Loving You (mild spoiler)

 Can you tell I'm having fun exploring the inking medium in my art? It's not that I haven't done inking before; I've been inking pictures ever since I was young. However, I've never gone this in depth on composition with inking. Again, the Nausicaä manga provided a huge inspiration for me to explore this side of my art a lot deeper. I'm excited at the thought of being able to illustrate my own books, sharing my storytelling through both words and art.

The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom Thoughts

 I'm a huge Legend of Zelda fan. I love the adventuring and puzzle-solving aspects of the series. I have yet to play all the games, but I've played a sizeable chunk of them. They've even influenced my own storytelling! Ever wonder why I gave Aaron and Sabra marks on the backs of their hands and gave them their own phantoms to fight?

This year, Nintendo released Echoes of Wisdom for the Switch, which returned to a top-down, classic gameplay look. Prior to this, they had released the remastered version of Link's Awakening, and they reused several assets from their remaster. It almost seemed like it was a test-run for Echoes of Wisdom, and they made several improvements to the gameplay that I really enjoyed while still keeping some classic elements.

Something my brother asked me when I just got into the game was what the developers did to make Zelda irreplaceable, i.e. by Link. What makes her unique? This game impressed me by answering that question in several ways, and it made me appreciate just how much thought went into it! 

The rest of this is partially a review, but mostly just a list of my thoughts on the story and the game mechanics.

For those who haven't played the game, there are spoilers ahead!

B3 Illustration - Like an Ocean Wave

"Zephyr suddenly bowled against Callu’u’s left flank, and she tumbled head-over-hoof with a horse-like scream. The Draconite quickly dispatched her remaining ribbons before turning on Henry in the same fluid movements. It was like trying to stop an ocean wave, but Henry pressed against the zaynthra. Up down, left right, parry, feint, parry, a twisting strike to disarm him—and Zephyr’s sword went flying." ~Book 3 of The Legend of Draconite: E'lsra, Chapter 3: Tournament of Swords.

 Here is another inky offering for my readers. The more I do these, the more and more I understand how to use the ink to add texture and depth to the composition. This features Zephyr vs. Henry from the WIP Book 3 of The Legend of Draconite: E'lsra. One of the things I kept from the original manuscript from way back in high school was the Tournament of Swords, although I modified and improved upon it. I'm planning on having this in the same chapter as my previous piece, Indulgence.