Inspiration
I wanted to practice using Copic markers and had never used them before. I chose characters, mostly from Mega Man 3, because I had recently played through that game and fell back in love with that NES title. They were an experiment in mixed media and drawing at a smaller size, in this case 5x7 cards.
The Process
I start with a solid black silhouette of the character in Photoshop, then turn the opacity down and draw the “structure” of the character over it. After that, I turn down the opacity on the structure lines and draw in the details specific to that character. I then print out those lines onto paper and color it up using Copic markers and white Ink for the highlights. The watercolor background I paint separately. When the art is dry, I scan them both into Photoshop and merge them together.
Xtra
I was about 7 or 8 yrs old when Mega Man 1 was released. I
immediately wanted to play it because it looked like an interactive cartoon. However, I didn’t get to actually play a Mega Man game until the second game was released and renting video games was available. Mega Man 3 was the first Mega Man game I was able to purchase and remains my [favorite] classic Mega Man title. The addition of the slide mechanic, Rush Dog, Proto Man, and refinement of all the robot bosses created a perfect game in my opinion.
Megaman Legends remains not just my favorite Mega Man series of all time but also my favorite fictional universe in any game period. The look, design, and story are flawless. The Low poly anime 3D with pixel textures art design holds up to this day. It’s pure gold and should be given a third game in the series as soon as possible.