Hello, everyone. Welcome to my super duper cool art thread.
At first I was opposed to the idea of making one of these because I didn't want to upload my art to two places at once.
However, I realized that I could use one as a repository for the art that I didn't/don't necessarily consider worthy of getting uploaded to the art portal, but would also clutter my profile with inconsistent quality work. I like having the art section of my profile be filled with the best art I can make (At least, now I do).
These drawings don't quite fall under either category, but are still worth sharing to me, so now they're here.
I'll start off by sharing my most recent drawings related to a passion project I was working on for about over a year called, Sonic OCEANA: The Depths of Adventure.
Yes, I put this logo together myself. It's a mockup, though.
This project mostly served as a concept art and writing exercise that I had in case I wanted a thing to write, a thing to design, or a thing to draw. No actual playable engines or builds were created.
But if this project somehow ever does exist in any playable capacity in the future, then I'd be very very happy.
The basic plot of the game is as follows: Sonic catches wind that Eggman is headed toward a mysterious ancient temple in the middle of the ocean off the coast of a rainforest.
Thinking he has the jump on him, Sonic finds Eggman and chases after him into the center of the ancient temple, only for Eggman to uncover the breathtaking power that he was looking for: a stone known as The Heart of Atlantis.
(↓ Which is this green thing. )
(アトランティスの心 = "Atorantisu no Kokoro" )
Just as Eggman is about to seize the Heart for himself, Sonic takes action and swipes it just in the nick of time. Eggman yells, "You fool! Don't touch it!", but Sonic takes it for a bluff.
Suddenly, the Heart vanishes from Sonic's grasp in a flash of light. Sonic collapses and falls to the ground, struggling to breathe and struggling to stand. Way out into the ocean, thunderclouds form overhead, and green static electricity crackles across the water's surface as the waves build to form a towering, raging, rapidly-approaching tsunami.
Left with no choice, Eggman is forced to leave Sonic behind as the Heart's power begins to take its toll. Eggman departs, and Sonic falls unconscious as he's quickly engulfed by the incoming tsunami and swept into the ocean, along with the rest of the temple's remains.
Some time after, Sonic wakes up at the bottom of the ocean with the ability to breathe underwater. After getting his bearings and stumbling around in the ocean for a bit, he survives a close encounter with a giant squid thanks to the help of a new aquatic ally: Varuna the Hourglass Dolphin.
(Who is this lady, next to her trident, "Pasha". ↓)
She is the ruler of the Cetacea Kingdom. With the power of the Eyes of Atlantis—the stone in her crown that allows her to see visions from the water's eyes—she was able to witness the events of Sonic getting cursed. She's been trying to get a hold of him ever since; but thanks to his supersonic speed, he eluded her sonar.
(Which Sonic does not hesitate to brag on.)
Cutting his cockiness short, Varuna tells Sonic the secrets of the Heart's power that are little-known to land dwellers. The Heart of Atlantis is one of the seven ancient Globes of Atlantis. It presides over the water's flow, pumping water throughout the sea, the land, and the sky. It is what causes rivers to run and waterfalls to fall.
For a sea creature, being endowed with the Heart's power heightens their breathing and enhances their swimming. However—for a land creature like Sonic—its powers manifest as being able to pass through water with little drag resistance. (And of course, as water-breathing.)
The Heart of Atlantis is barely compatible with Sonic's biology, and is slowly corroding within him. Varuna warns him that if he doesn't unbind himself from the Heart soon, its power will slowly wither away, causing all water on Earth to cease to flow, and life as they know it to perish.
To lift his curse, Sonic must traverse the ocean floor in order to gather the other six Globes of Atlantis; and with their power, awaken the ancient colossal golem being known as Atlantis, from its many-millennia slumber. It is the only being who capable of removing the Heart from Sonic's body.
Now that Varuna's found him—Sonic only has 5 more Globes left to go. With the stakes set high and Varuna by his side, they embark on an epic quest to save the ocean; going to many interesting places, meeting many interesting creatures, and running into a few familiar faces along the way.
"Will Sonic and Varuna be able to work together, explore the depths, and save the ocean? Or will Dr. Eggman manage to seize the Globes and harness their power to conquer the world?
Find out, in Sonic OCEANA: The Depths of Adventure!"
I don't look back on the plot for this "game" too fondly now, as I think that falls into many of the same trappings that other Sonic plots have fallen into in the past.
That said, when I zoom out and think of the plot in terms of its broad, big-picture ideas and themes, I think that what's here only needs a small amount of tweaking in order to synergize better with Sonic's core concepts.
With the setup for the world established, I got to work in establishing the art style for the game's characters.
For Sonic OCEANA's art style, I wanted to create a more familiar, appealing Sonic; one that people can look at and simply go "Hey look! It's Sonic!" without much fuss. I was inspired by Nintendo's approach in redesigning Link for Breath of the Wild, and for Sonic Team's approach in reinventing him for Sonic Unleashed.
Because of the unfamiliar ocean environment, I wanted to enhance the familiarity of any returning characters as much as I could. I wanted to make it feel the audience feel as though they've run into a family member or friend out in the middle of nowhere that they haven't seen in years, but they look just as how you remember them.
If you want an idea as to how the world itself would look, picture the colorful environments of the game ABZÛ, mixed with your recognizable Sonic elements like loop-de-loops and corkscrews. Naturally incorporated into the world, but not huge and overbearing like recent 3D entries.
Speaking of, I wanted to challenge myself in creating my own take on the Ring level-up concept of Sonic Frontiers in a way that I felt was more appropriate for Sonic, inspired by the franchise's roots. This concept is based on the hidden "Statue Savior" easter egg in Sonic CD's Wacky Workbench, which spouts a fountain of Rings upon contact.
In Sonic OCEANA, these statues were to be found in secret rooms hidden areas throughout the world.
Heavily inspired by the Hylia Statues.
Going one step further, I also created concept art for a Guardian-inspired redesign of "Gapsule" from Sonic & Knuckles, mixed with its depiction in the original Sonic manga.
These guys were supposed to roam around the ocean floor, going around capturing random NPCs from the different kingdoms. The freed victim would grant you a special prize and a bit of good will amongst the locals.
This next idea is inspired by the treasure chests in BotW. However, in OCEANA, you would acquire maps for Dig Spots, which you could then go and seek out (if you couldn't find them yourself).
At these Dig Spots, you would find a loose patch of sand on the ground which you could spindash over to kick it up in the dust cloud. After enough digging, the treasure chest would pop out, and you would find a reward inside.
