Rare Fan Art Gallery Showcase #2

We've scoured the internet and we're back to show off some of our favourite pieces made by talented Rare fans in another Fan Art Showcase! Just like last time, we've got our Art Director Ryan to cast his appraising eye over each piece that entered our gallery over a period of a few weeks and give us his thoughts, so let's begin the tour of April and May. We politely ask for no flash photography and please do not touch the art after eating one of the hors d'oeuvres.

As we waved off Sea of Thieves' first season, our first selection of art was headlined by @HibooArts' Twitter portrait of their pirate wearing the Sea of Sands Costume, complete with magic lamp. Place your bets on what their wish was – ours would be unlimited wishes, obvs. Capping off this batch was richie_inkwell's spirited Mr. Pants sketch bringing everyone's favourite bowler hat-wearing underwear aficionado to Instagram, and a drawing by yoshiyoshi700 of Berri in Conker's zip-up jumper, also on Instagram. Now to check in with Ryan for his opinions on this batch:

"Really nice work on the Sea of Sands pirate. Some great extra detail too like the white streaks through the pirate's pink hair and the wind blowing through it. Gives it a proper Saturday morning cartoon vibe. For the Berri piece, Conker's jacket fits really well with Berri's outfit and creates a moment we wouldn't normally see in Conker's world – maybe it's the start of her own adventure? As for Mr. Pants, the artist has clearly paid attention to our efforts to keep him uneven, giving him four fingers on one hand and five on the other. The shading on the pants is also excellent – always important to get those pants correct!"

Continuing April's artistic offerings, we picked this piece from Twitter's @vetiver_n showing Conker enjoying a cheeky pint down The Cock and Plucker as our next headliner. That Banjo trophy's seen better days, lads – maybe give it a clean, yeah? Also in this batch was DeviantArtist SnowdropCreates' pencil portrait of her SoT pirate, complete with the spooky Curse of the Order, and imsoftnina's adorable Instagram sketch of an apparently irate Whirlm from Viva Piñata. Let's see what Ryan had to say about this collection:

"This very strong piece of Conker in the pub has quite a unique style to it, more 'mature' than what we'd normally expect for Conker. The muted background characters help create this real feeling of depth, like we're there in the pub too. For the Whirlm sketch, the chunky brush gives it a similar feel to the initial drawings I did when creating the Piñatas for Viva Piñata, those also used a chunky chalk or pastel brush! As for the glamorous pirate portrait, fantastic pencil work to imitate the ink dripping down the pirate's face, as well as some strong shading to suggest the softness of her facial features."

Next up on the easel for April was a Jet Force Gemini piece from Patorik over on DeviantArt, which had Vela, Juno and Lupus rendered in the style of '90s-era anime. We're already writing our impassioned piece about why Floyd is best boy. Complementing this was a colourful Sea of Thieves landscape from Twitter user @Tarask56, depicting a Galleon ready to sail from Smuggler's Bay into its next adventure, as well as a sketch of the burly Battletoad Pimple by benbatesart on DeviantArt. Handing back over to art correspondent Ryan for his impressions:

"You could imagine Vela, Juno and Lupus jumping out of the pages of a manga volume with this piece – stellar work on the hair, and Lupus' expression shows particular attitude! A background to show where they are in the world would really take it to the next level. For Pimple, you can really feel the power and weight behind those muscular shoulders – he's ready to clobber someone. I'd love to see all three 'Toads in this style, ready for action. The Sea of Thieves landscape is really lovely, with creative use of colour to elevate the already picturesque setting of Smuggler's Bay. Feels like it could be an advert for a pirate holiday resort."

Finishing up our April selection was an exhibition of some of Rare's finest baddies, headlined by this time-warping piece from @miserysteaparty on Twitter, showing a pre-boulder Grunty with feline familiar Piddles of Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts fame. Elsewhere in this villainous collection is Instagram user oldpeachy's rendition of a rather ripped Professor Pester from Viva Piñata, along with a tribute to Sea of Thieves' Captain Flameheart (complete with skeleton body) from morrrez, also found on Instagram. Let's go to Ryan for his thoughts on these antagonistic artworks:

"There's a fantastically manic feel to Grunty in this piece with its Cartoon Network-esque style, and it's always great to see Piddles, this time in a fusion with an earlier Grunty. Professor Pester's looking much hunkier than we're used to seeing! This is an interesting take on the character who looks much more competent than the dumpy buffoon we know from the games. And for Captain Flameheart, some great artistic licence on show with his actual flaming heart – and the way he towers over the island really sells his power and dominion over the world of Sea of Thieves, so great work."

Rolling on into May, we kicked off the month's collection with this headline piece from @Banana_Meteor, featuring some truly bodacious ’Toads of the Battle variety. Wonder if they ever worry that their hands will stay huge after morphing them to wallop someone. Elsewhere in this set was a well-groomed Sea of Thieves pirate portrait by choyuki on DeviantArt, and Twitterer @MyFantasiMind's picture of Conker cowering from a certain bum cheek-chomping raptor. Over to Ryan for his expert appraisal:

"Lovely to see someone break out the actual paints and canvas – and a frame filled with so much energy, it feels like the Battletoads are bursting out of the painting! For the pirate portrait, the artist's done a great job of using a dynamic viewpoint to frame their dashing scoundrel in a way we don't normally see. Love the Conker piece giving us a rich background as well as the character – the dinosaur's leg and Conker's terrified expression tell you everything you need to know and really sell the impact of the scene."

Keeping the train rolling, the next stop on our fan art journey saw us marvelling at Instagram user lunarhamster's interpretation of the Tafflies from Viva Piñata migrating for the summer. There's some perspective play at work here, as either the Tafflies are humongous or their herder is only a little 'un. Also in this batch was a further pirate self-portrait to add to our rogues' gallery, courtesy of yune_art over on Instagram, and Princess-Flopy-13 from DeviantArt's gritty reimagining of Juno from Jet Force Gemini. Back to our own Piñata expert Ryan for his impressions:

"Who'd have thought someone would go so big on a Taffly? This piece is adorable – such a feeling of adventure with the trail of Tafflies and Reddhotts stretching out to the horizon. There's a story to be told here! For the pirate portrait, it's a very relaxed pose with a great connection to the viewer as the pastel-dressed pirate looks directly out at you. As they're an Order of Souls Emissary, they're probably looking into your soul and predicting a dark future (but in a sunny and happy way). Looking at the Juno portrait, it's a very Gears-esque reimagining – I wonder what kind of transformation Lupus would need to fit into this updated universe…"

To end May's art collection, the boys were back in town with @RetroSaudade on Twitter putting together a Battletoads group shot of Rash, Zitz and Pimple all mid-morph. Happy 30th by the way lads, age hasn't made you any less radical. Rounding it out was a lovely sketch of Banjo and Kazooie from Instagrammer laury_tinnemans where it looks like they jumped out of a lost-long cartoon from the '50s, along with a piece from DeviantArt's Feedback99 which shows Sea of Thieves' Warden Chi knocking out a fine tune. Over to Ryan for his thoughts on May's final picks:

"Great use of foreshortening in this piece showing the Battletoads, it's tricky to pull off. I also like the framing of the ram horns combined with Pimple's snort. If you can 'hear' an image then the artist has done a good job! I love this rendition of Warden Chi too, the way it takes a typically aggressive character and renders them in a bright and airy way. I can just imagine the other Ashen Lords gathered around enjoying a BBQ on their break from terrorising pirates. Speaking of fresh new takes, this rendition of Banjo and Kazooie is really something – there's such a sense of connection between them here just before they set out on their next adventure. Fantastic work."

That's it for our colossal catch-up on April and May's art – thanks again to Ryan for his critique and to all of you for letting us see your artwork! We're constantly looking for more pieces to add to the halls of our gallery every week and show off on social channels, so make sure you tag us on the social media platform of your choice so we can easily find them. Check out our dedicated gallery on Facebook, our Instagram page where we also feature the occasional piece and of course the weekly #FanArtFriday spotlights on Twitter for our most up-to-date selections!

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