Sometimes without warning, a dream job appears, something you’ve always wanted to do. An opportunity to do a subject that’s become a permanent resident of your imagination, by one of your favorite artists. Mondo is releasing the soundtracks to the Metal Gear Solid series on vinyl, and somehow, I was tasked with doing the gatefold art to MGS2: Sons of Liberty. 

 

Now, I wouldn’t call myself a gamer, but I would say that MGS is somewhere up there with Hellboy when it comes to fictional works I’m the most fond of. A lot has been said about the series; it’s influence, genius, weirdness- there’s nothing really like Metal Gear Solid. The most striking feature of the world of MGS to me has always been its ridiculously overpowered concept artist, the inimitable and immortal Yoji Shinkawa. This guy is on a ton of working artists “top 3” lists, and for good reason. He has demonstrated freakish skill and style, design, taste, technique, and vision. Routinely, he got away with murder, and by that I mean bold expressive, incomplete sketches that are always greater than the sum of their parts. I think that video game art in the 1990’s will be seen as a golden era. Things were often delightfully off-model and idiosyncratic. When the graphics and hardware had limited capabilities, your mind was able to insert the art from the game booklets into the game, and your imagination filled the gaps thanks to the brilliant artwork in the manuals.

It’s Monday morning, and you’re already late for work, so I’ll do some bullet point tidbits, factoids, and observations so that you can get along with your life.

 

You thought you were getting Snake, but you got Raiden


1) Say Yes.

Can I fill Yoji’s shoes? FUCK NO. Nobody can. It’s an impossible situation. But you say yes. The comparisons are gonna come, and it’s gonna put a halogen spotlight on how much you suck, but you have to say yes. If Queen calls you and asks you to sing for the band, you say yes. We all know it’s wrong, but are you gonna tell people you said “no”?

Broad cheek bones, no eyes



2) The Peak

Before I started the project, I had just gotten back from Japan, where I had found this amazing Bob Peak art book. His crunchy, skratchy and expressive line work was a key inspiration for this work. Could I do it like Bob? Hell no (see a pattern here?) I tried something new and it didn’t turn out so bad. I’m perfecting this technique on my next project.

Athleticism, strength, beauty, naiveté

Athleticism, strength, beauty, naiveté



3) Paper 

 

I drew this on paper, big sized, I used a sumi brush and some fountain pens. AI robots are gonna take our jobs, our wives, and our memories. The polar bears will be dead soon and we’ll be up to our eyeballs in funko pops. Draw on paper while you can before it’s too late.

4) Hardware

I’m a run-’er-til-she-quits guy with computers, phones, music equipment, motor vehicles etc. My 9 year old iMac redlined through every stage of coloring this piece. Crashes, lost files, beach balls all day. It was the final mission of my machine. Everytime you buy a new machine, little baby polar bears and seals come even closer to dying of heat stroke (not kidding here) but I had to get a new computer after this one.

“We’re all born with an expiration date. No one lasts forever. Life is nothing but a grace period for turning our genetic material into the next generation.”



5) I’m a Comic Book Guy

This one ties in with point number one, just say yes. There’s a lot of stuff I don’t know how to do, especially with computers and color, and I think I fall short a lot of times because of  lack of knowledge and skill, but you gotta say yes. Don’t let all those dumbass Marvel movies fool you, there’s only one way that things can unfold, there’s only one possible you, and it’s you. It’s the you with all of the mockable shortcomings and cringy art decisions you’re gonna make. You’re no James Jean, pal, you’re just YOU. You can try to do your best, and you’ll have these grand visions of how you’re gonna blow folks’ wigs off with your art-radiance, but ultimately you’re just gonna make the exact thing you were destined to make before the explosion of the first star. Just say yes to the project and make the thing.

 

no rules, no ellipses, no masters. You’re on your own



6) Off Model

There are a lot of little pieces and minutiae with each character, and the closer you get to nailing things with perfect accuracy, the farther away perfection actually gets. I did my best to be faithful to the characters, and costumes, but ultimately I was aiming for the vibe and spirit of the characters. My favorite works are often off model, something that nowadays only exists in fan art. Moebius’ marvel stuff, Miller’s DKR was almost never the same twice, Amano’s Final Fantasy work- stuff was off model. It’s ok. Nothing is actually ever on model- everything constantly changes.

 


7) Don’t look back

I’m looking back at this piece to write this blog. There’s a lot of stuff I wish I had done differently. With this piece and with my life. But I’m not gonna look at it for a while, and I’m gonna stop looking back. I got to draw Snake and his mullet and his dope gun and I got paid handsomely for it. I did exactly as good as I could have. Onward. 

Dead Cell