*Determination

"*Determination"

(Undertale)

 
What can I say about Undertale that hasn't already been said? It's the most amazing indie RPG I've ever played, and love its twists in both gameplay and narrative, and I love how much the game is actually playing you, in the end. It's weird how attached you can get to characters in what feels like only a 7-10 hour game.

This piece started as a simple sketch. The human handing the monster a flower. The best part of this concept is the duality of the symbolism, especially depending on how you run the game. It's one that hit me hard in conceptualizing, and had to get it out quickly. I had no intention on coloring it, so instead I just did some digital shading on the piece, transferred it to a copper parchment texture, and erased part of that around the human (I'm intentionally being vague with the characters, as playing this game I feel is best to go in with as little idea as to what it is as possible). I only colored the flower, giving a bit more power to its presence, as small as it may be.

July 8, 2017
Pencil and Photoshop Elements3300x2550 pixels (native)

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

I Wanna Get the Kitty!

"I Wanna Get the Kitty!"
(Crono, Marle, and Lucca from Chrono Trigger / Gift art for Vinesauce)
 
Over at Vinesauce, Vinny is playing Chrono Trigger; arguably one of the best RPGs ever made, and his self-proclaimed favorite game. When he was messing around on his second stream trying to "catch the cat" in the sewers in 2300 AD, something inspired me to do a piece reminiscent of Akira Toriyama's original illustrations for the game.

I actually did the lineart for this piece twice, as the first time I did it was heavily rushed to display on their booru (to which he showcased that night). I decided I could do better, to which I feel I did indeed. To keep in line with the mock-style of Toriyama's works, I had the new lineart printed onto parchment paper to give it a bit of mood toning. Using the white pencils and gel pens on this colored paper really pops the highlights. The Vineshroom on the wall was a last-second addition to the lineart before coloring to personalize it to the stream.

 February 22, 2016
Micron pens, Pigma pens, Prismacolor Markers, charcoal pencil, colored pencils, and gel pens
on 8.5x11" celery parchment paper.