Lots of exciting news this week, with events like The Apple WWDC and E3 happening. Looking forward to Nintendo Direct @ E3, which is happening in a few hours. Really excited! I made this icon set in anticipation for whatever news they have for Pokémon X Y, and any other plans for Generation 6.
I wanted them to look like app icons, if they were to exist as apps in the smartphones of the Pokemon world.
Bonus! I tried making one of the icons move for some animation practice.
I’m thinking of making more sets, too. There are still a lot things that can still be designed and used as icons. Come to think of it, what is the Pokemon equivalent of a smartphone? The C Gear? The Xtransceiver? What about older, obsolete phone-equivalent models, like the Pokégear from Generation 2? HMMM…
I went to Singapore a couple of weeks ago to watch Tegan and Sara live in concert. The concert was such an exciting and mind-blowing experience for me, that I downloaded videos of the whole concert for me to listen to over and over again.
With myself still not being over it, I made a short comic based on the Tegan and Sara song “I’m Not Your Hero“.
The song came off as a really sad song to me since the first time I heard it. For me, it was about a person who was so tired of trying to do everything to be someone’s hero, and yet still being unrecognized as one, to the point of feeling helpless, broken and burnt out. Later, I’ve found out that it was basically about Sara’s struggles of being alienated as a member of the gay community and the indie community.
Regardless of what it is originally about, the way I came to interpret it stuck to me, and it became my favorite track from their latest album, Heartthrob. (With “Now I’m All Messed Up” being a close second.)
The comic really has no profound interpretation of the song. It’s just something I thought up quickly. I just wanted it to be as sad as how I felt the song to be.
Click the image for full size:
Also, I would like to point out that this comic may have been inspired by the movie Windstruck.
I decided to make something over the weekend out of weeks of obsessing over Daft Punk’s new song Get Lucky. It’s free to download, if you want it as a wallpaper. 🙂
The wallpaper is available in these sizes:
1920 x 1080
1366 x 768
1280 x 720
If you want any modifications or have any requests, just leave a comment below, or contact me through my email: hello@gabmadrid.com
Last December 2012, I was invited to contribute an illustration for Kamusta? Magazine by their Photography Editor, and my friend from high school, Joseph Angan. They were counting down to Christmas, and every day they would feature a photo or illustration that emphasizes a certain part of the Filipino Christmas. Mine is about (extended) family reunions every Christmas, and how you’re suddenly introduced to all these relatives you’ve never met before. Here’s a digital sketch from my process:
And here’s the final version: Really liked how it turned out. Thick lines, harsh corners, and warm color schemes are my jam.
Kamusta? is an online travel magazine for adventurers who want to see the real Philippines. Here at Kamusta? Magazine, we aim to showcase the best of Filipino life, and to provide useful information for travellers and backpackers hoping to experience life as locals do.
Earlier this year, Rob started this thing where he would trade portraits with other artists. (He was half tempted to call them Portrades. I thought he should. It sounds cool, right?) I contacted him a few weeks ago and decided to go for it! I’ve seen Rob distort his name to Robocham a few times, so I got an idea from that. Here’s a few sketches from my process:
And here’s what I finally came up with:
Th title is a reference to Mega Man Legends (obvs). With this whole Mega Man thing going on with the illustration, I thought I could insert a few small eggs around the illustration:
His life meter is a reference to his famous Helvetiburger shirt:
Photo of Rob pilfered from his Facebook profile. Photo by Patricia Nabong
And I put a little Servbot version of my face near my signature.
And, here’s the portrait of me that he did. Most excellent.
This blog entry contains spoilers of the first season of Legend of Korra. (Also, based on Comic Con 2012 previews, maybe some of season two.) If you haven’t seen the end of season one, well why not?
I have a confession to make: I’m a huge fan of animated series. I’ve been a fan of children’s cartoons since I was old enough to watch tv. I’m 23 now, and I still watch cartoons, though my tastes have changed since omelette du fromage. I am particularly fond of The Legend Of Korra, Tron: Legacy, Motorcity, and Star Wars: The Clone Wars, among others. Their plots are driven by very loveable, relatable characters (except you Mako, I still hate you a little) and impart lessons that are effectively taught by immersing the audience in beautiful fictional worlds. They also tackle themes like freedom, passion, war, and justice on a mature level, ambiguously putting these ideologies to test with characters that cannot be easily separated into Black or White, Good or Evil. Basically, they’re reeeaally good and I love them.
And with – and out of – this love, I have spent a generous amount of time doing fan art based on these fictional worlds. Now some would say that I’ve wasted my time doing this. They could say that it is uncreative, unoriginal, amatuer-ish, and useless. And I would like to say otherwise.
Pushing Boundaries
Fan art, and other kinds of fan work, can take as much creativity and originality as purely original work. By taking these existing characters and worlds to situations that their creator could and/or would not, the fan artist can take fans like me to directions we never thought possible. Fan art is rich with non-canon material such as pairings, offspring of canon characters, origin stories, all of which having the same amount of emotion that can move an audience. Art with stories that dabble in questions like What happens 10 years from now? 50 years from now? What happened 50 years ago? are my favorite kind of fan art!
PPGD, a crossover web manga that started around 2002, tells the story of the Power Puff Girls and Dexter (from Dexter’s Laboratory), and their action-packed adventures as they grow up. The comic frequently includes various cameos of characters from other cartoons. Read the manga at ppg.snafu-comics.com
Fan Art as a Challenge
Working with preexisting characters and settings can also serve as limitations to the fan artist. The fan artist can’t just take a certain character anywhere he wants to. It has to make sense, considering the personalities and motivations of the character in question.
What if Korra never got her bending back by the end of season one?
“How Book One: Air should have ended.” Art by SlipStreamBorne
This ending made more sense to me considering how much Korra was out of touch with her spirituality. Near the end of season one, Korra desperately needed a lesson in spirituality. So desperate that making a whole season of lessons of it makes sense, too. (But considering where creators Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartinoare planning to take season two – with Korra taking her connection with the Spirit World for granted and using the Avatar State for small, useless things – I am now okay with the ending. *Thumb up* )
Fan Art as Thanks
Fan art is also a way of expressing appreciation to the professionals who have given society these wonderful fantasy worlds to live in. These people have put their blood, sweat, and tears into creating these worlds only to be experienced by you, the fan. Creating fan art is, in a way, telling these creators that we love and appreciate what they’re doing.
There should be no shame in creating fan art, or fan work in general. Fan work is not inherently dull or uncreative. There will always be some exceptions, but remember that not every fan artist is an E.L. James-equivalent. In the end, it’s always up to the artist to take any available material to creative and thought-provoking places.
(Also I’d like to mention that you, with all your power and might, should not copy someone else’s style or ideas and claim them as your own. That is not the point of Fan Art. And don’t call it as being “influenced by [insert famous artist here]”. That’s not the point of influence, too. But I think that’s another discussion for another day.)
So don’t just do fan art…
I think we owe it to these creators that we do something that is our own. It does not just mean doing something that is completely new and never been done before. (I personally don’t think that’s entirely possible and/or necessary.) It could also mean taking a generic/old/boring concept and giving it a different perspective. It’s like paying it forward: Striving to give others wonder and amazement (and awe and sadness and whatever strong emotion there is left) is what I think the ultimate goal for a creator. That’s what keeps the spirit of creation alive. Try asking Santa!
