Learning to make great digital art is hard work. I would like to share a few ideas and tips that have helped me and could improve your digital painting for board games.
Personally, I have always played and experimented with a variety of styles. In some ways, this has hindered me from progressing in one direction. I often end up using time on something irrelevant to the actual painting. I have found that if I want to improve, I need more focus.
When painting with traditional ink on paper, you concentrate on every stroke you make. Many times when we illustrate digitally , there are too many options and noise between your vision and the final product – like suddenly wanting to setup new shortcut keys, check tutorials, or search for reference images.
So get rid of any noise that interrupts your workflow. Work in broad strokes, do not get caught up in details, and create a clean working environment that will free the creative process.
I can see there is some activity on the print & play files for Moogh, and on that note, I want to share the current progress on Moogh 2.0.
I am working on an extra set of cavemen so that it is possible to play 3 players with each 2 characters. From the feedback(if you played it – I will be soo happy if you took a minute to fill the form ) I got on the game I will try to make the abilities more co-operative.
Maybe I will make one character able to get the wounded back into the fight. I am considering to have 3 leaders and 3 sidekicks that can be combined to 9 possible group setups. I do not know if I need some kind of initiative. Currently the phases are: caveman a1+b2 -> moogh -> a2 + b1 -> moogh. But if we say a1+c1+b2 ->moogh -> a2+c2+b1 ->moogh, who will then go first?
Well anyway here is a sneak detail from the work in progress of the new female character and the brute:)
On an end note I gotta back this!! Cavemen miniatures.
You all know that feeling when you look at a tabletop game while drool drips from your lower lip because you forgot to close your mouth in mere awe. That is the result of great tabletop and board game art?
The question ‘What makes great tabletop and board game art?’ is almost as subjective a subject as ‘What is great art?’. But there is a small difference. Unless you buy board games exclusively to exhibit on your shelf as an art piece, there is a purpose to the art of the game. Games are usually an interwoven web of design and illustration that holds the objective of helping immerse you into the game’s universe, guiding you along with the rules, without working against them. Take a look at some cards below from three very succesfull games – is it great board game art?? They all create a feeling that match gameplay.
From left to right: Exploding Kittens, Race for the Galaxy and Munchkin
Often when I work on a game my mind gets overheated of thinking mechanics over and over. And often when I need to work on one thing my mind drifts and solves a problem on another game/idea.
This happend yesterday when I was thinking about my Solitare entry that is now under the working title (Hantshire huntress or house hunter) I got to think about the 24h game submission I made on “kittens”.
In my first draft I had cubes representing energy. The cubes was then placed in diffrent ares depending if you moved down or up. I addition there was power cards you could play from the hand. Now thinking about it a couple of weeks later I get the idea. Why not only have cards.. and the cards represent the energy when you play the and at the same time they are special powers. Maybe its hard to visualize.. but I got all jazzed about it and went straight home to design on it. Maybe there will be a kitten game soon 😀
So on an end note.. which is better for a fun and cute experience.. A or B ???
