Mother Brain's Advent

"Mother Brain's Advent"
(Super Metroid)
 
Yet another Metroid piece, it seems. (lol) I figured it was about time I did a piece for the first in the series that I ever played, Super Metroid on the SNES.One of the largest games, for its time, especially; full of enemies, traps, hidden secrets, and horrifying bosses. It's always a blast to replay, and despite playing it rather late in my life (I only beat it for the first time less than 10 years ago), it holds such high nostalgia for me.

For this piece, I wanted to remain true to all reoccurring party's looks for SM specifically. This almost proved difficult, alone, because very little resources are floating around online in good clarity (To which I blame on the lack of art or data books). Still, I managed to use what I could find, which nearly floored me when I saw how the Draygon's head crest is... O___O;;;
I even tried to keep the coloring style as close to the original as possible, but, as always, my own styles always seep through.I think it did well for this piece, as it allows 3 distinct segments to draw your eye; Samus, the 4 generals of Zebes, and Mother Brain. The Metroids floating around sorta frame the piece a little, including the baby at the bottom.

September 5, 2016
Micron pens, Sakura Pigma pens, Prismacolor Markers, colored pencils, and gel pens
on 8.5x11" cardstock

Bounty Hunter Birthday

"Bounty Hunter Birthday"
(Samus Aran from the Metroid)
 
So, yet another Samus picture, lol. But yesterday (August 6th, 2016) marked the 30th anniversary for the first Metroid game releasing on Famicom Disk System in Japan. It's a sort of somber anniversary, though, as it's the first Nintendo franchise to hit this mark and NOT have a new game on the way (Yeah, I know Federation Force, but while I don't bash the game as much as others, even I still feel it's not the Metroid game we need).

Since this is the anniversary for the maiden game's release, I decided to draw her power armor basing it off of the design used in old art and promos for the original Japanese release, but using an art style similar to Zero Mission. To really cement the "classic" appeal to this picture, I did a "Justin Bailey" variant, with green-haired Samus, but the pink Varia Suit (Yup, no swim suit or Zero Suit from me, this time, lol). The variant is below the blurb, here!

Happy birthday, Samus! Hope we'll see you kicking alien ass again, soon!

 August 7, 2016
Micron pens, Pigma pens, Photoshop Elements 7.0
2550x2550 pixels

"Bounty Hunter Birthday" (Ver.JUSTIN BAILEY) 

 August 7, 2016
Micron pens, Pigma pens, Photoshop Elements 7.0
2550x2550 pixels

Seeking Dreams Through the Window of Stars

"Seeking Dreams Through the Window of Stars'"
(Super Mario RPG)
 
Have you ever lay your head down on a pillow and suddenly, like a brick through glass, an idea hits you that you just have to do something with? I do a lot of illustrations, but none ever hit me so vividly like this one had. Super Mario RPG for the SNES was my gateway to the realm of turn-based JRPGs, and yet it's a game I tend to give so little credit. Sure, its simple in design and gameplay (to a point, anyway), but it has a lot of charm, and continues to be a well talked about staple in both Nintendo and Square's glory days.
I tried my best to give this a good Square-game feel, with the layout, colors, and style in the lineart. Rather than stick with the squat proportions of the in-game sprites, I went with designs more modern to Mario, Bowser, and Peach (Really wish I could change her name in SMRPG...). Didn't really do much with Mallow or Geno, since they're designed around the SMRPG style, but they still work well with the setup.Doing all the shades of blue and purple, as well as the glow from Mario's fire orb required a lot of attention to keep consistent.

July 20, 2016
Micron pens, Sakura Pigma pens, normal pens, Prismacolor Markers, colored pencils, and gel pens
on 8.5x11" cardstock

Xenogals: 'Weltall-Id'

"Xenogals: 'Weltall-Id'"
(Xenogears)
 
And here's the counterpart to the Weltall Xenogal, its altered state, the Weltall-Id. Aside from making sure the two "worked" in terms of being transformed versions of one-another, A lot of the geometry on the wings and spikes were giving me a hard time. Adding in the wing and feather effects really sets this one apart from the previous two, but gives it an air of chaos that's fitting of the gear.
Of course to match the fact that not only the machine, but its pilot "transforms," I made the girl appear as Fei's alter-ego (or lack thereof), Id, though I hid her eyes to give it a more menacing feel. Though I admit, this does make her head appear smaller.

July 15, 2016
Sakura Pigma pens, normal pens, Prismacolor Markers, and gel pens
on 8.5x11" cardstock

Xenogals: 'Weltall'

"Xenogals: 'Weltall'"
(Xenogears)
 
The second of my Xenogears-themed MS Girls, or "Xenogals", is the first gear you come across, the Weltall. The colors really tripped me up on ths one as I had no individual markers that could replicate that dark slate color, so a LOT of layering and mixing was involved to obtain that color. I almost forgot to add the highlights before scanning it. lol
I had to keep a lot in mind with doing this one because of another pic I'm finishing up. (Anyone who knows this gear's secrets will understand why...)

July 13, 2016
  Sakura Pigma pens, normal pens, Prismacolor Markers, and gel pens
on 8.5x11" cardstock

Xenogals: 'Xenogears'

"Xenogals: 'Xenogears'"
(Xenogears)
 
You already know my love for Xenogears, and also female characters. And a long time ago, I wanted to do personified versions of the various gears in the style of Mika Akitaka's MS Girls (which in turn are based from Mobile Suit Gundam). I decided to re-explore this though, starting with the titular gear.
Every time I draw anything of the Xenogears gear, I gain a new understanding of its complicated form, and this one probably gave me the least issues with its pointed glory. Obviously, I based the base girl off of its pilot and main protagonist Fei. Something I'll probably continue for the duration of these illustrations.

July 13, 2016
  Sakura Pigma pens, normal pens, Prismacolor Markers, and gel pens
on 8.5x11" cardstock

The Master's Will

"The Master's Will"
(Mega Man Legends 2)
 
To say this is a long time coming is an understatement. You all know I'm a fan of Mega Man, but Mega Man Legends is the series that truly grabbed my attention and never let go. The new gameplay notwithstanding, what reeled me in was the amazing story, which was so well written in mysteries that not only your character wanted to solve, but YOU wanted to solve. Legends 2, in particular, did a fantastic job of diving further into this story element; a massive risk for a Mega Man title, to be sure. One that seemingly did not pay off as well as we'd like...

I wanted to focus on the biggest enigma of the series, Elysium and its overseers, the Master System. Nothing of all of them grouped together exists, and it's something I'd always wanted to do for quite some time. I threw Juno in there as well. Despite his absence from MML2, he was the one to drop the bombshell on our hero (and the player) at the tail end of 1. I also snuck in the silhouette of Sera's final form, making her the dividing line between the Master and those who were to keep his order.

Colors were tripping me up pretty bad on this, as I had multiple markers run out on me, and being short-funded for resupplies, had to make due with what I had. Some was salvageable, some had to require some trickery to fix or hide. I debated making a space scene at the very top of the background and have it fade at the midway point, but decided against it. It's not the illustration Mega Man Legends deserves, but it's definitely one I needed to do.

April 6, 2016
Micron pens, Sakura Pigma pens, normal pens, Prismacolor Markers, colored pencils, and gel pens
on 8.5x11" cardstock