The darkness was overwhelming.

There was simply no other way to describe it. As he descended the stairwell, journeying deeper into the earth itself, the young elf was aware of many things. The dusty smell of mold and cobwebs, the speaking drip of some distant leak, the rustle of strange things in strange corners. More than anything, however, he was aware of the dimming light. As he made his way down the stairs, it seemed to fade with each step.

At the bottom, the world was black.

He felt about his travel pack and came up with a small candle. The candle sat atop a brass plate with a loop on one end in which a thumb fit quite nicely. He took hold of it, and held it to the darkness.

As if aware, the candle came alive, coughing out a cracking flame that illuminated the dark void. The young elf was not surprised, it was after all, a magic candle. Magic was strange like that. Hold magic before you; let it find its own way. His uncle had said that.

The elf's stomach dropped at the thought. His uncle was dead. Slain, to be precise. Slain in turn was a fancy way of saying 'run through with a blade', which was precisely what happened. That had been the beginning. Heartbreaking, horrifying as it was, it was simple. What had come afterwards had been anything but.

Premonitions, princesses, prophecies. A trifecta of circumstance. Fitting. Try, tri again.

The elf made his way deeper into the shadows, the candle before him. The world was made of small blue bricks. A floor of bricks, walls of bricks, yes, even a ceiling of bricks. Bricks, bricks, bricks. The elf had never before felt the effects of claustrophobia, but he surely felt it now. Indeed, he would not even know the word, were one to inquire. He was a simple farmhand, after all. The linguistic arts were to him as color to one struck blind.

He pushed forward, slowly.

A rustle sounded from his left, and without thinking, the young elf acted. He fell to his shoulder, rolling across the hard terrain. The pain was instant, but minor compared to what could have been inflicted upon him. As he rolled, he was vaguely aware of the sword cutting across the empty space where his neck had been moments before.

He came to his feet, and drew his sword with his free hand. With the other, he shoved the candle forward. It proved to be the stronger of the two weapons.

The skeleton screeched the sound of the damned, and backed away from the flickering light. It raised a boney hand against it, but with no flesh for blocking, it did little good. The thing looked like the bones of a man, but the elf knew better - it was a Stalfos, a jailed warrior. A soldier who had taken his own life. Had he gotten trapped in this dungeon, searching for the same treasure? Had the dark halls over come him? Had he drawn metal to his own flesh to escape it? Who knew for sure? What was certain was that it was no longer human.

What was certainly certain was that it was out for blood.

The elf swung the blade in a high arc, hoping to catch the skeleton's throat. Instead, metal rang against metal as two swords clashed in the wavering darkness. The elf let the recoil moment carry him, and spun counter-clockwise to his original strike. This time he aimed low.

It proved to be one of his better decisions.

The skeleton separated at the waste. Screaming, it fell in two to the floor. The horrid noise of its dead tongue cut off abruptly as the bone touched stone, and promptly turned to fine ash. It was over nearly as soon as it began.

And all that left was the door. Old, ancient. Waiting.

The elf approached it slowly, sheathing his blade as he did. His hand, now free, found its way to his green tunic. It withdrew a golden key, adorned with a bright red rupee at its head.

The elf slid the key into the lock, and turned it slowly. The mechanisms, ancient and stubborn, turned over deep within the door itself. It opened easily enough.

And the darkness was washed away in brilliance and purity.

It stood there, beyond the door. A triangle of pure gold. Not of the lakes, or the mountains. Not of the plains or the deserts. Not of the whole of Hyrule, but of the stars. Though incomplete, it sang loud.

"Link," it spoke in a voice, female and familiar. "You have found the first piece. You have already done more than the strongest, best trained soldiers of the land. You, a farmhand, have struck the first blow against the Theifking."

The elf approached the artifact, afraid to speak. It spoke for him, in the voice of a princess he had once known in a time that seemed so long ago.

"Go forth," it said.

So he did.

Howdy sunshine. So good to see you back around these parts. (suggestive wink)

I found these four images in one of my art folders. They were done in the span of a weekend, and wouldn't you know it; there appears to be a theme. All four images are portraits of some sort. Interesting. Also, they are of wildly different style. Very interesting. I should drink wine more regularly. Apparently it makes me all creative n' shit.

Anyway.

ARTS

LETS DO THIS THANG

---------------------------------


Bowsered

This started off as an attempt to do a realistic interpretation of Boswer. When I finished, I noticed that I had forgotten his horns. So I decided to go for broke and make it weird. Kind of fun to look at.


Rider

Marvel's been on my mind a lot lately, what with the announcement of a new chapter in a certain franchise that features Spider-Man's and Mega Man's. So, I found myself drawing Ghost Rider. Well, actually, redesigning Ghost Rider. See, the way I see it, the living Spirit of Vengeance should be, you know, scary. So, I put Ghost Rider in a mixer with a Cenobite, and this is the flavor of Margarita that came out.


Haggar Time

I'm not going to bother explaining this. It speaks for itself.


The Princess

This one is... interesting. It actually turned out a lot better than I thought it would. I'm actually really happy with it - a rarity when I talk about my own work. I'm thinking this might be the start of a series of character portraits in a similar style. What do you think?

-----------------------------

Alrighty, that's it. It's all over but the crying. Till next time,

Rambler's, keep ramblin'.

- Suitcoat

True story.

Anyway. I spent a good portion of the weekend drinking and playing videogames. Not the most productive of weekends, but hey, at least it was relaxing. I've been jumping back and forth between God of War 3 and Perfect Dark XBLA. God of War is visually stunning - at times it feels like you're playing CGI - but it's dragging a bit. I feel for all the splendor, you don't really see a lot of new things. Doesn't mean it's bad, it just can't hold my attention for very long. Perfect Dark is... interesting. I must have been extremely patient in my youth. Replaying the game has caused me to throw the "what the fuck" hands up more than once. I mean, the game is so goddamn vague sometimes. And if someone can explain the plot to me... you know what? Don't. It will probably make me more angry.

So what we were talking about? Oh.


ARTS.


It's a Me.

I actually didn't intend to make this a finished piece. I was just sort of screwing around, but sort of found myself putting in more time than I intended about halfway through. I love the idea that Mario is just some Italian plumber that finds himself in the land of walking mushrooms. Other artists have certainly gone to bat on this (and done a far superior job than I), but it's just one of those wells that never empties.



The Horrible Glutton

If you were to ask me, who is the most feared video game character, I'm pretty sure I'd say Pac Man. Pac Man, you say? Yeah. Fucking Pac Man. Let's break this down in one simple sentence;

Motherfucker eats ghosts.

Think about it. Sam Fisher can't eat ghosts. Kratos can't ghosts. Even the dead fear Pac Man.

(second choice for most feared video game character; Q*Bert. Just seems like the kind of dude that would cut you as soon as look at you)


ARTS THAT AREN'T AS GOOD AS THE OTHER ARTS

People seemed to be interested when I posted the key art last time. Here's some more. Usually I do some warm-up sketching to get myself into a vibe. Not surprisingly, most of the time I sketch video game characters, even before I work on something not game related. I think it's because video games are pretty brilliant, design wise. Games are full of weird, colorful characters. It's fun doing a run on them. Anyway,


God of War multi

Just some run-throughs on GOW. Medusa was interesting, played with her body type a little. Had to make her creepy, but sexy. Veiny boobs is a good start for finding your middle ground. Also, let us pray for that happy little Cyclops. He has no idea the horrors that are in store for him in the near future.


Shepard,Asari

Protip: My Shepard is hotter than your Shepard. Just deal with it. Also, bonus Asari profile sketch. I really like the design of the Asari, the structure of their head completely emphasizes smooth lines. With no hair or ears to speak of, it's all elegant, unhidden curves. I'm actually pretty happy with how she came out. I may have to return to that in the future and finish it up.


Well.

That's all for now.


Go home.


Seriously.











(seriously).

This ... is... ARTS!

Just combing through my files after the weekend and came up with some odds and ends that I thought might be of interest to you fine folk. I will add a liberal dash of hilarious commentary as well! Lucky you! As always, click the red for hi-res.

Fair warning: minor boobs ahead. You prude.


Nerd Alert

A couple of people requested No More Heroes art in my last blog, including one Doctor Jonathan Holmes. Having never done any No More Heroes related artwork before, I figured what the hell. I let myself go a little crazy on this one, mish-mashing traditional and digital artworks together. I think it did a decent job of capturing the smashmouth punk rock mindset of the title.


Xenomorfun

AvP so far stands as my "goddammit, so close!" game of the year. Parts of it shine like precious jewelry while others crumble like a handful of dried mud. What I wouldn't have given to have a straight up "Alien" level similar to the bonus level of the original AvP Gold. Just you, a ship closely modeled after the Nostromo, and an entire terrified crew. That would have been the dog's balls.


Gentlemen Boxer

Yojimbo's been asking me for Dudley art for awhile now. He's been a patient man. I had originally intended to do it in the New Challenger style, but realized it didn't fit the format (being that the New Challenger series is specifically limited to the original twelve world warriors). Instead, I did something a little different in a different style. Hope you dig, my man.


Dante Key art

I'm not sure if this will be of any interest to the general public, but I figured I'd go ahead and share it just because. Most of the art that I have is similar to this - I call it "key art". It's basically quick thumbnailing with an extra splash of color or detail to get a vibe down. If it tickles my fancy at the end, I move onto a full blown piece. This art took about fifteen minutes to put together and definitely shows. Still, thought it might be interesting to you guys to see how I approach doing the more elaborate stuff I put together.

Oh, uh... the game. Well, it's fun, but man is it short or what? It feels like I'm sliding through the nine rings of hell like a fat kid down a waterslide. I barely have time to register the art design (which is fantastic) before I move onto something else. I do feel like I might give it a second playthrough, though...

Well, that's it for now. Thanks for stopping by. We do so love the company.

Until next time,

Ramblers... keep ramblin'.

Nah, I don't really care about all of that. Destructoid is a gaming community site, not a review site.. remember? We should have fun, not anger! Love, not venom! Art, not war!

I have heard uttering the young lad's name gets pageviews, though.

So.



A NEW CHALLENGER ENTREE!



FLASHER


But wait.... every other New Challenger entree is supposed to have a variant, right?


hmm...




OH SHIT SON JEAN CLAUDE VAN DAMME BONUS ROUND

Notes:

1. Was originally going to do Vega, but proved to be annoying and didn't pan outt. That's been pushed back a bit.

2. This was originally going to be upside down, as though he was at the apex of the flash kick, but it wasn't really working. If you want it the way nature intended, Photoshop > image > rotate > 180. Or you can stand on your head.

3. Yes, Yojimbo. Dudley. It's in the cards... the next entree might have more than one piece.

4. Did you know that huge lump on Van Damme's forehead is like, always there? As far as I can tell, post Bloodsport he was carrying the llittle fellow around full time.



Also Bonus Mass Effect 2 poster (posted in an earlier blog, hid it, tweaked it)


I heart you

Until next time... rambler's, keep ramblin'.