Designing an Aquabats fighting game roster

Hello friends, I hope that you are doing well. I am still working on getting out of the artist slump. It’s tough when you want to be creative, but you are also your own worst critic. Today I’d like to share illustrations that I made from a superhero ska band. You might have heard of the Aquabats. They had a television series, and were a part of Southern California music culture for decades. They were an act that I grew up with, and one that my kid became a fan of. In fact one year we were visiting the San Diego Comic Con where they would also be performing a concert at the House of Blues. My kid asked if she could dress up as cosplay, and if I could also dress up.

Without another word I put together a costume of the Floating Eye of Death, from the Aquabats album of the same name. My mom helped make her a belt as well. Needless to say she had an absolute blast that year. We walked the convention floor, and came across other Aquabats fans. The band was doing an autograph signing at Toddland, and they loved the costume. They said that my floating eye made of a beach ball, and painted pool floaties was not far removed from the same way they made the original eye for the album.

We caught many concerts, and made lots of friends in the community. Around this time we joked about how much fun an Aquabats fighting game would be. I said they had enough band members, and enemies from the various albums that it would be possible. So I drew up what I would imagine the player select menu would look like. These illustrations and more are in my Fighting Game gallery.

Do you think an Aquabats fighting game would work? Tell me about it in the comments section. As always if you enjoyed this blog, and would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!

Designing Wonder Eggs merch...

Hello friends, I hope that you are doing well. Work has been going well, and a few projects are chugging along over here. I was thinking the other day about the rare Oswald watch that I got my hands on. It gave me an idea for an illustration; I was wondering it might have looked like if Namco created prize watches for their Wonder Eggs theme park. As I was doing some research on the merchandise from the park I found out that one of their old shopping bag designs featured a pyrallis on the face of a pocket watch. So that was more than enough inspiration. Here were what I think the watch faces would have appeared. I used the classic Ingersoll “Mickey Mouse” movement for the arms.

The symbols on the outside edge of the watch were the actual numbers from “Elds’ Character” the fictional language used in the theme park. As an art study I actually recreated the fonts for myself a year or so ago. In this way if I ever wanted to do art on Laperot Village, or anything else Wonder Eggs related then it would be accurate. Since I was already drawing the pyrallis I came up with a design for a tee shirt for their seasonal Wonder Halloween Party at the actual park. The pumpkin character was a walk-around costume used in the park.

I had fun coming up with costume ideas for the different pyrallis characters. I just wish I had gotten a chance to visit the park when it was around. Thankfully I have a collection of items from the park that will always remind me of its greatness. Were there any theme parks or attractions you wish you had visited before they were torn down? Let me know about it in the comments section. As always if you enjoyed this blog, and would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!

Take a bike ride on the road to mental wellness...

Apologies for not updating my blog as frequently as I used to. The COVID-19 pandemic took its toll on my mental, and physical health. Only now am I starting to turn things around. A lot of that has to do with getting back into art. The previous post in October 2020 was a starting off point. Doing style studies of Steve Nazar's art for T&C Surf Designs made me feel better. So through November I looked up other things that inspired me as a kid. Around Thanksgiving I caught a BMX race on YouTube. That's when I remembered I loved all things BMX while growing up. It was like waking up a part of my brain that had amnesia. 

Of all the bike types the ones I really loved were called Formula-1 bikes. It was a short-lived trend, circa 1987-1989. They were road racing versions of BMX bikes. The massive Japanese company Shimano tried to get a new street racing league started, and had convinced a dozen manufacturers to make the bikes as well.  US companies like DiamondBack, and Haro jumped on board. 

The thing was that even though Shimano was pushing a standard for racing bikes, the company Hutch was already working on fast street bikes. The Ferrari of which was one that I idolized was called the HPV, or Human Powered Vehicle. It hit over 40 miles per hour and got the world record for fastest 20-inch bike. 

I started drawing all of my favorite bikes, and then went further. Using the BMX Museum website as a reference I started drawing every known Formula 1 bike that existed. While doing research I ended up adding a dozen that the site had never heard of.

Doing research gave my mind focus. Creating renderings of these bikes gave me purpose. It was as if I was wrestling my life, my focus, back from the pandemic. The more I researched and drew, the more I felt like I was getting back into my old self. I felt like I was reconnecting with a part of me that had died.

When I wasn't doing my normal job (which I also did from home thanks to the pandemic) I spent every waking hour working on bikes. Days turned into weeks. Before I knew it I had drawn over 50 F1 bikes. I uploaded all of my drawings to the BMX Museum. I had finished my passion project at the end of 2020. I wasn't out of the woods yet. 

The politics, work, home, family, and stress of 2020 could not be undone in a couple of months. As drawing bikes gave me back control, I started working on other types. Formula 1 bikes would always be my most favorite. They were not however the only favorite style of bikes that I enjoyed.

I began drawing freestyle, and traditional racing bikes in even greater detail than before. I even gave these new drawings themed backgrounds. It was a creative challenge that gave me a new sense of purpose. So I kept on drawing. 

I drew old school ('80s), mid school ('90s), and modern bikes. I researched my favorite bikes growing up, and essentially drew all of the bikes I wish I had as a kid. It gave me a sense of accomplishment as they started to come together.

As I shared my illustrations on the BMX Museum fellow members started reaching out to me, several to commission me to create drawings for them as well. It was humbling that long-time collectors enjoyed my art, and were willing to commission me for an original drawing. Some of the best art I had ever produced came out thanks to the pandemic. It gave me a sense of control that had been lacking. It gave me back my focus, my drive, and desire. This leads me all the way back to this blog.

I've started getting back into podcasting. Which means I will get back to recording content for this blog. I will also get back to doing some fighting game research, and reviews. I want to thank all of the visitors that have been checking in on the site. Whether you left a comment on an old post. Or checked for new content, I appreciate it. I really do. I'm never going to abandon this blog. I may be getting slower with the updates, but I'm never going to stop posting. If there's anything you'd like me to look at, or write about, please let me know. If you would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!