The Planet's Battle

"The Planet's Battle"
(Emerald Weapon, Ultima Weapon, Ruby Weapon, Sapphire Weapon, and Diamond Weapon from Final Fantasy VII)
 
This one took me quite a bit longer than I thought! (lol)

I always liked the concept of the Weapons from FFVII. Something about a "natural mecha" was very interesting to me, especially when I was younger. That giant-robot-meets-kaiju appearance and backstory made these unique in the Final Fantasy realm, as well as their almost ambivalent purpose.
I threw in the battle between the White Materia Holy and the Black Materia Meteor, using the Lifestream versus Sephiroth's Negative Lifestream. So it was a theme of black vs. white, green vs. red, and the Weapons as the neutral middle.
 
I started this one only a couple months ago, getting the lineart done in only a couple of days, with full satisfactory. but coloring it had me stumped. I had roughly two other attempts, with one getting rather far before I started to feel unimpressed with the turnout. To be honest, even this final one doesn't quite feel like it's anything like I envisioned. Perhaps something like this was better left to digital mediums. (lol)

Unfortunately, the worst part is some of the finer coloring details may have been lost in the scanning process, due to my scanner washing out light colors. Something I can usually correct in post-scanning, but the complexity of the outline rendered that difficult, if not, impossible.

August 24, 2015
Micron pens, Sakura Pigma pens, ballpoint pen, Prismacolor Markers, charcoal pencil, colored pencils, and gel pens
on 8.5x11" cardstock.

Hell Closer

"Hell Closer"
(Original Character)
 
A piece I penned 3 years ago, and a complete overhaul of an illustration I did even further back. I very much love utilizing Art Nouveau styling, even if it is difficult to pull off the natural flow that Mucha was always able to achieve. But despite that, I still had to try, and think it came out better than I anticipated, even if the background is a bit lacking in detail.

I'm trying to get into reusing some of my old original characters, maybe even working my way back to the story itself, but this is a decent start, I think. I have another piece in mind to pair with/counter this piece. Hopefully, I can get that one executed soon.

The banner, for those not fluent in Latin, roughly reads, "The worn down soul seeks rest."

July 22, 2015
Micron pens, Sakura Pigma pens, ballpoint pen, Prismacolor Markers, charcoal pencil, colored pencils, and gel pens
on 8.5x11" cardstock.
(*Paper texture added digitally via Photoshop Elements)

Blue Twilight

"Blue Twilight"
(Mega Man 5)
 
An illustration done for Capcom's Mega Man Legacy Collection Art Contest, the objective is to reimagine a cover art for one of the 6 classic Mega Man titles contained within the collection. I chose Mega Man 5, as I liked the idea of making a genuine rivaly between Mega Man and Proto Man (or was it???). I added a few elements exclusive or new to that game, including Dark Man, a prominent villain toward the end, and also Beat, with 5 being the assist character's first appearance. Also, who's that we spy at the bottom...? (lol)

This piece had a lot of ambition and passion poured into it, and I think it shows pretty well. with the moody color palette, added details, and toned shading, It's a strong possibility this is one of my pictures I can say turned out even better than I anticipated.

And, thanks to whatever deity/deities are in charge, the impression carried over to the judges, as it stands among the other 5 winners of the contest! I'm extremely excited to be chosen on this, and congratulate in fullest the other winners, as had they entered in the MM5 category, I may not have made it! ^^;;;

July 15, 2015
Micron pens, Sakura Pigma pens, ballpoint pen, Prismacolor Markers, charcoal pencil, colored pencils, and gel pens
on 8.5x11" cardstock.
(Border color added digitally via Photoshop Elements)

Buster Vine

"Buster Vine"
(Final Fantasy VII / Vinesauce)
 
A quick illustration I made for Vinny of the video game stream site Vinesauce, who's recently been playing Final Fantasy VII, Ironically a few weeks prior to the announcement of Square Enix's remake.
I decided to make it look like the loading screen image, but placed his signature Vineshroom next to Cloud's Buster Sword.
The main illustration is done in my usual traditional means, however, I did some extra digital work to my submitted versions on the Vinebooru, to be used either as wallpaper/splash images and also as a "BRB" during their intermissions.
Sadly, whether he ever actually saw the pieces is forever a mystery to me. :\

June 21, 2015
Micron pens, Sakura Pigma pens, ballpoint pen, Prismacolor Markers, charcoal pencil, colored pencils, and gel pens
on 8.5x11" cardstock.

"Buster Vine" & "Buster Vine (Ver.BRB)"

June 21, 2015

Compiled and edited on Photoshop Elements Editor
Cursor sprite taken directly from Final Fantasy VII game assets

Those Chosen by the Planet - Set 4

"Those Chosen by the Planet" (Set 4)
(Vincent Valentine, Cid Highwind, and Cloud Strife from Final Fantasy VII)
 
Part 4 of the FF7 project. This one finishes off the playable roster with Cid and Vincent. I managed a solution to keep this from just being two characters and to pair with Zack, I brought in Cloud in his Shinra Guard uniform from the Nibelheim incident, looking all mopey and ashamed. (lol)

While I anticipated keeping all the textures of black material diverse on Vincent to be a challenge, I did not foresee Cid's design being so complex in its color palette. He also features several interesting efforts, such as the lenses on his goggles, the light from his cigarette, and the patches on his bomber jacket.

June 21, 2015
Micron pens, Sakura Pigma pens, ballpoint pen, Prismacolor Markers, charcoal pencil, colored pencils, and gel pens
on 8.5x11" cardstock.

Those Chosen by the Planet - Set 3

"Those Chosen by the Planet" (Set 3)
(Zack Fair, Cait Sith, and Yuffie Kisaragi from Final Fantasy VII)
 
Part 3 of the FF7 project. This set introduces the secret characters into the mix, with Yuffie. However, when I realized that the numbers were gonna be off by one if I just stuck with the playable characters, with 3 to a sheet, there'd have only been one person on the next set. So, I opted to add bonus characters, starting with Zack, Cloud's friend from SOLDIER (As well as the protagonist from Crisis Core). But with Vincent and Cid left, that's still only two characters for the fourth set... Or is it?

I never noticed how much color separation Yuffie's outfit has until I went to color this piece. Needless to say, she was the hardest on here. However, with the added pencil hatching effect on her fishnets and the tassels of her headband, I think the effort shows more, as well. Sadly, in the case of Zack, I'm not positive I color matched the blues I used on Cloud's picture very accurately. :\

As mentioned with the previous sets, I am hoping to sell these as individual prints, later down the line, probably as 5x7's.

June 20, 2015
Micron pens, Sakura Pigma pens, ballpoint pen, Prismacolor Markers, charcoal pencil, colored pencils, and gel pens
on 8.5x11" cardstock.

Those Chosen by the Planet - Set 2

"Those Chosen by the Planet" (Set 2)
(Barret Wallace, Red XIII, and Sephiroth from Final Fantasy VII)
 
Part 2 of the FF7 project. I decided to wrap up the crew gained in Midgar, as well as Sephiroth.

I had a bit of a difficult time with Barret, largely due to me not having perfect colored markers for his proper palette, but I think I got it close enough. Sephiroth provided some further worry, mostly because of his all-leather ensemble. But, once again, I think I pulled it off with minimal gripes.

As mentioned with the previous set, I am hoping to sell these (as well as the rest of the cast when I get to them) as individual prints, later down the line, probably as 5x7's.

June 7, 2015
Micron pens, Sakura Pigma pens, ballpoint pen, Prismacolor Markers, charcoal pencil, and gel pens
on 8.5x11" cardstock.