Half-life Blowout

I've been lax in updating with Grudemath-related art, so hopefully this will bring things up to speed.

Last Friday's match covered the bulk of Highway 17, which continues to hold a strange appeal for me. Even with the awful car controls and loading tunnels weighing against it, I think the sheer atmosphere manages to win through.

Nova Prospekt, which puts Gordon Freeman in command of a swarming column of vicious alien insectoids, probably called for a different kind of illustration. Still, I can't help but think exit drew the superior interpretation.

About five minutes into working on the last Wednesday's sketch, I thought of a much, much better angle. Here's Ravenholm shrouded under the malign Dark Hour from Persona 3.

Note that about 80% of this is a pretty close study of official P3 artwork, so I can't claim originality here. Still, it was great practice and tremendous fun to paint.

We Don't Go to Grudemath

Last night, the Grudemathers kicked off Half-life 2 and made it all the way up to the quiet, zombie-infested streets of Ravenholm. I was sort of in a hurry with a sketch, so here's the best I could do for that blighted burg.

Grude Shift, part 2

Well folks, the Barney Saga is finally at an end. Congratulations to the two Grudemath contestants, who managed to finish so close to one another that the match was ruled a tie. Though, in fairness, I guess the endgame is a little easier when the final boss is just a shiny red button on an inconvenient ledge.

So here's my final salute to Barney Calhoun, the milquetoast security guard who proved that he could save the world just as well as the Shephards and Freemen out there... if by "saving the world" you mean "saving his own skin," and if by "just as well" you mean "for half as long and without any significant challenges along the way."

But still, Barney's still a pretty cool guy. I mean, the name alone should establish him in a pantheon of some sort, so I tried to do him some measure of justice in the speedpaint. Which, incidentally, comes in three different flavors, so prepare yourself for what may be too much Barney to handle.

Standard-issue Barney: Because this is the very least we expect of him.

Bye Bye Black Mesa: Nothing adds a bit more heroic flair quite like a convenient background explosion, even if this specific case is a little chronologically unlikely. But then again, Barney cares nothing for your human timestreams.

lol teleporters: Spoiler alert, the end of the game is just a wee bit stupid. In a rather ham-fisted attempt to wedge in a Gordon Freeman cameo, Barney suddenly starts glowing green -- certainly the color of high science -- and proceeds to teleport all over the place. Presumably because he's "triple-entangled" or some similar bit of complete codswallop.

Yukari Takeba

Persona 3 continues to fascinate me utterly -- so much so, in fact, that characters from the game are infiltrating my sketchbook.

In for a penny, in for a pound... here's a colored version.

I haven't really drawn or colored anime for quite some time, so this has been a sort of interesting throwback to my youth.

The Priestess: Pythia

Quietly slipping in another rough Persona sketch.

Grude Shift

Here's the sketch for last night's Half-life Grudemath, which covered the first leg of Blue Shift. More specifically, this is my interpretation of the trainyard where you rescue Dr. Rosenberg. No caricatures or funny business this time around -- just a straight-up environment speedpaint.

The Magician: Thoth

I really couldn't turn down Thoth's candidacy for the Magician. He submitted a really extraordinary résumé, plus he's got years of experience in the general field of magicking. Plus, he's been more or less free for the past couple millenia, so this really works out great for everyone.

I tried to do this sketch closer to the style of the main characters' personas. There's a really interesting dichotomy of art styles in Persona 3; some of the summons have fairly traditional appearances, while others (typically the "signature" ones) are rather fanciful reimaginings of the myths, even dipping into modernism and science fiction. Thus, Ares is portrayed as a straightforward Grecian warrior wielding a scary sword, while Hermes is interpreted as a sleek, streamlined mech with bladed wings.

The Fool: Anansi

Just for fun, I'm starting a series of sketches inspired by Persona 3. The plan is to create a new concept for each of the major arcana, defaulting (as in the game) to major mythological and literary sources. To kick things off, I submit trickster-god and culture-hero Anansi to number zero, the Fool.

Grudemathing Force, part 3

I could have just as easily called this entry "Purple is Stupid," but I'm a stickler for consistency in titles.

But there it is. I'm finding purple really difficult to paint, so allow me a little bit of antipathy in return. Seriously, even Albert Munsell, who famously invented color in the 19th century, admitted that purple is a really dumb color and he was totally phoning it in when he came up with it. True fact.*

So maybe setting the final Opposing Force sketch during the final battle against the suspiciously Shoggoth-like Gene Worm was a bit rash, given the fact that the boss is effectively anchored to an enormous pulsating purple portal. 

All of this is a rather long way of saying I wasn't too happy with this installment's sketch. But at least I kicked it out the door in time. And I made an effort to reduce the impending eye-burn with a bit of color adjustment and copious application of sloppy texture brushes.

My chance for redemption will come next week when the Grudemath rolls on with Blue Shift, which follows security guard Barney Calhoun's escape from the Black Mesa facility. Don't forget to watch if you can!

*Completely untrue.

Grudemathing Force, part 2

Tonight's Grudemath left our fearless marines in the underbelly of the Black Mesa facility. Here's my take on the parking garage where Shephard has been butchering Black Ops soldiers and disarming nuclear devices.

In all likelihood, Friday's installment will wrap up Opposing Force. Don't miss it!