When Russian art itches the brush…

It’s no secret that Disco Elysium is one of the greatest games I’ve played in my recent memory. I still find myself playing it every other month, let alone quoting and thinking about how much it changed not only how I think of game development and storytelling, but even the way I paint. Hence why I decided to take on studying some of the techniques of Russian painting techniques and theory.

We still have a long way to go for improvement, but there’s definitely been a shift in my painting abilities as of recently. So much in fact, that we compiled a  an overview of our below process. Keep creating!

🌆 1. Scene Setup

Quick mental checklist before painting.

• 🕕 Time: ~6PM, cool outdoor driveway.
• 💡 Main light: car headlights from the front.
• 🚗 Secondary: distant car lights behind.
• 🔥 Bounce: subtle warm ground/nearby surface.
• 🎭 Background = psychological state / mood.

🎨 2. Palette & Swatches

Build everything on top of a simple neutral/value system.

• ⚪ Neutrals (grisaille base):
• Cool grey
• Warm neutral
• Near-black (not pure)
• 🧑‍🎨 Skin base (golden–green bias):
• Golden midtone
• Green-leaning midtone
• ✨ Warm accents / glazes:
• Cheeks, nose, lips
• ❄️ Cool shadows:
• Cool blue for shadow planes

🖤 3. Value Pass (Grisaille)

If it reads in black & white, color is easy.

• 🪞 Block in the background first (mid-value, simple shapes).
• 🧱 Do a full neutral underpainting (no strong color yet).
• 💡 Place headlight hits first (forehead, cheekbones, shoulders).
• 〰️ Keep halftones calm and group shadows into simple masses.
• 📷 Test in greyscale: it should already “work” before color.

🔥❄️ 4. Warm / Cool Mapping

Change temperature, not value.

• 🔥 Warm zones: cheeks, nose, lips, bounce-lit areas.
• ❄️ Cool zones: jaw shadows, eye sockets, neck, turned-away planes.
• 🟡 Keep base skin golden–green; tilt a bit warmer or cooler per zone.
• 🎚️ Small hue shifts on top of stable value = clean color.

✨ 5. Glazes & Finish

Unify, simplify, then add just enough sparkle.

• 🫧 Thin glazes to warm/cool whole areas and tie colors together.
• ✏️ Sharpen only 2–3 key edges (eyes, nose, mouth or focal detail).
• 🌟 Add small, deliberate highlights as final accents.

🛠️ 6. Troubleshooting

• 😶 Muddy skin → Re-check values in greyscale, repaint neutrals, re-glaze with cleaner mixes.
• 💡 Confusing light → Restate main light (car headlights) and darken/simplify everything else.
• 🎨 Too saturated → Return to neutrals; keep high chroma only in small accents.

💻 7. Digital / Color Constructor

Mirror the same logic with a tiny digital setup.

• 🎛️ Make a tiny swatch set: background + key light + fill + rim + neutral ramp.
• 🖤 Start in greyscale, then add warm/cool color on layers or blend modes.
• 🧪 Test temperature shifts on a separate layer before committing.
• 🛒 I use Color Constructor to plan the light and palette.

7aX Jingle

Been doing a lot of practice with coding expressions on good ol’ After Effects. We originally made this strange abstract series of glyphs to brush up our graffiti inspired lettering to brush up on Illustrator.

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Relatively straight forward to put together. That color palette tho…yeeyuh!

Here’s the final animated piece, we even added a little jingle you can listen to in full below!

I always get giddy when I can make music for my visuals, especially when I can stack different synths together for additional atmosphere in the soundscape.

A gander at the original sketch. Lots of additional shapes and 3Dz. Penciling sharp keeps it fun and satisfying.

For those of you curious about how the “floaty” feel of the animation was built, here’s a peek at the exact After Effects expressions I used for each motion parameter scale, position, and rotation. You can open each section below to see the code that controls the bounce, ease, and drift in the design.

📈 Scale — Overshoot then settle

Paste on: Scale • Requires: 2 keyframes (0% → 100%)

// 120% overshoot, damped back to 100%
amp=0.20; freq=3; decay=4;
if (numKeys>1){
  t=time-key(2).time;
  if (t>0){
    delta=valueAtTime(key(2).time)-valueAtTime(key(1).time);
    value + delta*(amp*Math.sin(2*Math.PI*freq*t)/Math.exp(decay*t));
  } else value;
}else value;

🎯 Position — Rise & bounce into place

Paste on: Position • Requires: 2 keyframes (off-screen → final)

// Soft bounce settle
n=3; amp=.05; freq=4; decay=4;
t=time-key(2).time;
t>0
  ? value+(valueAtTime(key(2).time)-valueAtTime(key(1).time))
      *amp*Math.sin(freq*t*2*Math.PI)/Math.exp(decay*t)
  : value;

🌀 Rotation — 3 eased spins during scale-up

Paste on: Rotation (or Z Rotation) • Driven by: Scale keyframe window

// 3 smooth rotations while scaling up
s=transform.scale;
if (s.numKeys>=2){
  k1=s.key(1).time; k2=s.key(2).time;
  revs=3; start=valueAtTime(k1); end=start+revs*360;
  timek2 ? end : easeInOut(time,k1,k2,start,end);
}else value;

🌀 Rotation — Floaty loop after scale finishes

Paste on: Rotation (or Z Rotation) • Trigger: after last Scale key

// Gentle float after scaling completes
s=transform.scale;
if (s.numKeys>=2){
  end=s.key(s.numKeys).time; base=valueAtTime(end);
  if (time

El Cipitio

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During my tenure with the graphic novel Walo: A Central American Odyssey, I was spoiled with a lot of new folktales I had no knowledge about privey. This week I decided to illustrate one of my favorites from Central America’s El Salvador: EL CIPITIO!

“In Salvadoran folklore, Cipitío is the eternally young boy with a large straw hat and backwards feet. A mischievous trickster condemned to remain forever a child.

Born of a forbidden affair involving his mother, La  Cegua, he was punished by the gods: he would never grow up, and his strange footprints would lead anyone who followed them astray.

Cipitío delights in small pranks such as eating ashes in rural kitchens, throwing pebbles and flower petals at young women by the rivers, and vanishing before adult eyes. Despite his odd behavior, he is not evil, just playful and rooted in the wonder of childhood and myth.”

Read more on Wikipedia

Original inked image, though this kiddo’s got a guaje and a bit of facial hair.

If you like what you see, check out our graphic novel Walo: A Central American Odyssey for more Central American experience.

La Cegua

I recently played Hades 2, and forgot how good the art direction of Jen Zee was, and how better it’s gotten in the latest game. So in the tradition of folklore and myth, I went ahead and did an illustration for one of my favorite Central American folklore creatures LA CEGUA.

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Illustration of La Cegua, a horse-faced spirit with long dark hair and wedding armor, raising a clawed hand under a glowing yellow moon.

Here’s a good ol’ timelapse for ya’ll who wanna see the whole process.

“La Cegua — also known as La Siguanaba or Sihuehuet — is a shapeshifting spirit from Central American folklore, said to appear as a beautiful woman with long hair who lures men at night. When they approach, she reveals a horse’s skull or rotting face, driving them mad. In Nicaragua, she’s told to have made a pact with the devil after being betrayed, cursed to roam rural roads punishing unfaithful men. Legends vary — some describe her as a seductive phantom, others as a mocking old crone — but all warn that lust and deceit come at a terrifying cost.” Read more on Wikipedia.

Here’s the original sketch. Hope you all enjoyed this piece of Latin American folklore. Check out my graphic novel WALO if you want to read more Central American history!

Riddickula

Got inspired by some horror Gameboy reviews and decided to make a little mock up game of my own.

RIDDICKULA! He’s out of sight, but he ain’t blind! Keep your eyes peeled! Spooky season is here!