Guardian

"Guardian"
(Final Fantasy VIII)

This is a piece that has sat shelved for almost 5 years, now, but recently found again. I had considered starting it over from scratch with actual inked lineart, but decided to finish the piece as is. It was meant to be a sort-of self-gift for my wife and I's wedding, however my inability to complete it until now makes it an early fifth anniversary present.

The lineart of this was done in colored pencil, somewhat color-matching the held colors, akin to what I did (technically later) on my fist Breath of the Wild piece. I believe my original plan for the background is what lead me to walk away from this piece for so long, as I intended to fill the grass with flowers matching the petals blowing around the foreground of the image. In order to finally finish this pic, I ultimately scrapped that concept, as I had no practical way of accomplishing this effect confidently.

May 13, 2018
Prismacolor Markers, colored pencils, chalk pastels, and gel pens
on 11x17" cardstock 

Ties of Sea and Flames

"Ties of Sea and Flames"
(Xenogears)

I had initially planned this for another illustration, but scrapped it and used the concept for these two for itself. The images were drawn and colored separately and put together digitally for the final. Trying to match the poses between the two while maintaining the perspective of the differences in size was interestingly challenging.

Coloring was even more of a trial because, surprise, some of my markers are wearing out, meaning I should replenish soon. So some of the colors are touched up here to keep this from becoming a shelved project. Oddly, this effected Fei way more than Weltall, which had minimal problems with marker dry-out and more just trying to replicate its shades of blues. Thankfully, the new figure announced helped me better understand its color layout, so this should be my most accurate-to-official Weltall illustration yet.

May 4, 2018
Normal pen, Sakura Pigma pens, Prismacolor Markers, colored pencils, and gel pens
on 2 8.5x11" cardstocks 
Compiling and background done digitally via Photoshop Elements 7.0

Individual images of Fei and Weltall.

Doth Thou Desire the Power?

"Doth Thou Desire the Power?"
(Xenogears)

There's not a lot I can say about Grahf that isn't spoiler-territory, but suffice to say he's definitely one of the more sympathetic villains in the massive story of Xenogears. His outfit also stands out a lot, reminiscent of a dark royal jester. It's the type of design that leaves an impression.

To start with the obvious, I was inspired by those variant covers to BOOM! Comics' Power Rangers done by Goñi Montes. And as Grahf is the masked villain of Xenogears (For good reason), it just sorta clicked.
Coloring was interesting given the detail of his outfit. A LOT of details scattered among the ensemble, and the colors were difficult to do in a way that made the focal points pop.
The background - what little there is - was a mix of markers and chalk pastels, but for the final, I did a little blurring to mask the harsh pastel marks that refused to blend.

May 1, 2018
Micron Pen, Sakura Pigma pens, Prismacolor Markers, colored pencils, chalk pastels, and gel pens
on 8.5x11" cardstock 
Background blurring done digitally via Photoshop Elements 7.0