Comments for oxpal blog

Comment on Kyoto Gateway – Work in Progress by Machiya Gateway « oxpal blog

Machiya Gateway « oxpal blog — Thu, 16 May 2013 10:18:24 +0000

[...] shown the final version here yet (some work in progress though). This is a little side-street in Koyto, leading to a [...]

Comment on Draw Club Doodles by Thomas

Thomas — Tue, 07 May 2013 10:46:17 +0000

Jammer. But maybe there is a chance once – some of us are there pretty much every week.
Hope we can plan a Sketchmeet for a weekend again also, it’s about time.

Comment on Draw Club Doodles by michael

michael — Tue, 07 May 2013 08:24:17 +0000

I really wish I was in Amsterdam on mondays, would love to join this.

Comment on I’ve Been Doing it Wrong my Entire Life! by Continuous Flow: Saves Lives and Cake « oxpal blog

Continuous Flow: Saves Lives and Cake « oxpal blog — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 12:26:33 +0000

[...] And then there is the issue with stacking items. I wrote about the single-piece-flow before – and use it since then in the kitchen: By trying to never stack up stuff anymore. I wash up [...]

Comment on Can Game Art Please Evolve? by Thomas

Thomas — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 23:24:43 +0000

Hi Den. Thanks for the reaction.
I think one point I didn’t bring out as clear as I wanted to (or maybe it wasn’t as clear to me when I wrote it) is that artists don’t use their freedom even if they have it. For example I hear that Applibot (of one of the examples above) is a great client – leaving a lot of creative room.
And many do the same gratuitous poses and dresses after work. CGhub is filled with it. And I wonder if it’s conditioning: You get used to it, you get money for it, you get props for it… so you never do anything else. You never question yourself.

I don’t demand realism really – I think believability is another thing altogether. A magician doesn’t need armor, I buy that even though it’s not real.
Nor do I ask all games/art to be the same. It’s just that the adolescent-male fantasy totally won out. Does it really even reflect the gamers of today? Why can’t there be more diverse fantasy worlds? I imagine a huge field there for games that try to create a deep meaningful alternative world… maybe something that’s not just about a struggle about dominance.

One reason I blame the artists is that the people in game companies that make the decisions are likely artists too. The lead artists and art directors – so the more senior ones… sadly not the really adult. And I personally believe that it’s not positive business-wise.
But yeah, I guess I can’t argue against your 40year old juveniles argument

Comment on Can Game Art Please Evolve? by Den

Den — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 21:45:18 +0000

As an artist I can tell you, it does not matter if it’s a large publisher or an indie, I’m asked to do the same imagery over and over. I have tried to deviate from the art briefs many times only to have the creator of the game have me ‘sex’ it up or make it typically cliche. So, in many regards this article is hitting the wrong people. The artists are taking their orders from the game company. Sure, you can say no….I’m sure the landlord will understand!

Many game makers well past their teens are mentally still there, so the prospect of a scantily clad vixen is exciting to them. Don’t believe me? Try going to a convention to see 40 year old adults act like they’ve just entered pubescence.

In defense of this imagery, it is what it is…FANTASY. Not a mirror of reality! Imagine how boring games would be if all they do was to mirror our own world and ideals. I mean isn’t that exactly why we play fantasy games? To escape the boredom around us and allow a little escapism and to not pile on all the baggage that builds up around us in our ‘real’ lives.

Comment on Can Game Art Please Evolve? by Thomas

Thomas — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 15:58:49 +0000

True, there are alternatives. I just wanted to vent what I felt this morning, when all games news and illustrations I saw fell into this stereotype category. And sadly, all bigger project do too… just bores me to death.

Rez comes to mind by your description. That was really something different visually. Would be cool to go further – and still make it fun games to play.

Comment on Can Game Art Please Evolve? by Kim van Ekris

Kim van Ekris — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 12:57:52 +0000

Im liking the blog and agreeing, but why not take it a step further! Game art is often fantasy art chewing and re-chewing upon itself. Genderstereotyping is only a part of this. I know that indie games are definitely an answer in going beyond and besides the eternal overstylized and mainly realist style of artwork, but I would love to see games becoming representations of truly new and exciting ways of sketching different, unknown spaces and worlds. In my dreams games are possibilities for discovering unknown, untraveled dimensions just as much as psychedelics can be so. Artwork would be a major factor and contribution to going wild while stepping through the looking glass.

P.S. It would add well to this blog to name some alternative game artwork that is taking the right evolutionary steps according to you.

Comment on Dutch Taxes vs. Art – Round 2 by Portrait Mashup WIP « oxpal blog

Portrait Mashup WIP « oxpal blog — Sat, 30 Mar 2013 05:20:19 +0000

[...] by the way: good news from the Dutch Government! I mentioned recently their plans to raise sales taxes on art. This has now been reversed – they’ll now lower them back to 6 [...]

Comment on Noordwijk Festival II by Noordwijk Art III « oxpal blog

Noordwijk Art III « oxpal blog — Sat, 30 Mar 2013 05:00:53 +0000

[...] last update from the Nordwijk Festival (part I, part II). One woman who saw me painting the earlier flower picture told me about a whole field of poppies [...]