I want to
emphasize and how can I balance that
picture to express that so when there's
a lack of visual hierarchy in a scene it
creates visual confusion I don't know
what I'm supposed to focus on here and I
didn't necessarily fix that I did want
to primarily use this to again it's
about balancing EXP closure and I think
just bringing a lot of that down right
kind of taking a lot of the white out of
it Reserve whites for really high
speculars on metals and things but like
just bring those colors down a little
bit then choose what you want to
emphasize and position the elements
around your scene to help Express that
all right these two awesome pieces this
one from zuriarat sorry I've probably
been uh butchered your name and this one
right here from Justin art from the city
location in Charlotte one of my favorite
locations Again underdone by the game I
think we can get an awesome lesson out
of these and that would be scaling and
lighting see I love
um what Justin's doing here but there
are issues with with scale and I feel
lighting could really help push that
forward one big tell of this with scale
and when scale is often a scene it can
entirely take the viewer out of it and
discredit the entire scene if we look at
the tree in the background here right
it's like that big so if that tree was
in the city it's going to be that big
absolutely dwarfing the buildings so
what you would typically see in a in a
city of course would be trees much lower
to the ground spread out like that and
it just goes to show you that these are
very giant trees that do feel at a scale
now in regards to lighting I feel
separating elements and components like
this Tree in this foreground with the
use of extra atmosphere back here it's
going to help create a better sense of
visual depth as well as using the
elements in this city to really like
buildings and and the lights in there to
really push that that lightness but I do
think like bringing that component and I
didn't even go all the way with it you
know adding the lights and stuff will
add a nice sense of life to that city as
well from a design standpoint I would
recommend both of these artists to
create a sense of
continuity and depth with these
environments meaning like what would you
see on a port city like this you'd
probably see docks at the bottoms lots
of little boats zipping about I do think
that could help these quite a bit maybe
there could be added suburbs with
smaller buildings and neighborhoods
around the buildings Justin's could
certainly benefit from something another
thing that Justin did really well here
was adding roads going to and from that
City and I think if this had you know
roads coming in and out of it it'd feel
a lot more natural and sophisticated as
well because we need roadways to get to
our cities all right
awesome stuff Justin I would probably
move the focal point a little further in
and then just do a lot more observation
in terms of lighting it does have a very
flat sort of look to it maybe that's
what you were going for but remember
even at night there's going to be
Moonlight there's going to be a direct
light a key light and a scene that's
going to create a sense of light and
Shadow this just has no light and Shadow
and that's what I'd recommend to study
and to get reference of of course when
it comes to painting a scene
all right our next two pieces here from
Kau again sorry if I mispronounced that
and
and Tabor here
awesome these are these are very
visually striking I think they add a lot
of character and depth that the game
could have really used if I mean if this
game was filled with art and
environments that had this level of love
and passion I feel the game would have
been a lot better if it could have
pulled that off these are absolutely
fantastic and I think for my next set of
tips here I'd really like to show the
importance of unity and balance in a
design like look at how we're saying
this this scene is so well balanced
maybe even to a fault in some situations
so what I mean by that is like if you
draw a line down the middle a lot of the
big elements are really just framed out
symmetrically there are some
asymmetrical elements like the tree and
the character and I think it's wonderful
for that but I think going like a little
bit further with that would have really
helped this so like maybe again breaking
up one of the cloud shapes so it's not
the same on both perhaps pushing the
silhouette of this main structure frame
framing it behind a big cloud
like that that will help emphasize that
and then maybe pulling back a little
more of these clouds on this side
to help break it or separate it from
that right side a little bit more but
other than that I mean this is absolute
stunning I love it I think having a few
more birds or a few wild Pokemon in the
background surely would have added to
that as well but again it's awesome
nonetheless and I love this I love the
lighting here and don't and be patient
here with my quick little mock-up on
this because it is roughing in the areas
it doesn't look as nice but what I would
have done with this is maybe tone back a
little bit of these waterfalls so that
the ones that you do keep you can create
a better sense of emphasis with again
that will help a sense of unity with
that so wait for example I took away
some waterfalls here and I think adding
some waterfalls or or taking some away
to add some here to create a little bit
of a a slight emphasis here so that our
eye could travel here and here and to
push the lighting along that path will
also really help that also if you're
keeping the Charizard character entirely
in Shadow framing that character with
some Direct light on a canyon right
behind it is again a great way to
emphasize that which will ultimately
really balance the piece out so yeah
it's it's a give and take process right
and we have to be our our best editor at
the end of the day when it comes to
things if we just keep throwing all of
our great ideas into any kind of
environment scenes then we could
overwhelm the viewer potentially all
right and for my last tips today for
these environments we have Ashton's and
super Arts these are great they have a
lot of potential but surely they need
structural help so for anyone that
struggles on how to start or even end an
environment always go back to your
structure the structure is fundamentally
the most important part to any scene
design
block out your perspective draw your
perspective again and again make a grid
I got videos on that if you need it
because again there's inconsistencies
and lack of structure that really would
fumble you know some pictures like this
no matter how many hours you put into it
so take the time and just plan do
thumbnail sketching and of course draft
your structure with perspective all
right
and guys for my next Community challenge
it's going to be breath of the Wild
theme we're already on the Nintendo
train
the new tears of the Kingdom's coming up
I'm stoked as heck I've already started
working on my fan art piece here so
let's all come together here and really
celebrate this franchise and do some art
that's simply inspired by the new game
alright this will be due May 20th and
you can post them in the Discord link
below thank you guys and I'll catch you
next time
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