Introducing Our Artists!

Greetings deep divers! We hope you enjoyed our last dev log highlighting the spectacular composition process of our Sound Director, Jose Daniel Ruiz. We’ll now be drawing the seaweed woven curtains back, unveiling our fin-tabulous department of Artists! Did you know that for many artists on the Stygiomedusa VN Project, this is their introduction to visual novel development, and for the same school of fish, their first video game? It has been an exciting journey to witness our team’s impressive skill set in action as they produce visually compelling iterations, as well as their growing curiosity to learn more about game development.

At this stage of our Creation Period, we’ve just approached our first production milestone, completing the concept artwork for our character sprites and cutscene illustrations for Stygiomedusa’s Main Route. The Art Department intimately collaborates with each of our Scene Writers, where our art direction is spearheaded by our Moderators Betney and Izu, as they intertwine their creativity to bring our cast to life. Our artists have been diligently exploring the alluring visual seascape for Foleri, and we’ll be soon releasing Sneak Peeks on nearly every aspect of design- But first! Let’s meet our wonderful Art Department, and preview their design pitches for each of their respective tasks!

Character Artists

Wurf

“An artist who loves all things rich and strange. Let's dive into the depths together!”

Wurf will be responsible for the Character Design and Sprite for Stura, where their design pitch was:

 Inspired by the blue glaucus/"sea dragon," a beautiful sea slug that feeds on much larger prey, including the Portuguese man o' war and other venomous organisms, and assimilates its victims' venomous cells into itself to deliver an even deadlier sting. His robes are primarily a humble black, but with vivid blue/white accents evocative of petals/feathers and a striking silver undertone to his cloak. Rather average in height and build. His hair is long and a little wild, pulled into a messy ponytail; in the later stages of the game, it could be loose and wilder to reflect his decaying mental state. His eyes are gentle and soft.

Strange

“An illustrator based out of the U.S.A. with a love for fantasy and horror.”

Strange will be responsible for the Character Design and Sprite for our Veiled Oracle, where their design pitch was:

 Luminous eyes, could be the iris, could be the pupil, visible within the shadows of their layered veil. Garments are flowing with tendril-like elements, sheer layers, a lot of jewelry and embellishments.Torn between extremely long hair (visible beneath veil) or very very short.  They have a subtle iridescence, both their clothing and countenance. Salvaged  colorful glass is included in their jewelry and garments.

Freddie M.

“I'm Freddie, a concept artist and illustrator from the UK. I'm obsessed with horror, fantasy, and bugs, and I love drawing characters full of detail!”

Freddie will be responsible for the Character Design and Sprite for The Long Arm, where their design pitch was:

 Lots of cephalopod iconography - their heavy work outfit based on a French diving suit and inspired by things like isopods, chambered nautilus and octopi (so many arms for the Long Arm). Clothes, hair and accessories would be practical; their clothes were once much finer, provided by the church, but are now old and not well looked after (loose threads, yellowing shirt, flattened frills, faded patterning on a slightly ill-fitting waistcoat, etc). They wear small trinkets plundered from previous expeditions that the church didn't consider valuable enough to claim (tarnished and asymmetrical trinkets in their hair and on their wrists, to contrast their symmetrical diving suit).

Clara M.

“I'm an artist who loves history and spooky stories and spends a lot of time playing games and drawing old men.”

Clara will be responsible for the Character Design and Sprite for our Heretic Scientist, where their design pitch was:

 Androgynous appearance, early to mid 30s. Dark brown hair and fringe, ear length. Pale, thin, sharp features, looks tired with marked eyebags but their eyes and expression are deep and severe. Wears round pince-nez with interchangeable lenses of different colours and sizes on the right side. The ruffles in their sleeves and high collar remind of a jellyfish. Clothes are Victorian with a hint of late medieval, with a color palette that goes from dark blues to soft, light purples with some golden details. Carries a bunch of books/papers, and has scientific instruments in their belt and a small one as a pendant.

Lenaffin

“Hi, I'm Meg! I'm a character artist with a deep love for video games, eldritch horror and shiny things. Very excited to be here!”

Lenaffin will be responsible for the Character Design and Sprite for our fierce Fishing Captain, where their design pitch was:

Blue whale inspired design (whales sustain entire ecosystems, at the cost of their life) strong features and muscular, stable frame. White simple shirt rolled up to the elbows and silvery blue jacket worn over her shoulders. Potentially a waist harness vaguely in the shape of ribs, or some other visual reference to a skeleton/bone/whalefall. Long black hair pulled in a thick braid and deep set, bright black eyes. Faded scars on her forearms and maybe one on her nose or cheek. Some metal accents in iron on the hair and jacket, a gutting knife on her side. Possibly gloved hands, for handling catch. 

Haven (Helhorn Art)

“Just a freelance artist based out of Canada who loves all kinds of games :)”

Haven will be responsible for the Character Design and Sprite for our Hopeful Clergy, where their design pitch was:

 Blonde (wavy short hair, that falls just a little past the neck). Brown eyes, and brown skin. I'm thinking of those choir members from Bloodborne in terms of clothes, but with nautical undertones for theme (subtle imagery).  Dark navy, lighter blues/white and gold.I imagine the clergy wears something regal but understated, also  freckles? Tall. an intimidating stare, but a kind face.

CG Artists

We’ll now be swimming along to our CG Artists! It’s a bit of a spoiler (Perhaps a lot more than just a bit 😆) to describe their assignments, so for now, please admire samples of their stunning portfolio, and be sure to check out each of their platforms!

TheOnlyFuntime

“I'm an 18 year-old Jamaican Artist that loves loves coloring and rendering and Tetro DR.”

JonJustaguy

“Hello my name is Jin. I’m a student and digital illustrator but mostly just a guy.”

K.I. Viarhiechyk

“Student and enthusiast of the arts. I love video games and have always wanted to try working on one.”

GUI Artist

Next, we’ll be spotlighting our wonderful GUI Artist, Ophiuchus, who will be responsible for designing our user interface for Stygiomedusa. By working in tandem with our programmers, Ophiuchus will be ideating on the layout and stylistic aesthetics for every player function within our visual novel!

Ophiuchus

“I'm a pixel artist and cross-stitcher (pixel art but slow) with a lot of brain worms. I'm known for dating lots (and lots) of pigeons, and now I'm happy to be here and broaden my dating sim horizons!”

Background Artists

Our journey cascades to the shoreline for our Background Artist line-up. Each of our skilled BG Artists will be working on the environment design of Foleri, breathing oceanic life into the abodes of our cast, the bustling spaces of underwater civilization, and otherworldly bubbles that our audience has yet to ponder.

Toby Mitchell

“I'm a freelance artist from the UK specialising in TTRPG/fantasy-inspired illustration.”

R1m

“I'm a Vietnamese freelance artist! Happy to be here! Hope to be of help.”

RainyDayHaze

“I love games with a vague and otherworldly atmosphere. I’m also interested in marine biology: the weirder the better!”

Caramel Cocoon Creations

“I'm Rain and I'm a disabled, queer, nonbinary, artist of color. I run my solo illustration and craft studio, Caramel Comics.

What’s Next?

Our development team is sailing along production, which means we’ll soon be sharing a plethora of official concept work- And a special treat for our newsletter subscribers as well? Keep a watchful eye out on our socials! Let’s unite within the briny deep very soon- Take care, my dear reader.