The Preservationist - Ubisoft NEXT Submission

Ubisoft Toronto NEXT: Concept Art Apprentice Competition 2022 Brief

Participants must create concept art of the scene provided in the classified briefing. Pay close
attention to the broad descriptions in the document and make sure to incorporate details that
support your interpretation into the visuals.

Concept Art Brief:
“Today was going to be perfect. I could just feel it in my bones, but then I got called in... Body
in the upper quarter, near that fancy cafe, they make those cappuccinos people travel across
the city for. Looks like I'll be one of the few that'll be visiting for a different reason... and all on
my perfect day… You know I've never noticed how over the top these sculpted details on this
building were until they were glistening with blood. It's all kinda macabre. This kind of thing
doesn’t happen here… I mean it happens in the city, but not this part. And what's even more
perfect about today - the rain from last night washed a lot of the evidence away, like foam off
an old cap. Man, I could go for one… You know, if this was some crime of passion, or a
robbery gone wrong I wouldn’t be so grumpy. But whoever killed our Vic left something for us.
A calling card. This city just got another show-off…”

About the Scene:
Art Style: Art nouveau/realistic
Theme: Urban Fantasy
Brief: Crime scene / Hideout / Bar
City: New York / London / Rome (Chose one, or select a city of your choosing)
Location: Cafe (Interior or Exterior)
Tone: Dark and gritty
Year: Modern/Futuristic (Up to 10 years into the future)
Character: Show character tone piece - Full colour/ line work.

Parallax animation of the scene with particles and fog added in Adobe After Effects.

planning out the project based on the brief

Early explorations for the Detective as a female. Decided a male felt more like the character.

Character Overview
Gruff, strong silent, pipe smoker, stocky build, highly intelligent, sarcastic

Could see them being male or female

Anti-hero

final character iterations

Hero Pose - The detective finding drill bit/ evidence

key prop thumbnails for the detective's smoking pipe

The detective's smoking pipe. modeled in blender

Her appearances are brief but in those moments are enough to show she’s a girl in her mid twenties who’s lived through some rough times and both the PI and hopefully the audience grows an attachment for her making it difficult when she is murdered

second pass at character thumbnails

The serial killer is a socially awkward Professional Preservationist working at a museum to preserve and repair artifacts. Above all he values the history, artistry, and beauty. The display of the multiple victims are arranged to “repair” the art