Sprite Papercrafts: TheToaster’s shop
Megan Hughes (“TheToaster” on Etsy) primarily sells Mega Man papercrafts: cutouts of the Blue Bomber himself, Jewel Man, Galaxy Man, Splash Woman (pictured right), and others. She learned how to create this type of art in her college life-drawing class, but her work gradually evolved into more figurative illustrations. Two years ago, they turned into sprites when her fiancé bought Mega Man for their Xbox.
“Working with sprites is great because they have very clear and straightforward designs,” said Hughes. “I can be creative with the paper and textures I use as well as their construction itself, but Mega Man will always be Mega Man, no matter how he is put together.”
Hughes says the cutouts in her shop now are good sellers, and she’s also working on Mario and The Legend of Zelda papercrafts per a friend’s request.
“My materials are pretty simple: paper, glue, X-Acto knife, and cutting mat,” she said. “I start by sketching out the character on a piece of graph paper, and from there, I decide how to separate the body into different layers. I try to give these flat characters a bit of dimension by putting different parts — like Mega Man’s head, for example — on a separate layer than the rest of the body. This can get quite complex for some of the bosses because there are so many parts to their design!”
Her interest in the artistic side of video games goes deeper than making papercrafts. “My fiancé is a computer programmer, and we have been talking about making our own game for quite a while now,” she said. “We both graduated from CalArts [California Institute of the Arts] as animation majors, and we’ve done a few animation tests that merged his character designs with my cutouts. This project has been shelved for a while now because we don’t really have the time and money to dedicate to it, but it’s always been something we’ve wanted to do.”
Favorite game: Cave Story
3D Sprite Creations: BraveDeity’s shop
Ashley Godbold (“BraveDeity” on Etsy) is all about Minecraft. Her “Minecraft menagerie and Perler Bead creations” are a result of a bout of insomnia she experienced in early summer.
“I started out by making a few 2D things for my husband: Gomez from Fez and an action pose of Mega Man X,” she said. “However, I found 2D to be kind of boring and not challenging. My first 3D creations were a Super Meat Boy and a Bandage Girl. When I snapped all the pieces together, it was like I had just made my own Legos, and I was instantly hooked on making 3D projects.”
Godbold starts by drawing the pattern on 5-mm graph paper. Since she doesn’t use any glue, visualizing how the pieces will fit together takes time, particularly with the more complex objects. “But that’s the part that I enjoy most — trying to figure out how to make a 2D image wrap around in 3D space and snap together perfectly,” she said.
“When working with Perler Beads, you lay the beads on a pegboard to keep them lined up. I use clear, plastic pegboards so I can lay them on top of the pattern. Since I use 5-mm graph paper, it is a perfect match in size, so it makes it pretty easy to lay the beads out and ‘mass-produce’ the projects. After I have placed all the beads in the correct pattern, I have to iron them so that they melt together into flat sheets.
The last part of the process — her favorite part, as mentioned above — is one she refers to as “Perler surgery.” “I feel like I’m performing surgery on my little figures,” she said. “Sometimes I make mistakes in the initial design and have to cut little pieces off with an X-Acto knife or add beads to places using a super tiny iron.”
Minecraft works well for the 3D figures, says Godbold, because of the “boxy design.” Her Minecraft light-up pumpkins are strong sellers, and she made a Creeper out of wooden blocks for her husband’s desk (pictured left). Other projects are a little tougher. “There is a limitation to the beads, especially since I refuse to use glue,” she said. “So not all of the games I like would translate well to bead work.” Right now, she’s creating the Ender Dragon from Minecraft (her “masterpiece,” she jokes), which will extend 5 feet with a 5-foot wingspan when finished.
“I’ve bought every black Perler Bead within a 10-mile radius of my house trying to finish this guy,” she says.
Godbold works almost exclusively with Perler Beads, but she’s also been importing Nabbi and Hama Beads to expand her pallet. “Hama makes these tiny beads that are really cute to work with, but they are only available to purchase overseas and can be expensive to ship,” she said.
It sounds like a lot of work, but Godbold wants to continue to refine her creations and techniques. “I’m thinking I may have to break down and start using glue so that I can make more curved figures,” she said. “I’m also considering maybe making larger scale projects so that I can still not use glue and achieve a rounded look. … Now that I’m actually sleeping, I don’t have as much time to work on new projects as I’d like.”
Favorite games: Minecraft, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, Fallout 3, Mass Effect 2, The Legend of Zelda: Minish Cap, Ghost Trick, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, Portal 2, Deadly Premonition, and Leisure Suit Larry 6: Shape Up or Slip Out
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