THE STORY

(2021)

I was still high on my Gamera kick, and I wanted to revive an old project. I had already done a Gamera, Gyaos, and Guilon redesign, as well as a concept for Space Gyaos; while I won't call the art "bad", I feel the designs are...kinda uninspired and "directionless", for lack of a better word. (Well, Gyaos seemed to hold some water, but I feel I could push it some more.) I'm somewhat doing a Gamera version of Matt Frank's Godzilla Neo, trying to connect all the films in some way. I'll make use of the blog feature here to post the "chapters".

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Anywho, I was inspired by pangolins to give Gamera an articulated shell. I also wanted to give his carapace rotational symmetry, to make him look a bit more aerodynamic as he spins. I wanted him to have a stern, but wise look about him, so I worked in some box tortoise. The "ammonite" tusks came about because a part of me always questioned their functionality as teeth, so I made them look more ornate than as teeth. Plus, I liked giving him this spiral motif, to foreshadow his Atlantean origin.

I think what really made this design work for me is that I would consistently listen to Gamera's roar as I was coming up with ideas and even when drawing this piece. There's something very reassuring about the roar; you hear it, you know this is the call of the hero. I wanted him to match that reassurance I felt.

On a side note, the background I chose for this series of art is what I call my "sunset" backdrop. I've used it on a few pieces, including my Toybox Painting. I've seen actual sunsets with these colors, and there's something fun about using that combination of colors. Plus, it really made these characters pop.