The Champion's Return

"The Champion's Return"

(The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild)

 
Second year in a row I started with a Zelda illustration. Huh.
So, personal time. Since the end of December, I got sick. Like, worse than normal sick. And my ill state got worse within the entirety of January, with the brunt finally tapering off mid-February. During this down time, I hit a nasty artist's block that eventually turned into pure lethargy. Even as my infection dwindled, my energy never really came back. I knew I had to do something to make myself feel better before I slipped into depression, so when my taxes came around, I got a Nintendo Switch, along with... You guessed it, Breath of the Wild.
So, playing the game a second time has been a blast, and during my still-ongoing runthrough of it, I slowly felt the inspiration come back. Much like Link's 100-years of rest, forgetting his goals, I, too, lost sight of my ambitions. This is the manifest of the end of my hiatus.
Maybe not fully, but it's a start.

The bulk of the illustration is my usual traditional means, attempting some risky pen-and-marker mixes to pull off some of the effects I was aiming for, namely for the Guardian's glowing bodies and eyes. The color style's a bit of a mix of trying to emulate some of the official art's rough strokes, mixed with my own more subtle blending.

Then, to kinda suppress the somewhat busy background, I decided to do an overlay akin to the patterned design used on much of BotW's game and materials. I was really worried whether it would be too much, but after messing with the blending and levels, I think I found a nice balance that doesn't overwhelm the image it covers.

For those curious, the un-digitized original can be viewed below.

March 13, 2018

Ball pen, Prismacolor markers, Colored pencils, charcoal pencils, and gel pens

on 8.5x11 cardstock
Digital overlay done in Photoshop Elements.

"The Champion's Return" (Traditional piece)

Breathe

"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