Natasha Soglin Archives | Filament Games

The Game Artist’s Arsenal

What is one of the most obvious, but least-talked about aspects of digital games? It’s literally staring you in the face, and yet is not necessarily required to make a functional game. If you answered “game art,” you should continue reading. Hi, I’m Natasha, and I’m the art team lead. At Filament Games we are…

June 2, 2016 // Natasha Soglin

Filament Games | Educational Game Developer

Game Art & Tokotas: How Wolfbears Helped My Art

In February, Brandon Pittser pointed out games can exist anywhere. Sometimes games are hard-coded into societal norms. Other times we try to gamify tasks we don’t want to do to make them more interesting, like folding laundry or washing the floor. But what happens when you gamify something you’re already passionate about? As an artist…

July 6, 2016 // Natasha Soglin

Clip Studio Paint Review

In a previous blog post The Game Artist’s Arsenal, I covered our game artists’ most-used programs: Paint Tool SAI, Adobe Photoshop, and Adobe Animate (Flash.) Listed were each of the softwares’ pros and cons, along with general prices to help inform prospective artists. The feedback was largely positive and I gave myself a small pat on…

August 24, 2016 // Natasha Soglin

Speed Sketch! Happy Hallowbee

It’s my favorite time of year! The leaves are turning, cinnamon and spices are a-brewin’, and I get to break out my infinity scarves and sweaters! There’s something cozy, innocent, and nostalgic about fall, from Back-to-School all the way through Thanksgiving into winter, and Halloween is no exception. I wanted to capture that essence in…

October 31, 2016 // Natasha Soglin

iCivics Suite Updates: How The Art Evolved

Filament Games and iCivics.org have shared a long and prosperous relationship over the years, during which they have created nineteen learning games together. These games have been played in all 50 states by students and educators alike, teaching a wide variety of civics topics from basic American rights and judicial processes to the fundamental structure of…

April 3, 2017 // Natasha Soglin

Art Hacks: Shading Made Easy

Over the years when I introduce myself to new people and tell them I’m an artist, their response is typical: “Oh, like painting?” I have to stop myself from saying ‘yes’ because my version of painting is distinctly removed from their idea of ‘painting.’ I’m no master with acrylics or oils, but I have done…

May 11, 2017 // Natasha Soglin

Art Hacks: Line Art from Pencil to Screen

As a 14-year-old sprouting digital artist in the mid-00s, the best way I learned how to create digital art was from my peers. Not the peers I saw daily in Ms. Taylor’s 9th grade English class, mind you; I’m talking about the ever-expanding online communities of teenagers just finding out that there’s more to life…

June 28, 2017 // Natasha Soglin

Speed Sketch! Styles for All Ages

Filament Games’ library of educational tools and learning experiences is constantly expanding. With the exception of the Filament-made iCivics line, no two games look the same. If I told you Filament only has four game artists (one of which is actually a 3D generalist), you may be so inclined as to squint dubiously. So how do…

July 24, 2017 // Natasha Soglin

Five Years of Game Art

When I was hired here at Filament five years ago, I had a lot to learn. Back then, the first tool I learned was Flash. You remember Adobe Flash, right? In recent times it has put on a new logo and has been masquerading around as “Animate CC” but lo, it is the exact same…

August 9, 2017 // Natasha Soglin

Speed Sketch! Character Concept – Hot Dog Hawk

Character concepting is always a fun exercise – whether your character is serious, silly, or something in between, bringing a new character to life is a thought-provoking endeavor with lots of little details to consider. We wanted to unpack this process, so Game Art Team Lead Natasha Soglin crafted the speed sketch below, in which…

August 22, 2017 // Natasha Soglin