Tobey Tobella - Concept Art 2024

Hi All! My name is Tobey Tobella and I'm about to show you the pieces I like the most of my 2024 Character Concept Art Portfolio. I used a wide variety of techniques which include Digital Painting, Photo-bashing and 3D Modelling. Hope you like them!

Ansu Yan Character Design

The first project I wanted to showcase is my most recent one, Ansu Yan the Turkey Driver, a Character and Prop Concept Design based on the #112 CDQ: Traveling Shepherd Challenge. In this project I used a mixed 3D/2D workflow that I learned at the Gnomon Workshop, which I found super fun and fast. Basically after an exploratory sketch phase based on the Story brief (which you can find further down) you resolve the final design through 3D, Photo-bashing and Digital Painting.

Turkey Trekkers, Prop Concept Design

Because Ansu Yan's Turkey Trekkers are such an important part of the concept design of the character I decided to do its own prop concept.

The Turkey Trekkers are a pair of devices designed to accelerate or decelerate turkeys simply by manipulating their triggers. When pulled, the turkeys speed up; when released, they slow down. A green light signals forward movement, while red indicates a halt. Also the light enhances the visibility for both Ansu Yan and the turkeys as they navigate their surroundings. 

Atomhawk Rising Star Mentorship

The following project is about 2 Character designs I did during the Atomhawk’s Rising Star Mentorship with the Senior Concept Artist Corto Rudant. Corto was a great mentor and I learnt a ton from him. The brief was about to design 2 opposite characters that fit within the same world. We took a much more traditional approach which relied 90% on digital painting and a 5% of Photo-bashing. In the second character though I decided to do a rough 3D model of the staff.

Ghala Ether Miner

Ghala is a resilient and tough Ether Miner, renowned for her strength and determination. She resides in a secluded community nestled deep within the mountains, where she and her fellow miners dedicate their lives to the discovery and extraction of ether. This remote and rugged settlement is home to a group of individuals who share a common goal: to unearth the precious ether that lies hidden within the mountain depths. Ghala's skills and strength make her a respected leader among her peers, as she navigates the treacherous mining tunnels and ensures the success and safety of their crucial work. 

Ether Priest

The Ether Priests are unholy devouts that preach the armageddon. They believe that only by sun exposure and ether drinking can it be saved. They roam the world like a swarm, spreading their gospel of desolation before them.

The following character designs I did for the Neo Tokio Artstation Community Challenge. I was inspired by the Akira Kurosawa Film Rashomon (1950) in which the different characters involved in a crime scene present their own versions of events, revealing how complex and unreliable human perception can be. I reimagined a similar story set in a Dystopian Tokyo in which a Detective and his law enforcement companion were trying to solve the murder in a back alley of a local Thug...

Due to the fast turnover for this challenge I relied mostly on Photo-bashing and Digital painting for this designs.

Kingo Kondo

Once a low-life criminal, recently made a fortune from a series of audacious heists carried out in collaboration with his gang, known as "The Fellow Felons." This criminal enterprise was proven highly lucrative that’s how he could afford his enhancement implants and his multi/purpose robotic arm. That night though, it was Kondo that became the target of a significant crime. The detective Rashun Kanabe has found out that "The Fellow Felons" have chosen the Butterfly's Club as their clandestine headquarters. Turns out the club's glamorous facade conceals a hidden world of criminal activity orchestrated by Kondo and his associates, making it a focal point in the city's criminal underworld…

Detective Rashun Kanabe

Young detective Rashun Kanabe, known as Rash among his colleagues, assumed the lead role in investigating a gruesome murder that had occurred in a dimly lit alley in downtown Neo Tokyo. Rumors circulated that this assignment might be linked to his brother's history as a frequent visitor to the Butterfly's Gentlemen's Club. Rash had been anticipating a more challenging case, especially since he had recently received a promising software update designed to further augment his sensory capabilities.

This one last image it's the rest of the characters line up I designed for the challenge, a total of 6 in a month that lasted the duration of the challenge.

The Last project I want to showcase it's a Character design I did for the annual Atomhawk competition in which I was fortunate enough to win the Rising Star Mentorship prize. For this one last character and only used the good old Digital Painting.

Final Words

I hope you had as much fun checking my work as myself doing it, if you want to see more you can find me in the following websites:

Artstation: https://www.artstation.com/tobeytobella

Email: [email protected]

Thank you for stoping by!

Tobey Tobella