"Breathe"
(Link and Zelda from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild)
I honestly can't believe this was my first Zelda piece in over 10 years. But it's also the first Zelda game I've been this into in over 10 years. While I enjoyed Wind Waker and Twilight Princess immensely (Especially so their HD ports on the Wii U), the "wow" factor of Breath of the Wild is... Well, wild! So much of this is such a welcome departure for a reliable yet stagnating franchise.
Choosing to not ink this piece was the biggest risk I'd taken in a while, but, honestly, I think it paid off. Given this is my first illustration of Link in a decade, it's nice to make him feel different than ever before. And I've grown to love his blue tunic / no cap approach. All the little details throughout his shirt, tunic, hood, and arm wraps allows him to stand out unlike prior iterations. And I loved the challenge of adding all those little details to this piece. The background was a completely different beast, though, as there were so many different concepts to use before I decided on this angle and sky tone. If you wander the map enough, this is an exact place somewhere in Hyrule.
I also did a digital-background version for a contrast (Seen below), much like the in-game tone. Not really sure which I prefer, though. I won't translate the text here, as it is a semi-spoiler, but if you look into the Sheikah language, you can find out for yourself...
March 27, 2017
Prismacolor markers, Colored pencils, and gel pens
on 8.5x11 cardstock
"Breathe" (Sheikah Slate version)
Background created and edited in via Photoshop Elements 7
