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[Ludius]

I DON'T KNOW WHAT I'M DOING PLEASE HELP

I've been making games as a hobby on and off for a few years now, and I would really appreciate some guidance when it comes to art. The main obstacle for me when it comes to making new games is my inability to draw. I think I have developed a decent sense of design over time, but I still feel lost when I launch Photoshop. As a result, I am very very limited in what kind of games I can make. The few games I have finished ended up working because the asset load was light, but I would love the ability to make games with environments and characters and whatnot.

EXAMPLES

This is a mock-up of a game I recently started working on and is probably the best example of how my ability falls apart quickly. It is supposed to be an office with a desk, the bottom half of the screen is a desk sorta like in Papers, Please. The room itself, however, just looks kinda meh I think.

This one turned out pretty well (also for the noir game I started recently), but I really only worked with two colors.

This is from my last Ludum Dare game which followed the theme of "the only games I finish are the super simple ones."

This from my most recent "Long term" game. The few models that I managed to make were incredibly simple and actually kinda broken.


My goal in making this post is to get an idea of how I can get better at making art for my games. I can't make anything without getting bogged down and nearly giving up unless I get lucky. Moreover, feel free to critique any and all of the images here, I would really appreciate it.

[s-spooky g-g-ghosts]

Message to all the people who say they're not talented/can't draw:
Everybody can draw and everbody can get good at it, it's just a matter of practice and as long as you're not handicapped or something there are literally no obstacles other than hours of work you need to put in. Yes, even YOU, the programmer can paint like the best Blizzard artists, but you need to put an insane amount of hours into it.

So having said that, the main advice - as always, because it never changes to anyone - is to keep on working, practicing. I suppose your main issue is that you don't know where to find tips on how to improve. You clearly want to get better at art so be serious about it. A good start is to follow tutorials - all kinds of them. From technical photoshop ones to theoretical art ones. The pictures you posted are very simplistic, probably because you're afraid of a more complex composition.

Look at other games that inspire you and analyze their art. Try to cut them into pieces this is my last resort. Try to mimic them from scratch just for practice. Maybe you've seen other threads, some people do challenges, 1 drawing per day for XX days. How much do you create?

There's only one thing. You said you give up. If you're really into improving at art you'll become a masochist. A god damned slave, that's who an artist is.

Are you ready for this?