Castle in the Mist

There hasn't been much in the way of extremely meticulous, video game-inspired, mechanical pencil drawings from me since the winter, I believe. That was because, in the spring, I was able to get by without really taking notes, so I decided to read alot during class. This semester I need to take more notes, so reading is just too distracting, but I need something to keep me awake, and that's drawing again.

This is from the PlayStation 2 game Ico, developed by the same studio that created Shadow of the Colossus, its prequel. I've never been one to believe this game to be the strongest proponent of the "games as art" field, like many fans do, but it is certainly one of the more powerfully emotional experiences I've found in video games. Maybe after all, in that way, it really can be art at its finest.

This is the cover art of the European and Japanese game release. The american release got screwed, as it often does, with boring/stupid cover art. It was done by the genius himself that is Fumito Ueda, lead designer of Ico and the studio's subsequent games. It was inspired byThe Nostalgia of the Infinite by Giorgio de Chirico [link] I feel it represents the ambience of the game pretty well. This is all mechanical pencil. No color this time, sorry.

For Ico and Yorda, ideal in their fiction.