Fifth entry in my Platformer Concept series. The level trope for this one is a factory level-an "Eternal Engine" level to be precise. Not much going on here, but the small platform on the right (with the box) is supposed to be suspended in mid-air, and of course there's some lava going on front and center. This factory is also supposed to be suspended in the air, if you look to the bottom-left, you can see some clouds around what's supposed to be a giant thick pillar holding the factory in the air. I had a bit of trouble wondering what to add to the background, so I went for a foundry approach-some suspended platforms in the distance, located next to a huge container of lava (as well as a huge bucket of the stuff suspended over it), as well as a crane, a robotic claw, and a watchtower.

This is more of a experimental piece, as it's the first for me to use rulers so I could have straight lines and use multiple planes to give the setting a more three-dimensional perspective rather than the 2D perspective in past drawings, so the overall look is supposed to be more of a "2.5D" feel here. Was going to include my Marlow character in here, but I couldn't draw him right and thus erased him to prevent the paper from getting more worn out as it was from excessive erasing. Is (hopefully) one of the last few pieces I did on lined paper.

The color version is illustrated in Adobe Photoshop Elements 10--the last one to be illustrated in that program, future Platformer Concepts will be illustrated in Paint Tool SAI. This one I think has a nice mix of gradient and "painted" colors, with the gradient colors taking up the lion's share of colors for this picture. The gradient colors I think help give the factory/foundry vibrancy, especially regarding the portions near the lava; as I was able to use the gradient colors to give a nice "reflection" of the lava's heat/colors off the walls and platforms. The painted sections I think help the lava look "flowing," give the platforms an "aged" look of an old factory, and give the sky, clouds, and background walls a "smoky" look, which is to be expected in a foundry / a factory with lava moving about. Most of the shapes here are also parallelograms, which made the process of tracing and coloring the picture here a lot faster than previous pictures. And whereas Marlowe was initially considered but erased out of the original scan, I also was able to put Tab in here, running alongside the platform with the light of the lava reflecting off his body.

Original titles and art date publications:

Platformer Concept 5 [Color] (1): December 28th, 2013

Platformer Concept 5 (2): October 15th, 2013