At a time when artwork can be generated at the click of a button, we decided to slow things down.
For the Bruisers 2D Boxing key art, we put actual paint to paper.
Painting It the Old-School Way
One of the defining features of Bruisers is its retro style. The game feels like something pulled straight from the ’80s or ’90s, so we wanted its key art to look like it came from that era too.
That led us to a simple question: what’s the best way to create artwork that looks like it was painted back in the day?
The answer was pretty simple. Actually paint it.
Halfbrick artist and art director Brendan Deboy stepped away from the screen and picked up watercolour, gouache and traditional materials to bring the gritty world of Bruisers to life.
Built One Layer at a Time
The key art was painted in separate layers, beginning with the background before moving on to the foreground and mid-ground elements.
This gave the team a little “undo power,” but more importantly, it allowed each piece to be repositioned and adjusted later.
Modern key art needs to hold its own everywhere, from Steam banners and social posts to different layouts and screen sizes. Painting the elements individually gave us the flexibility to rebuild the composition for each format without losing its handmade character.
Bringing It All Together
Once the painting was finished, each element was brought into Photoshop for the final round.
The result combines traditional painting with a modern production process: hand-painted key art built to carry the old-school spirit of Bruisers wherever it appears.
Bruisers 2D Boxing comes to Steam Early Access on October 21, 2026.
🥊 Add the game to your Steam Wishlist and play the free demo before the first bell.
