Tag: genres


Friedrich Romanticism and Games


Let's get introduced to one of the most video-game-defining artist out there... ...born in 1774. The german painter, Caspar David Friedrich is one of many iconic artists of the romanticism movement and responsible for defining many fundamental tropes in early and modern games. His paintings not only gave fodder for...

Stylized Realism


Stylized realism at first sounds like an oxymoron. Aren't realism and stylization at odds with each other? Yes. And that is why it's time that we talk about this hybrid art form, which got its big break through thanks to computer generated images. While we can find examples of art...

Art Style Atoms


This is an excerpt from a 2-day lecture I gave on art direction, in which I provide a toolset to take any visual style apart, so you have pieces to combine anew to make your own vision come to life. What is a "visual style"? Style is a term universally...

Surrealism and Games


Surrealism is a genre in which the psyche, the subconscious and the fears and desires of a person or character are translated into images, spaces, objects and characters. Whenever game designers let you explore the mind or dreams of a character as a virtual space or come up with characters...

Gothic Horror


Gothic Horror (often referred to as gothic fiction) is a western writing genre, originating in the late 18th century, which had a profound impact on popculture. Gothic horror explores themes of death, the supernatural, crime, horror and romance, usually set in locations with gothic/medieval architecture (or modern architecture in a...

Orwellian Images


First, let's start with a handy explanation of "orwellian" from wikipedia: "Orwellian" is an adjective describing a situation, idea, or societal condition that George Orwell identified as being destructive to the welfare of a free and open society. It denotes an attitude and a brutal policy of draconian control by...