Character & Environment: Bear Realm
The concept art seen here is for a game still currently in development. My role in the team is to create concept art for character & world designs, as well as 3D character modelling and animation.
The protagonist of this game has the power to traverse between realms like the Bear Realm, home to an community of friendly bears
living in igloos driven by their own self-sufficient economy and communal lifestyle. The realm takes heavy geographical inspiration from Inuit and Sami villages and icy mountainous landscapes in Iceland and the Antarctic.
The Bear Realm tells a story of contrasting cold isolation with communal warmth in the user experience. When you explore this realm inside the game, you may feel lost among the boundless snowy mountains and ice sheets outstretched across the horizon, but you also know that these cute, friendly and huggable bears not only survive amidst these cold extremities, but also keep themselves safe, and welcome you into their safe cavern full of warm, communal activity. You’ll feel warm and safe with company, even in the freezing cold.
Every sheet has its own caption for the contents, please read them to find out more about the concept art creative process.
This bear chief is from the Bear Realm, a realm where icy weather prevails, where the bears live in igloos and lead a simple way of life — hunting-gathering, providing and being a friend to all.
I looked to the Inuit and Sami people for inspiration: their way of life, their bountiful culture, all acclimated to the extreme cold.
The bears’ garments are directly inspired by Inuit clothing — the fur-lined parkas and the symmetrical patterns all indicate the bear community’s roles and status, much like the Inuit.
Thumbs of different bear villagers and bear chief designs. The fact that the bear chief was a big-boned fisherman was clearly the idea from the very beginning.
Pictures of stylised bears and Inuit clothing from Inuit tribes.
The geographical nature of this realm is ice, snow, and mountains. When developing the geography, I started with thumbnail sketches of interesting mountain formations while emphasising contrasting materials.
The image of an igloo civilisation inside a large cave with an entrance that looks like a bear's mouth became a core visual identity of the realm.
Props of the realm, developing the bear civilisation in the crystal ice cave.
Snapshot illustrations of the bear cave, from the perspective of the player character.
Pictures of ice caves, or holes in ice walls for my visual library to study the ice formations around the entrance.
The exterior would look more like “ice islands”, broken up ice sheets or separated continental areas.