Horo the wise from "Spice and Wolf" - Sketch
by ianchase on Apr.22, 2010, under Art, Fanart
One of the bits of advice I got back at Anime Boston was that it's often best to create prints of characters and series that you feel are underrepresented in anime fandom and more specifically, the artist alley. It serves two purposes. The first is that it appeals to fans of that series who won't find anyone else selling prints from that series. The second is that, if you do a really good job, it helps promote the series to others who may not have heard about it.
So to that end some of my upcoming prints are going to be featuring characters and series that I personally have found incredibly enjoyable, but I hardly, if ever, see available in artist's alley.
Starting with Holo (alternately called Horo due to the funny way that the Japanese tend to confuse 'L's and 'R's) from Spice and Wolf an unusual tale of two travelers struggling to make ends meet between the world of myths and spirits and the world of free trade and budding renaissance. You'll probably learn a thing or two about macroeconomics from it's very verbose dialogues on the subject.
Black Lace Bullet - Costume Design
by ianchase on Apr.18, 2010, under Game Design, Originals, Black Lace Bullet
As I proceed to slowly make progress on Black Lace Bullet, the game design itself slowly matures, though in an odd direction. As I examined the core mechanics of the game and distilled it down from my initial concepts, I had to make some fairly drastic alterations to the style and themes in the game. First and fore-most being the absolution of fire-arms from Eve's arsenal. Since Eve's adversaries are for the most part invulnerable to conventional attacks, a conventional tool becomes counter-intuative and limits the ways in which I can have the player interact with the environment. The simplest solution is to abstract the abilities into supernatural powers.
Basically, turning Eve into a magical girl.
Anime Boston 2010 Con Report
by ianchase on Apr.06, 2010, under Art, Fanart, Commission, Events
I'm back from Anime Boston 2010. I met a bunch of cool artists and chatted with some cool attendees. I was pretty much stuck at my booth for most of the event, but I did sneak away to do some shopping and eating once in a while.
More after the break!
Modular Frame Tactics - Weapon Showcase - The Bow
by ianchase on Mar.06, 2010, under Game Design, Modular Frame Tactics, 3D
Another in the many anachronistic weapons used in MFT. The bow is based on a modern compound bow that utilizes a pulley system and parallel limbs to maximize effective firing power and ease of use.
Modular Frame Tactics - Weapon Showcase - The Fan
by ianchase on Feb.28, 2010, under Art, Game Design, Modular Frame Tactics, 3D
Elegant and deadly, the concept for this weapon is inspired by the oriental combat fans of generations past. It serves the dual role of not only being a capable melee weapon, but it also doubles as a shield that protects the user from ranged projectile attacks. Getting into close range is the only sure-fire way to fight a fan weilder in MFT, but it might well be a trick to lure you in.
