Gunship 4x4

"Gunship 4x4"
(Metroid series / Rocket League)
 
Metroid's been getting a lot of love, lately, eh? Two new games -one of which is out now- and also a "cameo" in the extreme fantasy sport game Rocket League; who's Switch port has exclusive cars based on Mario, Luigi, and Samus' Gunship. Admittedly, I let the idea of a pin-up illustration run away with me, to which, here we are!

I will say, I haven't seriously drawn a real car in a long LONG time, so this was a daunting endeavor, but I found just enough references to make the thing work with minimal guess work as to shapes and details. I'd say the biggest challenge was deciding to still go with traditional for the piece, but I think it adds some character I know would have been lost had I attempted digital. The colors all balance really well, which I am proud of, especially going with Samus' Fusion ending suit, compliments the orange of the car.

September 21, 2017
Micron Pen, Prismacolor Markers, colored pencils, Sharpie Neon markers, and gel pens
on 8.5x11" cardstock

The Chozen One

"The Chozen One"

(Samus Aran from Metroid/Original Concept)

 
I'll be honest, this isn't the most original idea, as I've seen other knight armored Samus' in the past. But with the Varia Suit design updated for the upcoming Metroid: Samus Returns, I love the layered armor look that they did for it, and it made me want to convert it into a more traditional armor set. And yes, I even opted to make sure the entire body was covered, if not in armor, than in cloth and chain mail. I did a lot of gaps in the armor simply to keep Samus' agility and acrobatics intact, but decided to give her under garb akin to her zero suit. I really like the sword, designed to look like her arm cannon, and the cape, which has the silhouette of a familiar nemisis...

Rather than inked lineart, I just did it in pencil, to keep it relatively soft. I reprinted it onto ivory parchment paper (with a slight brown hue to the lining) and colored it with my standard fare of Prismacolors. I tried to keep the shades soft, as well, going for more typical older medieval fantasy art. I only used a white charcoal pencil for highlights here and there.

July 6, 2017
Pencil, Prismacolor markers, and charcoal pencils
on 8.5x11 parchment paper

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

Crystal Flash

 "Crystal Flash"
(Samus Aran from the Metroid series)
 
I guess chalk this piece up to the fact that there was an ability in Super Metroid (and some later games) that I had absolutely no idea existed prior to about a month ago. The Crystal Flash is a technique you can use in truly desperate situations to heal all of your energy tanks at the cost of all your special weapon energies. This places Samus in a healing ball, shed of her armor and otherwise defenseless, but growing strong again.

I tried to tell myself the next time I drew Samus would be in her trademark armor, but it seems I went even further back and put her in less than the last one. (lol) I tried to make this look as soft as possible, but of course, my markers will always leave some rather rough lines, still. Fortunately, using pencil instead of pen for the lineart definitely aided in the light look and I feel countered where the markers were working against me. I actually had to do a little extra digital work on the glow, as one of my markers unknowingly ran out, and I'm not sure when I can replace it. It was a subtle touch up, but one that was needed to complete the effect.

 February 07, 2016
Prismacolor Markers, charcoal pencil, colored pencils, and gel pen
on 8.5x11" cardstock.
Added digital coloration, Photoshop Elements.

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.