Masters Of The Universe Origins Part 10!!

The 4 "All-Girl" follow-up to my previous "She-Ra" sneak peak!

BLACK ALICE
A character from DC Comics & specifically tied to this project via the modern DC VS MOTU series. Black Alice's look reminds me so much of the type of work I did in college for character designs, that I just had to include her, she's like a throwback to myself. lol
In this story, Black Alice was practicing rituals to contact inter-dimensional demons through portal phenomenon and was eventually graced (or cursed), with the Demon King of Eternia Skeletor. Black Alice serves as Skeletor's liaison, votary, informant, and as a magical vessel for him to cross through space and time to Earth as either a conquest or an escape!
  
DRAGON QUEEN (as a young girl):
Based on the lead villianess from the Galoob line "Golden Girl and the Guardians Of The Gemstone" which was another (and probably the best known/successful) She-Ra-inspired-competing-line of the 80's. I picture most of these characters to be somewhat younger than their POP contemporaries. Here as a child, the Dragon Queen (once the Dragon Princess) was forced into her role when Skeletor invaded Storm Isle, and killed her parents (the Dragon King/Queen) and many of her people. This act was made to capture, steal, and later control the Dragons that are native to her land. For protection for her people against Skeletor's future plans, the now child Dragon Queen formed an uneasy alliance with the Snake Men Clan's Priest "Kobra Khan." Her assigned guardian is the "Dragon Lord" & her horse is named "Shadow."

MERMISTA/MERMAID:
Based on the 1986 MOTU Annual that shows He-Man talking to a Mermaid, this character can also can fulfill the role of "Mermista." I added a couple of my own minor touches to this design to make her look a little less human. Although usually mistrustful of land dwellers, in this story the Mermaid aids He-Man & She-Ra's traveling alliance with information of the Horde's route thru the sea on giant ships to bring in their forces over from the far off Fright Zone to Monarch, her advanced warning ready's the Heroic Forces for impending danger.
  
PEBBLASS:
Pebblass was added as a guilty pleasure to this series, her name given to her by TG is just too much fun. lol Pebblass represents one of the 5 members of the Rock People who meteored to Eternia in search of peace from a galactic war that tore apart her home world. Fun & flirty, Pebblass & her fellow Rock People have joined He-Man & the Heroic Warriors, to assist their new welcoming allies in hopes of peace from the on coming Horde war.

fun personal facts:
I scored a Dragon Queen figure MIB a couple years back for $20 on ebay, not to shabby...lol
The recent Classics figure of Mermista helped propel her to be finished sooner than later in the art lineup. She is also the only art card that does not have a featured weapon.
Pebblass' gun is based on "Solitaire's" sword from the classic "Rock Lords" line.
Black Alice is a character I wish they would make an action figure of in one of the many DC lines. ;-)

RAM-MAN recolor for He-Man.Org Redesign Challenge #106

Put a fresh set of classic colors down (& expanded version of the original backer) on my recent Ram-Man design for He-man.Org's Ram-Man redesign challenge. =)

Masters Of The Universe Origins Art Cards Part 8! (Ralph McQuarrie tribute)

(MCQUARRIE) ROBOT: Ralph McQuarrie (of Star Wars fame) worked briefly on the Masters Of The Universe 1987 MOTU Movie as a character/concept designer. One of the characters he wanted to develop was a little robot for the Heroic Warriors. Gary Goddard (the director) did not like the idea as there was enough cute little robots in film and dismissed the character to be included in the movie. As a BIG Ralph MacQuarrie fan, I found this little guy interesting and saw fit to include him as a tribute to a man who has greatly inspired my art. In this fiction he is Man-At-Arms workshop helper. I spent some time on him as I feel I owe Ralph McQuarrie so much to my imagination, and loved that he had a very small part in MOTU's history, this character seems the type where he can't wait to prove that he is more valuable then as just being an assistant to Man-At -Arms, he is cutting edge technology in this barbaric world! A world that many would find him more fit as a aristocrats play toy to impress their friends rather than a Heroic Warrior! I kept making the joke to my brother's that he was the best character in the story and it's all down hill from here (character-wise). lol  All kidding aside, he was very fun to draw and reminded me (& my brother Brian) of the "Robo Force" line from the 80's. Just something different for the MOTU world, yet still fits right in!

WORRUCK: Another character developed for the MOTU 1987 Movie (not by McQuarrie), Worruck...who never got past the concept stage, but looking like a desert warrior meets an Egyptian mummy, he was just too cool & I had to include him in this series! He looks to be of an evil nature so naturally I have him working with Skeletor (the evil power of that film) as one of his alliances. Worruck rules the Wasteland with his nomads and keeps Skeletor's enemies from crossing the hostile environment!  He abides by Skeletor's rules and does not fuss with anything much outside of his realm, and not many would want to venture there anyway. He figures it keeps him in a good position with the possible future "Master Of The Universe" while doing the bare minimum to stay in the demon king's graces.  Just my fanboy thoughts on the character...lol

Masters Of The Universe Origins Art Cards Part 7!

RAM-MAN: Based on his concept design shown in Mattel's "The Art Of MOTU" (sold at SDCC a couple years back), & colored like the 8-Back card art! In this story he is more like the guardian at the gates of Monarch City, large & imposing!  He is bound by duty but wishes for more.  It's interesting to see Ram-Man with a slightly more executioner look (despite the bright colors) he has always been a force to be reckoned with so now imagine him without the "softer" side... he might be one of the most formidable of the heroic warriors!

CHOPPER (aka JITSU): Inspired by the Jitsu prototype from the 80's (which had monster feet, golden teeth & Tri-Klops' sword), & loosely based on the UK comic colors for his upper torso! In this story Jitsu is cursed for wearing the "dark glove," a tainted object, and it has made him filled with rage as he can no longer remove it, and he is getting more monstrous from it's unholy powers as time goes on. He carries the emerald sword, which some day Tri-Klops will best him for.  He just wants his madness to end and wishes he never laid eyes on the glove that has now imprisoned his mind as he grows weary of his wretched existence!

HEROINE: This character was seen as a possible early version for Teela in Tomart's guide showing MOTU concepts years ago. She was riding a unicorn (who in this tale is named "Charger" after Teela's unicorn in the mini comics). Teela looks up to Heroine as a role model, she is a traveling Paladin from Monarch who goes from city to village all over Eternia with her guard to try and help the downtrodden. She is very good at what she does and serves as a peacekeeper and figurehead for Monarch, bringing hope & kindness... and beloved by all. When Heroine meets her fate she will pass along Charger to Teela who she views as a younger sister.  This color palette was inspired a bit by the look on a recent take of Snow White...

Arcanepunk MOTU

Created for He-Man.Org's "Redesign Challenge #105: Teela!"  I based my design on one of the Teela movie concepts from Mattel's SDCC "The Art Of MOTU" art book released in 2009. I always liked the small concept drawing of Teela in "The Future" section. She & her companions concepts invoke a stylistic combo of sci-fi, fantasy, steampunk, cyberpunk, & a hint of Masmune Shirow. lol  That kind of mix of fantasy & sci-fi is often referred to as "Arcanepunk," so that's what I named this version of Teela. I might continue with the ideas presented in that book at a later time & make an "Arcanepunk" art card series based on those unused Movie concepts after I complete my other MOTU projects. I have been waiting for this redesign challenge as it gave me a good reason to finally draw that updated version of Teela based on that book's loose monochromatic art. I hope you like it!

Masters Of The Universe Origin Art Cards Part 4!

Continuing with my Origin Project I introduce you to the next 3 in the series!  The project started off with the unpublished Whitman Origin characters as the basis, & before I knew it, I expanded the universe "art card idea" to include 50 characters total for the 30th Anniversary of Masters Of The Universe! Next up is the 2nd of the set to include mostly "non-Whitman Origin Comic characters," this time with influence from various sources such as the original minicomics!

TRI-KLOPS: based on his appearance in the Mark Texeira run, most importantly "The Terror Of Tri-Klops!!" This was always my favorite appearance of Tri-Klops as the unbeatable bounty-hunter, I dedicate this one to my brother Randy!

X-MAN (aka TRAP-JAW): based on his appearance in the Mark Texeira comic "The Menace Of Trap-Jaw!!" I have always loved this comic & I made sure to power X-Man (one of Trap-Jaw's original names) up with the "Warrior Ring!" 

 DEMON(S): These appear in the unpublished Whitman Origin Comic as Skeletor's main devoted lackey's, & they also make appearances (with a slightly different look) in the Mark Texeira mini-comic version of "The Power Of Point Dread" as Skeletor's army!

Masters Of The Universe Origin Art Cards Part 3!

Continuing with my Origin Project I introduce you to the next 2 in the series!  The project started off with the unpublished Whitman Origin characters as the basis, & before I knew it, I expanded the universe "art card idea" to include 50 characters total for the 30th Anniversary of Masters Of The Universe! Next up is the 1st of the set to include mostly "non-Whitman Origin Comic characters," this time with influence from various sources such as the original card 8-back, & prototypes!

TALLSTAR: She is based on the original 80's prototype figure mixed with my own ideas about the character, I used Nicole Chilelli from SyFy's "Face-Off" as inspiration for the character, & it kind of gives her a circus meets goth vibe... & in this art fanon , she is the last her kind! 

  
ZODAC: One of my favorite MOTU characters, based on his appearance from the 8-backs & "The Power Of Point Dread" record book, where he appeared to have white monster feet...I always loved that coloration as a kid & it was my 1st impression of a character that I very much wanted, the mighty Zodac!

Masters Of The Universe Whitman Origin Tribute EXTRA

Here is another illustration of my "Origin" take on TEELA!! As I did at least 2 or more drawings of each character in part 1 & 2's designs, & I liked this alternate portrait enough to finalize it! I use this image as my current avatar on He-Man.Org, (1st time I've changed it almost 9 years!! lol), as I like how my old one of Teela looked condensed, but now I use this new piece to promote my newer art style... Enjoy!

This was may original "Card Art" for the "MOTU: Origin" Series, it was meant to be much more explosive & galactic (like the original 1980's vintage MOTU figure backing cards.)  After placing the 5 made characters (of the time) on the background myself, & with some crits from my brother Brian, I ended up scrapping this concept, as it was to busy for the character art... But, since I spent some time developing it, & this blog is all about the stories behind my art, I thought this "behind the scenes look" fit nicely here...

MOTU: HEROIC WARRIORS 2001 Commemorative Art!! (2002-2012)

Hello friends! It's my birthday! To help celebrate let's post some never before seen classic Jafaristew art! While digging through my archives I came across this image that I had created sometime in 2002 based on the "Heroic Warriors," that we're featured in Mattel's 2001 MOTU Commemorative Series of re-made action figures. It's fun to think that I created this illustration so long ago but am still pleased with it! I had obviously planned to do this image as a colored piece (as one of my very 1st computer rendered colors), but the illustration remained uncolored with just inks in an old drawing pad until now! I scanned my art & did some very minor tweeks with the line work here & there to get it more up to my standards, then colored it with my current stye, but thought about what color choices I would have made 10 years ago (as I still remember what I had planned for this piece.) I hope you all like it, as it was a great trip down memory lane for me to see how much more "Anime" influenced I was 10 years ago than I am today, & hopefully long time fans notice the same growth in my art style that I have. So here's the Heroic Warriors...Battle Armor He-Man, Teela, Man-At-Arms, Stratos, Moss-Man, Buzz-Off, & Zodac (to even the ranks)!! Special thanks to my brother Brian for his input & thoughts, my brother Randy & friend Mike for their continued enthusiasm, & he-man.org forum member Predabot for posting that great scan of the MOTU logo years ago!

Masters Of The Universe Whitman Origin Tribute Part 2

Continuing with my Whitman Origin Project I introduce you to the next 3 in the series!   

MAN-AT-ARMS: With MAA I think I did overall the best drawing, it strongly represents the comic design but I felt the question what if you take the Orange armor color out & make him more tradition "Knight colors."  this proved to be a challenge, as the high mouth guard by the artist's design he could have ended up looking a lot like Extendar (the other Knight in MOTU), but with some careful warm & cool contrasting colors & mini-comic meets Classics & mild Star Wars influence, I think I managed to make a strong piece & a fresh take on the Heroic Master Of Weapons!

TEELA: With Teela, she has a very loose styling in the comic & her costuming changes 3 times in a few short pages, from a Skeletor-Disguise, to her more normal ceremonial-style dress, to the Snake Armor, so I wanted to come up with a way to merge all 3 of those costumes for her "standard look"... so I came up with this "Snake Hood" type of Cleric costuming where both her cloth & armor look like a Red Spitting Cobra, (that I believe her original toy armor is based on). The comic over all has a more "Holy" feel to it than a MOTU story normally does (with the Shephard's Son etc.) so I thought this was befitting. It's more of a "Sacred Snake Order of Maidens" type of vibe I think, lol, but I like it too... =-) She was the 3rd drawing in the series, but the one who's look I started developing in thumbnails first, as both her (& Anom) were not as distinct by the artist's pencil drawings.

ANOM:  I think this is the 1st fan-art done of this particularly obscure character!  With that being said it was a challenge because I had nothing but loose pencil drawings to use as reference to him .  I pictured him early on with darker skin & green/blue hair, but more in a "Kraven the Hunter" type colors... As his color process moved on, he developed colors more like a Circus Ringmaster, & the whip is influenced by Blade's in the 1987 MOTU movie.  For his gloves, I knew I did not want to make them either silver or gold, as that is to close to the pre-established Fisto/Jitsu characters, & this guy is kind of like them meets Beast-Man. Meaning I needed to stray as far away from that as I could, so that he could stand on his own.  After some back & forth on him between myself & my brother Brian, he may be the most impressive final product of the bunch!  

 If these ideas prove to be a popular concept, I will continue & do some more character cards based on the Whitman Origin, & include Shalda, Tez, Moon Spinner, the Shepard's Son, & the Demons.  I will also consider "expanding the universe" to include more characters...
Special thanks to my brother Brian for all of the feedback & advice, & to my brother Randy for his enthusiasm!

Masters Of The Universe Whitman Origin Tribute Part 1

To help celebrate the 30th Anniversary of Masters of the Universe, I decided to do some character cards, this time inspired by the unfinished Whitman comic from the 1980's, done by Adrian Gonzales. You can see more information as well as the art from this interesting piece of MOTU history here.
http://www.he-man.org/forums/boards/...-origin-comic!

I looked at this comic thread extensively, & then brought in my own ideas of what I thought this Whitman Origin of MOTU would look like if made into a more "adult-collector-style" animated series. The comic itself is a bit darker than most official MOTU stories, but still contains the classic good vs evil, fantasy meets sci-fi that the fans all love. I wanted to pay homage to what I think this comic could represent by making "character cards," hopefully to help bring to life what I think is an interesting take on the origin of Masters. The color choices were made by me, as I re-thought how these classic characters could be colored if presented to me for the 1st time (so rather than just using the pre-established schemes fans all know, I thought about the descriptions of the characters themselves as an influence... example: The original 80's SKELETOR buck is described as a reptile body). Thus why he is more green in color, & his face is more of a bone color than yellow for added realism.  Other accents came from various classic influences (mini-comics) as well as what I thought would look good with my already pre-chosen colors.  HE-MAN is more based on the classic mini-comics & artwork, the Classic figure, as well as a mild "Superman" styled coloration!  Both swords are taken straight from the comic with a more medieval type of coloring.
Hope you like them... as there is more to come!!

UNLOCKING THE VAULT # 3: MOTU Character Sketches '05 UNCUT!!

SY-KLONE (unfinished WIP):
based on the 200X figure

I thought I would help celebrate the new highly anticipated MOTU CLASSICS this week, by "unlocking" my MOTU 200X vault again to bring my friends here on the art blog some of my never-before-seen "Masters Of The Universe 200X" art work!!
This art dates back to 2004~2005...
Since these have never before been released from my archives to the fan community, all the dirt & flubs are there that I would normally clean, so you can really see my sketching process. Hopefully you will enjoy this installment as much as the my other 2, as they are all direct character sketches used as practice!

HE-MAN (Shield-Strike):
based on the newly-tooled armor 200X figure

MAN-E-FACES:
based on possibly my favorite figure of the 200X line...

TRI-KLOPS:
based heavily on the symmetrical look of the 200X figure

RATTLOR:
based on the 200X figure

TEELA (unfinished WIP - UNCUT):
based on the 200X figure with some anime influence, this figure is censored on the ORG by myself for non-descript nudity to meet the board standards, but the figure was a wip & never got to the "uniformed" stage so you can see the UNCUT drawing here!!

SKELETOR:
based on the 200X figure

***Be sure to CHECK out the BRAND NEW MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE CLASSICS line launched TODAY by MATTEL & pick up the 1st 2 figures, HE-MAN & BEAST-MAN...follow the link... MATTYCOLLECTOR