The Digital Matte Painting Handbook

Creating a Concept Sketch

It’s time to start your first matte painting. Your project will be to create a castle on top of the Scottish bluff overlooking the sea. As you sit down at your computer with a plate on your screen, the question invariably arises, “What am I going to paint?” If you were working on a movie, you would be given direction as to the look and feel of the piece. You have the hardest and most creative task of all—you can do whatever you want. I encourage you to do several concepts with distinctly different moods, and then pick the best of the group to work on in subsequent chapters. As you continue, let me share some ideas on how to unleash your imagination.

Coming Up with Ideas

My students often try to short-change the concept ...