Tying our library directly to the community needs helps foster communication and collaboration between both

There was a time in the long past where GameTextures.com fielded texture requests from the community in a pay to play basis. We would charge a fee and any developer could come to us and put in a request for a material that would be hand tailored to their needs. They would get the full package of course, the substance and all the trappings while the regular formats we offer would go up onto the library.

A whole bunch of requests later, it slowly became untenable as different opportunities arose and our artists were stretched thin on other projects. We mothballed the Texture Request project as an artifact of our early days and moved on, though we still received requests and inquiries the whole time.

We thought it was a good time to revitalize this but in a way that better suits 2024!

Using our Discord we try to maintain a connection with the community we serve and part of that is asking them what sorts of textures that they want in the library or desperately need for their projects. It was from this that our community requests sprint was born.

We are glad to be able to dive into this again, revitalizing a connection to our community that we thought out of reach in a way that still benefits everyone! Check the link below to get to into a project with these new, awesome and specifically requested materials in the GameTextures.com Library today!

Download the materials here!

Community Requests and Material Sprints was originally published in GameTextures on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Our last content creation sprint for 2023 was also our first Material Sprint for the Library in almost a full year.

GameTextures.com has always had a significant place in any artists toolkit, at least when it comes to sourcing beautiful textures for their projects. With a library of over 5,000 materials it is a job we have always done well. In the last couple of years however, GameTextures had shifted its focus slightly and that was ultimately to the detriment of our library at large. Our time spent working on various outsource projects was incredibly fun and a great way for our artists to stretch their muscles and get out of their comfort zones but now we are ready to get back to what we do best.

That is, of course, creating materials for developers to enjoy. Our internal (and external) cultural touchstone has always been “For artists, By artists” and we aim to dial in on that until we have the unequivocally best material library on the internet. After our (Uncomfortably) long hiatus from library updates, we are finally fully back into creating monthly library updates.

Matt Dirks, Principle Artist here at GameTextures.com dove into creating this comprehensive homage to Diablo IV. We want you all to enjoy these new materials.

This launch is our Inspiration and Motivation launch, called so due to our principle artist falling into love with the environmental storytelling of Diablo 4 as well as our drive to get back to regular material launches.

Enjoy ^_^

The Inspiration and Motivation for Material Creation was originally published in GameTextures on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

GameTextures.com does a Deep Dive into our Wood Material Category

In theory I have been a Texture Artist for roughly six years. That seems like a very long time but in truth it feels like yesterday that I was first thrown into Substance Designer (way back when it was Allegorithmic and not Adobe). I am pretty comfortable in the tool but I hesitate to call myself more than an initiate with a lot of extraneous knowledge, if I am being serious and Frank (my name is Mike but I can be frank when I need to be, I think) that leaves me feeling like I am lacking compared to my peers. Other duties capture my time and energy, all excuses of course but I prefer to call them reasons while I secretly work on art in the background.

The fact remains that I have spent the last 6 years of my life staring at substances and textures while absorbing via some form of professional osmosis the skills and ideals of my much more skilled coworkers (artists like Keegan Keene, Matt Dirks, Bartosz Buszman, Daniel Rose, Tanner Kalstrom and Ole Midthun). This article and the ensuing ones will be my attempt to catalyze this into something meaningful to pass on while maybe moving my own skill level a bit higher on the board in the process.

This is the first of many deep dives into different materials, starting with the more broad categories found on the GameTextures.com library before eventually moving into more and more specific textures and their applications.

Wood has always been a fascinating material type to me, a texture that seems simple on its face but has an incredible uniqueness that can be very difficult to capture. This is more specific to natural woods of course as vinyl and other synthetic cladding or flooring does not have to abide by the same rules. Wood can be equally warm as it can be cold, an organic but dead material that is among the oldest building materials known to human kind. Even in this era if high technology, a vast majority of our tools, furniture and weapons are still built with at least the modest addition of wood at some point.

The fact is that each tree can have an utterly unique grain pattern and details such as knots and other defects are totally dependent on the growth patterns of the parent tree which in turn can be dependent on factors such as location, environment, biological and ecological pressures. This makes creating wood textures both freeing in a sense but also incredibly difficult. Details and defects and be freely added but the repetition of such details can ruin the illusion quite easily, even if the viewer is not a subject matter expert on wood and its specificities. One of the primary unwritten rules of texture creation is to not counter the assumed gestalt, that could be a rule for 3D work, Art and gamedev in general. If you do need to break the rules, make sure you are breaking them for a specific reason with a specific purpose or it just rings false for no reason.

Personally I have found that creating grain is the most difficult aspect of building wood, there is a lot you can do utilizing warps and such to attempt to capture the organic weft of the wood grain but after a certain point there just needs to be a deeper understanding of why the wood grows the way it does and how to translate that into some level of controllable aspect within the texture program. In practical terms, doing this well means we can create controls within the substance that lets us change the grain dynamically or to adjust it when layered with other materials. Considering the increased complexity when adding things like metal (See the Barrel Material by Chris Alencar below), identifying specific material definitions and making sure they are uniquely attributed is another difficult part of creating the more complex wood materials.

Wood is a poster child for how seemingly simple textures can have layers of complexity beyond what is assumed at first glance and is likely one of the more complex “Base” materials that exists. A base material being a material that can be a stand alone texture but is often meant to be layered and used in conjunction with other materials to create a cohesive scene or render.

There are more examples of badly done wood than there are of wood crafted beautifully but the examples of well done wood are spectacular indeed. One of our favorite sprints was a series of Barrel materials made by our own resident Cooper, Chris Alencar. I joke, though he is not actually a cooper he may as well be a digital one. Chris was able to take a ton of feedback to refine his work from a middling start to an outstanding finish and it is a set of materials that I look back on with a certain level of pride towards his growth.

The intricacies involved in creating wood that I covered earlier were out in full force for these barrels, the layering issues of other material types (metal, Paint) as well as creating unique grain that corresponded to that which would be found on the wood being used. It is somewhat important to remember that a texture artist almost becomes a laymen's material scientist because the details we need to capture usually require at least a little bit of knowledge on how objects age or change under different stress and environments.

Wood is often a major go to for more mid-range tutorials, standing our from the generally beginner friendly Brick and Texture-Plate tutorials that are floating around out there. While I have dove into many a tutorial during my time as a Substance Designer artist, Derk Elshof has one of the best. I use the knotwork node network he uses to great effect in that tutorial and beyond.

The appearance of the wood relies heavily on the specific render engine being used, real shocking information I know. This plays into everything you want to do with wood and each engine has complications and obstacles that are unique to each if you want to try to get a good looking render, much less renders that can look similar across the different engines.

My particular areas of rendering “expertise” lie in Octane and Marmoset (as dedicated renderers) as well as Unreal Engine and Blender if we want to expand the scope out to modelling and engine tools that I can also use to render. Everything on the GameTextures.com library is rendered through Octane at the moment while Marmoset was our preferred render engine in the past. Marmoset is by far the easier of the two and in my experience it handles the Sub-surface scattering(SSS) aspect of wood with fewer steps, Octane requires a lot of seemingly arcane knowledge to nail that aspect of wood but it also handles height better, allowing a truly grainy feel to the wood that does not rely so heavily on normal data. Blender and Unreal can match or even supersede both Octane and Marmoset but also require a bit more work and time to do so. The benefit to any of them is that I can preset a scene if all I want is a texture shot and I can make one that is specific to the needs of wood in particular (such a scene would also be good for anything else that requires a fine touch of SSS, though more adjustments will be needed past that basic level for things like skin and foliage).

Wood is one of the more complex textures to create, many artists can make passable wood but few can make outstanding wood materials. Thankfully at GameTextures.com any time I need to build a scene I can just dip into our gigantic library with over 500 wood materials of various shapes, sizes and types.

Check out the library here!

A Texture Exploration: Wood was originally published in GameTextures on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

A Master of Many Art Forms and Elements of the Trade

On the night that I am writing this, there is a super moon. It’s technically a “super blue moon,” which in this case is a combination of a: “blue moon,” which refers to two full moons appearing in the same month; and a “super moon,” which occurs when the moon is as close to the earth as its orbit allows. It’s actually the last time we will have a super blue moon until 2037. If I keep practicing, maybe by then I’ll be as talented as today’s featured artist.

Luca Nemolato is an Italian illustrator and educator, and has a broad range of talents and expertise. Nemolato has worked on films, television shows, video gams, and commercials. He’s done work for HBO, DICE LA, and even Capri-Sun. He is proficient in traditional and digital drawing, painting, and sculpture, and has enough tools on his belt to make listing them impractical. His list of services covers everything from art direction and storyboarding, to concept art and 3d-modeling. It’s dense and impressive.

So, Themberchaud. I enjoyed the Dungeons & Dragons movie quite a bit, and I was excited to see the thick dragon in Nemolato’s portfolio. This is not a post about the history of Themberchaud, nor am I interested in spoiling the movie, so in a contextless-vacuum, it’s just fun to see a dragon-of-atypical-size and shape brought to life. The full post includes some of the process of bringing Themberchaud to life, so I fully recommend taking a look. For anyone that isn’t necessarily as enthused about an over-fed dragon with tiny wings, this set of potential designs for Mothra’s wings in Godzilla: King of the Monsters is quite cool, as is or Nemolato’s 2016 demo video.

Before 2037, I anticipate there will be other super moons and blue moons, and probably an eclipse or two. I’m not an astronomer. It’s funny how much easier it is to claim what I am not than it is to figure out what I am. Thankfully, that’s not a question I owe anyone an answer to. I’ll just keep trying to become who I want to be, and that will be enough.

Also, I just went and looked at the moon. It looks the same as the moon always looks with an astigmatism, just bigger.

Check out Luca Nemolato on Artstation or his personal website!

Or browse his Linkedin, Facebook, Youtube, Twitter/X!

Luca Nemolato is an Artistic Jack of All Trades was originally published in GameTextures on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

An Obvious Understanding and Appreciation for the Human Form, Expressive Compositions, and Beautiful Color Combine

I have semi-recently been conned into watching One Piece. I say conned with a lot of love, because I’m really enjoying it; both the story and the core-sample that is decades of improvement in animation are right up my alley. I say semi-recently because I’m on episode four hundred and five, and that took a significant time investment. I wanted to feature a character designer this week because One Piece has me thinking about what makes different kinds of character designs impactful.

Sungmoo Heo is a Character Designer, Concept Artist, and Illustrator located in South Korea. Heo’s portfolio consists of a wide variety of charming art, and includes a range of illustration types from black and white linework to colorful paintings. A skilled artist, Heo also created a class on Coloso that focuses on anatomy and character design. The class is available in Korean, with subtitled versions for Japanese and English.

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I included a lot of colorful works in this post, because they happened to be some of my favorites. I would, however, be remiss if I didn’t point the spotlight toward a little bit of the black-and-white sketch work in Heo’s collection; in particular, this pair of works, specifically here and here, both appropriately titled [Jibaro].

For anyone unfamiliar with Love, Death + Robots, it’s an anthology series of episodes that each feature a stand-alone story, but all of which relate to any number of three specific themes: Love, death, and robots. The episode, “Jibaro,” is about a group of conquistadors in an alternate timeline/universe, that encounter a siren-like creature. The episode is colorful, features dramatic choreography, and the siren herself is draped in jewels and gold. In my opinion, Heo’s drawings manage to capture the essence of the characters incredibly well. The poses and framing of the images, the way they mirror one another, as well as the differences in their expression really got me thinking about the story of the original work. Outside the context of the story, the posing is dynamic and the visuals tell a story of their own. I like this set.

I’m looking forward to seeing where the story of One Piece is headed. I never avoided it on purpose growing up, it was just something that felt out of reach, as by the time I became aware of it and it was available, there were already enough chapters and episodes that I felt like I’d never be able to catch up. It’s a little ironic that by the time I did start watching, that gulf had become about ten-fold wider. I guess the lesson is that it’s never too late to start something that seems daunting, and it may end up being absolutely worth it to try.

Check out Sungmoo Heo on Artstation!

Or, head over to Instagram or Twitter/X!

Sungmoo Heo is Drawing Vibrant, Vivacious Characters was originally published in GameTextures on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Lush, Detailed Environments that Captivate and Capture Attention

Today, I rescued a baby lizard from a light fixture. It was stuck in a fluorescent light cover that would have been incredibly easy for it to get into, but impossible to get out of. I imagine it must’ve seemed appealing, as occasionally a bug or two finds its way into the fixture and cannot escape. Not exactly “on demand food delivery,” but probably the closest a lizard is going to get. The biggest issue is the lack of water supply. Sure, it’s a contained and relatively safe location, with the possibility of food, but no water, no matter how pristine it is. So I extracted it, and set it loose in a far more lush, diverse environment. The danger level is certainly higher, but but so is the number of opportunities to thrive.

John Troive is an environment artist, and has been a Senior Environment Artist at DICE for over ten years. He has worked on Battlefield and Star Wars: Battlefront, and his work is stunning. It’s nice to learn more about the artists involved in creating such beautiful places for players to traverse. Troive’s accounts let his work speak for itself.

Troive’s posts on Arstation are dense. There’s at least ten different vistas and vantage points in each post that highlight Troive’s skill as an environmental designer. This post from Battlefield 3: Armored Kill covers such a wide range of environmental types, I think it’s worth a browse. Bridges, beaches, buildings, a snowfield, even dinosaur bones; the attention to detail is incredible. Some of the locations reminded me that I haven’t been on a vacation in quite a while.

Much like my tiny lizard friend, it might be safer and cooler inside, but it’s worth going out to explore and take a risk. Even if my anxiety isn’t quite on board with that.

Check out John Troive on Artstation!

Or head over to LinkedIn!

John Troive is Bringing Players Beautiful Places to Play was originally published in GameTextures on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Unique Influences of Culture and Story are presented Artfully and with Skill

Getting well doesn’t always mean instantly getting better. I’m certainly better than I was last week, but I’ve still got a cough, and some of my hair has fallen out. Even my eyelashes are thinner. I guess that last bit is an indicator that I was more ill than I wanted to believe this past few weeks. The psychological effects of illness are often overlooked in the rush to get back to the normal swing of things.

IIF//Munkhjin is a 3D concept designer and artist out of Ulan Bator, Mongolia. IIF has a Bachelor’s in Graphic Design from the Mongolian University of Science and Technology. He does freelance work and offers materials for sale on Artstation’s marketplace. There’s clear cultural influences spread throughout IIF’s portfolio, as well as unique futuristic scenes, and each has their own charm.

I like the presentation style IIF uses for the materials in this metal collection. Scrolling through the textures, displayed as they are on these skeletal horse statues and bells, left a really unique impression. In particular, the oxidation and patina on the copper shows such an incredible range of color and creates deep visual interest. There’s also some lovely visual storytelling in Hidden entrance to the Great Kingdom. I’m reminded of the opening sequences of Spirited Away; a tunnel being reclaimed by nature, but not enough to hide the mystery of what lies within. Something magical, calling the viewer to investigate with a curious column of light.

Cartography. That’s what I’ve been holed up doing this week. I’m having a lot of fun translating the grand magical elements of a fantasy world into more subtle artistic representations on the map. It’s nice to be able to say that I’m practicing something new. The person I’m working with on the maps has a lot of faith in me, which gives me confidence to keep improving. I appreciate them for that.

Check out IIF//Munkhjin on Artstation!

Or browse LinkedIn, X, or Instagram.

IIF//Munkhjin is Showing a Spectrum of Metal and Bone was originally published in GameTextures on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Art that Imitates Life in a Satisfying and Realistic Way

There’s an art to the way an artist thinks about doing art. I mean to say that there’s more to it than just “place a line here to indicate shape;” it’s just as much about where they chose to put no lines at all. Some artists have the ability to look at a block of clay and imagine all the things they will make. Art is the magic of being able to take any combination of materials and make the mind of the viewer believe that it is something else.

Javad Rajabzade is a texture artist whose work manages to take the unreal and make it look tangible. His profile states that he creates, “photoreal CG imagery for product marketing and 3D models for apps & web solutions,” and from his portfolio and Artstation store, it’s clear that his skills are an equal match of substance and form.

As per the usual with Artist of the Week, there were plenty of choices for which post to choose as a focus. Rajabzade has materials that cover everything from horror and gore to a variety of leather armors, but the posts about glass (here and here) really drew my attention. It’s not just because of how colorful some of the glass is, although that certainly didn’t hurt. The process of creating realistic glass, mirrors, and other reflective surfaces in a 3d-environment has come so far, and these posts really demonstrate that. Over time, the toolkit has become much more robust in this regard. Rajabzade’s glass textures have variety and depth, and his textures demonstrate a fundamental understanding of what makes reflective surfaces so appealing to the eye. As a bonus, there’s video of the process for the jar.

To close out this week, I hope that I will get well soon. Yep, still sick. I have a lot of catching up to do on projects and education that I haven’t felt like doing. It’s hard enough to look at a screen when I don’t already have a splitting headache. When I’m feeling better, and when it’s not so blisteringly hot outside, I’d like to get out to the park or a trail and walk around in nature for a while.

Check out Rajabzade on Artstation and Artstation Marketplace!

Or, browse his Instagram and Youtube!

Javad Rajabzade is Making Substantial Art that Works was originally published in GameTextures on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

A Broad Spectrum of Artwork that Communicates Meaning Without Words

I’m not going to lie, I’m not having the best week. My allergies have been crushing me, and subsequently opened the door to a horrific sinus infection. I’ve systematically demolished all but one of my fingernails. My Youtube recommendations are as unrecognizable as my new neighbors; I’m sure they’re fine, but I don’t know where they came from. I only fell asleep with auto-play on one time, I swear!

Thankfully, there’s art to look at.

There’s not a lot of information I can find on v wei, at least that I have the capacity to be able to read. They have their weibo link and email in their header, but I lack the know-how to engage with weibo in my current form. Their Artstation profile summary contains a single character: “.” No links to LinkedIn or a personal website. Just art, ready to speak for itself.

There’s a couple works that caught my attention this week. The wizard above just has so much cool storytelling going on: The cats scattered around the room, the details on the shelves that still don’t manage to distract away from the subject, the messy staircase that captures the haphazard precision of the wizard archetype. I found myself wondering about the figure coming down the stairs, and how the bottles in the box would be used. The full post has close-ups of different elements of the image.

On the subject of what is contained in an image, this sketch study contains the inspiration photos for the compositions, and it is so cool to see how an artist can reinterpret the imagery that inspires them. It’s one of the beauties of human creativity; the dragons hidden in the coldest blast of air, unseen until that artist makes them known.

Sadly, my last nail was lost in the making of this article. I’m a stress-induced nail-biter, a habit I’ve had since I was a kid. I’d be lying if I said that my love of looking at and writing about art completely drowns out the anxieties I have about trying to show appreciation for those that make that art in the first place. Art is sometimes more than colors and shapes, it’s a form of communication for many people. I just hope that I can express how I feel when I see people’s work successfully.

Check out v wei’s Artstation here!

Or head over to Weibo, whether you can read it or not! Art is it’s own language, after all.

V Wei is Painting Beautiful Stories was originally published in GameTextures on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Sculpting Unique and Beautiful Creations for Projects both Personal and Professional

Okay, so I think I’ve established by now that I can find a lot to appreciate about almost any kind of art. Whether it’s environment or character design, texture-focused or 3d-model, I am fascinated by the talent and imagination that goes into creating any kind of art. Having said that, I admit that there’s one specific kind of thing that really grabs my attention. I’m not going to name it, I’m just going to slap an artwork in here and let it do the talking.

Crystal Bretz is a prolific and talented 3d-artist with a portfolio jam-packed with stunning artworks. At present, she’s a Lead Modeler at Framestore, and has worked on some very recognizable properties ranging from Black Panther to Spiderman: No Way Home. Her demo reel really speaks for itself, illustrating that Bretz’s skillset is quite broad and encompasses a wide range of styles and themes. She also worked on a project that another of our featured artists was a part of: The Final Fantasy IX Memoria Project. Bretz has also shared a lot of writings on her experiences in the industry, as well as information to help other artists improve their craft.

There really is a lot in Bretz’s portfolio to be impressed by, but I really appreciated the attention to detail in the post for Memoria Project’s Moogles. There are a ton of videos in this post alone that show the moogles interacting with their environment, with the player, as well as the reference materials and detailed views of the model in a variety of colors. Bretz specified her intention to keep the final product as close to the source material as possible, and I think it’s absolutely worth taking some time to appreciate the effort that went into that. In my opinion, she did a great job keeping the spirit of the source material while bringing the figures to life in a new way.

In closing, I’m really enjoying looking at people’s hard work and effort and learning more about the people behind the media that’s available for us to consume. It’s all well and good to be fans of actors, but there’s some really incredible work going into the CGI parts of filmmaking that have made some of the most fantastic ideas a reality for us to enjoy. I’m looking forward to looking at more cool, crazy, scary, breathtaking, inspiring art in the future, and writing about the people that make that art possible.

Check out Bretz’s Artstation here!

Or check out her personal website, LinkedIn, or Instagram!

Crystal Bretz is Making Marvelous Models was originally published in GameTextures on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.