5 Game Artists that You Should Know About!

APRIL ISSUE: POST #23

I know I say I ‘love’ things a lot on this blog, but that’s because, well, I do. I have a lot of love to give. Maybe it’s because I’m easily impressed, or maybe it’s just because I’m crazy, who knows? But I know for sure that the people behind video games should really be more notoriously recognised, and I will always be here to love and support them, even if they don’t know it (to be honest, I’m hoping they don’t find it creepy that I stalk their work all the time).

Every Wednesday on this blog I do an Artist and Music Spotlight post, where I select one lucky (not maybe not so lucky) artist to be featured on my pretty unpopular website. But that’s okay, I enjoy writing about them nonetheless. I like broadening my knowledge. So here I am to share five artists that I’ve researched recently, that I think should receive lots more love from us.

Name: Marco Hüllen
Country: Germany
Links: ArtStation
All images are owned by Marco Hüllen and are collected from his 
ArtStation.

When I first played Silence by Daedalic Entertainment I was literally blown away from my computer, The graphics were so beautiful that I was legit taken aback. The backgrounds especially. How?! I thought, did someone manage to create this? Well, the genius behind it all was Marco Hüllen. Even browsing through his ArtStation now, you can see how talented this guy is. Marco Hüllen was the Art Director and Creative Lead for both The Whispered World and Silence, and his ArtStation is full of outstanding artworks, which, to be honest, you would be missing out on if you didn’t see. I’m gradually smashing my fingers against my keyboard just hoping that the more aggressive I am, the more love will accumulate for him. I think I need to calm down a little. But I digress, here are some of his images in all their beauty.

I could cry honestly, I’m probably going to be on the verge of tears for the majority of this post, but I’m sure I’ll just about pull through.

Name: Whitney Clayton
Country: Canada
Links: ArtStation
All images are owned by Whitney Clayton and are collected from her 
ArtStation.

I really have to give the team over at Compulsion Games credit. Contrast and We Happy Few are definitely the games I think about when it comes to that unique dark style that I love. Along with their Art Director Whitney Clayton, I’d also like to quickly give credit to their Creative Director Guillaume Provost (whose first name I don’t know how to pronounce) and Environment Artist Emmanuel Lauzon (whose last name I don’t know how to pronounce).

Whitney Clayton has a lot of great ideas and art, which I think fits perfectly with both games Compulsion Games have created, I just wish that there was more of it. The style has a slightly eerie atmosphere but it’s also beautiful. I loved their game Contrast so much that I played it through twice. It’s a short game but it shows a lot of the companies potential, and their newer release We Happy Few showcases awesome ideas and gameplay mechanics.

I really can’t contain myself by this point. They’re just so cool, right?!

Name: Paul Chadeisson
Country: France
Links: ArtStation Instagram
All images are owned by Paul Chadeisson and are collected from his 
ArtStation.

When I was looking at the artists behind the game Remember Me, I wasn’t expecting their works to be quite so epic. Aleksi Briclot was the Art Director for Remember Me along with Michael Koch (who also worked on Life is Strange.) Just to say, Aleksi Briclot has that type of artwork that really makes you speechless. All the details and the thoughts that must go into his pieces- it’s really something incredible. So I recommend you check him out here.

I for one really love Paul Chadeisson’s portfolio though. He creates monumental pieces of artwork, and he didn’t just work on the concept art for Remember Me either, he has also worked on Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV and a short called Blade Runner 2049: Black Out 2022. His pieces of environmental art really transport you to another universe, or dimension even. If you take a look at his portfolio, you’ll see why I struggled to choose images to represent him with. They’re all so full of showcasing his design and technical skills.

Name: Jen Zee
Country: United States
Links: DeviantArt
All images are owned by Jen Zee and are collected from her DeviantArt.

What I love about all the artists that I’m featuring is that they’re all so different from each other. They each have an individual style, but they’re all still so wonderful to look at and admire.

Supergiant Games make really unique titles, and honestly, the artists behind them are geniuses. I know, I know, I think that all artists are geniuses, but that’s beside the point (since it’s the truth and will always be the truth). Jen Zee is one of them too, of course. Her works for Bastion, Pyre and Transistor are all incredible, and you can’t go wrong with her personal work as well. Looking at them actually makes me feel joy inside. Honestly, I love art, but not all artworks can make me feel things in my heart that much. To be honest, I have a heart of cold hard stone most of the time.

Ah, that last one makes me feel like skipping down the street every time.

Name: Samuel Smith
Country: Spain
Links: ArtStation Instagram
All images are owned by Samuel Smith and are collected from his 
ArtStation.

When I first clicked on his ArtStation, I actually gasped. Even though I love creepy, dark, dystopian art, his type of cute, calming art is really where you can’t go wrong. Both Samuel Smith and artist Celia Hogan (whose ArtStation you should check out here) worked on the game Unbox. I really love this game- it’s sweet, colourful and really fun to play, so I recommend you check it out.

Looking over Samuel Smith’s art though, I just adore the soft paint strokes and the lighting. There’s also a lot of emotion in the pictures (and if you look closely, a Bart Simpson is in the background of the second image). I honestly don’t know how these artists create these images out of their heads. When I was a kid I thought I was creative, but now looking at all of these images, I know I’ve still got a long way to go.

So there we have it! This was probably one of my favourite posts to do so far. It’s really inspiring and motivating to look at all the work that these artists do, whether it’s for the games or just their personal work.

If anybody has any recommendations of any artists (even non-game artists!) then I would be honored to have a look. I will certainly make more posts such as this one. But now that this one is done, I’m off to have a congratulatory bagel.

Thank you and Happy Gaming!

-LDG