548: Before Photoshop: How SEGA’s Sonic Artwork Was Made – The Retro Hour EP548

How do you turn a handful of pixels into one of gaming’s most recognisable characters? Recorded live at RetroMessa 2026, Dan and Joe meet illustrator Duncan Gutteridge, whose hand-painted artwork helped define Sonic’s European image during SEGA’s 16-bit glory years. Duncan recalls reimagining Sonic 2, creating artwork for Sonic 3 and Knuckles, working with airbrushes, phones and fax machines, and enjoying a level of creative freedom that would be almost unthinkable today. He also reveals the fate of his long-lost original Sonic paintings.

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Contents:

00:00 – The Week’s Retro News Stories1:06:00 – Duncan Gutteridge Interview

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Show notes

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