Little Nightmares 3 Art Direction

An early concept for the Carnevale showing Low climbing the rides

Colour Key for the escape from the Carnival. This had a base provided but the 3D team and I painted over the top

Concept sketch for the exterior of the Carnevale - yes, very much Ghibli inspired!

Alone looks over the Carnevale in an early concept - I wanted the atmosphere to play a big part and although the colour choices changed I feel we did capture the spirit of this in the final game

Colour Key for the moment the Supervisor emerges from the pipe

Early thumbnail for the Candy Factory - I keep these black and white to focus on answering the core questions. Here is was about the production line, what might go on there and how the Herd might be used the context of the set.

Very early thumbnails - I always love doing these at the start of a project as they allow you to explore shape and light very quickly. They help define the feel of the space but you can iterate really quickly

I was lucky enough to get the opportunity to Art Direct Little Nightmares 3. From the start, putting together the concept team and helping create the artwork, all the way through production and helping with marketing, it was quite a journey!

Taking on a pre-existing IP, especially one as loved as the LN world, is no easy task. Some days it feels like you are putting on the mask of another artist as you constantly question, "what would the original team have done?" The standards set by Tarsier were sky-high, and the more I grew to understand the world they created, the more I grew to love and admire it.

We put our heart and soul into this project, and it's thanks to the amazing team that we were able to deliver something we can be really proud of.

The images here were created as part of the pre-production process. As an Art Director, I try and paint and draw as much as I can—not only to keep me sane and happy but also because, for me, it's the most effective way I can communicate. Most images are pretty rough; they have a purpose to serve and a problem to solve. I often sketch thumbnails, some of which you can see here, or paint over whitebox sets that designers or the 3D team have already built.

I generally use Photoshop once work has started in 3D, as it's quicker for me to jump in-engine or Maya, grab a base, and paint over that. However, in the early days, I like to use Procreate as it's the closest I've found to having a sketchbook and feels very much like traditional drawing and painting.

You can see more of the work done for the project by looking up some work done by the team below:

Concept Artists

Max Maury-Martineau: https://www.artstation.com/maxtronaute

Fêt-Nat Bailly : https://fet-nat.com/

Emily Young Chapman: https://www.artstation.com/emilymeganx

Isobel Stenhouse : https://www.isobelstenhouse.com/

Paco Rocha : https://www.artstation.com/paco_rocha

3D Artists

Lead by the brilliant Julie Savage: https://www.artstation.com/juliesavage

Richard Castle

Bradley Heszelgraves: https://www.artstation.com/bradley_heszelgraves

Jonathon Ivall: https://www.artstation.com/jonathonivall