Just a little concept art history lesson. The whole “concept art has to be hyper real” thing was a trend that started maybe 15 years ago or so and started to come to an end 5-10 years ago. It wasn’t always that way and it certainly isn’t anymore.

It moved in that direction because games were trending hyper real and scanning pipelines didn’t exist yet. In the past 5 years most games aiming for realism have realized the money saving potential of scanning, and also there are endless titles that aren’t realistic every year.

All those games require concept too. To the old guard dudes telling students their style doesn’t fit in the year 2020, do you think animal crossing has gritty realistic space man concepts orrrrr?

Some games and pipelines require and prefer realism, some don’t. They’re both perfectly valid paths in this industry. It’s mind blowing that people are still out there in mentorship positions claiming there’s a right way to do this. I question if they know this industry.

Me when I find out someone is telling folks their style isn’t good for concept at a respected industry event people have to pay to attend