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Showing posts from July, 2016

It's a Zelda Day in the neighborhood (cont.): Creative Platypus

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One of my favorite little quirks in the original Legend of Zelda  was the "bait". That meaty little chicken leg that you could always throw down when things got to hot to handle. I never beat the original Zelda title, though I got close. This, then, is my homage to Ganon, that shadowy presence never glimpsed in all his piggy glory until I got to A Link to the Past .

It's Dangerous to go Out Alone: Creative Platypus

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"It's dangerous to go out alone! Take this." These words were the passport to adventure for an entire generation of children. They're on par with "A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away..." or "In a hole in the ground, there lived a hobbit". So here we have Link gaining his first sword, finding the magic sword in the cemetery, and encountering a moblin in the mazes of the Lost Woods. P.S. -Notice that the moblin is wielding his spear with a sauroter in the "correct" under-arm position and carries a javelin as a secondary weapon. Whether he has properly adjusted his grip to account for the weapon's rearward center of gravity is a matter of scholarly debate and may simply come down to a matter of artistic convention.

Childe Link Unto the Dark Tower Came: Creative Platypus

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Today, it's towers and thunderstorms. We have the Tower of Hera from The Legend of Zelda: a Link to the Past  as it appears in the comic book version. Next, we have Barad-Dur, Tolkien's Dark Tower, inspired by The Lord of the Rings  board game. The medium, once more, is art marker with highlights done in colored pencil. Of course, every tower needs its denizens. Below are a stalfos and rocklops ready to meet any unwary trespassers.

It's A Zelda Day in the Neighborhood (Cont.): Creative Platypus

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Here are three more pictures inspired by the original Legend of Zelda drawn in marker with some colored pencil overlay. I don't know how the rogue octorok got a hold of Link's raft.

It's a Zelda Day in the Neighborhood: Creative Platypus

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Looking around the web, I found inspiration for my next marker forays. Here we have the first dungeon from the original Legend of Zelda. The medium, once more, is art marker and brush marker with a little help from my colored pencils on Link's lantern. I love the imaginative world of the Zelda games. They are permeated with a sense of mystery and enchantment that begs to be carried over to the world of brush and pen.

Saint Bartholomew: Creative Platypus

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I was looking for a reference to go with the last picture and came across this statue of Saint Bartholomew draped in his own skin from Milan. It looked like a perfect opportunity to play with my grey-scale markers, so I jumped right in. The finished piece reminds me a bit of those gorgeous renaissance grey-scales that Mike Mignola used to use as frontispieces for Hellboy chapters (a colored icon of St. Bartholomew actually appears in the first edition of Sir Edward Grey: Witchfinder ). Anyhow, this would do just as well heading up one of the chapters of a BadNun  graphic novel...

Classroom Doodle (Cont.): Creative Platypus

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I decided to test out the technique I used for the stained glass in yesterday's drawing on another sketch for my study hall's t.v. pitch. This led to a discussion with my wife about the probable provenance of said window and its use in the post-Vatican II era. The window itself is freely adapted from a set of Tiffany windows created in Shelton Connecticut for use at Huntington Congregational Church (with apologies to Saint Joe's).

Huntington Congregational: Creative Platypus

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Huntington Congregational: one of my favorite sites. I've drawn the church in pencil and then gone over it with black brush marker and filled in the details with a combination of brush marker and art marker. Next time, I need to use a ruler.

Classroom Doodle (Cont.): Creative Platypus

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Here are two more marker drawings from my study hall's t.v. series pitch. To the left, we have the local Capo thinking about his son's future over a bourbon on the rocks. On the right is our lead receiving a visit from The Voice. It's also looking like I need a range of flesh tones and a set of art pens...

Classroom Doodle (Cont.): Creative Platypus

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This is another piece for my study hall's t.v. pitch . Here we have the Irish novice's childhood friend, erstwhile love-interest, and son of the local mafia capo (you can see why our novice might want to be a nun). Of course, if you think that's complicated, just see where the students were willing to go...

More Markers and Manga: Creative Platypus

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I was looking for some marker inspiration today and ended up turning to Shotaro Ishinomori's The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past . There's a village scene on the opening page that reminds me very much of a traditional New England township. There's even what looks like a saltbox church with a gothic steeple wacked on in the Victorian Era. So here's my reworking of a portion of that image as a further experiment in marker-craft.

Hunting Anime Witches: Creative Platypus

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Grad School is a good time for moody Goth animes -especially if you're a poseur. It's been years, but I do remember liking Witch Hunter Robin . So here's my attempt at the show's title character, Robin Sena. Prismacolor art markers and brush markers are again my weapons of choice (no orbo) with a little help from my Prismacolor colored pencils for the flesh tone. My technique needs more discipline, but I am better satisfied with this piece than with most of my previous art marker attempts.

Shiitake No Oni Rides Again: Creative Platypus

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Still working with my new Prismacolor art markers. This attempt looks a little more promising. I give you the "One and Only" Shiitake No Oni.

Fun With Markers: Creative Platypus

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Exploring a new medium today: Prismacolor art markers. Today's image is Castle Sasune from Final Fantasy III (of the many jobs). The game's enjoyable, so I thought I'd take a stab at the art -though that doesn't come as naturally to me. Mostly, it seems as though it will take me a while to get a handle on this new medium.