This is a short update post to let everyone know that I'll be at PAX West this weekend. I posted a note on Twitter announcing I'll be handing out some of our Monster Hunter vinyl stickers at the event. I'll also have our Monster Hunter face pins as well. I don't have a specific plan for handing them out but there's a good chance I'll be hanging around the Capcom booth throughout the weekend. If they end up demoing Monster Hunter World, I'll definitely be there handing out stuff to people in line.
As we proceed into the later part of Summer, I figured it would be good to do an update post here. After a short break while I was on vacation, the content in the regular spots is continuing as usual. My Twitch streaming schedule was on hold during the break but will be starting up again this weekend. Also, with PAX West coming up soon, I've started preparing some things to take to the event. I want to bring our usual Graphic Buttons as well as the vinyl stickers I didn't get to hand out last year. There will be a more detailed post coming when the event gets closer.
In Let's Play news, I haven't done a good job of announcing the latest here on the site. I just started posting the episodes from our most current Quick Look series featuring the brutal NES game, Digger T. Rock: The Legend of the Lost City. This series will be shorter than the others and is meant to be highlighted look at the game. The LP is also unique in that it features some commission work for the first time! I asked Unlucky Angel, one of my contacts on-line to draw a title card for the Quick Look. He did a great time on short notice and I'm super happy with the results! Check out the first episode of the QL here:
That's it for this post. I still need to draft up a product review of the pose figures I've acquired recently. That will most likely happen before the end of Summer if I get a spare minute. In the meantime, if you're looking for the most up to date news on content or streaming, follow me on Twitter @Zanshinretsu. Updates are pretty frequent there.
As we proceed further into Spring, I thought I'd highlight a project that launched today. As I teased on YT last week, I'm starting a Let's Play series! This content is meant to mix up the usual schedule of Speed Drawing videos while giving me a chance to play through some old classics. The first series will be a play through of 8-bit classic, Blaster Master. This challenging game from the NES is full of interesting twists. Check out the first episode here:
New episodes will go up Tuesdays and Thursdays until the LP is finished! I'm going to try to have at least one play through going a month right now. Thanks for stopping by and tuning in!
I haven't been posting on here much lately. I've got a handful of projects in the queue but not much to report in on. I did want to mention that I've started uploading my Clans characters on our Redbubble store! Based on Chibi Series I made as a way to highlight the various races, the designs are available on a bunch of different products. I'd like to do a product test to see how the print quality turns out on the stickers specifically. Also, I've named each of the characters in the different concept pieces. This information is going to synch up with the Clans' Collab stuff Zan's been working on. I'll be going back to add the information and store links to my DA posts.
It's well into Spring and several months since the last update here. My apologies. The studio is very much active, I just haven't had time to summarize the latest projects due to some things going on behind the scenes. My weekly Youtube and DA upload schedules remain the same. Youtube videos go up two days a week, either Monday/Friday or Wednesday/Friday and DA uploads go up Monday/Wednesday/Friday with the Monster Hunter Circulars getting uploaded at the beginning of the month. I've got some interesting things cooking in the near future and I'll probably go into some greater detail when it gets closer to launch time. You can also expect a post from TyvridKizuna at some point in the future too.
That being said, I want to talk a bit about the holiday project I posted eons ago in the Winter. This is is Krampus Avatar Sahgrel:
Front View
Close Up
Side View
As expected, I drew some inspiration from the increasingly famous Krampus monster when designing Sahgrel. It had been ages since I did a full-size free-standing monster so this seemed like a good time to get back into it. If you're curious about the construction and skin phase, I've set up an Imgur album to keep this post from getting too cluttered. Overall, I like the dark color scheme on Sahgrel. It creates a good shadowy palette, something fitting for monsters like the Krampus. I didn't establish any lore for this piece but based on his name, I imagine Sahgrel serves as a vessel for some incarnation of the demonic Krampus spirit. If I were to work him into the Summoner world's lore, perhaps would be some sort of malevolent force that behaves a lot like the Krampus we know.
I think that's it for the project summary. I'm working on some other mache pieces including the Holy Dragon I posted earlier with the WIP shots. I hope to finish that one up in the next couple months. A lot of time has been set aside for design work and streaming so that's where most of my effort's been going. The weekly streams on Twitch have been a great way to interact with people while I work so thanks if you've tuned in! Announcements for upcoming streams will continue to be posted on DA and Twitter.
The posts have been a bit sparse here on the site. I've been traveling recently and have been sick with a cold for a while, slowing work a bit. As a way to tie up the recent Mache projects, I'm preparing a couple of posts to summarize their development. Here is a compilation video from the Four Gods chapter of the Faceless Summoner:
While a smaller group of masks compared to the Summoner's debut, I felt like the Four Gods were a good way to focus on the narrative aspects of each piece while trying to further the overall story. I like the idea of working in more character dialogue to flesh them out.
As hinted in the brief "teaser" at the end of the compilation video, the story will continue at some point in the future. The next installment in the Summoner's tale will be more complex so I can't give a definite release date at this point.
Stay tuned for part 2 of the wrap-up where I'll break down the development process behind the recent holiday project I posted on Twitter.
The final entry in this chapter of the Summoner's story is the demonic relic shield, Adrath:
To wrap up the story, here is the lore.
<>
I followed Ardelrius through the broken wall into a dark
corridor. A singe row of multi-colored stones faintly lit the way. The end of
the hall slowly opened into another large room with a carved metal altar in the
center. A large indiscernible object sat on the platform, sealed under deep
black crystal chains. Four brilliant columns of light burst around the altar,
forming before us.
The first shape was a brilliant yellow-gold light that faded
around what appeared to be woman of unknown age. She had deep glowing strands
of golden hair and was clothed in a flowing armored robe. A sharp crown-like
ornament sat on her head, bound with intricate gold chains. The second form
emerged from the green aura. Taller than the first, a large male figure clad in
deep green armor made of tangled vines and thorns stood silently, his mouth
obscured by a large metal extension of the armor. The third, emerging from the
pillar of crimson was another male was slightly shorter but heavily built. His
frame was protected by a layer of asymmetrical metallic plates of dark red
armor, colors that contrasted against his spiky orange hair. Finally, the
fourth ray of blue light shattered around the form of the final being. The male
creature looked human but was cloaked in a deep gray cape. An armored hand
parted the covering revealing scale-like armor beneath. Two narrow yellow eyes
pierced from behind cold blue strands of hair that reached to the man’s
shoulders. A black carved circlet sat upon his brow. An odd few moments of
silence passed, the four staring ominously at the Faceless Summoner before
them. “So,” the orange haired man growled. “This is the Seed that
tests the might of the four gods.”
“Yes,” answered the second in the green armor. “It would
that seem the tree very much retains a will of its own.”
“We, the four gods have taken this form since our ethereal
bodies were destroyed,” explained the woman. She spoke gently but with little
emotion. “I am Diyara.”
“This one is called Ferroq,” spoke the man in the green
armor. His voice once again seemed to echo, his mouth hidden behind his armor.
“I am Kulradon,” the orange-haired one declared, gesturing
with a plated gauntlet.
“I am the leader of the four gods.” The armored blue-haired
being walked up to Ardelrius. He was easily a head taller than the Summoner.
“You know me as Sairos.”
“What is this?” I managed to mutter from behind Ardelrius.
All five immediately turned to look at me.
“The four gods were once humans that lost their lives
protecting something they held dear,” answered Ardelrius, looking over its
shoulder at me. “Their souls were given eternal power in exchange for serving
as guardians.”
“For many generations we were sealed within this temple,”
Diyara explained, her green eyes locked with mine. “It wasn’t until the relic
was brought to this inner sanctum that we were awakened.”
“The one who crafted it must have feared its power.”
Kulradon offered with a grunt. “We were tasked with keeping the unworthy from
laying a hand on it.”
“Many a beast and demon tried to brave our trials,” Sairos
crossed his arms. “Their greed and feeble souls were smashed to pieces by our
power. Now, it seems one with true purpose has appeared.”
“I am wary of the Tree of Souls,” Ferroq muttered.
“However, if the great trial is nearly upon us, it cannot be helped.”
"The time for action is now," agreed Diyara, closing her eyes.
“We, the four gods relinquish the forbidden relic,” Sairos
spread his arms. “With nothing more to protect, we shall become the guardians
of the Tree.”
Before I could speak, each of the gods vanished into bursts
of light. The branches of Ardelrius’ staff resonated, glowing with the same aura. On
the main body, four new “eyes” appeared, each matching the colors of the gods.
In seconds, the glow faded, everything receding back into the staff. My
companion had apparently acquired the gods’ power. We moved forward to the
altar. As Ardelrius stood before the obscured object, the
crystalline chains broke, shattering into millions of shards and dissolving. A
large rectangular form was revealed on the altar. Looking like the face of a
demon contorted into a snarl, the object was shaped like a Great Shield. Bright stones
were set into the surface and four twisting extensions spoked out from the
corners. The beast’s head was crowned with three black horns. Ardelrius reached
down with its free arm and hefted the object. Securing the shield to its arm
with a pair of heavy chains, the Faceless Summoner brandished its staff in the
other hand.
“You now possess the Soulsealer Aegis, Adrath,” we heard
Sairos’ voice echo. “It will awaken when in the presence of one with
unbreakable conviction.”
With that, Ardelrius turned and started out of the temple
without saying a word, carrying the shield on its arm. I followed after.
“Where are we going now?” I asked the Faceless Summoner.
Ardelrius stopped and glanced over, burning through me with hollow eyes.
“To find its owner.”
<>
Front/rotated view
Adrath was an experimental project type I haven't attempted up until now. I've made many different weapons but this was the first shield. I wanted the main shape to be rectangular like a tower shield but still light enough to carry as part of an outfit. The end result is large, enough to obscure the area from the chin to about the knees approximately. Some of the more intricate tower shields from movies or games would probably be as tall as a person but I don't think that's very practical as part of a costume. Adrath is slightly smaller but I think the demon's head on the front of the shield makes up for this. I wanted the piece to look like a creature that was sealed into this shield in order to become part of it. It might be a bit of a spoiler, but Adrath might not just be a weapon so much as its own entity. Its role in the story will become more clear in the next chapter.
Adrath's emblem
For its emblem, I decided to keep the design simple. Adrath's overall shape is conveyed here with the rectangle base and its notable features like the spike protrusions and horns are the most distinct. This was accomplished using the same techniques I apply to the "sphere" or "zodiac" designs where I start with a shape and cut the emblem out.
That's the last new entry in this chapter of the Faceless Summoner's story! I've got some ideas on where the lore will go next but I don't know when all of the parts of the next big piece will be done. I have considered using the site to post lore articles in between major events and I might start doing that. Lore articles would be small to medium-length written narrative pieces meant to either further the story or explain some of the characters. We'll see. I might do a compilation video for the Four Gods pieces so that might go up in the next week or so. I also want to do a full product review of the pose figures I posted on Twitter. In the meantime, content will continue to go up on DA and I'll be sticking to the regular video posting schedule and (mostly) regular drawing streams on Twitch!
