Signature

Lastion sketch

Got new pencils thanks to my friend Al, wanted to share the first sketch I used them on ^^

Raven Lieutenant Narshus

Couple quick sketches I doodled the other day of my character Narshus.

Thanks for lookin ;D

All images © Joe Key 2011

Joe Key's Influence Map 2011

So here is my own Influence Map, like a year too late but oh well. Forgive me please, I suck at cropping hehe : )

1. Kinu Nishimura (Capcom): As much as I love the more popular Capcom artists like Akimam and Bengus, I find myself liking the other illustrators more. Such as Kinu, who was the character designer on SF 3, and also worked on other series like Rival Schools and Capcom VS SNK. I love the way she draws anatomy, and her characters always look heroic. Her sketchy lines make her work stand out even more and make me wish I had the confidence to draw that loosely.

2. Daigo Ikeno (Capcom): This guy has worked on the SF Alpha series, SF 3, Darksiders and most recently SF 4. I love any of the artists who worked on SF Alpha 2 and 3, because they influenced my "angular" style. Ikeno did a great job on SF 3, I LOVE his soft, painted style. Its a nice contrast to the loose lines of Kinu, and the more animated/cartoony style that Akiman had on that game. His anatomy is great as well.

3. Edayan (Capcom): With a style similar to famous Capcom artist Bengus, this guy got me to notice other Capcom fighting games besides SF. One of my favorite character designers, I love what he did with Rival Schools and Street Fighter EX. His characters always look badass no matter if they're in an action pose or standing still.

4. Akira Toryiama: DBZ was my favorite show when I was younger, and it was the first Manga I bought too. As much as I loved the show the Manga really got me hooked on this guy. Chrono Trigger was my favorite game back in the day, next to FF6 and Secret of Mana. CT was the first game that I found that featured so much art by the designer, at least in America. And the way they made the in game sprites resemble his style still amazes me. Dragon Quest 8 is also a favorite for me, it felt like I was playing a Toryiama animated game.

5. Tetsuya Nomura: From his work on the Final Fantasy series, to Kingdom Hearts and even the more obscure games like The Bouncer, I just can’t get enough of this guys designs. Squall and Auron are a couple of my favorite designs, and I don’t know how he continues to create new ideas and looks all the time.

6. Nobuteru Yuki: Record of Lodoss War, Escaflowne, Angel Cop, Battle Angel Alita are some of my favorite anime. I love his designs on games like Chrono Cross, Seiken Densetsu 3, and Dragon Force. A lot of what I’m influenced by comes from the games I played growing up.

7. Joe Mad: Nuff said.

8. Carlos Pacheco: His run on X-men is my favorite comic series. As great as Joe Mad was Pacheco’s storytelling is just amazing. His panel layouts and camera angles still inspire me every time I look at them.

9. Jim Cheung: Loved his work on X-Force, its what got me to pick up the series, but his art really hit a new level on Scion. I love how he was influenced by Star Wars, combining it with a fantasy series was brilliant. His backgrounds are amazing, battle scenes are breathtaking and I love that his characters actually look beat up, not all clean after a battle.

10. Ale Garza: His style has changed a lot over the years, but I still look through E.V.E. Protomecha for inspiration on how to draw the “angular” style. His panel layouts and action scenes were great in this series, as was his mecha designs. Ninja Boy was a great series as well.

11. J. Scott Campbell: His Gen 13 run was great but at the time I was so focused on Joe Mad I didn’t pay much attention to this guy. Then he joined up with Joe Mad and Ramos on Cliffhanger, and Danger Girl ended up being a very close 2nd favorite next to Battle Chasers. I remember staying up all night with friends nerding out on Crimson and waiting for the comic shop to open so we could go grab Danger Girl #1. Then spending around 6 hours or so re reading it and being blown away by how good it was and how much I really loved Cliffhanger before BC even came out yet. Those were some of my favorite moments with comic books, the Cliffhanger imprint was done really well, each issue (even if it took awhile) felt like a movie more than a comic.

Killer Jester Colors

Posting a higher res version of image i submitted to Deviantart

This version has some blending done on the colors to make it a bit more "soft"

All art © 2010 Joe Key

Thanks for lookin :)

Stuff

Few older pics

Beep boop

This is Morzl, version one of his design.