20 Prop Concept Art Ideas for Inspiration

20 Prop Concept Art Ideas for Inspiration

Artists draw inspiration from everywhere, and when working in concept art, generating new ideas and designs is constantly needed. Creating props for an universe is one of the most beautiful yet sometimes less appreciated types of concept art. Anything can be a prop, from a legendary weapon, a sacred item to a kitchen utensil or a vehicle. Even nature elements or whole buildings need to be conceptualized to fully fit on the world we are creating or to be of purpose to the characters.

1. Role of Prop Concept Art
   • Prop concept art focuses on designing objects that enhance the story, universe, and characters in a visual medium.
   • Props include weapons, buildings, vehicles, assets, and natural elements, all essential for immersing the audience in the fictional world.
2. Categories of Prop Concept Art
   • Weapons: Emphasize functionality and personality through shape language and materials (e.g., Blood Weapons by Selin Aydin).
   • Buildings: Combine architectural elements and setting context (e.g., Rage Building by Sparth).
   • Vehicles: Integrate futuristic, military, or steampunk elements to suit specific story needs (e.g., Mortal Engines by Remi Dubois).
   • Assets: Everyday objects or specialized tools that fit the world’s tone (e.g., Heat Tracker by Necipcan Karakus).
   • Nature: Fantastical plants and otherworldly landscapes to set moods and environments (e.g., Alien Flora by Igor Vitkovskiy).
3. Creative Exploration and Iteration
   • Successful prop designs go through multiple exploration stages, testing shapes, materials, and functions before finalizing.
   • Concept artists use mood, storytelling, and contrasts to emphasize the prop’s personality and utility (e.g., Franke Table Design by Bikki Rajbhar).
4. Design Techniques and Visual Impact
   • Shape Language: Defines functionality and emotional tone (e.g., Defiance Weapons by Satoshi Arakawa).
   • Color and Texture: Contrast between muted and vibrant tones helps convey age, use, or otherworldly aspects (Lava Tree by Sean Kwon).
   • Realism vs. Fantasy: Props range from hyper-realistic to fantastical designs, depending on the narrative’s needs.
5. Key Inspirations and Examples
   • Fantasy: Items like Treasure Guardians blend natural and magical aesthetics.
   • Post-apocalyptic: Grungy, makeshift designs, such as Rise of the Badlands vehicles, emphasize survivalist themes.
   • Futuristic/Alien: Sharp lines and unconventional materials like R351D3NC3 reflect advanced civilizations.

 

Conclusion

Prop concept art is critical for crafting immersive worlds in games, movies, and other visual media. By leveraging shape language, color palettes, and design iteration, concept artists can create objects that convey functionality, mood, and storytelling. From futuristic vehicles to fantastical flora, these designs contribute significantly to building believable and engaging universes.

We’ve created this gallery with the idea of bringing inspiration to fellow artists and to get to know the magic behind the creation of props in concept art.

From fantastical to very realistic or even futuristic props, here you’ll be able to see some amazing examples from professionals in the media and hopefully find some inspiration for your own work.

Prop Concept Art: Weapons

Blood Weapons — Selin Aydin

Here we can see how he artist play with shapes and colors to show us the concept of weapons with blood related transformation capabilities, an exploration part of her personal project called “Iron”

Weapon Set: Haunted — Jenny Brozek

These weapons are a great example of concept integration, the colors, the shapes and multiple elements make these props unique and recognizable, the weapons come to life  not because of the amount of details but because of the dynamism and personality the artist gave them.

Defiance Weapons — Satoshi Arakawa

We’ve chosen this piece because besides the excellent design and characterization, here we can appreciate the multiple ideas behind a single asset. Arakawa’s work is impeccable and we can learn a lot just by looking at the elements that conform to this prop.

Oasis Weapon Concepts — Laura Onderwater

Going with a more futuristic approach, these designs set an aesthetic for the world the artist created. With a sharp painterly style the artist make us imagine the possible scenarios and uses this weapons might have.

 

Prop Concept Art: Buildings

Building Concepts — Klaudia Bezak

In this piece we can appreciate the exploration that the artist made for several rural and primitive buildings, suited for a post apocalyptic universe. The muted colors in contrast with the blues and reddish tones and the strong shapes make the designs pop and work wonderfully for the characters.

Rage Building — Sparth

Following the post apocalyptic and dystopian vibes, here we have stunning artwork from Sparth, where with a rough brush technique, amazing composition the message is clearly communicated. Great exploration of buildings and scenery from the art director of HALO.

Concept Thumbnail — Lê Long

Here we can appreciate the exploration of shape and design using monochromatic contrast and composition, the artist transmits the message of future, science fiction and space only with the use of dynamic shapes and clean volumes.

R351D3NC3 — Bodgan Tufecciu

Here we can see the use of shapes, colors and textures that bring to life the amazing concept of a futuristic military residence. The natural elements blend together in each concept only adding to the idea of discipline and organization.

Prop Concept Art: Vehicles

Space Vehicles — Sparth

In this piece we can appreciate the design and exploration of a space vehicle, by playing with shapes and hues of blue the artist shows us two ideas that serve similar purposes but with very different approaches. Another great piece of Halo’s art director personal work.

Project Canopy – Atomhawk 

The execution of this concept is quite impressive, not only because of the strong  visuals and shape language but because of the thought process and exploration behind the idea of a submersible vehicle that is also a critical item for the game “Project Canopy”.

Mortal Engines Vehicle Exploration – Remi Dubois

Following the steampunk vibes here we have some concepts for the movie Mortal Engines, where the vehicles were an essential part of the movie’s plot. The amount of detail the artists included in these concepts is impressive but the shapes and colors are what speaks strongly about the possible use and stories behind these designs. 

Rise of the Badlands — Kris Thaler

Going now for a more military/post-apocalyptic vibe, these designs explore and show several concepts for the vehicles of a zombie setting, adding elements to show versatility and personality along with the idea of possible scenarios and changes through time for each vehicle. Amazing work by Rmory studios and Kris Thaler.

Prop Concept Art: Assets

Oxygen Pump — Tanya Shcer

This concept of an oxygen pump station is a great example of color and contrast use, we can see on the left the early designs of this asset. The cartoonish style mixed with hints of realism gives life to the asset and the extra elements further contribute to its story.

Fantasy Prop Design — Richard Fleming

This beautiful design has passed many exploration stages where we can see how the artist managed to unify multiple elements into one single item, the beautiful colors and the mix of different brush techniques contribute to the fantasy universe these props were created for.

Heat Tracker — Necipcan Karakus

Going for a more post-apocalyptic vibe, here we have a heat tracker concept art, where we can see how the artists explore not only possibilities regarding design but high levels of interaction with the characters or players. The level of detail in the final render of the concept is impeccable,we can for sure imagine the adventures this heat tracker had in the past.

Franke Table Design — Bikki Rajbhar

This intriguing yet beautiful piece plays with textures and colors to achieve the overused and repurposed look that the Franke project needed. The pieces of junk and wood seem to come alive, mixing the fantasy with hints of reality in an impressive way, and that is the exact reason this piece is on our list.

Prop Concept Art: Nature

Plants concept — Davi VDB

The various nature components you see in this piece are creations for sa game that were marvelously executed by the artist Scher play a very important part not only in setting the style of the game but also in setting the mood, the different emotions we can perceive from each design are what make them so appealing yet terrifying at the same time.

Treasure Guardians — Yana Tosheva

In this piece we can appreciate the design and color exploration that the artist made where it doesn’t only involve nature but also fantasy elements to deliver this great piece. The mixture between high contrast and soft brush techniques gives this design a special charm that is only enhanced by the color selection.

Alien Flora Concept — Igor Vitkovskiy

Drifting away from the fantasy setting, here we have a great example of otherworldly nature exploration, where the artist using geometrical and organically shapes connected together to create the illusion of alien nature. The contrasting colors to what we are used to in our reality accomplish the mission of taking the viewer to other planets and ecosystems.

Lava Tree — Sean Kwon

The combination of different elements from nature always has a special effect on the public. In this case the combination of fire, lava and nature perfectly merge together with the thorns and spiky leaves, but the lighting is what makes this piece so visually appealing. A great example on the creation of nature props in concept art.