A Quick Way to Create Concept Art Using Alchemy (Works Great with Robots)

24

Struggle with creative block? After watching this Alchemy tutorial you will know how to create concept art in a really quick way.

Alchemy Tutorial: Getting Through Creative Block to Create Concept Art

concept art tutorial alchemy

Personally, I can approve that creating a concept art from scratch is insanely hard. It’s like trying to remember yourself when you were five years old.

If you push really hard, you may find yourself staring at the blank page, with a cold coffee in your hand.

But actually, there is a way out of this sleep of reason.

Download Alchemy

Feed some 2D shapes to your brain first. Create an improvised Rorschach test using a free drawing software called Alchemy. And I guarantee you will get your ideas back.

Goblins? No problem.

Robotic aliens? You name it.

robots concept art tutorial alchemy
To start the object recognition mechanism, feed some random shapes to your brain

Step 1. Draw a Bunch of Random Shapes in Alchemy

Start spilling the ink.

Keep the process as fluid and freestyle as possible.

Listen to Matt Uelmen Tristram theme from Diablo. Just make sure you not allowing logical thinking to intervene.

Use the Pull Shapes (with the ‘Parts’ folder) tool to create the hard surface angular shapes.

shapes_02
The Pull Shapes tool works wonders with robotic designs

Step 2. Find the Robot!

Now look at these shapes and find the robot. I’m sure that there is one.

I see not only the robot, but the Drakula-style haircut, the witch house and some ducks.

(And now imagine that you can use Mandelbrot fractals as a base for your concept art!).

alchemy tutorial robot
I found my robot! Here it is. And where is yours?

Step 3. Draw the (Owl) Concept in the Image Editor

The next step is to draw the robot in Photoshop, Gimp or Krita.

Use the Alchemy generated inkblot as a base and start sketching the robo. Keep it freestyle.

No need to lay out precise strokes during that stage.
Starting to draw over the Alchemy-generated random shape

Step 4. Tweak the Outlines

Now when you have created a rough outline, start making your concept pretty.

• Define the volume
• Define the key light direction to reveal the form of the model
• Lay out the fine brush strokes
robot concept art alchemy tutorial
Time to polish the outlines and define the forms

Step 5. Finalize the Concept Art

Congrats, my friend. You made an awesome concept art (I really hope you did).

As the last touch you can work on presentation.

How will you frame it?

Maybe you would like to add some color or texture to it?

Personally, I love how the paper texture looks. Gives the whole thing a hand-drawn vibe.

alchemy tutorial robot concept art
Here is the result of this tutorial. I like it!

Now It’s Your Turn

Now download Alchemy and start creating your own robots, mythical creatures and other exciting stuff.

Here is a little bonus for you: my Alchemy shapes at full resolution.
shapes_02

You can use it as a starting point for your concept.

Share your works in the comments and tell me if this tutorial was helpful to you.

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE

bokeh tutorial

Bokeh Tutorial for CG Artists

This is bokeh tutorial aimed mainly at CG artists. Why? We won’t speak much about aperture and lenses here. Our main focus will be general principles of bokeh effect and how it relates to creating stunning images.

Infographics: 22 Steps to Getting Your Project Done (Without Being Inspired)

Inspiration sucks. You don’t have time to wait for inspiration (neither do I). After following these 22 steps you will be super confident to create your next project.

inspiration infographics

Please Share This Tutorial 1075 Times

gleb_alexandrov_02

If you enjoyed this tutorial and think it may help other people to create a better concept art, please share it by clicking share buttons below (or above) the post. It means a lot to me.

Really appreciate your time.

And feel free to subscribe to the newsletter to get ahead in art, computer graphics and espresso brewing.

    Gleb Alexandrov

    24 comments

    1. ctdabomb

      Cool stuff! I never really got into using Alchemy, it didn’t work on my old computer, but now I think I shall have to try again, Thanks!

      0

      • Gleb Alexandrov

        You are welcome! Try it, you’ll be surprised how much fun it is.

        0

    2. Johnson Martin

      Alchemy is an awesome program. I found out about it just a week or two ago and I’ve been waiting to try it. 🙂

      0

      • Gleb Alexandrov

        Now is a good time to do it. Share your tests with us here, if you want )

        0

        • Johnson Martin

          Indeed! Here’s a few drawings from my first session of drawing in Alchemy.

          I already feel inspired to make some new artworks!

          0

          • Gleb Alexandrov

            Woah! I really like it! How did you make the second one?

            0

            • Johnson Martin

              Thanks! I used Splatter Shapes for the majority of it. Then some regular drawing with the Shapes tool.

              0

    3. Uncle Snail

      Awesome! Alchemy really makes some pretty awesome shapes. I can just see the robots appear. 🙂

      0

    4. LABAI Grieztas

      cool tool, thank you!

      0

    5. Brad Sowter

      Great tutorial on how to get over the creative block, here is my dabble with the software and my robot.

      0

      • Gleb Alexandrov

        Thnx again, Brad. Wonderful draft and I appreciate it 🙂

        0

    6. Charlie Ringström

      Gleb! You just made my favourite video! THANK you! I have done a couple of wanna-be sci-fi concepts, but they all lack the inspiration and detail! Really cool tip!

      0

    7. Carlos Sosa

      I started this after reading your Painting Robots article on 3D Artist magazine a while ago. I used Alchemy to get some ideas, I put them together and I came out with this robot.

      0

      • Charlie Ringström

        Awesome!

        0

    8. Charlie Ringström

      All the images posted here are so Gleb-ish! Maybe it should become a new category – Gleb-ism!

      0

      • Gleb Alexandrov

        Hhahaha :))) No problem, we have some things in common. Inspiration sources, cultural background and Alchemy, damn it 🙂

        0

    9. Mason Menzies

      wow! awesome! 2 mins i have have some inspiring stuff! going to start sketching it now 😀

      0

    10. CrazyEngine

      Wohoho <3 I'm so dumb at drawing stuff but this one is pretty great! xD Do you have any advise on buying a graphictab or something like that? I'm unable to draw a bee with my mouse :c

      0

    11. Ewa

      Anyone have a problem with Alchemy on Windows 10?… I cannot use some shapes, because program crashes.

      0

    12. Jesse Smith

      Good stuff Gleb! Great way to get ideas flowing.

      0

    13. Александр

      Hello Gleb! After viewing your lesson I thought it was super great app!
      I quickly cooled down as soon as has understood that this is java application.
      They are always so many problems!

      First it required a very old version of the Java runtime environment 1.5.0, and then install informed that it required “Wintab32.dll”.

      In the end I did not manage to make this application work in windows

      Fortunately, there is a simplified version on the web site: http://webchemy.org/

      better than nothing

      0

      • Gleb Alexandrov

        Thanks for the link, Alexander. Or as an alternative, you can create a few random ‘inkblots’ in Gimp, Krita or Photoshop, and then interpret it.

        0

    14. Jonathan Patton

      The alchemy website doesn’t come up for me 🙁 Anyone have a working link?

      0

    Comments are closed.