Level Up Your Video Game Design!

Video games are not a revolution in art history, but an evolution. Whether the medium is paper or canvas-or a computer screen-the artist’s challenge is to make something without depth seem like a window into a living, breathing world. Video game art is no different. Drawing Basics and Video Game Art illuminates the connections between classical art and iconic video games, like Botticelli’s Venus and Nintendo’s Mario. Game designer Chris Solarski demonstrates how video games allow players to experience visual art in a new way. Solarski gives readers an introduction to basic drawing skills-light, value, color-as well as detailed instruction for using these methods to design complex characters and worlds. Games like BioShock, the Mass Effect series, Fable, and Portal 2 were created using the same theories of depth, composition, movement, and artistic anatomy as the masters of classical art. Drawing Basics and Video Game Art gives any game designer the right foundation in classical art techniques to create meaningful emotional experiences for gamers.