Influence of Traditional Art in Game Designing

  Anandhakrishnan       January 27, 2021

Traditional painting is the way of executing 2D artworks where artists work with a brush and canvas as in oil paintings, watercolor painting, etc. You can think of Disney and Ghibli’s works in video gaming’s infancy years. Due to the bounds of memory and display devices, traditional paintings couldn’t be used directly in games, perhaps their only application is on the sticker of cassettes. These days, this old-style features a new branch dubbed as “digital painting”. Digital artists paint with a stylus on a computer instead of on paper. But, it’s only a matter of the latest tools while the essence and appearance of the Art remain unchanged.

The emergence of high-end hardware resources in mobile gaming has surpassed the limitations in graphics. The classical and rich styled graphics have found a way into games and is enjoyed by players across different age groups. The insatiable human desire for artworks is fed by the game developers by adding more luxurious artworks into games. Today this type of paintings either created traditionally or digitally is used in games in an infinite number of ways.

Some games may also require the artist to use more traditional media like drawing and painting. While developing a game, the game artists need to work in close collaboration with game designers and developers to create the art for the game. Game artists essentially bring to life what has been conceptualized in the initial game making phase. Traditional art is the skills and knowledge of artistry that has been passed down from one generation to a different culture. 

It is the conventional way to craft the masterpieces that still brightens up the most mundane of the rooms. It all started from the drawings made by the first artists, who created some exquisite designs on the walls of prehistoric caves. The impression of these artworks can be seen on the walls of Ajanta & Ellora to date. The paintings on these walls are considered to be from the 1st to 7th century AD. These paintings give a glimpse of the lives of people living in the caves. Many artists were inspired by this style and carry forward the conventional wall painting till the 19th century.

Painting is an art form that has accompanied mankind from its infancy up to now, I think humans would never be tired of its enchantment, and its application in games would only evolve with the tide of technology and the market. It would never go obsolete as traditional art will always be the base of the high-quality game graphics.