We Happy Few-Islands Apart

We Happy Few-Islands Apart: It's been a while since I've put out some We Happy Few art. But now that it's coming out in the summer, that's definitely about to change. This is a piece I made after Compulsion Games teased their female playable Downer.

Tools: Pencil (outlining), Micron pens from Sakura, Mincho gray scale alcohol-based markers, and Crayola Twistable colored pencils.

Wildcard Wednesday #29

This week, we can expect: a devil and a Downer.

BG&D #15: It's been a while, but I'll be getting back to my Between God and the Devil concept. This is a mopey Valentine waiting for me to get on with it.

WHF #6: (Sorry for the quality of the pic-the scanner was being annoying and wouldn't let me crop the picture quite right) Another unlucky bobby in the way of Arthur's quest for escape.

Wildcard Wednesday #25

This week, we can expect: only one piece because the scanner settings got messed up and directed to the scanner that doesn't work anymore-ugh. But anyways, it's coming back to one of the subjects that kicked off this blog.

We Happy Few-Arthur: Coming into class today, I had everything done, so I spent my time practicing and drawing Arthur Hastings of We Happy Few in Photoshop. I've been playing the game (not too much since I need a more powerful graphics card), learning the lore, and still anticipating the final version. I got inspired after seeing some 101 Dalmatians pencil tests of the human characters. I definitely want to animate Arthur and the other Downers once I get the hang of it better!

Wildcard Wednesday #12

This week's theme: you know, I go so sidetracked from the original theme. So instead, this is We Happy Few with a touch of Disney.

Disney #2: Sleeping Beauty was one of my first and remains one of my favorite Disney films, with Maleficent being one of my top favorite villains. She really is a thing to be feared.

We Happy Few #3: Being a perfectionist, I am always trying to revisit my models for characters of either my own creation or from various fandoms. Decided this week to work on revamping Miss Thigh Highs and Arthur.

We Happy Few #4: Reworking my model for Arthur, with the "Gone on Vacation" photo in mind. Also, I'm really enjoying learning more about his personality through his little quips and observations (his voice actor his wonderful!).

We Happy Few #5: Practice sketches for the follow-up on my most popular piece of We Happy Few fan art, "The Bouquet". Because I'm not simply doing a follow-up drawing. I'm going to do a little animatic of the scene! The tentative date for its posting is next Saturday, but it will at the very least be ready by the end of the month!

Wildcard Wednesday #9

This week, we can expect: which mode of survival to choose for We Happy Few, while the Left 4 Dead 2 survivors scope out some Gothic/Renaissance studies, and Valentyne bargains with Angelica.
(Note: the new scanner is being a dipwad to me, so I had to use my mom's phone. Hopefully the scanner should be behaving in time for Saturday's piece.)

Left 4 Dead 2 #1: Got a hankering for the Left 4 Dead series again. There'll be more drawings of the characters coming soon (including some personal favorites, Zoey and Ellis).

We Happy Few #4: Some pre-planning for the next We Happy Few entry, which focuses on the three modes of survival.

Studies #1: Yesterday, I went with my mom to the Joslyn Art Museum here in Omaha to replenish my artistic soul and get away from work. I did some quick gestural sketches of some Gothic/Renaissance paintings as reference and inspiration for my Between God and the Devil project.

Between God and the Devil #13: I'm working on developing several scenes and secondary characters for Between God and the Devil. One of the scenes I'm still figuring out is the first meeting between Angelica and Valentyne when she's sent in to the demons' side of Blasphemous Behemoth to bargain for stolen souls. When I've fleshed it out, I'll make an animatic.

We Happy Few-The Third Downer

We Happy Few-The Third Downer: The only Downer who doesn't have a name-yet. Who is she, and how does her story interweave with the other Downers?

Inspiration: Since this entry for Miss Thigh Highs was one of the first entry ideas I got, I just decided to go for it this week. I love the nickname "Twiggy with Hypodermic".

Tools: The Fine Touch graphite pencils, Prismacolor and Sharpie pens, Faber-Castell watercolor pencils, and construction paper.

Delayed Finished Piece

Hi, M³ here! I'm afraid today's finished piece of art is getting postponed to tomorrow. I had work and a concert pop up on me. If I can squeeze in the finished art later today, then I'll do so, but count on it more tomorrow.
In the meantime, I'll add some finishing touches during breaks. I can't wait to show it to you! It's the Miss Thigh Highs themed entry for my We Happy Few journal. Feels like I'm in concept development class all over again.

Wildcard Wednesday #7

This week, we can expect to see: Miss Thigh Highs chilling in her spacey bedroom while Wellies panic over a Downer, all the while imps prepare to hunt down a corrupt angel.

We Happy Few WIP2*: This is a Thigh Highs-centric journal entry for my We Happy Few journal (coming this Saturday!)

We Happy Few #2: Just when I thought the developers had given nothing about Miss Thigh Highs, I was combing through their updates and found concept art of her bedroom. She sleeps under a Milky Way mobile. Sounds pretty cool to me! (Space core would love that for sure!)

We Happy Few #3: Was in the mood to draw Wellies during my break, so I drew them reacting to a Downer (presumably poor Arthur).

Between God and the Devil: Been working a lot on story and characters this week. This drawing presents two parts in the story. One of them being Bucksnip gathering a gang of fellow imps to take over Blasphemous Behemoth. But it's not just about being the new lords of Hell. This is also a revenge quest after the angel who denied Bucksnip heaven-Admetus.

Beyond that, I'm still figuring out Admetus's character. But all I can say is he is the definite antagonist of the movie. He used to be a Tempter for God until he settled for a position as an Angel Superior. Because of his former Tempter duties, Admetus can change his appearance and voice at will. And not only is his Holy Light one of the brightest, but his powers to manipulate the mind, heart, and soul are great. Oh, if only they were used with good intentions. Admetus is rumored to be hiding in plain sight at Blasphemous Behemoth.

Early Art Surprise!

Hi, M³ here! Why am I posting today instead of tomorrow?
Because I've got not one, but TWO new pieces of art that I simply can't wait to share with you all, so why not?!

Between God and the Devil-Heavenly Hosts: Angelica is a human turned angel seeking Superiority, Valentyne is a human turned demon just killing time in Hell. When these two meet and join forces, who knows what will come out of their partnership?

Inspiration: This was inspired by one of my doodles in this week's Wildcard Wednesday. I tried doing a version of this in my bigger development sketchbook, but I got more success working in a smaller sketchbook than that. These two have given me so much joy and excitement during my breaks at work, I sometimes forget that I created them. Rest assured, I will do everything to see these two reach the big screen and have their story told.

Tools: Pencil (outlining), Prismacolor and Sharpie pens, one Tombow dual brush grayscale pen, and Faber-Castell watercolor pencils (plus my finger for some blending).

We Happy Few-Previously...: We've seen how far the game's gone in PAX East 2016. We've sat in shock at the juiciest trailer yet at E3. Now, as the game gets released in Early Access and closes in on final development for 2017, it's time to dedicate an entire journal to the mad ramblings, theories, and reactions that follow.

Inspiration: Well, based on the first picture from this week's Wildcard Wednesday, you already know why I'm doing this journal. I only felt it fitting to make a "Previously..." page before I go any further. And I'm going to try and not fill up the whole journal before the final game comes out, just so there's room for further exploration. Either that or if I do, then there'll surely be a Volume II to follow if need be.

Tools: Scanned pictures of previous pieces, one Tombow dual brush pen, and Faber-Castell markers.

Wildcard Wednesday #6

This week, we can expect to see: an angel and a demon preparing for vacation at Wellington Wells.

Between God and the Devil Sketch #7: A bunch of sketches concerning two pivotal meetings between Angelica and Valentyne. The first meeting on the left is when Angelica chooses Valentyne as her demon to reform in order to attain Superiority. The second meeting I can't say anything about (spoilers!).

Between God and the Devil #8: On the left's a little sketch exploring the main chamber for the demons in Blasphemous Behemoth. I'm going to keep developing this and other settings over the next couple of days. On the right is development for Angelica ad Valentyne in their past lives. They were both human before they turned angel and demon. I can't give too much information without giving away spoilers for now.

Between God and the Devil #9: An exploratory montage concerning one of Valentyne's defining moments in his life. Can't give too much away for now, but the basics were he was raised by very uptight religious parents, and living with the indoctrination eventually caused him to have a spiritual breakdown. So he spent an entire night sinning (some of what he did were real sins, while others were more "sins").  His actions got him in jail. Despite what he'd done, he still felt strangely absolved and like he was back into God's good graces. But then a corrupt angel Admetus (the antagonist) convinced him that he was too far gone to be forgiven. Based on this and his own shame, Valentyne chose to end his life and join the throngs of Hell.

Between God and the Devil #10*: Just a little drawing of Angelica and Valentyne at more amicable odds with each other. This will probably be one of the key illustrations of the project.

We Happy Few Journal: At the rate that I've been drawing fan art and original concepts, I've been tearing through sketchbooks like crazy. So I got some more recently, and bought one specifically for We Happy Few. I've altered up the cover and plan on doing the same for the back. The first journal entry will be featured in this Saturday's post!

We Happy Few-Break the Tube

We Happy Few-Break the Tube: "Do you think the canister ever wonders what life's like outside the tube? Of course he'd have to break it to find out. I'll break it for everybody."

Inspiration: In the new We Happy Few trailer for E3 last week, Arthur wakes up from his Joy-run reality and becomes a Downer. And it is shown in such epic fashion, with all the right doses of emotion, terror, and disgust (I'll never trust pinatas again!). The developers have come a long way since they first started working on this game. It's going to be good, I know it!
And yes, I know I'm late on the fan art bandwagon for the E3 trailer. I can thank tendinitis for that. But you know what they say-better late than ever.

Tools: Pencil (outlining), Prismacolor pens, Faber-Castell markers, and Tombow dual brush grayscale pens.

Introducing Make Up Mondays!

Hi, M³ here! I have improved immensely since my last post. For now, I don't have anymore tendinitis-related problems-and two days off! Which means I can spend time on catching up on art.
I know I missed last week's Saturday posting. And I really don't like breaking a routine. So I'm going to give myself a cushion, if you will, in case things like tendinitis or life get in the way of art, and that is through Make Up Monday. Any Saturday art postings I miss will show up the following Monday.
And yeah, that's pretty much it! Tomorrow, the new art that was due will show up, and it's going to be We Happy Few themed. Compulsion Games released a new trailer at Microsoft's E3 gaming conference, and it's now become a surprise hit, garnering several awards and nominations. Best of all, the trailer has given a little more of a peek into the narrative aspect of the game, featuring the protagonist Arthur Hastings just as he chooses not to take Joy. I'm so excited to share it with you tomorrow!
Also, I'm really getting invested in my project Between God and the Devil-there's more concept art coming up, and maybe even a finished piece by the end of the week!

Wildcard Wednesday #3

On today's Wildcard Wednesday, we can expect: Chell and Wheatley try to forgive each other with an angel and a devil on their shoulders, all the while Miss Thigh Highs deals with a doctor and Uncle Jack's saccharine happiness.

Between God and the Devil #1: During my Creative Writing class a couple years ago, I had to write a short play. It was centered around an angel (Angelica) and a a demon (Valentyne) who seek to rid the Cathedral of Blasphemous Behemoth of a trouble-making imp (Bucksnip). It's not anything that good, but it's still thoroughly enjoyable. So much so that I'm exploring the concept to see if I can make anything of it, even something as simple as a little comic strip series. Click on the picture to look at my brainstorming notes!

Why Can't We Be Friends?*: A little doodle I did (with my human version of Wheatley) around a small bit from Lego Dimensions: Portal mission. As a Legofication of Portal 2, it's not too bad, and sometimes the dialogue is spot on. I do hope that if there is a third Portal game made that Chell and Wheatley reunite and reconcile. They're so cool when they work together!

Syringe Wars WIP*: The closer we get to the release of We Happy Few, the more I want to learn about the story and the characters. Miss Thigh Highs is the biggest question mark of the three Downers. I keep getting the feeling that she might be a spy, but whoever she is, she clearly has some mysterious, secret quality about her.

So Happy Teaser*: As can be seen in my posts, I've always got We Happy Few on my mind. And I've come to realize that working at my job is a little similar to being a Downer pretending to be on Joy, only not nearly as awful or psychotic. And it seems to be a general consensus and my own gatherings of her character that Miss Thigh Highs probably finds acting so darn happy all the time annoying. I mean, if you were in her thigh high shoes, wouldn't you get sick of it? 

We Happy Few-The Bouquet

The Bouquet: Normally one gives bouquets to nosy old ladies or wastrels from the Garden District. But fellow Downers could always use a little cheering up themselves-and not from Joy.

Inspiration:  Up until yesterday, I'd never seen a bouquet interaction in all the gameplays and live streams I'd seen of We Happy Few. I finally amended that after watching LuCiGEN's live stream last night.

Also, we know little about Arthur, even less about Mad Scotsman, and absolutely nothing on Miss Thigh Highs. I'm dying to know how these three Downers' stories interweave with each other and to learn more about who each of them is.

Tools: Pencil (outlining), Prismacolor and Sharpie pens, and Faber Castell watercolor pencils.

Wildcard Wednesday #1

On today's Wildcard Wednesday, we can expect: Miraculous Erlking playing chess while offering a bouquet in Wellington Wells.

Erlking Sketch #1: This is another original concept I'm working on inspired by one of the most surreal dreams I've ever had. The basic plot is that Mallory Kean (left, the grumpy one) discovers that her sister Belle (middle) has been kidnapped by the Erlking (right) to become his bride. Mallory makes a deal to switch places with Belle so her sister can go back to the mortal realm. But how will Mallory escape? (Characters are still in early development)

Erlking Sketch #2: A less than pleasant interaction between Mallory and the Erlking.

Chess Sketch #1: This is another original concept I came up with. A few years ago, I was thinking about the fashion in the movie My Fair Lady and chess. So I came up with a bunch of original designs for human personifications of the chess pieces. And slowly but surely I've been working on a story for these characters. More will be revealed in further Chess sketches. From left to right are Lorenzo (black bishop), Emily (black pawn), and Arthur (black knight), comrades who often do intelligence work for the Black King, Ernest.

Miraculous Ladybug Sketch #1: I absolutely love Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Chat Noir! (French dub, to be specific) And the only way to survive waiting for season two is to draw fan art. There'll be plenty of these going around, along with some finished pieces.

We Happy Few WIP #1: While waiting for the game We Happy Few, I've been drawing and revisiting a lot of gameplays and live streams. But I've never been able to see what happens when you offer a Wellie a bouquet. And the developers have said absolutely nothing about Miss Thigh High's character. With those two thoughts in mind, I'm making my way through a bouquet interaction between Arthur Hastings and Miss Thigh Highs.

We Happy Few-Fact or Fiction

Fact or Fiction:  We've all heard Uncle Jack read "The Pied Piper of Hamlyn". But with the way he reads it, one almost can't help but wonder if perhaps there is a grain of truth behind this fairy tale…perhaps it isn't a fairy tale at all?

Inspiration:  As part of their Kickstarter campaign, Compulsion Games had a two part series of the face of the propaganda leader Uncle Jack (played by the amazing Julian Casey) reading "The Pied Piper of Hamlyn". Like I said in the art summary above, I can't help but wonder if the tale is some kind of allegory for what happened in Wellington Wells!

Tools: Pencil (outlining), Sharpie and Prismacolor pens, and Faber-Castell watercolor pencils.

We Happy Few-The Doctor Is In

The Doctor Is In:  You're looking a little down today. Have you taken your joy? No? Then it's time you saw a doctor.

Inspiration:  Why is it that a lot of the time doctors are so scary in various forms of fiction? The doctors of Wellington Wells are no exception. Staring at reference pictures of this guy creeped me out, but it was well worth it.

Tools: Pencil (outlining), Sharpie and Prismacolor pens, and Faber-Castell watercolor pencils.

We Happy Few-Down and Proud

Down and Proud:  Are you a Downer? Would you rather face cold reality than live in ignorant, Joy-driven bliss? Then wear that frown with pride! You are not alone in your desire to leave Wellington Wells.

Inspiration:  I love the character designs for the three playable Downers in We Happy Few, and I can't wait to find out their backstories! Also, I thought, "There's so much propaganda in Wellington Wells for the people who take Joy-why not have a little propaganda for the Downers?"

Tools: Pencil (outlining), Sharpie and Prismacolor pens, and Faber-Castell watercolor pencils.

Why We Happy Few?

Hi, M³ here! So for this first week, you're all getting treated with a full weekend of finished art. As I said in the first post, this is for PAX East 2016 to help promote Compulsion Games's We Happy Few.

Most of you are probably asking, "What the heck is We Happy Few?"

We Happy Few is an upcoming survival game set in an alternate dystopian '60's UK. After the horrific events of WWII, the people of Wellington Wells have chosen to put their misery behind them by rebuilding their town and taking Joy, a drug that makes you feel happy. Anyone who doesn't take Joy is called a "Downer" and is killed immediately. You play as one of three unlockable Downers, and you must blend in with society while finding a way out of the town.

I'm doing promotional fan art for We Happy Few because I love all the work that Compulsion Games has put into developing the world, lore, and story of Wellington Wells. It is the kind of dystopian setting that is definitely bleak, but is also intriguing, making the player wonder just what happened to make the town as messed up as it is. The teases for narrative and the Downers' backstories are certainly one of the biggest hooks of the game. The developers have also put a lot of work into making the game look amazing. Every new patch made on the pre-alpha version continues to get me excited to see what the finished game will look like.

It is because of the labor and love put into this game that I'm doing promotional fan art for We Happy Few. And I can't wait for the game to come out this year!

If you're interested in the game, check out Compulsion Games's website or Kickstarter page! Gamers, put this on your Steam wish list!

So without further ado, let's kick off this first week with some We Happy Few fan art!

P.S. Hover over the blank areas and the hyperlinks for Compulsion Games and their Kickstarter page will show up-sorry for that little glitch!

Hello, Artists and Lovers of Art!

Hello and welcome, everyone! I go by my artist nickname M³ (since all my initials are Ms), and I am a budding storyboard, conceptual, character design, and soon animation artist! I also do loads of fan art in my spare time as well.
If you love art that tells stories, shows off engaging characters, or is related to the things you love, you've come to the right place. Every Friday at noon, I will post at least one finished piece of art. Sometimes it will be my own original concepts, sometimes it will be fan art. And when the creative juices are flowing, there may even be multiple finished pieces! And I will be putting up any animatics (storyboards assembled into a reel) I create as well.
This first week will be a bit unusual. For every day of PAX East 2016 weekend, I'm doing one piece of art for Compulsion Game's upcoming game We Happy Few (I'll put up a short little blurb about that tomorrow). So you will not only be getting a finished piece tomorrow, but also a finished piece on Saturday and Sunday!
I can't wait to hear from all you lovely people-let's get this started!