The earliest uses for concept art is for designing automobiles, Disney also used concept art for their work.
One concept artist I have been looking at is Daryl Mandryk. His latest work was being the Lead Concept Artist for DIS' Tron Evolution the video game in 2010. He has also worked for companies such as EA, Lucasfilm, Hasbro and Radical Comics.
The link to his personal site as follows.
http://members.shaw.ca/dmandryk/index.htm
He has made over 100 pieces of concept art and can be viewed in the gallery.
My favourite piece of work from then is titled "dragon_rider_low_res" and is in the 2004-07 folder. It is of a dark dragon perched over a rock, with an armoured warrior mounted on the dragon's back.
I like it because it suits my favourite genre (fantasy), the lighting and shading are realistic and the detail in everything is amazing. Even the rock it is standing on is well detailed. The part I don't like is the far background, Daryl seemed to have become lazy and just used clouds and rain.
This artwork is really good because his facial expression is perfect. The blood at the bottom really stands out and incorporates the 'forth wall' to the picture. The picture has a sense of grittiness to it, it actually feels like a battle. I don't like how Daryl has drawn the fur of the lion, it doesn't look soft and realistic.
This piece is really good as it shows off the jungle environment really well. The laser piercing the dino's back looks amazing and gorey. The main character is detailed very well as you can see even the small items on his belt. The laser's light actually reflects on the dino's side and is drawn really well.
