In the 1980’s, two brothers put their minds together to create one of the most celebrated developer companies, known simply today as Rare, LTD. Their early successes through Nintendo brought us many games (such as Battle Toads, a game that is still revered to hardcore gamers as one of the most difficult) - but in the early 1990’s they were asked to rejuvenate one of Nintendo’s beloved mascot.
I consider the Donkey Kong Country series and its’ characters to be one of the earlier sources that sparked my own imagination. While there were other major factors in my childhood that made me pick up the pencil, Donkey Kong and his family were characters who all shared relationships - who were fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, cousins and lovers. That was something that always stuck with me - when characters don’t have families, I often wonder why, and feel the need to create them.
A few years later when the Nintendo 64 came out, RARE released games for my most beloved franchises. Firstly, Diddy Kong Racing, which had an array of new, colorful characters. But something really struck a cord with me with the bear and bird duo known as Banjo Kazooie. I can remember being obsessive over that game - the humor, the bright and colorful worlds, and the characters are all things that inspire me to create my own art.
As facts, speculations, and rumors about this beloved company slowly creep up, fans around the world are becoming aware of one thing : RARE, LTD might be shutting down its doors soon. Already there have been sources that the artists have all picked up their tablet pens and left the company. What does this mean? Where will these beloved franchises such as Jet Force Gemini, Conker’s Bad Fur Day, and Viva Piñata go?
While we, the artists, are not the owners of these characters I feel that we can still put our own hearts into these characters and breathe new life into them. This is why I have decided to create a blog for the artists who were touched by these games. Inspired by fellow art blogs that have done so before, contributors will be asked to draw a certain theme each week; and the artists have a week to post up their drawings. In the next week, it will change to a new topic. If things start to pick up, there might even be posts dedicated to spotlighting certain artists and their contributions to the blog. This is by no means a contest! We ask that you have fun with your pieces.
By all means, you do not have to be a professional in the video game industry or have expert skill levels to be part of this project. Anyone and everyone can produce art - all we ask is that you take time into your piece and put love and dedication into it. There is no need to post art each new theme either, so please don’t feel pressured into doing so!
