When we start to design a scene, We first read the story of the game, and the client gives us a description document of the scene. The document is mainly about the spatial composition of the scene, and game play items.
A HOPA scene is created by the following steps:
Step 1: Thumbnails
The very first step is to make 3~5 thumbnails for the same scene, that the client would choose one to proceed.
Sorry, I don't have thumbs which our clients would permit to showcase, so I borrow a close sample form the web:
You may call it concept art. You can see the art is very quickly made and rough. It determines the overal tone, compositon and elements.
Step 2: Fine Line Art
In some cases, the client will get the line art ready, so we don’t need to worry about the design.
Step 3: Color/lighting scheme
Establish the lighting and colors of the scene.
Step 4: Production quality background

Step 5: Game play items, hidden objects