Went full Indiana Jones in the loft and found my old collection of Japanese import Dreamcast games. The box artwork OMG 🫡. Good times
Dean Wilson
@playtonicdean.bsky.social
Art director and 11 year veteran at Playtonic. Previously 10 years at Rare. Passion for graphics and fine art. https://www.instagram.com/deanwilsonart
Want to know a bit more about how we recreated Yooka-Laylee's world in a pixel art style for Super Yooka-Laylee Kart? 👾 Check out our vid featuring our Senior Artist, @playtonicdean.bsky.social where he shares some of his awesome artwork, and a sneak peek at some brand new tracks!
For anyone who missed the SYLK art direction talk I did on the Playtonic stream last week, here it is. Starts around 8 mins in 😅 www.youtube.com/live/MsWXoYa...
Playtonic Live - Super Yooka-Laylee Kart, Art Showcase with Dean Wilson
YouTube video by Playtonic
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I’ll put more effort than usual into combing my hair in preparation. See you tomorrow, look forward to your questions :)
Wanna know how the art for Super Yooka-Laylee Kart was created? 🎨 Tune into our livestream tomorrow at 2pm BST, where our Senior Artist, Dean Wilson, will be showcasing his creative process. See you there! Youtube - https://bit.ly/4xH4T5j Twitch - https://bit.ly/49L4AcX
…I also got to record some new nyer sounds for Trowzer as well. Authentically recreating the sound of a snake racing a go-kart tapped into every fibre of my ‘voice acting’ prowess 🤔
Playtonic trusted me on the key art duties again. Worked closely with Steve Mayles to get the characters looking a bit more expressive too. Enjoy the trailer :)
First glimpse of the Yookaverse lovingly re-drawn and repurposed for some go-karting. (Lots!) more to come…
🚨 KARTING EVOLVED 🚨 Super Yooka-Laylee Kart has officially been revealed during #SummerGameFest as part of #DayOfTheDevs! 🏁 Precision arcade racing ⚡ Rage-fuelled payback 🎮 Up to 8-player split-screen 🌪️ Create your own races, rules & rivalries Wishlist now on Steam! - https://bit.ly/4e1qFr7
I was going through the loft today and reminded myself how much I love old school 90’s era hand-painted box art. Simpler times 🫶
Hello! Finally got around to setting up a YouTube channel. It’s mainly me painting stuff and making artz. Hoping to do some tutorials soon too if you fancy trying oil paints :) youtube.com/@deanwilsona...
I picked up ProCreate dreams a couple of days ago and made this little Christmas thing as a first go - bringing one of my pixel artworks of my home town to life with some layering and keyframed lighting bits. Fantastic tool, and only 12 quid 😱. Merry Xmas all x
Found a couple of old Kameo 2 concepts/level models I did back in 2007, found in an old box, nicely printed onto A4 before the internet existed, probably.
For anyone interested in painting or fine art, I decided to make my first video ‘how to’ on photorealistic oil painting which is a bit of a hobby of mine when I’m not noodling in bats and lizards… www.instagram.com/reel/DQO_l73...
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As it’s #sonicthehedgehog ‘s birthday today, seems like a good time to shamelessly plug a little oil painting I did recently. Who needs AI when you’ve got oil, pigments and canvases ;)
Yo! in a sad turn of events this past 2 weeks, Playtonic lost a number of talented individuals across various disciplines. If any of my contacts/Rare alumni in senior/hiring positions around the globe have space for eager and gifted talent in 3D art,production,design,UI or narrative let me know.
Hi to all you lovely new followers (and old) 👋🏼. Whilst I dig through my files to dig up interesting yooka Laylee tidbits from the past in the run up to #yookareplaylee, please enjoy the weirdest crap that I’ve ever actually been paid to do…. m.youtube.com/watch?v=Yzw2...
Trowzer Sales Pitch ASMR
YouTube video by Playtonic
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With the (going to be…) amazing #yookareplaylee on the horizon, here’s a peak at how the spangly new key art came about. As with everything in #gamedev, things go through process, with only the final iterations being what the players usually see. Anyway, here’s a few early sketch ideas…
Happy Friday folks. Sooth your eyes from the Vendi hoodie debacle with a couple of not-seen-before early concepts of impossible lair’s overworld :)
Quick hi to new followers 🙋🏻♂️. I’ve dug up loads of old #YookaLaylee development trivia and images that no one’s seen before. I’ll post some, to whet your appetites for the wonderful #yookareplaylee next year. A lots happened on the journey to get here…
For anyone interested in painting and fine art, I dabble in a bit of oil painting from time to time. Here’s a shameless plug of my insta page. I’m currently trying to paint my #sonic #lego. Turns out Lego is hard to draw :) www.instagram.com/deanwilsonar...
Hello folks, I'd like to do a bit of community building here! Who'd be interested in, and interested in being on, a "Playtonic Community Fan Art" Starter Pack? I'd like to support and promote the incredible folks making beautiful art from our worlds! 🫶
More unseen bits from the history of #yookalaylee. Unused concept art from the #impossiblelair. Originally we toyed with the idea of 2d versions of the original levels. I was keen to explore more of Galleon Galaxy’s junk aesthetic by having a rusty junk planet. Maybe in future ;)
More lost stuff from the archives of #yookalaylee. Here’s the key art from Impossible Lair and how it started out. Trust the process 💚💜
Little surprise here but felt like posting - back in 2020 I caught up with Steve Ellis and David Doak whome I’d worked with in the past.Before Free Rad was reformed they asked me to knock up some pre-vis for the sadly cancelled Timesplitters 4. Thought I’d share these before they’re lost to time x
Going through some old pics and found my entry into the 2020 Playtonic Easter egg decorating competition. ‘Yooka-LayMe’. I was young and foolish at the time…..
Some more original #yookalaylee cutting room floor pics from tribalstack tropics. The level was still half whitebox at this point. Toyed with some sunset lighting, image of the minion arena with a totem (plus red gates) and a 3D skybox, which I had to remove as it tanked the framerate ;)
Some more very early, first art pass WIPS of ‘Galleon Galaxy’ from way back. You can see some of the whitebox designer areas in the distance. At some point there was going to be a ‘skull island’, but we ran out of time. I think this was Clara’s head with a rock texture slapped on… #yookareplaylee
Ok, one last ‘never seen before’ dive into the history of #Yookalaylee, for today Here’s Galleon Galaxy as a day-lit mars-like barren wasteland. This was about 1 day into its first art pass. My old mantra was ‘make the rocks and grass first and figure out the cool theme after’. It normally works 😬
Another possibly interesting Glitterglaze Glacier fact - I loosely based the palace on a level I made for Kameo II around 10 years prior. The ‘Sanctum of the Kings’ level now only exists on this A4 printout (and possibly a server somewhere…). However it spiritually lives on in YL and YR….