'Ugh'

OK, so the actual title of the colorful piece of pop art, produced by deviantartist melonjaywalk (aka Francis Gordon), that serves as the focal point of this post is "Hero." I really love the speech-bubble-wrapped "ugh" that appears in its upper-left corner, though, so that's what I went with when I came up with the header above.

Anyway, should one or more of you fine folks know which game the sprite showcased in "Hero" was pulled from, I'd greatly appreciate being enlightened as to its name in the comments section below.

'Yr Surprising No-One'

I'm not entirely sure what inspired artist melonjaywalk to produce this lovely piece of art, but I think it may have been Far Cry 4's controversial cover imagery.

Of course, it's possible I'm just reading too much into this quote, which Francis (melonjaywalk's actual first name) posted alongside his pixelated painting:

"I feel lame to the max seeming as the only way I could identify a character as 'gay' in this is via the colour pink, but I guess being obvious is better than abstraction at this point."



The sprites included in this acrylic-on-canvas creation were pulled from 1995's Super Bomberman 3 (SNES/Super Famicom), by the way--which is one of the few Bomberman games I've yet to experience.

Anyway, if you'd like to check out more of melonjaywalk's stuff--and why on earth wouldn't you want to do that?--saunter over to his deviantart.com gallery at your earliest convenience.

See also: 'Don't get yr hopes up'

'Don't get yr hopes up'

I know I tend to present myself as a rather peppy and positive person on line, but believe me when I tell you I have a cynical side. (Just ask my husband if you want confirmation.)

I share that to explain both why I like the painting below--the title of which serves as this post's header, by the way--as well as why I've liked pretty much every piece of art New Zealand-based deviantart user melonjaywalk has produced.



It also should help explain why I got such a kick out of a note melonjaywalk published along with the painting, which was inspired by a scene in Sonic the Hedgehog 3: "Was originally just a landscape before I decided that I just needed to ruin it somehow. So, text."

To see more of melonjaywalk's stuff, go to melonjaywalk.deviantart.com or melonjaywalk.tumblr.com.

Duck Hunt x 3

I'm a sucker both for Nintendo's Duck Hunt and for the works of the artist known as SUIKA (or melonjaywalk), so I couldn't help but share the following photo here.

By the way, is anyone else wondering why in the hell Nintendo has never given us a Duck Hunt sequel? Sure, a similar game was packed within the first Wii Play, but that wasn't what I was looking for.



I can understand why the company wouldn't want to release such a title via retail, of course, but doing so digitally could be a pretty successful endeavor, if you ask me.

Or maybe I'm completely alone in wanting to return to Duck Hunt's grassy plains?

You really can't have too much Mario-inspired art, can you?

Does the headline above--or, rather, the fact that just a few words of it flow into the second line--drive any of you nuts?

Honestly, it drives me nuts, but I'm too lazy right now to rewrite it in a way that will be less annoying.

Anyway, who cares about that, right? We're hear to talk about Mario-inspired art! Specifically, we're here to talk about the Mario-inspired art seen in the photo below (and here).



It was made by "The Artist Known as SUIKA™," by the way. (Sorry for the playful editorializing there, SUIKA.)

Oh, and the Mario sprite that's front and center on this canvas was pulled from Super Mario Bros. Deluxe, a GameBoy Color title released in 2000.

To see more of this talented artist's stuff, check out melonjaywalk.blogspot.com.

Mike Tyson says: 'The movie was okay'

The following illustration makes me think a lot more art should be inspired by--or make use of imagery from--Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!

Oh, and most of said art should be rather obtuse like the piece below.

Don't get me wrong, art that uses game imagery in a more straightforward manner--like this Soda Popinski illustration--is cool, too, but I generally prefer art that displays some creativity and individuality.

Speaking of which, the painting above was produced by deviantartist melonjaywalk, who shares that it "was done as a gift for a friend of mine based on some of her favorite things--which included movie reviews and The New Yorker."

(Via melonjaywalk.blogspot.com)