Rare Fan Art Gallery Showcase #4

We return from another trek into the darkest depths of the fan art jungle, with treasures aplenty from talented Rare fans – welcome to our latest Fan Art Showcase! Art Director Ryan, our perennial critic, is with us to appraise each piece as he was for the first, second and third instalments, so please enjoy this look back at the additions to the gallery in August, September and some of October. Please refrain from flash photography, live-streaming or snide commentary during the tour – that’s our job. Also, remember to buy something in the gift shop at the end of the exhibition.

Opening August’s gallery were these oil painting coasters from @HappyPaintings1 on Twitter, showing scenes from around the Sea of Thieves. We obviously know where all these locations are, but we’d love it if you named them all… just so we know you know. Also in this batch was a sketch of a rather frazzled Conker by Instagram’s manunavaart, and a really quite impressive Bionicle version of Banjo and Kazooie by BioTubeTV on DeviantArt – look at those claws! Let’s pass these to Ryan for his expert analysis:

“Great to see someone breaking out the oil paints for these classic views of the Sea of Thieves! It’s good to see The Devil’s Roar represented too, and as they’re on coasters you get a little glimpse of the world every time you take a drink. Really nice watercolour work on the Conker piece, the manic smile and lack of pupils in his eyes make him look like he’s really had a long day. There’s some clever use of frazzled fur to suggest the action he’s just been through too. As for the Lego Banjo, amazing work finding all the pieces needed, and I love the attention to detail in things like the blue body connector to emulate Banjo’s backpack – but he doesn’t seem that friendly with those big claws. Wonder what Grunty would look like alongside this rather robust bear?”

Continuing with our August series, the next set of inductees was headlined by this rather lovely image of Piñatas chilling out by Inkywyrm on DeviantArt. That Cocoadile is definitely plotting something nefarious, we can just feel it. Filling out the rest of this trio was a chibi version of Zitz from Battletoads (complete with rather large head) by Instagram artist freehand207, and this charming pirate self-portrait of Twitterer @DrawingProzac’s own buccaneer, Aeleah. Now Ryan – thoughts on these three?

“I love to see the Piñatas co-existing harmoniously, so this group shot is really rather lovely. There’s some great use of colour variation to create the illusion of fur, and the expressions on their faces are wonderful. That Camello looks so happy! There’s some great musculature detail in the Zitz piece, like the vein popping out on his bicep – a real sense of readiness for action, you can almost hear him grinding those teeth. Looking at the pirate portrait, the textural brushes combined with the selective use of dark outlines and the decorative edging make this piece really pop. With that relaxed expression and the outfit selection, you can sense that this pirate’s a bit of a romantic.”

August’s weekly selections rolled on, offering this headshot of a grinning Rash with prominent pearly whites from dragomir1281 over on Instagram. Rounding out this set was Killer Instinct’s Orchid in that peak ’90s leotard from DeviantArt’s Xxxphx, and a lovely pirate portrait from @PurpleAlmonds on Twitter, decked out in only the finest Pirate Legend-exclusive Ghost clothing. Over to Ryan for his impressions on this trio:

“Always a welcome treat to see some real-world drawing with markers. This nicely stylised take on Rash has slightly more human proportions and a real sheen to him, especially the light bouncing off his glasses. I’m intrigued by who’s hidden behind the markers up on the top left too! For the Orchid drawing, it’s nice to see another member of the Killer Instinct roster outside the usual suspects like Fulgore and Spinal. Creative use of lighting effects here on the batons, like she’s wielding two massive sparklers! Very seasonally appropriate. The Pirate Legend portrait is dripping with personality – a really cute rendition, especially with the cheering. It’s got a classic American illustration feel to it, like something from an old Saturday morning cartoon.”

Bringing August to a close was this triad of pieces, with a rather peaceful sketch of Sea of Thieves’ Masked Stranger by DeviantArtist Cokomon leading the charge. What’s she got on that parchment – her next devious scheme? Orders for the Dark Brethren? Maybe just her shopping list. Complementing this was a humorous rendition of Viva Piñata’s resident hunter Gretchen and a ragin’ Roario by DeviantArt denizen AuburnAutumnEagle, along with this moody reimagining of the opening scene of Banjo-Tooie by Twitterer @FUser0660. So Ryan, give it to us straight – what are your thoughts on these?

“The flat colours and use of both hard and soft shadow make the Masked Stranger pop out from the background here, and the window effect creates a 3D effect that draws you in. We’re used to seeing her up to nefarious things, so seeing her enjoying a nice day at the beach is quite refreshing. For the Gretchen sketch, this one really made me laugh! I love her cheeky smile and pose, compared to the Roario who could not be angrier. The flat colours are reminiscent of how I originally designed the Piñatas, starting with their base colours and then layering on shadow and other detail. As for the Banjo piece, it’s a really interesting reimagining of this scene, especially with Grunty brought into the poker game. Great range of character poses – I love the stylisation of Kazooie with her big pompadour. Good job she’s there because Banjo, bless him, looks completely lost!”

Leaving summer behind and trudging into September, we kicked off the next batch with this striking portrayal of Kameo by DeviantArt’s arekuart. She’s looking very focused on something – either that or she’s zoned out while someone’s hit pause. The other gallery inductees in this set were a toadally radical Zitz sketch by frequent fan art flyer @Banana_Meteor on Twitter, and this 8-bit re-imagining of a Sea of Thieves sloop by marcelish on DeviantArt. Let’s pass it over to Ryan for his comments:

“This portrait of Kameo has a nice mixture of realism and exaggeration, with the skin, hair and metal textures alongside those large expressive eyes. I’d love to see how this artistic approach would be applied to the Elemental Warriors like Pummel Weed with his leaves. And the 8-bit Sloop, be still my beating heart! The Game Boy’s art style is what inspired young me to get into the games industry, and this is some delightful limited-colour palette work and compression. As for Zitz, the style of the 2020 Battletoads is captured expertly in those roundish features while still making him look powerful. The marker work is great, and that lovely purple background really focuses the attention.”

Continuing with September’s selection, our second set for this month saw this detailed Viva Piñata landscape by @ZekerToons take the spotlight. The more you look at it, the more you notice – like Professor Pester skulking in the background. Also in this set was a quite frankly adorable set of Conker doodles from Trufflx on DeviantArt, as well as a Sea of Thieves tarot card from roguexspirit on Instagram showing Duke as the Hanged Man. Let’s go over to our own fortune teller Ryan and see what the cards say about this batch:

“Wow, look at this Viva Piñata scene! Leafos and that very expressive Galagoogoo look like they’re about to head out on some epic adventure together. There’s so much going on, it feels like the sort of key image we build for games like Sea of Thieves to tell a story in a moment. Nice use of focus too, with the background elements rendered more loosely than the foreground to draw the viewer’s eye. The Conker doodles are just adorable, especially the one with the crown and little glass of milk. This is a Conker who’s lived a very different life and probably not had the same sort of adventures at all! It’s also a great example of how you can leave out features like hands and feet but the eye still reads them. Onto poor Duke, and rendering him as a tarot card really feels like it fits the time and style of Sea of Thieves. Nice sense of wear and tear too, and using the Hanged Man chimes with how he sits now within the wider story after turning to the dark side.”

The march through September continued with our third art offering championing the all-powerful Lord of Games from Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts in this portrait by Twitter’s @ZIPPYFILE49. We hope old L.O.G. is doing well in the games factory – he’s always a big help whenever update day rolls around. Rounding out this selection were a muscular group shot of the Battletoads by Instagram’s adrianoalmeida.2, and a sweet-looking pirate by @laiafloreslledo over on Twitter. Quick, Ryan! Thoughts on these!

“What a callback with this L.O.G. drawing! It’s great to see such a long-forgotten character again, though he’s looking particularly worried at whatever’s out of frame. The Pong paddle eyes are really expressive and I love seeing his mouse minions pop up too. For the ’Toads, lots of fun little graphical choices like the half-tone effect, multiple white line edging and things like the black mouths and dazzlingly white teeth really help it stand out – feels very much like a comic book cover. And what I love about this pirate portrait is how the use of lighting creates a real softness and sense of intimacy with the viewer. Like a sunset at the end of a memorable adventure! The warm, peachy feel shows that not everything has to be super-saturated in colour.”

Capping off our journey through September was a batch of art including this celebratory sketch of Banjo and the gang playing together, courtesy of @SuperKrazyBones over on Twitter. This, of course, was to mark the crowd-pleasing news that the OG 1998 Banjo-Kazooie will be released on the Nintendo Switch in the near future. Also in this end-of-month batch was an amazing Watchling and Bunnycomb tattoo by pewpewraygun on Instagram, and this brooding pirate portrait by recent Sea of Thieves Community Spotlight star, @iDrawhomer. Ryan, please regale us with your critique:

“This is a lovely stylised rendition of Banjo and the gang – great to see a social moment of them kicking back and having fun, rather than always being out questing. The difference in expressions is great: Banjo and Mumbo are loving it, Humba’s not that impressed and Kazooie looks like she’s about to flip! The light coming off the screen really helps shape the front of the image too. And this Watchling tattoo, well, it’s just ridiculously good. We designed the Night Watchling to be a spooky character who scares things away with his crazy head, but this version is adorable, and the colour work and perspective would be impressive even if it wasn’t tattooed on someone’s body. So flattering to see things like this! And this Sea of Thieves piece really captures the game’s painterly art style in choices like the chiselling of facial features, while also emulating the style of a pin-up poster. The doughnut tattoo is a lovely touch to naturally bring the artist’s mark into the piece.”

Kicking off the month of spooks, scares and frights, October’s first fan art selection brought us an expressive Sea of Thieves piece from @Gamchawizzy on Twitter, showing a banana-wielding pirate facing down a Kraken. Based on our experience, a pineapple would probably be the better fruit choice, but this pirate seems to be relishing the challenge. Also in the set was an action shot of Rash and his big bad boot from Instagrammer qatrow, along with a sleepy-looking Conker brandishing a frying pan by DeviantArt’s PlaycenterMD. Let’s segue over to Ryan for his laser-focused art breakdown:

“Always lovely to see someone bring their own unique style to the world of Sea of Thieves. There’s a wonderful textural quality to this scene, from the deck of the ship through to the clouds, and that pirate has so much character! Not many people would face down the Kraken with such a big sassy grin. The Conker sketch has a very nice pastel feel, with some lovely dark/light line work on areas like his gloves to create that internal contrast. His expression is also great, like he can’t wait for a rest after a day of whacking things with that pan. As for Rash – wow, so much foreshortening! His whole body feels like it’s morphing, and there’s a great feeling of motion to the kick. The line work here is super-clean with just a touch of chromatic aberration on the lines further back, and nice suggestive touches like the lines of the fingers you don’t fully see.”

We always want to leave you wanting more, so we’re finishing up this art tour with October’s second batch – led by this clash of slightly lesser-known Rare characters Piddles and Pipsy by @FroggyWithFriez on Twitter. Either Pipsy has shrunk since we last saw her, or Piddles got into Grunty’s potion cabinet and drunk all the Humongo-Brew. Complementing this piece was a sketch of a rather jolly Spinal from Killer Instinct by Instagram’s ban_box_, along with a melding of two pirate worlds by pirate poster-maker @AidenMcKellan, showing one Guybrush Threepwood washing up on the shores of the Sea of Thieves. Over to Ryan for the big finish!

“We’re crossing the streams a bit here! You can clearly tell there’s a story going on with Pipsy and Piddles, though I’m not sure I want to know how it ends… The expressions are the key to making this one work – Piddles in particular looks downright malevolent. Meanwhile, this version of Spinal looks way more jocular than the mean lad we’re used to. I could just imagine him making some comedy quip as you hit him, especially with that sideways jabbering jaw, and his head bouncing off down the road shouting at you if he lost the fight. A very nice reimagining. Now, the Monkey Island version of Sea of Thieves, what can I say? Monkey Island is in the DNA of Sea of Thieves (I sat next to our Creative Director Mike during early development and he had it as his desktop background), so seeing Guybrush turn up like this is hilarious. There’s so much detail that you would think this was a scene from the original game – I want to see more!”

And that’s all for August, September and part of October. Big thanks to Ryan as always for his expert critique, and to all the artists featured! We’re constantly hunting for more of your fan art to feature on social channels and in these round-ups, so make sure you tag us on the social media platform of your choosing so we can spot your work. Check out our dedicated fan art 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!