Ok so I haven't done a REAL art update in a while, but that's because I don't want to post about every little thing I do. I will say it is coming along very nicely, but this should give you an indication of the direction the art is headed, I just don't want to spoil too much before it's actually finished ;)
Feel free to discuss this update or let me know what you might like to see in the level and I might just draw it!

https://i.imgur.com/sGkiZ1G.jpg

Drew some rocks today. I'm making myself draw something every day that im not busy even if I don't end up using it. As it turns out, making dull objects appear interesting is quite a bit more challenging than I was expecting. I tried giving them spots and speckles to see if that would give them some character, with mild success.

Also, in case you're wondering what that is, it's a team-gate. It generates the team-wall barriers and can integrate into just about any environmental texture you throw at it!

https://i.imgur.com/8VnCOkt.jpg

Here I have an experiment. Since there's really no way of knowing if a design will work or not, the only way to see is to draw it and check. This one will most likely not stay this way.

Btw, I recognize that I can get carried away obsessing over details so I'm just accepting the fact that I will have to draw some things more than once. Luckily it's very easy to overwrite textures because the game reloads any texture that I redraw with an existing name. I've been taking a lot of inspiration from Hollowknight recently, the art in that game is a perfect reference for how it should be done.

https://i.imgur.com/OD01lUo.png

Redid the design of the flowers and now they look like apple pies. But more importantly, I played around with the animation editor and came up with something I'm greatly content with. Now they give a much more clear sense of what they're doing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNm2zJ-AS3g

Still a work in progress, but I finally got this piece of the level to cooperate with my sensibilities. This is sort of the style I'm trying to go for. A bit of a ruined feel, but still maintaining a distinct level of elegance. The playground elements are definitely going to be the hardest to create, because they need to have the most detail. I'm anticipating the background to be much easier to create. The blur that is built into the game will obscure most of the detail and I will probably be reusing many of the same elements as filler. Also, I'm very much excited to start playing with parallax and seeing what kind of 3D effects I can come up with :)

https://i.imgur.com/l8bKtL7.jpg

Now it's a game of blocking in the walls and floors as quickly as possible. During this phase I'm not thinking about how elements of the art will be implemented, but rather I'm simply using the primary colors that I've had in mind to create a rough cover that I will build on in the next phase.

Here is a column that was intended to be a bridge support, but I don't know if I'll end up using it or not. Much of the art I create is experimental because I'm looking for the perfect combination of colors and design and have it compliment the art that already exists, which takes a bit of trial-and-error.

https://i.imgur.com/Ntr9EtF.png

Just pretend like it hasn't been a whole year since I updated this thread!
A while back I switched up my approach to creating the art. Whereas before I would draw something over top the particular area in the map where it was supposed to go, now I'm utilizing these art sheets that each contain a set of components with similar design elements, color schemes and utilities.

This helps me in 2 ways:

1. I can borrow the already established color palette from another piece of completed art
2. I can reference the other art on the sheet to create designs which have a similar aesthetic.

This approach was copied wholesale from Hollowknight's development art which used similar sheets full of structural elements that all had a unified feeling. The one below is code-named the "STRUCTURAL" art sheet because it will contain all the level's structures which all share the look of hand-sculpted marble:

http://prntscr.com/nlef43

This is how I handle large sections of art. First, I stitch together screenshots from the map in Photoshop, then I draw over the landmasses and, if necessary, break up the larger sections into pieces that still follow the multiples of 4 rule. This way, if I ever want to touch up one or more parts, I still have a guide to follow and I don't have to re-cut the pieces each and every time.

https://i.imgur.com/fUULtLc.png

Parts of the level are getting updated while I continue to work on background elements. Progress is exponential because half the work is the discovery of good color palettes and thematic designs. Once they're found though, they can be used as guides to inform the creation of new art which speeds up the whole process. Here's a part of the level that was remixed with new design elements and is more in line with what I want the quality of the project to be like.

https://i.imgur.com/XtlwYl2.jpg

Made some good progress on Independence Day weekened. There's still a lot more work to do, but I can almost see it finished.

https://i.imgur.com/T7S2mTK.jpg