Rhapsody

Rhapsody

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A young refugee from the destroyed city of Judah, she was separated from her family and found by Elysium. While raised as a mage, her mother disappeared too soon into her training, leaving her confidence and potential untapped.

Rhapsody Orpheus
Age: 17 / Height: 5’ 2” / Weight: 122 lbs.
Birth Date: March 16 / Zodiac: Pisces / Blood Type: B
VI: Stephanie Sheh

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[Illustration Info]

Rhapsody (Ver.2018)

This one was one of the hardest, though most rewarding of my recent redesigns. Something I was having a huge issue with prior with her was keeping her youthful cuteness intact, and instead accidentally giving her more of mature and sexy vibe... I didn't like that, and I certainly didn't want that. I fixed her proportions considerably, especially her face and eyes, and gave her outfit a lot of new frills and details... Almost too many details. (lol)
The color scheme isn't changed too much from the prior version, but with the added details, some new colors came into the mix that honestly bring everything together nicely. Her staff is the most complex thing I've designed, and I think I have a love/hate relationship with it...
But, this girl's a prominent character as the story progresses, and I want her to look the part!
 
June 14, 2018
Micron pens, Sakura Pigma pens, Prismacolor Markers, colored pencils, gel pens, and POSCA paint pens
on 14x17" smooth bristol stock.
 
Fated Sword Dual Balance ©Studio OZKai

Oni

Oni

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"Oni" is the chosen bearer of the fated sword of Wrathful Earth, Helgram.
Born with a deep hatred for the humans that betrayed her, she commands the group Il Inno di Morte, leading their search to a greater destructive power.
She will face off against Elysium and Terra, forever altering their destinies.

"Oni" Age: 19 / Height: 6’ 2” / Weight: 129 lbs.
Birth Date: December 10 / Zodiac: Sagittarius / Blood Type: A
VI: Colleen Clinkenbeard

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[Illustration Info]

Oni (Ver.2018)

And if two weren't enough, I actually managed to do a whole third illustration; second that same day. I actually made changes to her design here compared to prior iterations, including armored bracelets around her wrists and ankles, made hanging ends to her various straps, and tattered her skirt, but not in a stereotypical "goth cape" way.
Drawing her sword at that angle was hell to get right, but I think it came out dead-on.

Coloring was about the same as Elysium's, though a little more muted in shades. The leather of her gloves and boots were a bit tricky. I loved doing her hair and eyes, though. That eerie glowing pupil just seals what I want from her character for me!
Same deal with the white highlights, which were courtesy of my new POSCA paint pens.
 
June 9, 2018
Micron pens, Sakura Pigma pens, Prismacolor Markers, colored pencils, gel pens, and POSCA paint pens
on 14x17" smooth bristol stock.
 
Fated Sword Dual Balance ©Studio OZKai

Elysium

Elysium

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Elysium wields the fated sword Aegis of the Heavenly Sky.
Her home city was destroyed years ago. When her refuge town is attacked, she takes up arms, leading the one-sided battle against a group destroying humanity.
When she encounters Terra, the two eventually discover just how deep the war has gone.

Elysium Fairheim
Age: 21 / Height: 5’ 5” / Weight: 131 lbs.
Birth Date: December 29 / Zodiac: Capricorn / Blood Type: B
VI: Kate Higgins

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[Illustration Info]

Elysium (Ver.2018)

Hot off the heels of the last redesign for Terra, I have the one that inspired me to do these in the first place — Elysium. I don't know why, but for such a simple character design, I've consistently had the hardest times drawing her proportionately, much less creatively.

I must say, for the first time since 2004, I am in love with how I made her look, here. The pose, the face, the sword's angle. Everything is exACTly how I envisioned them to be. The colors turned out to be a little less flat than how I did Terra, but I don't think it's distractingly different.
One thing I as able to do I couldn't as well with Terra was the highlights, which I accomplished with a new Uni POSCA white paint pen, which allowed some really amazing controllable white lines here and there, especially on the blade of the sword, as well as her eyes and earring.
 
June 9, 2018
Micron pens, Sakura Pigma pens, Prismacolor Markers, colored pencils, gel pens, and POSCA paint pens
on 14x17" smooth bristol stock.
 
Fated Sword Dual Balance ©Studio OZKai

Terra

Terra
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Terra is the main protagonist and wielder of the sword Dual Balance.
A skilled swordsman and hunter for his hometown of Gaf. In his errand to locate the other two fated swords, he will stumble into a quiet war a millennia old.
Within, he will find out the truth behind its bloody past, his blade, as well as his "self."

Terra Altum
Age: 23 / Height: 5' 6" / Weight: 172 lbs.
Birth Date: September 27 / Zodiac: Libra / Blood Type: AB
VI: Chris Patton

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[Illustration Info]

Terra (Ver.2018)

I know, I just redesigned him nary a year ago, right!? 
But, something was bothering me too much about, not only how I designed him, but how I was designing the all characters in general. I felt I was over-complicating them, especially faces. I was so caught up in making things distinct character by character that they ended up over detailed, leading to an almost unintentional similarity. So, I decided to look back at my first drafts from 2004 (Yes, this has been in my head for that long...), and simplified what needed and just let the art and poise do the talking.

Another thing that helps is the size and coloring. Instead of working my usual 8.5x11" stock, I decided to use 14x17" bristol board, allowing me larger areas to better express the details, especially in his armor and clothing. And the colors I wanted to look less "anime" and more fantasy, so I subdued the shading and tried some new blending methods. 
All around, I feel it to be a vast improvement over all 3 of my prior designs of him, all while returning to the roots of my first draft.

I'm also doing a new signature specifically for my personal creations.
 
June 5, 2018

Micron pens, Sakura Pigma pens, Prismacolor Markers, colored pencils, and gel pens
on 14x17" smooth bristol stock.
 
Fated Sword Dual Balance ©Studio OZKai

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