Run to the End of the World

"Run to the End of the World"
(Xenogears / redraw)

A redraw of a sketch by Xenogears character designer Kunihiko Tanaka, with complete color composition by myself.
Tanaka's original sketch can be found on his Day Visions blog here.

February 12, 2019
pencils, Prismacolor Markers, colored pencils, gel pens, chalk pastels, and POSCA paint pens
on 9x12" smooth bristol stock.

The Host of the Slayer of God

"The Host of the Slayer of God"
(Xenogears)

Xenogears had been on the mind a lot this year, being the 20th Anniversary and all. And I wanted an excuse to do an Alphonse Mucha-esque art nouveau piece. This also makes my third Fei piece in one year.
I wanted the background effect to go through the primary colors and also reflect the struggles Fei had gone through over the course of the game, with Zohar and a Xenogears motif adorning the top. The colors on the actual piece mixed too much between bright and dull, so I decided to mute them a bit for the final render, as well as add a "paper texture" to the background.

September 2, 2018
Micron pens, Sakura Pigma pens, Prismacolor Markers, colored pencils, and gel pens
on 11x17" cardstock 
Paper color and texture added in Photoshop Elements 7.0

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.

First and Last

"First and Last"
(Xenogears, Elly, and Fei from Xenogears)
 
February 10th, 2016, marked the 18th anniversary of Xenogears release in Japan of 1998. And it's one of those games where you either never heard of it or it became one of the largest, most narrative-driven, and controversial JRPGs you've ever played, especially at its time. And I still feel it's a game that does not get near the amount of love it deserves, from either fan or its own rights holders, though it plant the seed for Tetsuya Takahashi's two spiritual successors series, Xenosaga for the PlayStation 2 and Xenoblade for Nintendo systems.

For this piece, I wanted to focus on the last scenes of the game, which involved the ultimate reunion of Fei and Elly in the dimensional rift of the final battle. I'd been wanting to do an illustration involving the titular mecha Xenogears for quite some time, however, this proved difficult as it's by far one of the most complicated designs I've ever seen, and can look really strange from the wrong angles... Fei and Elly came together with surprisingly minimal complication, though the lighting style started to baffle me as I approached the lighter shades.
Also, I threw in a hidden "character" for this piece; one that only people who've completed the game would recognize, and even then, may have a hard time recalling. (lol)

 February 16, 2016
Micron pens, Pigma pens, Prismacolor Markers, charcoal pencil, colored pencils, gel pens, and chalk pastels
on 8.5x11" cardstock.

The Black Gear that Screams 'Death'

"The Black Gear that Screams 'Death'" (Disambiguated)
(Fei, Id and Weltall from Xenogears)

A complete redo of the Awakening, I redrew all three using more consistent references, as well as proper color charts to make sure the characters and Gear were as accurate as possible. The plan was to do a collage with these (as I did with the previous version), that will look like an old 90's anime LD jacket, which can be seen below.

August 7, 2013
Sakura Pigma pens, Prismacolor Markers, colored pencils, chalk pastels, and gel pens
on two 8.5x11" cardstocks.

  

"The Black Gear that Screams 'Death'"

August 8, 2013

Compiled on Photoshop 7.0
Left version: logos added | Right version: no logos

The Struggle Within

"The Struggle Within"
(Fei Fong Wong, Fei (young), Id, Karen, and Grahf from Xenogears)

Originally penned back in 2008 but lacked the ability to digitally color it (computer issues), this piece sat dormant for almost 5 years until I had finally had enough and colored it in my new traditional methods. I feel this would work well had I continued my attempted manga adaptation, but even standalone, it's one of my favorite pieces from recent.

May 13, 2013
Ink pens, Prismacolor markers, colored pencils, gel pens, and chalk pastels
on 11x17" cardstock

Awakening

"Awakening"
(Fei Fong Wong, Weltall, and Id from Xenogears)

When I finally came around to doing Xenogears fan art, I had apparently had the concept in mind to do them in the style of Shukoh Murase's works for New Mobile Report Gundam Wing. Not a bad, thing, though,as the composition really compliment's the game's feel. I just wished I had better references when I did this, as aside from Fei, nothing else is quite right about this. I was extremely pleased with the shading I did on the Weltall, however, even if the colors aren't right...

June 30, 2007
Micron pens and Painter Classic (layering done in Photoshop 7.0)
1535x2000