Next week, The Super Mario Bros. Movie hits theaters and my whole family is psyched! To celebrate, I thought I’d show off as much of my own work as I can that’s been inspired by video games!
Starting off with the titular characters themselves… originally, the top left illustration was going to be an exercise in traditional animation but I wasn’t happy with the running sprite I had created (2018). Mario gazing at the star was for Inktober (also 2018). A fun Mario & Luigi sketch in the bottom left corner (2014). A dapper classic NES color Mario (2016). Digital painting inspired by the Luigi Death Stare meme from Mario Kart 8 (2014). And finally a fun Eastern European take on the famous brothers created in Adobe Illustrator (2019).
The far left 3 pictures are illustrations I did for my daughter to find in her lunchbox of Rosalina (2022), Racoon Mario (2022), and a smiley Simpson–esque Mario (2023). In front of those are the Bros. in their classic NES colors (2016). Mario tipping his hat immediately to the right was labled as “hot” when I first posted it (2017). Luigi in similar Simpson–esque design drawn in Procreate (2023). And overly stylized to look aggressively Italian on the far right are the Bros. digitally painted in Procreate (2021).
I’ve been a Nintendo kid since 1987, but my nibling eventually got me hooked on the Genesis, so starting at the top left we have Tails in colored pencil (2015) and an over–stylized Sonic in Adobe Illustrator (2017). The teenagers playing PlayStation and the older gang keeping up the tradition behind them were for a GTA IV release party my wife and I threw (2008). The little gamer girl was inspired by a picture my friend had posted of his daughter (2016).
I love Fallout New Vegas and Fallout 4… Fallout 76, not so much. However, the Vault Boy 76 on the left was very well received upon the game’s announcement (2018), The Vault Boy front and center is vector while the nuclear explosion background was digitally painted in Photoshop with way too many layers (2016). And as a fan of both the games and the meme, the Vault Boy in the top right is a vector drawing with digital effects painted over (2020).
Games like GTA IV and Left 4 Dead changed online gaming for me forever. On the left is me and my online friends IRL about to play both of those (2009). Sketches of Bill, Francis, Zoey, and Louis from Left 4 Dead (2015). Claude from GTA III comforting a bunny for some unknown reason (2008). A stylized Peashooter from Plants vs Zombies top right (2015).
Classic NES games are always a fun source of inspiration. From left to right: Bald Bull from Mike Tyson’s Punchout, digital sketch (2018). Bases Loaded, pen & ink (2016). Kung Fu, vector art (2022). a teddy bear as a Pokemon trainer (2016). Megaman vector art (2018). Contra, digital sketch (2018).
Vector art controllers (2018). NES with light gun and controller vector art (2017). Incidentally, the sprite on the NES cartridge is the main character from Lode Runner, my favorite NES game.
Left: a lunchbox doodle for my daughter of Hermoine from Lego Harry Potter—a game we were enjoying together at the time (2022). Middle: election humor for Inktober (2016). Right: a classic arcade cabinet, vector art (2017).
In 2019, instead of Inktober, I did Muptober where I made mash–ups of various pop culture fandoms with the Muppets. From left to right: vector art of Fozzie Bear from The Muppet Show & Pac Man, vector art of Rosita from Sesame Street & Minecraft, and a digital sketch of Kira from The Dark Crystal & Chun Li from Street Fighter. If you’d like to see the rest, check out my feature on ToughPigs.
Halloween, 2022