The Phoenix (In Watercolor)

My efforts to paint continue.

I had wanted to do something from Science Ninja Team Gatchaman (1972-1974) a.k.a. Battle Of The Planets (1978-1980). I had really wanted to paint the G-2 or G-4, but ultimately settled on the queen mother of all mech equipment on the series in the form of The Phoenix, also a mad favorite.

As you can see I have added the nose accordingly. For a time I played with adding the G-4 operated by Keyop, but decided against it. These things are always imperfect, because it's ultimately an artistic expression. Even animators express a creator's design. These are just fun interpretations of some of the most wonderful designs in animation and a great way to create something personally rewarding. Anyway, see for yourself.

The images I took note the progress over a few weeks. It's not an overly complex piece but it's vibrant. It's always fun to see it come together and this one went as quick as transmute to the fiery Phoenix herself.

Once it was completed, I looked at a few potential mattes for the painting (as noted at the bottom in samples), but settled on the final product (the last image), which included a kind of red velvet matte with a terrific frame made of stars. I thought it looked a bit patriotic with all of the red, white and blue despite the irony of it being a Japanese-created design by Tatsunoko Productions.

Anyway, onto the next one. G-Force!