4 ms·
It is the duty of an artist to fulfill their vision, not someone else's. For this reason, many prominent artists go unknown in their lifetime. The masses are a
by gavanwoolery 11y ago
It is the duty of an artist to fulfill their vision, not someone else's. For this reason, many prominent artists go unknown in their lifetime. The masses are attracted to "bad" art like Thomas Kinkade (I use quotes because the art is not actually bad, just lacks the originality that art connoisseurs seek). I would actually argue that you will have to make a choice between being a popular artist and being good artist (there is some overlap though). And it may well be the case that you don't have the luxury to make this choice.
For me personally, I think that good pixel art is timeless (emphasis on "good"). It gives an artist a limited canvas and forces them to be creative. You can instantly deduce an artist's skill based on how well they can convey a concept with a limited palette and resolution. An unlimited palette and high resolution actually magnifies the flaws in art, IMO (leaves less to the imagination). I find that in many modern 3D games, the suspension of disbelief is destroyed when I walk up to a character and see blurry textures and pointed polygonal edges.
For an idea of what good pixel art looks like (at least according to my opinion and many others), check out Henk Nieborg's work:
http://www.henknieborg.nl/gallery_pixels.html http://www.henknieborg.nl/gallery_pixels.html
- Goronmon 11y agoAnd it may well be the case that you don't have the luxury to make this choice. Which, unfortunately, is usually the case when it comes to game development.
- pan69 11y agoOr any sort of development for that matter. I've never worked with a client who said; "Yeah, sure. What ever you think is best". When someone else pays the bills, you're either used as extension to Photoshop or used as a glorified typist.
- jamesdelaneyie 11y agoOdd comment. Clients in my work consistently pay us to do 'What we think is best' because that's what they're paying us for. Sometimes we do production work, but more often than not we're directing and advising the client toward their goal, then creating the things that get them there. They don't know how to get there, we do. But probably we're in different industries.
- gavanwoolery 11y agohttp://theoatmeal.com/comics/design_hell http://theoatmeal.com/comics/design_hell
- leppr 11y agoIf you consider yourself a visual designer and can't begin to understand how to make a design "pop", "edgy" or "less liney" I think the problem is with you. Just call yourself a developer and be done with it.
- gavanwoolery 11y agoAlmost always in commercial game development. If you are doing something more casual (hobby, Ludum Dare, etc) you might have more freedom.
- the_af 11y ago> For me personally, I think that good pixel art is timeless (emphasis on "good") Agreed about the timelessness. I find good pixel art more timeless than other forms of good videogame art. I thought about it and I think it's actually a case of abstractness, not pixelation. Pixel art is often more abstract. Another example of good non-pixelated game art that has this same quality is Another World's, which I find awesome. I believe slightly more abstract game art -- slightly abstract, I'm not talking cubism here! -- is more appealing to me because of something related to Scott McCloud's concept of "closure", as explained in his book "Understanding Comics". This concept for me was the main takeaway of the book. When something is more abstract, having elided some aspects -- be it character details, animation frames, whatever -- your brain "fills in the gaps". And I think when my brain "fills in the gaps", the art itself ages better. The less my brain has to imagine the details not explicitly put there by the artist, the worse the art ages for me. Not sure if this applies to other forms of art, but for me it definitely applies to videogame art, and is part of why I tend to like pixel art.
- gavanwoolery 11y agoAnother World's style is making a comeback in a way, with the low-poly movement (not identical, but along the same lines). See below if you don't know what style I am referring too: https://www.google.com/search?q=low+poly&safe=off&rlz=1C1CHFX_enUS549US549&es_sm=122&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=ootSVa2IHIuqyATXgYHYCA&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAQ&biw=2234&bih=949#tbm=isch&tbs=rimg%3ACcryVbC5tWbGIjgtCLRz7ZXHj8bnkmtp4-jB3YKt7R5UwP8NT1TuhOLPwzimQQv6GNbwBCJeCuqMT63pnfi1e1lqLyoSCS0ItHPtlcePEYCT_1zEBYYE6KhIJxueSa2nj6MERaHwV3FjARC0qEgndgq3tHlTA_1xG9p_1E1x7SSlioSCQ1PVO6E4s_1DEVo_1fGqAIVnKKhIJOKZBC_1oY1vARaFzEzGlqCRAqEgkEIl4K6oxPrRGzdNJJZrFmSCoSCemd-LV7WWovEVwDsvudUXo9&q=low%20poly&imgdii=yvJVsLm1ZsZBMM%3A%3ByvJVsLm1ZsZBMM%3A%3B3YKt7R5UwP-vxM%3A https://www.google.com/search?q=low+poly&safe=off&rlz=1C1CHF...
- Ericson2314 11y agoThanks god there's no Gouraud shading.
- cpeterso 11y agoNice. The low poly style looks like the design pendulum swinging from harsh Minecraft cubism back to a middle ground.