The Art of Fantasy A complete step-by-step guide to drawing characters and concept design

by Zi, Meng

• ISBN13: 9781800922679
• ISBN10: 1800922671
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2025-04-15
• Publisher: Search Press

Summary

The ultimate guide to fantasy character design from renowned illustrator, Meng Zi.

This comprehensive manual, packed with breathtaking illustrations, is your key to crafting the most extraordinary beings in the realm of fantasy: it is an essential tool for game and animation designers, hobbyists, art students and teachers alike.

Astonishing in detail and staggeringly conceived, Meng Zi’s fantasy characters are a masterclass in conceptual design. Whether you're looking for a practical reference or an idea generator, this guide is sure to spark your creativity. Filled with artistic insights and practical exercises, this comprehensive guide will teach you basic anatomical structure, help you to finesse your own design ideas, and then improve your aesthetic prowess through observation and practice.

Inside you’ll find:

• Design and drawing: A technical overview of conceptual design and drawing, including point, line and plane, geometry and various forms of perspective, all explored visually, and critical for breathing life into your characters.
• Human anatomy and kinetics: Understand the structure and movement that serve as the foundation for all character design. The skeletal and muscular systems are explored in a number of ways, from traditional musculo-skeletal illustrations to line and cube forms. Also included is a guide to creating hands, feet, limbs and facial features full of character and expression.
• Animal anatomy: Discover the real-world building blocks that will shape your mythical creatures, including skeletal form and musculature as well as features such as wings, spines, horns and tails.
• Fantasy fusion: Merge reality with imagination as you design fantastical beings, from fire-breathing dragons and elegant centaurs to robots, aliens and demons.

Whether you're looking for a practical reference or an idea generator, this guide is sure to spark your creativity and take your fantasy character design to new heights.

Author Biography

Meng Zi is a freelance illustrator with a growing following of 21,000 fans on social media platforms. He has over a decade of experience in character design and 7 years in educational work. Renowned in the field of gaming and animation design, Meng Zi has contributed to numerous 3D animation projects, involving character conceptualization, poster design, and promotional illustrations. 'The Art of Fantasy' is his first book, summarizing his creative experiences and techniques from the perspective of an industry practitioner. With annual sales reaching 40,000 copies and accolades as one of the best-selling books of 2020 on several Chinese charts, this comprehensive guide is available now in English. Meng Zi possesses exceptional hand-drawing skills, specializing in creature design and demonstrating proficiency in human and animal anatomy, as well as dynamic human kinetics.

Table of Contents

 
Chapter 1: Introduction to conceptual design and drawing; 1.1 The world of fantasy 10; 1.1.1 Mastering structure and dynamics of human body 11; 1.1.2 Conceptual design 11; 1.2 Painting tools 12; 1.3 Basic knowledge 15; 1.3.1 Technical terms 15; 1.3.2 Uses of lines 16; 1.3.3 Combination of point, line and plane 17; 1.3.4 Combination of geometry 18; 1.4 Perspective 19; 1.4.1 One-point perspective 19; 1.4.2 Two-point perspective 19; 1.4.3 Three-point perspective 20; 1.4.4 Cavalier perspective 20; 1.5 Sketch 21

Chapter 2: Structure and dynamics of human body; 2.1 Human skeletal system 24; 2.1.1 Main joints of human body 24; 2.1.2 Proportion of skeleton 28; 2.1.3 Characteristics of skeleton 29; 2.1.4 Spatial relationship of skeleton 36; 2.2 Human muscular system 38; 2.2.1 Three views of muscles 38; 2.2.2 Head 40; 2.2.3 Facial features 42; 2.2.4 Drawing exercise of head 51; 2.2.5 Muscles of neck 56; 2.2.6 Muscles of trunk 58; 2.2.7 Muscles of limbs 64; 2.2.8 Drawing exercise of whole body 76; 2.3 Character dynamics 79; 2.3.1 Matchstick man 79; 2.3.2 Cube man 81; 2.3.3 Display of human dynamics 83; 2.4 Sketch of human body 91

Chapter 3: Animal structure; 3.1 Structure of animals 96; 3.1.1 Structure of gorilla 96; 3.1.2 Structure of horse 98; 3.1.3 Structure of antelope 100; 3.1.4 Structure of dog 102; 3.1.5 Structure of lion 104; 3.1.6 Structure of bat 106; 3.1.7 Structure of eagle 108; 3.1.8 Structure of fish 110; 3.1.9 Structure of western dragon 112; 3.1.10 Structure of dragon hawk 114; 3.1.11 Structure of endosaurus 116; 3.2 Animal structure in details 118; 3.2.1 Head 118; 3.2.2 Horns 118; 3.2.3 Limbs 121; 3.2.4 Wings 122; 3.3 Drawing of animal structure 123; 3.3.1 Drawing of geometry 123; 3.3.2 Drawing of muscular structure of animals 126; 3.3.3 Combination of different animal skeleton 128; 3.4 Detailed explanation of creation and drawing 131; 3.4.1 Hou 131; 3.4.2 Three-headed dragon 133; 3.5 Appreciation of fantasy species 135

Chapter: 4 Conceptual design for game and animation; 4.1 Style 142; 4.2 Design idea 147; 4.2.1 Exaggerated modeling 147; 4.2.2 Symmetry of modeling 149; 4.2.3 Symbolization of modeling 150; 4.2.4 Silhouette of modeling 151; 4.2.5 Line matching 153; 4.2.6 Expression of decorative elements 154; 4.2.7 Contrast of multiple characters’ body 156; 4.3 Design scheme exercise 157

Chapter 5: ; Applied elements in character design; 5.1 Pattern design 168; 5.1.1 Classification of pattern 168; 5.1.2 Creation of pattern 170; 5.2 Armor design 175; 5.2.1 Form of armor 175; 5.2.2 Chinese armor 176; 5.2.3 Japanese armor 178; 5.2.4 European armor 179; 5.3 Other prop design 180; 5.3.1 Weapon design 180; 5.3.2 Mount design 186; 5.3.3 Other accessory design 190

Chapter 6: ; Character setting hand-drawn practice; 6.1 Male character - Guardian of Stone of Destiny 192; 6.2 Female character - Unruly Girl 196; 6.3 Goblin - Midnight Princess 199; 6.4 Mechwarrior - Destroyer 202; 6.5 Monster design - Hellcaller 205; 6.6 Merman - Deep Sea Warrior 210; 6.7 Sorcerer - Sheeta 214; 6.8 Ghost - Archer 218; 6.9 Demon - Horned Demon 222; 6.10 Mercenary - Gold 226; 6.11 Display of conceptual design scheme 230

Chapter 7: Model reference collection; 7.1 Portrait 242; 7.2 Line art of character modeling 249; 7.3 Marker performance of character modeling 268