u/georgetimberhill

Copic Multiliners and Sharpie markers for line work, watercolor for everything else. Arches 12"x16" 300lb cold press watercolor paper.

Time lapse video still being put together, and coming soon.

Following on from my spoiler post asking for advice, I've now completed my 8bit SD VOTOMS project. This is by no means all-inclusive, but tries to cover the animated entries from the original series up to Chirico's Return.

While I didn't add any new ATs from that post, following some other advice, I significantly increased the size of the pixel art compared to the text. I think this looks better on the "poster," and affords the viewer a clearer picture of each one (size change comparison in second shared photo).

Understanding that even the "poster" may be too small, I've also shared close-up images of each section, with the ATs re-jigged into more of a square format.

Behind the scenes - My 8bit SD series of art is inspired by the slightly unique 1993 Famicom (NES) game SD Gundam: Gundam Wars, which was part of the Datach* series of games The game featured sprites of many mobile suits from the Gundam franchise up to that time. Due to the system's capabilities, each sprite is limited to 24x24 pixels, and can only use three colors from the system's 55 color palette, plus black (which is actually just a representation of an absent pixel, which makes that area transparent over the black background).

Using these constraints, I began to imagine what other contemporary franchises from the 80s and early 90s would look like as a game in the same style. My first foray into this was the SDF: Macross TV series and Do You Remember Love? movie. Due to back injury, In the past couple of months I've returned to the 8bit SD series for Battletech and, now, VOTOMS.

**Bonus trivia: The Datach system was a peripheral released by Bandai in 1992 that connected to the Famicom system, and used its own proprietary cartridges. The selling point of the peripheral was a slot on the front which allowed you to swipe collectable cards (sold separately) with barcodes that would allow you to unlock features or special characters within the game.

The Datach system shipped with Dragon Ball Z: Gekitou Tenkaichi Budokai, but only released six more games before petering out in 1994 due to waning interest in the older, 8bit Famicom system.

(Edit- whoops! I guess I should share a copy of the art by itself, without my ugly old mug. I posted it as a reply in the comments)

I did this in 2021 and it is still my favorite watercolor. The mech is drawn in Copic Multiliner, and then the whole thing is painted in watercolor. There’s a boat load of problems with it, chalked up to inexperience and lack of skill, but I still like it.

I’m not very good with watercolor, having avoided it completely since middle school (that’s the late 80s to you and me, and I still have that last watercolor I did… lol). In 2019 I made the leap to expand my horizons and took a weekly night class at the local high school. The class was cursed. The instructor sadly passed away three days before it was to start, so they brought in a guy who primarily works in oils. He was stellar, though, and really broke my hesitation block. Then COVID hit and they cancelled the next session and never offered it again. Since then I’ve been learning on my own and taking advice from much, much more experienced and talented artists.

A while ago I started a set of SD VOTOMS from the original series, with the self-imposed constraints of being only 3"x3" (7.6cm x 7.6cm) and drawn in marker. The base Scopedog got a little longer due to the gun.

I should go back and finish them, but I got a new, different set of Blick markers and, frankly, they're no good.

For now I'm playing around with 8bit/pixel art versions. Should have them done soon.

Across social media I've had people ask if I had a copy of my recent "The Red Comet" art with just the ink. Luckily, I had the foresight to make a scan before I added the watercolors! Additional color is added to the background in order to provide some contrast.

Additionally, those who know me know that I've been doing a years-long on-again/off-again series of 8bit/pixel mechs. First for Macross and then, recently, BattleTech. The fact is that the inspiration for this series is all rooted in the 1983 Famicom game Datach SD Gundam: Gundam Wars. Way back in 2019 I pulled all of the sprites from the game, and still have them on-hand. And, guess what character's custom MS sprites I have in that library?

Yep, using those sprites (which aren't mine), I made an an 8bit/pixel version of the same illustration. The one difference is that I had to replace the white pixels in the MS with tan, or else it conflicted too much with the white eyes in Char's helmet.

(UPDATE- I've posted a YouTube link to the time lapse process below in the comments. Enjoy?)

Multimedia illustration done on Canson 9"x12" watercolor board.

The mecha are done via stippling (little dots tap tap tapped one after another) using Copic Multiliner pens .3, .2, .1, .05, and .03mm. Literally not a single drawn line. It takes, uhhh... a very long time.

Afterwards watercolor pencils were used to make a wash, followed by regular watercolor to fill in the dark red.

Lastly, white gel pens were used to add a bit of lighting.