Post a Comment On: The Dreamcast Junkyard

[Image] Inktober is an online initiative which challenges the more artistic among us to pick up a pen (or a pencil/brush/pile of elephant dung) and create a new work for every day of the month of October. It seems to be a really popular endeavour and social media is usually awash with all manner of awesome drawings around this time every year. You can find out more about Inktober here.

The reason I bring Inktober up though, is because one rather talented artist (who also happens to be a wrestler, by the way) has been steadily tweeting watercolour renditions of scenes from Yu Suzuki's epic Shenmue. The scenes will no doubt be familiar to anyone with more than a passing interest in Ryo Hazuki's adventure, and there are lots of references to some of the more humorous aspects - as well as the more poignant moments - of the game.
[Image] Artist Joe Klander - also known by his wrestling alter ego Uncle Clutch - kindly allowed us the reproduce his sterling efforts here, and we also asked him about why he chose to bring Shenmue to life through the power of watercolours:


"When Shenmue was released I was in my first year of college. I was completely blown away by how real the town felt and how much I enjoyed following around the townspeople through their routines. I played through it again years later, afraid the charm may have worn off. However, it hadn't. 

"You know the saying "you can never go home again"? How going back to your hometown isn't the same years later. People are gone. Things have changed. I felt an odd comfort that the city in Shenmue stayed the same. I felt like the people in the game have been going about their daily lives for all those years it sat on my shelf. 

"I know how silly that sounds but I get the same feeling playing Shenmue as when my mother makes apple pie the way my grandmother used it make it. I originally played it at a time in my life when the whole future was ahead of me. Again, I know it's silly but it's a part of why it means so much to me. It even peaked my interest in Japan and I've been wrestling there on and off for the past 8 years. It's not cliche to say it really did change my life."
- Joe Klander [Image] They really are excellent, and Joe's affection for the Shenmue series really shines in these little vignettes of daily life in Dobuita. As a side note, Joe also created the bespoke 'Dreamcast Junkyard' artwork below as a header for this very blog, and it has proudly entered the library of interchangeable header images we rotate through. Here are the rest of Joe's awesome works - be sure to give him a follow on Twitter. Click the images for full size versions, and please give credit if you reproduce these on your own site. Cheers! [Image] [Image] [Image] [Image] [Image] [Image] [Image] [Image] [Image] [Image] [Image] [Image] [Image] [Image] [Image] [Image] [Image] [Image] [Image] What do you think? Impressed by Joe's Work? Let us know in the comments or join the discussion in our Facebook group. You can also follow us on Twitter here.
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