Art stylesHand-drawnSoft
Painterly brushwork
Visible brushwork, color masses and varied edges build the image. Portraits and layered scenes have distinct production needs, beyond one generic oil-painting label.
Traits
- Character: readable color masses and brush direction; Scene: separate depth layers; UI: quiet fields and concise icons
- Move brushwork coherently with assets and check character/background contacts first.
- Do marks support form and routes, and does the character survive a dense background when reduced?
Play that fits
Useful for narrative portraits, layered exploration and painting puzzles; budget character motion and background painting separately.
Reference games
Make a coherent game art set
Suggested asset specification
- Character: readable color masses and brush direction
- Scene: separate depth layers
- UI: quiet fields and concise icons
Motion and feedback
Move brushwork coherently with assets and check character/background contacts first.
Main production effort
Original painting, layer separation and brush consistency across assets drive cost, not filter intensity.
Start with this small scene
A simple traveler, three depth layers and a focal doorway using a consistent brush scale.
Simplify for a smaller budget
Fix the composition, reduce layers/actions and reserve fine marks for the focal area.
What to check
Do marks support form and routes, and does the character survive a dense background when reduced?
Related subdirections
These directions sit within their parent entry and do not increase the main style count.
Luminous painted layers
Separate foreground, middle and background, establishing distance with values before glow.
Ori and the Will of the Wisps ↗
Take the art specification
Includes localized visual rules, asset suggestions, scope and sources. This is a specification; assets still need production for your project.
Art specification v1 · Original editorial and examples · Reference-game assets not included
Prompt examples
Character: readable color masses and brush direction. Scene: separate depth layers. UI: quiet fields and concise icons
Visible brushwork, color masses and varied edges build the image. Portraits and layered scenes have distinct production needs, beyond one generic oil-painting label. A simple traveler, three depth layers and a focal doorway using a consistent brush scale. Move brushwork coherently with assets and check character/background contacts first.
Common pitfall
Painterly work still needs clear routes, characters and interaction targets before busy detail.
Observations and sources
Cases refer to public documentation. Developers and community wikis are credited separately; document review is not a claim of hands-on testing.
- Disco Elysium
Focus on portrait color masses, edges and expressive marks, not a single pipeline for every game view.
- The Master's Pupil
Official copy identifies hand-painted art; observe marks alongside readable playable edges.
Brief for the studio
Opens the AI studio with the brief below in the input. You can edit it. Nothing starts automatically.
Make a single-screen delivery game: click to move, deliver three parcels, then finish or restart. Use Painterly brushwork. A simple traveler, three depth layers and a focal doorway using a consistent brush scale.
Related entries
Watercolor
Pigment blooms on paper, edges keep some white, and the wash has depth. The mood can be soft, but paths, people, and danger need a darker stroke or a ring of paper.
Ballpoint drawing
Fine single-color marks preserve repeated strokes and cross-lines on paper. Blue or black ink follows one consistent drawing system.
Crayon drawing
Color behaves like grainy crayon on paper, leaving gaps along edges and fills. Simple shapes still need clear feedback.
Covers are original AI-generated style illustrations. Game names reference publicly visible design choices and remain the property of their owners. This atlas does not supply screenshots or assets from those games. Prompts and combinations are original drafts for new games.