Art References (Patreon)

This is a Patreon-exclusive post, giving a behind-the-scenes peek at my process as a developer, when working with an artist to create art for specific game elements. In this case,  art references used to help capture tone and general aesthetic.

So, one of the things that can really help get across what you want with an artist is to send them links to art references. Obviously you don't want to copy the hard design work of another artist, but often you can give some references to capture the style and feel you are looking for.

When working on the Armadillo design with artist Jacob Blackmon, the mobile base for the characters in my Really Wild West, Doomstone campaign, Jacob and I started with his illustration of the original Martian Embanking Machine. Then I told him I wanted all the digging arms removed,  and for it to become a Steampunk-y two-story vehicle with a cowcatcher, mast with crow's nest, pop-out tents, and a balcony. To help give him some idea of the style I was looking for, I sent a number of links to photos, stowage patterns, and general style of what i wanted to add.

A few of those are included below, for a sense of what I mean.

There were iterations before this, of course. With Jacob's permission, I might show some of those in a later post. :)