Characters:
Fan art made by people who are't exactly working for that company also counts as a part of the exploration process because they come up with ideas that could become possible looks for the character meaning that people who create fan art automatically become a part of the process for concept art.
Original Character Splash Art
Character Fan Art
Objects:
The objects part of the exploration is where the artists come up with various ranges of ideas for items or other assets like what the character could be using or wearing, be it a sword, a gun, a knife, a hat etc. and just like the character part they sketch these quite lightly as it is still in the early stages. As the process goes on they would have to think of the shape and the size that would best suit the character, the environment and the era that the game is set in.
Although these don't look as loose as the others they are still experimenting and coming up with ideas as to what kinds and what shapes that characters weapons will be. It also showcases different ideas of what the characters clothes could look like.
Environment:
The environment part of the exploration process is where the artists come up with various ideas for what the environment might look like and what kind of features and assets will be put in it according to what the theme of the environment is. Like the others these will be loosely sketched out just so that they can have an idea where to put what and what it they have to put in. In this stage they don't usually go too much into details like precisely drawing leaves and adding the right shading, like the images below it's shows the shadings as just scribbles.
Approval
The approval stage of the concept art process is where the artists have acquired approval from the higher ups meaning getting the greenlight from the publishers and partners as to which idea from the exploration stage they should go with and once it has been approved the artists will finally start adding every little detail on the character, object or/and environment. Once the theme or the look has been approved they will still come up and draw ideas that would fit the theme but this time the drawings will be much more detailed even though they're just ides but that's the point of concept art.
Characters:
For the character they would start adding in the details on the clothes the objects or items they use their facial features etc. Like I said before once the idea or theme has been approved the artists will once again come up and draw ideas of the characters pose, their clothing and other details in preparation for the promotional art work.
Objects:
For the object they would have to add in details like with the character they'd add some shadings to make it look 3 dimensional but of course they would also draw in the little details like if it was on a sword the sword could have carvings on it and they's have to make those show up no matter how small but if it was a gun or something with an interior they would have to draw detailed drawings of that particular objects anatomy.
Environment:
For the environment they'd have to add in details like the shadows, the shape of things like if they had to draw a tree they'd have to craw accurate looking leaves and the other features then they will also start fine lining outlines. Once the theme or the ideas of the artists have been approved they will still have to work hard to come up with even more detailed ideas of what they can put in according to the approved theme, like if they came up with an idea or a theme for a game they will have to stick to the theme because it wouldn't look right if for example the theme was horror but there faries and unicorns running about unless it was approved by the publishers and your partners.
Promotion
The promotion stage of the concept art is basically the final stage of the concept art process and is where the public usually get hyped because for example if it was game that's about to be released and the company releases a promotional art work then obviously the public or the fans will get hyped and excited for it plus how well presented that promotional art work is adds on to the hype.
Characters:
The character is what they usually use in the front cover of a promotional art work for a game. This part of the process is where they start colouring in the character and everything that is attached to him but they have to think of what the character's personality is and how they act so that those two factors could correspond with each other. In MMORPG's the promotional artworks are usually whats called a splash art which they also use for skins (skins are used to change a characters appearance and most of the time effects in game).
Original Splash Art Phoenix Splash Art
Objects:
The promotional artworks for objects like weapons in MMORPG's like League of Legends are included and showcased along with the promotional artwork for the character these promotional artworks are called splash arts. The weapons are usually included because they are a part of the character and they basically make up half of the who the character is.
The Image on the left shows the character with a various ideas for her weapon and the image on the right shows the promotional character artwork but her sword is also included in the promotional artwork.
In games like League of Legends promotional environments are usually showcased whenever there is an update or changes being made to the environment but they are also showcased a loading for when you are about to start a match or when your chosing a map to play in. But there are also games that showcase it through some sort of a new additional map like an expansion for example.
Links:
http://na.leagueoflegends.com/en/news/riot-games/editorial/champion-update-and-flawed-fencer
http://www.surrenderat20.net/2015/07/red-post-collection-514-patch-rundown.html
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/131064-League-of-Legends-Artist-IronStylus-Unveils-Original-Character-Concepts#&gid=gallery_1992&pid=9
https://www.artstation.com/artwork/VB3E5
http://www.deviantart.com/art/Fiora-582338215
https://lolwallpapers.net/wallpaper/6431
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/550002173215593001/
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/550002173216196025/
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/403916660299822110/
http://euw.leagueoflegends.com/en/news/game-updates/gameplay/dev-blog-vision-violence-vis-creation
https://endlessraining.wordpress.com/tag/royal-guard-fiora/
http://euw.leagueoflegends.com/en/page/game-updates/features/check-out-some-summoners-rift-concept-art
http://squeakybadger.blogspot.co.uk/2010/05/jungle-environment-sketches.html http://www.digitalr.us/gaming/the-beautiful-sketches-behind-the-witcher-3s-ending/ http://squeakybadger.blogspot.co.uk/2010_05_01_archive.html
http://www.sonialiao.com/sketches.html
http://gameinfo.euw.leagueoflegends.com/en/game-info/champions/graves/
http://gameinfo.euw.leagueoflegends.com/en/game-info/champions/quinn/