Let’s imagine for a few minutes what would happen if one of the most powerful artists of the 20th century, Pablo Picasso, were alive today, in the realities of the modern world, and instead of paintings, decided to create other works of art — for example, 3D art for video games. What would he do in this case? What forms, approaches, textures would Picasso use if his artistic freedom clashed with the technical rules and requirements of the modern gaming industry? 3D art services are all about the synergy of traditional art and modern innovative technologies. In this article, we will also discuss how the artistic approach inspired by Picasso’s modernism could be adapted to the reality of developing modern 3D assets, in particular within the framework of a studio service such as N-iX Games.
Picasso and 3D: Forms Beyond Reality
Picasso managed to make a certain revolution in art in his time, because he literally broke the forms into fragments, thereby rearranging the image in a new plane and mixing angles. If we draw a parallel with the sphere of 3D modeling, then such an adventure could take the form of abstract silhouettes and complex polyhedra, which make up a character or architectural object.
Just imagine now some gamified character with cubist elements:
- a head made of several planes
- bright colors in contrasts
- a pose that is broken in several axes at the same time
In modern 3D art services, for example, those based on the studio with deep professional expertise N‑iX Games, such bold approaches are always implemented due to the existence of such concepts as the flexibility of concept art and the effective subsequent blocking & sculpting stage.
Concept art and blocking: Freedom and limits
Pablo Picasso never confined himself to the confines of photographic reality. He primarily started with the concept. In the context of studio 3D art workflows, this method can also be used. But how? It’s simple — you need to start from concept art with minimalist forms, geometric transformations and unexpected accents.
Any team of truly professional artists always starts the workflow with blocking, and all other details are added at the sculpting stage. And if at the blocking stage a simple platform were to transform into an abstract cube, from which some magical statues or doors would grow and be created. It is from this moment that the most intense interaction of concept and technology begins.
Retopology and texturing: When abstraction meets optimization
Picasso certainly didn’t pay any special attention to optimization processes, he usually cared exclusively about art. But in the world of 3D art services, the retopology stage plays a very important role. After all, it is during retopology that the model is transformed into the optimal form for the game engine and subsequent rendering implementation. And this is a 100% challenge for an abstract form.
Why? After all, it is necessary to simultaneously preserve manifestations of artistic freedom, reduce polygons, and minimize the risks of artifacts. The texturing stage implies that artists could add deliberate strokes, combinations of rough and smooth surfaces, color spots (here you can draw a parallel with Picasso’s brushes in the form of PBR maps).
It is worth adding that the professional studio N‑iX Games has deep specialization in the context of UV unwrapping, texturing, baking, and mesh flow optimization. As a result, an innovative art style can be combined with a standardized technical pipeline – this is how the synthesis of art and technology becomes possible for N-iX Games.
Stylized minimalism vs. photorealism in modern 3D
The great artist Picasso liked to experiment with the stylistics of style from time to time. Of course, the modernist style never strives for photorealism, because this style is always bright, simplified and at the same time emotional. Today, the field of 3D art production is known for two basic approaches:
- the formation of photorealistic characters and the field of view.
- creating stylized characters for casual games.
A true fan and follower of Picasso in the studio could breathe new aesthetics into stylized projects, in particular, this could be implemented in the following forms:
- sprites of stylized character assets with angular forms
- or with color contrast
- or even with graphic shadows
All these modern possibilities of 3D art services are possible thanks to the professional expertise of such studios as N‑iX Games.
Possible result: A modernist gallery game
Imagine a concept game with an art style inspired by Picasso: every NPC, location, and object is flat, geometric, colorful, and emotional. The space resembles a cubist painting: the sky is scattered with cubes, and the buildings compress the perspective. Sometimes the characters lack symmetry, but they have artistic power. The player doesn’t just explore the world – they explore art in 3D space. This could be an experimental indie game or an AAA-level art project, supported by a tech team with experience, like at N‑iX Games.
Conclusion
If, at least, there were such a parallel reality in which Picasso would create 3D art for games, then this genius of a brush could definitely completely turn our idea of the concepts of “form”, “space” and “color” in the world of numbers and technology. But this could also remain just another artistic fantasy if high-quality pipeline, texturing, rigging and other integrations were not also applied. The latest services in the field of 3D art production (in particular, those that N‑iX Games has in its arsenal) provide an opportunity to combine creative artistic vision with technical feasibility, optimization, multi-platform support and art direction. Thanks to all this, a new cool format is born — a holistic art object in the game, and not just an additional asset.
The coexistence of traditional art and digital technologies, with the right approach, can lead to the creation of a new type of form formation in the system of the virtual universe. When the art of the classics meets the discipline of the modern pipeline, then the game does not just look, it is felt.
