Pokemon: Mewtwo in the Unknown Dungeon

ANNOUNCEMENT!
Before I discuss this picture, I would like to announce here I will be filming a live stream on my Twitch channel: RyuKageChroma!  This Sunday, February 21st, I will be recording the Unknown Dungeon in Pokemon Yellow: Special Pikachu Edition, an optional dungeon you can only access after clearing the game's main story.  Other than possible future streams (not likely) where I attempt to obtain every Pokemon I can with a single copy of the game (and a minigame which is nigh-impossible to see), the Unknown Dungeon is the last thing I have to show in Pokemon Yellow.  I will attempt to capture the subject of today's drawing without utilizing the Master Ball, which will probably take a while and many attempts.  This is happening this coming Sunday at 7pm (Eastern Time).  I hope to see you there.

Click here to see my Twitch channel: RyuKageChroma, which also features various highlights from some of my past streams.

Over the past year, I started streaming gameplay footage on Twitch occasionally, most often for Pokemon Yellow: Special Pikachu Edition.  Originally, I was doing this to have a stockpile of footage from this version of the game in case I ever recorded footage for a video playthrough of the original Red and Blue games.  Over time, though, it became something I could anticipate doing during the week.  I was involved with the Drama Club in both high school and college, but this is the closest outlet I have to that kind of performance.  After I finish Pokemon Yellow, I have a few other ideas for streaming, some other games I want to play, and maybe some guest commentators.  If you decide to watch, then I hope you like what you hear.

As for Pokemon Yellow, by now, I have played through all of the main story of the game and caught 70 different species of Pokemon along the way.  I have even visited two of the game’s optional dungeons and captured the ice and thunder birds residing in them (as well as their less-impressive fiery cousin who roosts slightly off the beaten path in the final required dungeon).  However, there is one optional dungeon I have yet to explore, because I could not enter this one until after I beat the main story: the Unknown Dungeon (a.k.a. “Cerulean Cave”).  This cave is filled with narrow passages and the highest-level wild Pokemon you can find in the game, including some which are usually difficult to find otherwise.  Most importantly, on a small island residing in the deepest pit of the Unknown Dungeon, an unspeakably-powerful Pokemon waits to challenge any fool who dares to venture so deep into its lair.

They call this creature “Mewtwo”.

Ryu-Kage: A Return from the Shadows

 

"How's it going, folks?  This is Ryu-Kage!"

Wow, it has been a long time since I posted anything here.  What happened?  Well, how can I put this?

I "fell asleep" for a year. Not literally, of course, but that is basically how it felt.
 
Without going into too much detail, at some point since I last posted on the blog, I became rather depressed overall about my life as it is and where it would go.  However, I did have occasional glimmers of hope by briefly reconnecting with a few old friends from college, which started to change one of the reasons I was feeling so bummed.  I would like to reconnect with them some more, and since I made many of my friends through my favorite video game series - Pokemon, this year (the 20th anniversary of Pokemon) would be an excellent opportunity to reconnect.

I did still draw during the past year, but I was not sure if many of the pictures I made were good enough to show (oh hi, confidence problems), and even if I did make something worthwhile, I just could not bring myself to upload it here for some reason. Thus, many of my pictures have basically been in limbo.

Well, I cannot say I am completely past the negativity, but I am sick of moping so much, and I want to shine through the darkness again.  After the jump, I have a few things I would like to do in the near future.

Larry Lowe

I know, it has been a long time since I have uploaded anything here.  I have still been drawing and working on artwork during this three-month gap, but I have not produced much which I would or could upload here.  In many cases, what I have worked on either 1.) is not something I can probably release yet, 2.) Photoshop drawings I have not exactly finished, or 3.) simply pencil sketches, which take a short amount of time but are probably nothing compared to my colored work.  I may take a post soon to show off some of my sketches, since they are at least some content, but I would like to return to drawing more and talking about them here.

Today, I present probably the best work I have made in the past three months: a tribute to a man close to me, Larry Lowe.

Larry Lowe was my drama teacher in high school, as well as the director of the school's Drama Club.  I did not join the Drama Club until midway through my freshmen year, so I missed on the first play he performed that year.  Once I did join, though, it was possibly my favorite club in high school.  Under his direction, I portrayed several characters: a Supreme Court judge in Of Thee I Sing, a pastry chef who longed to be a poet and looked up to Cyrano de Bergerac, and a chief petty officer who loves to drink (unlike me in real life; the "champagne" on stage was ginger ale) and shatters the high-and-mighty delusions of those at The Wedding Reception.

Pokemon: Mega Charizard X

I know I am a couple weeks late to say this, but I had fun at PAX this year.  On the show floor, I ran into some indie games which looked cool, including a game published by Midnight City where you race a car with a folded glider.  Of course, I am probably most eager for Shovel Knight, a platformer which uses an 8-bit art style and plays like an NES game.  I rocked the demo level Yacht Club Games showed last year and went through both of their new demo levels this year without dying.

I did not spend quite as much time in the Classic Arcade or Classic Console rooms as I usually do.  I realized those rooms, even though I like them, are probably best suited for late at night, when you are done attending panels (even though I ended up only seeing one panel).  I did, however, go to the Handheld Lounge a lot to battle the PAX Pokemon League.  I only acquired six badges, but I always enjoy a good Pokemon battle, especially since Pokemon X and Y make it so easy to raise Pokemon.

Speaking of Pokemon, here is a drawing of Mega Charizard X.

Lucids: Group Shot

A while back, I drew a group shot of some of the main characters from my idea Lucids, but I never uploaded it here because I did not like how it came out.  I drew some of the characters oddly, I took some shortcuts making it (like copying one character from another drawing I made), and I even made a rather ugly logo and background for that drawing.

Originally, this drawing started as a way to relax, but it grew into something far more ambitious: a second attempt at that group shot picture, though not in the same way and not with the same lineup.

Here we see four Lucids.  From left to right: Mike Anacle, Wendy Krane, Sakura Miyazaki, and Ken "Thunder".  Not exactly the most exciting poses, but they just the job done.  You may also notice some changes among each one, too.

Pokemon: Sylveon used Hyper Voice!

My Pokemon itch had not been fully scratched back in December; I still want to draw a few more.  However, I have bigger projects I would like to begin soon, so I must restrain the urge for now.  Still, I suppose I could let one Pokemon drawing out for now.  Besides, this is one Pokemon I have been wanting to sketch for a long time.

Meet Sylveon, the Fairy-type evolved form of Eevee.

Wonka Factory Gate

This picture was supposed to be a minor celebration for the fiftieth post on this blog, but I ended up taking far longer on it than I care to admit.  Frankly, what do I even have to celebrate with this?  This picture took much longer than I care to admit due to not having the opportunity to work on it when I want to draw and later not wanting to draw when I have the opportunity.  In fact, I have not felt much like doing anything lately, despite having ideas for bigger projects because "What if I fail?".  I wanted this drawing to be a triumph of keeping at something consistent for a year, and yet the celebratory piece ended up being nearly a month late.  I doubt this piece is even good, but then I have been doubting myself a lot lately, and perhaps I am my own harshest critic.
 
I have had enough negativity for one post, so here is an intro.  When I started posting here beyond just having a placeholder portfolio after college, the first picture I drew was my rendition of Willy Wonka, from Roald Dahl's classic book "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory".  That drawing was originally intended as one of a series of my takes on the characters from that story (inspired more by the movies, since I am more familiar with them).  I have not done much with that idea since then, but I thought I could draw quick glimpses into what I was thinking for the others with the scene where they are about to enter the Wonka Chocolate Factory.

Lucids: Rin, "Thor's Valkyrie"

"Tamaki, the Shadow Soldier" is one of my favorite pictures I have uploaded here.  She arose from a strange combination of a concept for formerly useless characters from Lucids, design elements from various role-playing video games I like, and an odd idea for her Lucid powers which arose from trying to make a background for her.  I would like to do more with Tamaki in the future.

I mentioned back then Tamaki had sisters, and they would mostly be villains.  In an attempt to follow up on Tamaki, I decided to draw the leader of this group of sisters: Rin.

Pokemon: Heliolisk in the Rain

Welcome to the third (and sadly, final) Pokemon drawing I made during Pokemon Profile Picture Month on Facebook, one which I never actually used for a profile picture in any way.  There were other Pokemon I wanted to draw in that timeframe, but the holidays and my job kept me running around a lot, so I did not devote as much time as I had hoped to my artwork.  I will probably draw certain Pokemon I wanted to draw during that time over the course of the year, but in what little time I had left, I chose one of the X and Y Pokemon I was most excited to see when I first heard about him: Heliolisk.

Pokemon: Azumarill Crayon Drawing

Happy New Year, everyone!  Do not worry, you have not missed much, unlike me.  The holidays were incredibly busy for me this year, and I was not able to draw quite as much as I hoped I would.  I have been stuck on a different drawing without much progress for a while, and I will either have to finish that drawing or move on to a new one (or hopefully both).

In the meantime, I promised last time I posted here that I would show off something kind of unusual for me.  This week, I have this picture of the Pokemon Azumarill (because it was still Pokemon Profile Picture Month when I drew it) which is meant to look like it was drawn with crayons.  I used this drawing as my profile picture for the rest of December after I stopped using the Mega Lucario drawing from last time.