“Might & Sorcery” Joins the Action!

CASE STUDY

ESP

PERSONAL WORK

Comic-style, hand-drawn illustration of a sorceress creating a green energy wall to block arrows, and a werebear with red and gold armor fighting an skeleton warrior

There are not many things in life I love as much as video games; it's a passion I've shared with my brother for decades. Beat 'Em Ups hold a special place in my heart.

"Might & Sorcery" is our own Beat 'Em Up, brimming with action and mystery in a dark fantasy world.

Creating a personal project featuring an illustration cover for one of the original video game ideas I came up with my brother, was a no-brainer.

I crafted a hand-drawn illustration depicting a Battle scene between the two protagonists, Magnus the werebear and Saga the sorceress, versus the army of the Tenebris Umbra, deep within an evil underground temple. I also made a hand-lettered logo for the game to use alongside the artwork.

SCOPE

Illustration

Hand-drawn Logo

The Heart of a Classic Beat 'Em Up

EXPOSITION

The early 90s are often considered as the golden age of beat 'em ups, games about taking the fight to the streets, facing evil one punch at a time, the genre was born in the arcades during the 80s, and then invaded the gaming console space with reckless abandon, I was lucky to be there as a child, and enjoyed every second of it.

Screenshot of TMNT the Arcade Game stage 1 (April's apartment). It features Leo fighting foot soldiers in a burning hallway

TMNT The Arcade Game (1989) by Konami

Game screenshot of Double Dragon II stage 4 (the mansion). It features Billy standing on golden steps against a purple background with torches

Double Dragon II: The Revenge (1990) by Technōs Japan

Classics like "Double Dragon II" for NES, "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Arcade Game", "Streets of Rage" for Sega Genesis, and "TMNT IV: Turtles in Time" for the SNES showed me how beautiful art could elevate an already great game to a new level in the minds of gamers.

TMNT IV Turtles in Time SNES cover art. It features Leo, Mikey, Donnie and Raph gliding on a giant wind spiral connecting to time portals

TMNT IV - SNES Cover (1992) by Tom Dubois

Streets of Rage Sega Genesis box cover (NA version - Front)

Game covers captivated me, depicting larger-than-life heroes teaming up against hordes of enemies. Many of those artworks, decades later, are still ingrained in my mind.

Esteban Matheus and Eleazar Matheus on a gaming expo. Esteban is holding a replica of Link's Sword from TThe Legend of Zelda, and Eleazar is standing next to a Super Mario Odyssey stand.

Left to right

Me and my brother (Eleazar)

My brother Eleazar and I grew up as gaming enthusiasts, always dreaming of creating our own game one day. We love trying out and analyzing new games and constantly come up with ideas for potential new titles.

Streets of Rage 4 screenshot featuring stage 2 (the police station). It features Blaze, Axel, Cherry, and Floyd fighting thugs in the prision.

Recently, the Beat 'Em up genre has been experiencing a sort of new renaissance, thanks to games like Streets of Rage 4 by DotEmu, which made us go back and expand one of our ideas for a game: "Might & Sorcery".

Streets of Rage 4 cover (PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch)

Streets of Rage 4 (2020) by DotEmu

Creating a full-blown illustration for our game to use in the cover and promotional materials was the closest thing to making "Might & Sorcery" a reality, and I couldn't wait to show it to my brother.

Fighting Back-to-Back in the Depths of the Earth

THE PROCESS

A pencil sketch of Magnus the werebear. It shows the head with a menacing expression, and rough strokes starting to shape the body.

Pencil drawing of Magnus the werebear. It is a close-up of the character's face focusing on the gaping mouth with sharp teeth and all-white eyes.

My board was soon filled with aggressive poses, medieval armor and weapons, and bears, lots of bears, to get Magnus' (the werebear) face just right.

Clip Studio Paint Pro screenshot showing a Saga the sorceress pencil drawing. She is extending her right hadn to fire a spell.

During the sketching and penciling phases, I focused on building the composition, and defining the details of every character, like the armor decorations (flames on the arm guards, the angry face on the shoulder plate, chainmail rings), magic effects on the spellcasters, and fungus on the decaying skeleton warriors.

Zoomed in view of a Summoner ink drawing, focusing on the hard shadows and cross-hatching on his left shoulder and arm.

Dark variable ink strokes add depth, mimicking the classic comic style from game covers in the 1990s.

Hard shadows were established on the summoner featured in the foreground as large blocks of black ink, to intensify the silhouette effect, making it the darkest character in the entire composition.

Clips Studio Paint Pro screenshot showing Magnus the werebear drawn with ink and in full color against a grey background.

The main theme of the story is Contrast, so I used color and shading to manifest it. Magnus is mainly red and orange, while Saga (the sorceress) is purple and blue; decorations and spells stand out with complementary colors like yellow, orange, and green.

Comic illustration of Saga the sorceress with flowing orange hair, wearing a purple battle dress with golden greaves and necklace. She is creating a green energy wall with her left hand.

Comic illustration of Magnus the werebear slashing an enemy with his right claw. He is wearing a crimsong armor with yellow decorations.

Comic illustration of Saga the sorceress focusing on her head with an aggressive expression. She is a redhead with blue eyes and red lips

The background and enemies represent the darkness enveloping the light.

A comic-style illustration of a skeleton warrior wearing a fungus infested armor while blocking a hit with its shield.

Clip Studio Paint Pro screenshot showing a comic-style drawing of the summoner's head in full color. The lasso tool is being used to select a portion of the face.

The Mines of Moria battle in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) was a big inspiration for getting the tone and composition I wanted.

Screenshot from the movie LoTR Fellowship of the Ring. It shows Gandalf, Aragorn, Legolas, Gimly and the hobbits back-to-back, facing a horde of orcs deep in the mines of Moria

I designed the Underground Temple using a 2-point perspective technique. The rows of pillars form oblique lines, presenting an imposing front surrounding the characters, progressively fading away in the distance.

Pencil sketches of columns drawn on a 2-point perspective grid over a white background

Zoomed-in comic illustration of the base of a column featuring an engraved skull with lines.

Comic-style ink illustration of column rows with bones and skulls

The "Arena" effect is created using dark tones and gradients for shading; darkness emanates from every angle, while the heroes serve as the primary light source, acting as beacons of hope.

Comic illustration of rows of columns in a dark arena in full-color

Comic illustration of rows of columns in a dark arena in full-color. It now includes complete shading and lighting effects using gradients

Clip Studio Paint Pro screenshot showing a comic illustration of the columns linework with completed coloring and shading.

Comic-style illustration of the Tenebris Umbra temple with multiple rows of column decorated with bones and skulls. Theres an eerie green myst enveloping the structures close to the floor.

For the Logo, I wanted a clash between a bold slab serif font versus a delicate transitional font; I lettered the former, adding features like smoother transitions for the serifs to make them look less rigid (strong but flexible like Magnus), and to the latter, I added flourishes to the terminals to represent the fluid nature of Saga's spells.

The color exploration for the Logo emanated from the character's color palette, pairing warm versus cold tones. I tried different combinations and gradients until I settled on a set that is readable on both dark and light backgrounds and also viable for both fabric and print with minor modifications.

Mockup set: an SNES box cover, an A6 flyer, an SNES cartridge label, a square wall sign, and an Arcade cabinet, decorated with the Might & Sorcery art and colors

Overwhelming Power and Charm

THE OUTCOME

In the end, I created a detailed landscape illustration with vibrant colors and high contrast, to be used as key art for the game; each character exists independently, allowing me to rearrange the composition as needed.

Might & Sorcery cover art drawn in calssic full-color comic style. The scene depicts Magnus the werebear fighting two skeleton warriors, and Saga the sorceress shooting spells and creating a protection wall in the background.

Depth of field:

a Gaussian blur was applied to the menacing enemy in the foreground, making him more mysterious and enticing for the viewers.

Textures:

a pre-made dirt texture was added to the dungeon floor, making it gritty.

Shading and Crosshatching:

hard shadows are created with dark ink sections combined with crosshatching, reproducing a classic comic vibe.

Glowing effects:

magic spells and eerie eyes were highlighted with glow filters and low opacity.

Rim Light:

spells are the main lighting source in this pitch-black environment, illuminating the characters' faces and bodies from the front, and delineating them with bright lines from the back.

With minor changes, I made assets for the entire game marketing process, including game covers (vertical and horizontal), a game banner (extra-wide horizontal), promotional posters, arcade cabinet art, and more.