LIGHT SPINNER (Character Design)

Created for He-Man.Org's "MOTU Redesign Challange #79"... "Light Spinner" is the original name of the trecherous Horde Sorceress "Shadow Weaver." Featured in the classic POP Filmation series & in the comics, Light Spinner was a fun take of how Shadow Weaver started off before her journey to the dark arts. The design for her came to me at work, & I was actually thinking along the lines of the anime "Burst Angel" with this design. As you can see, anime/videogames/manga does have some pull on my design asthetic, particularly years ago, & still always creeps in today! ^_- I have been a big anime fan for a long long time, so it will always be an influence on me. I also looked at Harem Girl costumes for influence on this... When I was designing her color scheme, (and as mentioned on the Org) the character "Riku" came to my mind too, as the Final Fantasy series has some minor pull on me, but it was a non-intentional, more "after the fact," & I think it's great if this design has a little Final Fantasy flavor... It's that wiley blonde hair, & Riku is adorable so it's all good... In the end, here's my take on Light Spinner, (I did Casta... so I figured I had to do her friend & rival )... complete with bio!!
Hope she does well in the fan-vote!!





I came up with the "Magic Rune self-mutalation" bit to show she's a bit... well... distrurbed...
...And on that note Merry CHRIStmas!!
***UPDATE*** she came in 1st in her poll & 2nd overall!!

VARIABLE CASTASPELLA

Hi! Those of you who are familar with my art here on the Blog or past & present MOTU sites know that much like Mattel (& Hasbro), I love to do variant color versions of my works. So I thought I would go all 4H "7th Kingdom" on my recent CASTASPELLA re-design, & came up with 5 new (+1 the original) different color varients! Here's a little info on each of the color concepts...

~Filmation Version:

Just like the title implies, the "Filmation version" is based on the blue & yellow scheme Filmation used to portray the "Barbarella" look-a-like sorceress in the original POP animated series. This scheme looks very 1990's X-Men to me (blue/yellow)... not that there is anything wrong with that! ^_- So far over on the Org this seems to be the most popular color design, probably due to the nostalgia factor, or the complimentary colors. This was the 2nd most obvious recolor for me, & the 1st one executed after the original in the series. Makes good sense seeing that the original toy & Filmation version's colors differed so greatly, that this scheme would make a perfect repaint. With it's seeming popularity over the other varient colors, it makes me wonder how this version would have placed if THIS was my "original entry" in the contest? ...hmmm. ^_-

***of note***: this is the first retooled design as I changed the side mid-drift openings to become solid with the leotard.

~Julianne Hough version (aka Dance version):

This scheme was my 2nd conception for the color variation as my original Castaspella was based on DWTS fan-favorite (and Chris favorite) Julianne Hough as an inspiration & model! I had always planned on doing this recolor in some shape or form since Julianne so strongly influenced the original. Not only for her stunning looks, but also the 2-time DWTS champ's "Cha Cha Cha" dress for Season 5 as a basis for the outfit's design. I have plenty of references for the dancing angel in photographs & have been anxious to do an interpretation of her in my art (and will be...). For furthur realism & practice on capturing her beauty for myself, I used her features, body, & costuming to give a certain realism to my Casta's redesign... she's is the hottest girl on the planet for me in 2007, so it only seemed natural to gravitate towards her for some real-life inspiration! One of my reference pictures for the art is shown below...

***of note***this was the 1st version retooled to have the legs changed to match Julianne's bare legs & feature no leggings that the original had. In the end it's prolly my favorite version!

~Christmas Special version:

The Filmation "He-Man & She-Ra X-mas Special" will always be one of the most memorable for me in the 2 series history. It featured alot of the new toys & also was a stand-alone hit that for me... seemed to really end the series. Alot of these versions I come up with when my mind wonders at work... so thinking of possible varients for the series, coupled with the X-mas Season vastly approaching, & most importantly, the X-mas special, I came up with this "Holiday Flavored" coloration that is kind of like when Prince Adam is in the Santa outfit complete with white hair. She is exactly the same as the "Filmation version" with different colors & the 3rd of the series, 4th overall.

~Horde Gothic version:

This was another version I came up with while daydreaming at work... what if Castaspella was Evil? Had gone to The Horde? Or became a Zombie? Or just decided to get her "Goth" on. LOL! I figured the design around her center jewel would easily transcribe to a faux Horde symbol given the right colors, the leotard could become a corset, & I could modify her leggings to become a hot set of tight red pants that a girl had on at our X-mas party @ work, only this time make them "blood red'... I also though the white skin & red eyes would furthur the effect of being Gothic/Evil/Vampyric...& I think it was pretty successful... Hordak inspired colors... friends watching me work on this model seemed to lean towards it, & overall I thought the "dark take" might end up being the most popular of the recolors on the Boards... but that "Filmation" version seems to be the reigning Queen!

~Magician version:

My brother Brian gave me this idea while watching me create the "Horde Gothic" version. He had mentioned that he would have liked the Horde version to have leggings, like a Magician's Assistant... this made sense to me when I thought about it the next day. The Horde version was going to be the last in the series, but I also wanted an even number as that would better replacate the (many versions) I was trying to imply, like would be seen in the 200X Devilman Fewture figures or with the aforementioned 4H "7th Kingdom" having many varients.
I came up with a "Zatanna" (the female magician from Batman) inspired version based on the 1990's animated series. Different enough from the Horde version, & this one still featured the black hair, but no leggings/pants & (a 1st) no shoulder straps. In the end I think it has a nice modern Magician/Assistant or Superheroine feel, & one of the most original in the series... Although, I may take a stab at this version again someday, as when I showed the finished design to Brian who had conceived it in the 1st place, he said "that's not what I meant at all." ...LOL!

~Original Toy version:

I talked in great detail about the influences & why I chose my design based on the toy version of Castapella for this contest in the previous blog entry. Here is the original drawing, in it's original toy-inspired colors, & I am happy to say, still remains one of the most popular of the seires!! Hope you enjoyed this little insight into my creative process, & as always there will be more to come... ^_-

Scarlett Avatar ~G.I.Joe 25th

Hi!
Those who know me best know that I am recently addicted to collecting the new line of 25th Anniversary G.I. Joes... The figures are awesome, I have been collecting them since their initial release this summer after being impressed with online previews earlier this year... These wonderful sculpts with more articulation really are a innovative way to get me back into a childhood favorite of mine (being right in there with Masters Of The Universe & Transformers)... So, after many unfruitful trips to retailers, (including some early mornings at TRU) back on Halloween day I was finally able to complete my collection of 5-packs & single figure waves 1-3 for both myself & brother Randy. With my renewed interest in the franchise (and an approved big-budget movie in 2009), I signed up on a couple Joe Boards (the HISSTANK rocks! ...I am aka Steel Brigade), & of course I have to make a custom avatar for people to recognize me with as I have posted often as of late. So after a couple months of being faceless I finally got crackin' & did this Scarlett avatar. ^_^ She has always been one of my favorites since childhood, (along with Duke, Cobra Commander, Snake Eyes & Storm Shadow) But I always like to draw the females, so I figured a good way to start with G.I. Joe in my art was an opening avatar with Scarlett!!



I have been thinking about how I would handle G.I. Joe's art style if I was to direct the art for a new animation for it, & one of the things that always seemed in the forefront for my ideas was a subdued color pallett as exampled here. I like the look of the new "Spectacular Spider-Man" (cheeks74) animated series coming up as well as some of the similar art styles & colors found on some of the current Deviant Art galleries I glance at. I always picture the military to be drab & I think Joes should evoke that realism & you will see that in my future Joe works. There is a pretty good chance that G.I. Joe will be my new flavor for a card-format style series in 2008 (like D&D was for me for a while before the fall of the original DDM game in 2007)... As I am hot on the property again & the 25th figures would provide for a different (n0n-sword & sorcerey/fanatsy) element among what is prodominatly my fantasy-inspired work. Basically the best of both worlds with something else I love sounds like a good way to approach the art I create & for this blog in 2008!!

Scarlett's hair & face loosely based on Julianne Hough for modeling...