MegaMan Juno

 "MegaMan Juno"
(MegaMan Juno from the Mega Man Legends)
 
Maybe it was just the shock of this character, who came almost literally out of nowhere in the last few minutes of Mega Man Legends, or his strangely calm, callous demeanor, but something about Juno stuck with me. Once I discovered no official art exists for his character (despite one very rough draft, which hails from one guide book), I knew I had to somehow make up for that...

I tried my best to mimic Hideki Ishikawa's at-the-time style to allow it to mesh with his other designs from the game, though going with the lighting used on the reaverbot illustrations, since he tends to fit in better with them than characters like the Bonnes or even MegaMan, himself. I don't declare it 1-for-1, by any means, but I think I got fairly close. The red digital-esque lines were a challenge to pull off, but I think they came out good given what I was working with. The final touch was giving it a "scanned" look, using some filters and reverse-DNR, just to really cement it into looking "official."

 December 6, 2015
Micron pens, Pigma pens, Photoshop Elements 7.0
4224x5746 pixels

Zero Gravity

 "Zero Gravity"
(Samus Aran from the Metroid series)
 
Samus has always been a bit of a hot topic in the classic gaming community. From her reveal at the end of the original Metroid game on the NES, she's always been a bit of a paradox. A slender, athletic woman with the drive of a typical male warrior, and no real weaknesses or stereotypes that tend to hold female characters against that glass ceiling. The epitome of a strong woman, with the only real traces of femininity are held entirely in her physical form, of which is usually hidden under her massive power armor. I wanted to kinda show a balance of that strength, while keeping the piece a bit more stoic. While it's difficult to avoid sexuality when rendering her in her famed Zero Suit, I did so to show her only weakness - not that she's female, but just that she's human.

I chose to still have her armor in the form of a silhouette around her, which I stylized to look like a scene of her Gunship's approach to the planet Zebes; her once-home and her mission field in the original NES game, Zero Mission, and Super Metroid.

Sorry to get all preachy, I actually just always liked that angle of Samus's character - something Other M sorta went against and almost ruined... Ironic, since I picked that version of her Zero Suit, just because I like the aesthetics of it more than from Zero Mission.

 September 17, 2015
Micron pens, ballpoint pen, Prismacolor Markers, charcoal pencil, and gel pens
on 8.5x11" cardstock.

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.