Godzilla
A couple of months ago we created a group blog at 8fish, for an art challenge type of thing. We’ve been too busy lately to really get into it, but I was able to at least get to the inking stage for our first art challenge.
The concept was Godzilla VS.
I’m hoping to find the time to color this:
February 28th, 2007 at 9:09 am
Now that’s good stuff. While the theme is obviously Japanese, the drawing style is obviously American. It’s a good blend. The thing that keeps it from looking like a coloring book picture is the detail on the robot. There’s not much, but there is enough to show metal patchwork, vaguely reminiscent of some of Miyazaki’s concept drawings from Castle in the Sky. It adds a level of dirtiness, something that tells me that this was no shiny new robot built in some government lab. It was hacked together by a brilliant, underfunded mechanic/scientist. It’s that raw side that makes good sci-fi interesting.
February 28th, 2007 at 9:26 am
Sorry to take up so much space, but I keep looking at this picture and thinking I didn’t say enough. This picture speaks volumes. The Godzilla has that same level of dirtiness as the robot, but in its own organic way. There are just enough lines to tell me that he’s wrinkled, but not so many that it’s completely in my face. There is an episode of Powerpuff Girls with a similar monster, and a couple of the shots have way too much detail. It detracted from the monster itself.
The buildings tell a similar story. The one in the bottom-right corner looks new, which is odd because it represents an business architectural style that was already fading by the 80′s. The building in the bottom-left corner uses a style that was a fad that reached its height in the US in the late 60′s to early 70′s, but spent at least a couple more decades en vogue in Japan. The difference is, it looks like it’s aged somewhat. While it was well-maintained (uncommon for that style, but not unheard of), it still shows signs of the years. Whatever happened to mansard roofs, anyway?
Okay, I’ll shut up now.
February 28th, 2007 at 5:32 pm
Well, nothing left to say here — I agree with Joseph across the board.
Great image, Brandon!
March 2nd, 2007 at 10:15 am
I love it Brandon. I can’t wait to see it colored!
March 5th, 2007 at 11:51 am
I like the weight of the Godzilla, you didn’t make him look overly athletic, and yet he is leaping this great height. The action counterposed with his girth is really nice.
April 12th, 2007 at 2:54 pm
Merril is there a way I can get a hold of you? I am a friend of Janet Meiners (www.newspapergrl.com), and we are doing some exciting things that we want to talk with you about. You can email: paul at mymarketer.net. Thanks. ~Paul