Kotaku: game art

The Ultimate Street Fighter Art Collection

Mike Fahey — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 11:20:00 MDT

From the biggest rivalries to the biggest...other rivalries, UDON leaves no facet of Street Fighter history untouched in SF20: The Art of Street Fighter, " the most complete collection of Street Fighter artwork ever."

SF20 features more than 1,500 illustrations from the franchise's 22-year history, from the original Street Fighter arcade game to Tatsunoko VS. Capcom. Featured works include character designs, concept art, sketches, and box art, with "never-before seen" Street Fighter art for those of you who think you've seen it all. More than just an art book, SF20 also provides commentary from popular Capcom artists, discussing their favorite pieces and how their artwork helped forge the most popular fighting game franchise in the world.

SF20: The Art of Street Fighter is scheduled to hit stores in September. Amazon currently lists it with an October date, with a retail price tag of $39.99 discounted to $26.39, so if you're interested, that might be the way to go. I'd say the Mai ~~chesting~~ facing-off against Chun-Li pic alone is worth the price of admission.

Designing 2D Avatars for Games

Maggie Greene — Sun, 04 May 2008 17:30:00 MDT

Danc at Lost Garden has done a number of essays relating to indie game design; quite a few of them involve his own 'prototyping tiles' and how best to put together a good working model if you're not terribly talented in the art department. Last month, he posted an interesting look at designing 2D avatars for use in games. A few little lessons for would-be character designers? One key point is that fashion matters:

I dress like the guy in The Fly. My closets is filled with row upon row of identical pragmatic clothes. I wouldn't know the difference between a cardigan and a camisole if my life depended on it (I actually had to look it up.)
Yet many avatars, especially those in online games, are ultimately about fashion and style. The cut of the fabric is important. The patterns matter. The colors...don't even get me started on the colors. It is no surprise that some online game companies (like StarDolls) build up such an expertise in fashion that they are launching their own real world clothing lines. So I've been reading women's fashion mags. It's a whole different world out there.

Oh, how we suffer for our art. Of course, there's more in the little essay than fashion tips, but it's a nice little primer on what goes into putting together even the simplest of avatars.

The joy of 2D avatars [Lost Garden]

Metroid Mario Painting Mash-Up

Mike Fahey — Wed, 29 Nov 2006 13:40:16 MST

Jim from the Daily Drawing sent us this awesome mash-up painting he did of two of Nintendo's very best, Mario and Metroid. This would make a completely awesome tat.

Having attended a little art college in my time, stuff like this never ceases to remind me what a colossal waste of my time and my parents' money that venture was. Michael Fahey

Game Mashup Painting: Super Metroid Brothers [The Daily Drawing]

Screw Art School, Gamasutra's Got You Covered

egauger — Thu, 22 Jun 2006 19:20:41 MDT

Gamedev site Gamasutra has a neat little excerpt from the book "3D Game Textures: Create Professional Game Art Using Photoshop", including images and detailed instructions just like the ones I paid $18k for, the one full year I was able to put up with art school.

Learn how to create stunning, professional-quality game textures from an award-winning industry expert. This book is your one-stop-shop to learn everything you'll need to know about texturing game worlds, from the research that goes into creating a world to tips, tricks and tools of the trade. Learn how to create everything from bullet holes and flames to windows and walls in tutorials that walk you through the process of developing textures (game art) for the most common game settings—from modern urban to fantasy—based on professional concept art.

The article is long and I didn't go through all of it, but just based on the first few pages I'd say this is worth a look by anyone who wants to be a game artist, or just look like one! (Bawls bottle collection and booth at GenCon not included). Eliza gauger

Ye Compleat Texte [Gamasutra]