Com_OtterTribe_Pt.3

Ok, to wrap the series for our EchoOtter avatar set, here's the background work for the piece.

I used one of my favorite paper textures here, but modified it a little so it could sit back with the composition a little better.  Here's the flat background without the texture.

And here are the lines for the final background.  This piece hummed along quite nicely since the Wind Waker style calls for quite basic lines and flat colors, which was quite a relief, since my back and neck were in a bit of rough shape during production.

Here is the rough sketch of the background, which was based on the cover image to the actual Wind Waker game box.
 

Ok, now the おまけ, I pitched two versions of this series from the initial request of a Wind Waker or Secret of Kells style avatar.  These last few images are the Secret version sketches, starting with the default otter design.

Here's the Link from the set.  This style was also nice and "primitive," but perhaps even more so than the one we ended up going with.  The shapes are rougher and more brutal, which I found to be a really neat space to spend time thinking in.

A great example of this weird style of thinking was getting the complexity of the Indy hat to work in the Kells style.  I went with just absolute tangents, as the source material seemed to be completely unafraid of bold choices like that, even downright embracing parallax lines.

And speaking of complex, Jill's logo was a little tricky to figure out in this style, but it ended up being the basis for the Wind Waker version once I cracked it.  I also thought the limbs were thrillingly outrageous, it almost felt like Hannah Barbera or something.  Anyway, this series was quite something, I feel like I gained an appreciate for these two styles, and had a great time hashing it out.  

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Com_OtterTribe_Pt.2

Continuing from last time, here are the remaining hats for our EchoOtter avatar series, starting with one based on Indiana Jones.

Here's the sketch of the Indy version. This was a little tricky because it's actually two pieces--a front and a back--which made this one just slightly more complicated than simply "drawing a hat on" our hero.

And finally, here's a version inspired by Resident Evil's Jill. I only have super vague familiarity with RE, as we were more of a Nintendo house growing up, so PS games didn't really connect with me, but I do fuzzily remember playing one of the titles at some point, though I believe I got frustrated with the finite save system and the static camera angles, so I just never could really get into it.

To wrap this session, here's the sketch version of this hat, which features a Wind-Waker simplified logo design, customized with "ECHO" in place of Jill's "STAR." You know, a weird connection I realized these two series have is that both Indiana Jones and Resident Evil go by different names in Japan--they call the good doctor "Indy Jones" and the horror series is simply "Biohazard." Anyway, that's it for the core of this piece. Next time, we'll check out the background, plus some alternate sketches.

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Com_OtterTribe_Pt.1

Ahoy-hoy. This week I'm going to be posting a series I did for EchoOtter's Twitch and Twitter pages. The core idea was to have his mascot--a playful otter, of course--wearing different hats to coincide with whatever game he might be playing at the time, so what better hat to kick us off with here than one from the project's guiding aesthetic? Thusly, here's our friendly neighborhood otter sporting a Link hat.

And here is our default otter, who will be the wearer of various hats this week. We based the entire series look on the Windwaker style, which was a real treat, as you get to have really chunky and "primal" lines to work with. Not to mention, Zelda holds a special place in my heart: Ocarina of Time was huge to me as a kid--I'd study and draw art from the game manual for that and Majora's Mask, plus their coverage in Nintendo Power more than any other series.

I also liked that I got to use one of my absolute favorite paper textures, which I've had since college, I believe. You just find some nice, crinkled paper that sings, scan it up, and you've got a trusty ally at your side. This one has so much character to it, I knew it'd be a great fit. This is what our piece looks like with just plain, ol' base colors, though--no texture!

Again, thanks to the "primal" vibes of our source material, coloring was also nice and straightforward. Windwaker style has precious little detail or noodley workings, so it's liberating just to have a few colors you need to stress about and then you just go with them, not too much space to lose yourself in second-guesses.

It was quite fortunate that the coloring wasn't too intensive, actually, because right as I was preparing for this piece, my chairback started falling apart, so while I had been trying to make do, I had severe back and neck pain from the new sitting arrangement I had improvised. I've been in a similar situation before, and if your body starts hurting like that, you just have to stop--do not try to slug through it, it's not worth it.

We eventually made it through and everyone lived happily ever after, but what a little adventure this series was. Happy memories of desperately doodling after old game key art, horrific memories of suffering through old injuries, tons of adorable otter pictures googled for reference--this project had it all. Anyway, more art from this run to come throughout the week.

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FanArt_pgtp.HopTo

I'm hopping with anticipation cuz it's just 8 mere days until it's finally, finally time to #PokemonGoToThePolls on Tuesday, November 6, 2018, so here's Central Kalos Dex #008, Frogadier!

We've been in a verily verdurous grove of forest-based pokes lately, so I wanted to make an effort to seek as different an environment as possible, say, the ocean.

I was so nervous having to take on MTGinktober and PokemonGoToThePolls simultaneously, but it kinda worked out--this is our last PGTP for October! We made it! Kinda. Ugh.

I mean, to be fair, we did fall super behind on Inktober, and it looks like we'll close at about 6 days behind as of the 31st.

But I'm getting myself to cope with failure, and besides, I'm itching to get back to full digital focus, oddly enough. AND an accomplishment in itself is that I didn't mess up my arm, back, hand, neck, or eyes this year, even while switching between traditional and digital for these challenges.

And speaking of not messing up, we're so close to getting this thing done, please be sure to register if you haven't already (especially since many states' registration deadlines are coming up if they haven't passed already!) and elect to be a voter on Tuesday, November 6, 2018.

Nothing less than the planet is on the line here (not just as an international community of allies and leaders, but also as the environmental crisis grows closer to the point of no return), let alone your personal, national, and neighborly well-being. Please vote blue.

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FanArt_pgtp.SudoDoodo

So close you can poke it with a stick, there're only 15 days until it's time to #PokemonGoToThePolls on Tuesday, November 6, 2018, so here's OG Alola Akala Dex #015, Sudowoodo!

It was a toss up to draw either this guy or Silcoon, which mighta gone great with the hat since they make a good Uncle-Sam-looking poke, but I love how weird Sudowoodo's design is.

Plus it's not every day you get to draw a considerably human-looking Pokemon, and this guy gets in the ballpark pretty well.

I also enjoyed researching his TCG appearances because they give him some gorgeous background art, which inspired mine.

Using all those blues in a green forest was a real joy, but I am aware I need to relax on leaning too hard on forests for backgrounds.

The background did give me a sorta Misty Rainforest vibe, though, which was pretty cool.

But don't get too misty-eyed yourself, just get amped up and register if you haven't already (especially since many states' registration deadlines are coming up if they haven't passed already!) and elect to be a voter on Tuesday, November 6, 2018.

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FanArt_ink.Swollen

MTGinktober pumps up for Day 17, "Swollen," starring Grand Warlord Radha and Radha, Heir to Keld!

I knew almost instantly I wanted to draw a buff, or "swole" character for this prompt, but it felt way too easy to go for say Maraxus of Keld (too gross looking) or Iwamori of the Open Fist (too obvious), so I thought it'd be cool to draw Radha hanging out with herself.

Jim Murray's been one of my absolute favorite artists since Fifth Dawn, and the OG Radha's one of the coolest illustrations of his, so I've been wanting to draw a salute to that piece for years. I'm not super into her new version, but it is a cool demonstration of depicting the same character in radhacally different ways. While drawing this piece, I came to appreciate how Magic executed on the "buff girl" archetype successfully and how Icons: Combat Arena just plain missed on their character, Xana. I bring Icons up because I've been quite bummed that the game, technically still in beta testing, got all but cancelled after its studio, Wavedash Games, abruptly laid off basically everyone a couple weeks ago. I've been thinking where Waverdash fell short, and what they could have done to turn the game's reception around. As an artist, I more readily think to aesthetic issues and solutions, since the gameplay felt decent enough and I'm by no means in a position to be critiquing video game gameplay.

So when thinking about the visuals, Xana has always been a pretty apparent stumbling block to me. The great KNKL, who I admire and respect, got the charm of her in the early concept art for sure, but something of that spark got filtered out in the pipeline and she just turned into a bit of a flavorless, hulking character--she's supposed to be a celebrity wrestler, but in her final appearance, she just looks like any old, orcish warrior, perhaps even a background character rather than a playable one.

In contrast, I was delighted to discover when looking over larger versions of the art that new Radha still retains a charm to her while still being quite physically imposing and burly. It was really cool seeing how Magic balanced upon that fine line between bulky and feminine. It feels like it comes down to the gentleness in the face and the groundedness and femininity of the hair, which guides the interpretation of the character to being softer than just a grunting "Ahnold" type of character. Xana was just a bit too gruff in all directions, so despite being a fabulous celebrity on her home planet, that appeal and playfulness just didn't translate to the final design in-game.

Fun Facts: One of my early ideas was to have them posing all tough with Iwamori in the background, but it felt like that detracted from the gag/gimmick of before/after characters hanging out together. Plus the heart of the piece is Radha, no need to try to share the spotlight if a non-Radha character wasn't absolutely necessary or supplementary enough not to intrude.

Easter Eggs: You can find New Radha's sword on the left and OG Radha's club on the right. The backgrounds are a combination of both characters' backgrounds. I introduced a curve to OG's hair so its form mimics her flexing.

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FanArt_pgtp.PupItUp

All pupped up cuz there're only 22 days until it's time to #PokemonGoToThePolls on Tuesday, November 6, 2018, so here's Unova Dex #022, Lillipup!

This one was definitely one of the quickest ones, coming in at just a couple hours, cuz we had severely limited time.

Like Diglett, I just jumped straight to painting again, no lines or sketches.

But a little innovation here was using the strokes effect to make lines around the shapes I painted for added definition.

The background was a also a bit more impressionistic than I normally go, but it worked well to suggest speed.

In any case, please speed yourself along to register if you haven't already (especially since many states' registration deadlines are coming up if they haven't passed already!) and elect to be a voter on Tuesday, November 6, 2018.

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FanArt_pgtp.DigIt

Dig it, only 29 days until it's time to #PokemonGoToThePolls on Tuesday, November 6, 2018, so here is Alola's Akala Dex #029, Diglett!

We really dashed this guy out for sure, but it came out all right in just a few hours, so we can definitely continue at this pace while also Inktobering.

What made this one unique was that there was no prepwork in the form of sketches or even linework, I just went in painting from the start with my SAUB, like the good old days of pure SAUB painting.

And yes, one of the reasons I went with Diglett of all the various 029 Dex entries was that I could most likely get away with this brutalist technique on such a forgiving, minimalist character design.

But the piece itself turned out ok. Not as action-packed as I had envisioned, but ok, certainly good enough for the purpose of being an Pokemon going to a poll.

I definitely hope to take a similar approach again on a future piece down the line, though perhaps with a little more innovation now that we have a base of knowledge to work with.

And please do work with us to make sure both to register if you haven't already (note, many states' registration deadlines begin today!) and elect to be a voter on Tuesday, November 6, 2018.

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