What is Game Art? How Can I Pursue a Career in Game Art?

We all play video games through many different means. Today we commonly use gaming consoles, smartphones, arcades and computers to play. Games have come a long way from the days of Pac-Man, with the technological boom in the gaming industry has opened doors to a new generation of gamers. In the last three decades, video games have seen technological advancement from simple pixel graphics to complex 3D environments.

Game developers integrate artistic talent with programming skills to create unrealistic video games for entertainment, training and education purposes. Well, game designers and programmers do their part in creating virtual gaming worlds, it is the game artist who develops the game concept through art, animation, texture and more.

If you are highly creative, imaginative and dream to create characters and worlds where players will be swooped in for hours then you should read this blog on Game Art.

What is Game Art?

Game art is a part of game development. It is the process of creating artistic visual aspects for video games. A game artist creates 2D and 3D art for the visual elements like characters, scenery, objects, background, texture, colours, properties, buildings, vehicles, clothes and much more.

What does a Game Artist do?

The visual art aspect of the game is a huge element in its success. Some games endeavour to look as realistic as possible while others try to be more stylish. It is the game artist job to create the artistic aspect of the game. The game artist uses several digital art creation software to create 3D digital game art moulding and illustration. Game artists work along with game designers, programmers, coders, etc. to create the art for the game.

While this might sound like game artists are essentially graphic artists creating illustrations under the supervision of a game designer, there is a lot more creativity involved in the job. They have the responsibility of creating specific art within a game. There are many different roles in game art, each with its specialization. Some specialize in designing buildings, others in scenery or landscapes, some in human characters, and some in 3D objects. Below are a few roles that you might be interested in game art.

Different Types of Game Artists

1.     Art Director

The art director leads the team of game artists and coordinates between other game art departments and game designers. They work closely with game programmers and are involved in the development process right from the initial stage.

2.     Concept Artists

Concept artists use paper and a pen rather than designing software. They sketch ideas for the game like characters, vehicles, objects, furniture, clothing etc. concept artists research a variety of designs, styles, and many to bring new ideas on how the game should look and feel. They might not be involved in creating the actual game art, but their concept helps to design the look and feel of the video game.

3.     Environment Artists

As the name suggests these artists work with the game environment. They work with 3D modelling, texturing and other complex layered shaders to create the environment that the game is played on. From scenery like landscape, deep forests, rocky hillsides to exteriors, interiors, roads, bridges and more.

4.     Character Artist

Just like the environment artist, character artists are responsible for designing various characters in a game. They work closely with animators and follow a specific stylistic brief by first creating 2D concept sketches before finalising them as 3D models.

5.     Lighting Artists

Lighting artists are responsible for lighting and are comparable to the director of photography in the film industry. They create light effects in the game by adjusting the colour, intensity to make it more realistic and enhance the mood.

However, there are many other roles of a game artist like illustrators, game graphic designers, 2D and 3D modellers, UI designers and animators, etc.

Game Art and Design Courses

If you have artistic talent and dreamed of using them to create video games then the game art program is the best option for you. Game art and design courses help you to learn a variety of skills like computer programming skills, artistic techniques, creative writing, programming skills and visual arts.

Arena animation offers two specific courses: 3D Digital Game Art and Game Development Program. This game art institute provides you with a comprehensive program where you will go through the art fundamentals for games, asset creation pipeline, game character concepts, create game models like properties and environment and more.

3D Game Art Program Course Highlights

• Highly trained certified faculties.
• Industry-relevant focused curriculum.
• Learn with augmented study materials.
• Learn to create concept designs for game characters, properties, objects and environments.
• Understand asset creation pipeline.
• Learn to create game-ready models and texture.
• Learn to animate game characters.
• 24×7 online varsity app support.
• Studio visits and specialization Bootcamp.
• Online platform for showcasing a portfolio.
• Placement in the gaming industry.

Job Opportunities for Game Artists

India is one of the leading markets in the gaming sector, over the years we have seen an enormous boost in the gaming industry. Over the years, gaming has evolved from simple pixel graphics arcade to 3D graphic gameplay. We have witnessed gaming consoles becoming more futuristic, PC games evolved as multi-player and more complex and also the games on smartphones are on the next level.

There are plenty of opportunities for talented and creative game artists in India. Many key players in the gaming industry like EA Games and Ubisoft have established their studios in India to provide Indian game artists opportunities to create game art for the international market.

Few entry-level job positions in this field are the following:

• Animator
• Character developer
• Background and environment creator
• 2D artist
• 3D modeller
• Multimedia developer
• Game tester

If you have considered Game Art as a career then you need to understand that there are many different types of jobs. In this article, we have briefly explained different types of game artists. Each has its own job title, responsibility and salary range. Game artists’ salary starts around Rs.3,00,000 per year for an entry-level art position. They can grow up to as much as Rs.8,50,000 per year, even higher for senior or lead artists.