If you're more handy with a pencil, pen, brush, or (more likely) a copy of Photoshop and Illustrator than you are at code monkeying or mechanics building, you can fulfill a role in the Design process with your art. Each game usually has its own art style, depending of the genre, setting, and ideas the designer has. At the initial point of design, the Designer should negotiate with you the visual style of the game, based on your own background as an artist and the needs of the game. If you're background is in life drawing versus illustration, you may need to change your style in order to make art assets for a designer's idea of a cartoony cart racing game. Of course communication (and a nice portfolio) is key to good art in games.

There are essentially two spheres of art in games: 2D and 3D Art. Each type of art has its own uses and the type of game you are making will heavily determine how much of each kind of art you'll be using.

2D Art:

There are several uses for 2d Art in games. In 2D games of course, all of the art is 2D, whether it be background elements or objects that move around, such as the player's avatar or enemies on the field. These objects tend to be referred to as sprites and the art for sprites has much in common with traditional animation. you will need to make several frames of the same characters in order to simulate motion, jumping, emotions, or whatever movement or expression needed by your game.

In 3D games, there is still 2D art used. Background elements can be composed of 2D images to save on rendering time. UI elements and menu items are usually created with 2D Art tools. Most importantly, Textures need to be made for the 3D models used in the game.

3D Art:

If the designer decides that the best format for the game is to be 3D Art, there are Several Processes to done. First objects in the game will need to be modeled, that is created using one of the many 3D modeling tools available. Then, if the object has motion and weight, it needs to be rigged. Finally a model is textured. If an FMV is being made, then factors such as lighting and key framing become important as well.

Technical Art is basically the link between art and code. The Technical Artist is a liaison between artists and programmers. He or She must understand the relationship between art creation and the technical code. The Technical Artist must also be able to ensurfe that the art produced can work in the game engine engine. If there is 3D art, the Technical Artist is usually also in charge or any rendering/shading technologies as they are used in game.

Visit the Art Forum for 2D, 3D, and Technical Art Discussion!

Art Tutorials:

"How to Make Good Water"
"Cel Shading in the Source Engine"

Art Tools:

2D/Texture Art Tools:

Photoshop
Illustrator
GIMP
Inkscape
Flash

2D Image Handling Libraries:
CImg
Corona
CxImage
DevIL
FreeImage
GFL SDK
GTL (Game Texture Loader)
SOIL (Simple OpenGL Image Library)

3D Art Tools:

Blender
Lightwave
Maya
Milkshape

3D Rendering Engines:
Ogre 3D
Irrlicht
HGE
Panda3d
Crystal Space
SDL