Concept art thumbnail sketches. Inktober!

Hi there!

I'm sharing a page of small thumbnail sketches I've been working on. October is also known as Inktober, so I've decided to put away my tablet pen and pick up an ink pen for my concept work.

Thumbnails are small (hence the term thumbnail!) hand drawn sketches that help to establish a subject and composition for a larger illustration or painting. They are excellent for coming up with ideas quickly, as they only take a few minutes to complete due to their small size: I like to go about 8-10cm across.

I lay in a small, rough box, and then sketch my idea in. I like to do this with an ink pen, because it forces you to commit. Pencils are great, but they also allow you to erase, and for me personally, I tend to get more ideas out when I can't erase my lines over and over again.
This is a series of environment ideas.

This scene is a sci-fi environment idea. I wanted a low angle of view, so I made a low horizon line. Note please let me know if you would like me to make a future post going more in depth into perspective and angle of view.

The way I like to work is by keeping the "Rule of Thirds" in the back of my mind when drawing out objects of interest. What this is, is the idea that subject matter sits most comfortably in the frame when it is placed in or close to the intersections made when you split the page into 3, both vertically and horizontally. This isn't a rule that you always need to follow, but it helps to consider it, especially when your drawing just looks a bit unbalanced.

Here is an example below, where I drew in some green lines to show you roughly where the thirds intersect.

It's a very rough sketch, but it shows a character in the foreground on the left is a main subject, looking at some kind of building on the right hand side. Both objects sit roughly in the thirds of the page, which helps lead the eye through the scene.

Here are a few more.

A sci-fi space port perhaps?

The rooftops of some buildings.

A man rowing a boat through a flooded city.

If you want to sketch something but just can't figure out what to draw or perhaps where to start, give these a go! Spend 3 or 4 minutes on each one and fill up a page. Perhaps you'll come up with a new idea you hadn't thought of before and have the beginning of a new picture.

Have fun and see you soon! :)
Peter