One of my biggest videogaming inspirations, Daisuke Ishiwatari is the sole creator of Guilty Gear. But not only is he a video game developer, he's also an artist, writer, composer, voice actor and musician. So to top if all off, not only does he completely create the amazing story and characters of GG on his own but also creates the music to it and voice acts as the main protagonist, Sol Badguy. While Blazblue is not created by him, the musical composition and many art pieces are derived from him - with his own game being direct inspiration to Blazeblue to begin with.
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Ishiwatari gives the Guilty Gear cast a distinct sense of fashion. His artwork trends towards details in stitching, buttons, belts and a strong sense of future-fantasy wear. He even created an imaginary clothing company in the future, ironically named Riot, which is Sol Badguy's favorite clothing line. His costumes are layered and have a sense of the modern coupled with a sense of the fantastic. His line work is also particularly strong and his costuming layered and textured giving each character a sense of style and personality that can be identified by the clothes that they wear.
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The outlandish, flambouyant designs are what I believe to be of significant purpose in regards to 2D fighting games and Ishiwatari completely hits the nail of the head. There are certain tropes and details he brings to the table that are definietly a homage to the genre in generalistic terms. One is the 'The Rule of Cool' and the other is the whole 'My clothes are sweeter then yours' thing the characters have going on. It's not a new notion but he completely makes it feel like a breath of really awesome, badass air. If there is such a term.
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It's pretty safe to say that as an artist I completely adore this man. What I've taken away from his style to embody my own is immense. The exaggerated life brought into the characters comes from not only bright designs but from the fresh energetic posing style. They look animated, pushing movements as far as possible. The attitude and spunk is clearly understood from the very get go and is what makes Ishiwatari's art shine the most. The characters are confident and exude energy and yet it clearly isn't taking itself seriously. There is a playfulness and sense of fun to the best pieces of work and that trend is something very influential in my approach. It's the fun factor.
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Mary Ann, lives for no one. The Empress of Vector, Lady of the Canadian Hockey and all things Japanish. Strenght, Fortitude and Patience, just keep cruisin'.
