Haley Hylia

I, as many other brave souls before me, have finally endeavoured down the path of digital darkness AKA the “Breed Out the Ugly” challenge in TS4! With much help from my fiance, I present Arnie Slugchugger. He’s paranoid, unflirty, dastardly, and self-absorbed (of course). Is there a sweet young thing out there capable of smoothing out all of Arnie’s, er, roughness? We’ll find out!

Once upon a time... ...I made some LOZ “storybook” cover art :) I imagined these as leather, hardbound covers of old books written about the adventures of standout characters in Hyrule’s history like, for example, Midna or (or even Tingle).  + More art + details in my DeviantArt gallery

My born in-game sim, Celestia, when she *finally* won that coveted Starlight Accolade for Best Acting Performance! She was a heavily pregnant comedic pirate captain but she obviously nailed what everyone was looking for...so hooray! :D lol

Happy Jin havin’ a happy soak~

Throwback to many many moons ago in 2015 in the height of my vector art obsession! Sort of inspired by the Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker and its stained glass art style, but not really. I just liked the look of stained glass a lot! :D This was, in hindsight, my first step towards my classical portrait series.  Only did 2 of these but enjoyed them both :) + More art + info at my DeviantArt gallery

Lady Cloud Strife, Flower of the Honey Bee Inn ~ (Final Fantasy VII Remake) A reworking of a portrait of Amalia de Llano y Dotres, condesa de Vilches from 1853 by Federico de Madrazo y Kuntz. Thank you, Square Enix, for making Cloud-in-a-Dress canon way back in 1997 and for taking this to the ultra next level in 2020. I couldn’t help myself. It’s just too good to *not* give the classical portrait treatment. Easily my magnum opus. I don’t know where to go from here. but it’s worth it! + HQ art prints available through my Etsy shop + More art & info on DeviantArt

Horizon Zero Dawn is all kinds of gorgeous.

Link + Thor = Think? Lor? Thonk? THE MIGHTY THONK. Oh yeah. That. Right there. That’s the winner.  Throwback to 2016 or something when I made this crossover piece for LOZ x Avengers. Because sometimes you’ve just gotta be silly! Haven’t seen Love & Thunder yet but soon! :D A follower suggested he’s carrying the Megaton hammer vs Mjolnir, which I loved. Gotta love LOZ fans.

Vitruvian Minion [Blueprint + Paper versions] ~ Despicable Me A despicable take on Leonardo da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man from c. 1490. ...because I couldn’t resist. I enjoyed making both of these versions; the blueprint one was first to go with Gru and his constant dastardly plans per the movies, but the second historical version was done as more of a direct/obvious parody of Vitruvian Man. Because where exactly did the minions even come from? Did Gru design them? Did they just pop up out of the ground? Are they from some distant land a la Willy Wonka and the Oompa-Loompas? Who knows! Fun fact: the text featured on the two pieces really is Leonardo da Vinci’s notes on Vitruvian Man - it’s just the accepted Russian translation~! ;)

No edits, filters, or effects needed. Just snow.

The Wedding of Yuna ~ (Final Fantasy X) A reworking of Franz Xaver Winterhalter’s masterpiece portrait of Queen Victoria on her wedding day to Prince Albert in 1840.  One of the most difficult but rewarding pieces I’ve done to date is this one of Yuna, how I picture she’d look on the heartfelt wedding day of her choice to the one she loves.  I’ll give you an interesting fact about this portrait: it’s mostly men who buy it. They always say how much they love Yuna being portrayed in a classy, elegant, utterly sophisticated way... ...basically exactly the opposite of FFX-2 which everyone seems to try to forget. Ehehehe... This piece was, for a long time, the record-holder for amount of hours spent strictly due to the enormous pearl necklace Queen Victoria had on. Removing it and re-painting the entire neck/decolletage area with a mouse to fit in with Winterhalter’s pre-existing paint job was no small feat. I walked away from this piece for a good 2+ weeks before coming back and deciding it was done. I hate when that happens! :P  + HQ art prints available through my Etsy shop + More info & art in my DeviantArt gallery

Portrait of a Witcher, Geralt of Rivia ~ (The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt) A reworking of Antonis Mor van Dashorst's "Portrait of a man" from 1561. I used to be proud of only using a mouse to make these portraits, but now I just sort of *head desk* when thinking about it. Simpler, more straightforward pieces came out fine, but achieving the level of detail I really wanted - and sometimes needed - was impossible without the right tool; unfortunately, the classical portrait of Geralt I did (a la Blood & Wine style) became the true cautionary tale that proved that observation. While I used a pen tablet for the chain work (omg why paint someone wearing chains?!) I didn’t in other areas, like his face. The result was definitely not the best & after having that shoddy af job framed nicely on my wall, I couldn’t take it anymore & re-f*&%ing did it. Painted. Every. Beard. Hair. Individually. Three. Colours. Ouch. Let’s just say my wrist wasn’t happy with it, but my heart was! <3 Along with the other massive overhauls, this has become one of my personal bests. I am so glad I went back and fixed everything that was bothering me. You can’t actually see a lot of the revisions I did when it’s printed as A4 or smaller, but the main thing is that *I know* they’re there. And as an artist, it gives me confidence to put my work out there knowing that I’m much happier with it. + HQ art prints through my Etsy shop + More info & art in my DeviantArt gallery

An emotional ending, whichever way you chose.

Zelda, Princess of Hyrule ~ (The Legend of Zelda series) A reworking of a portrait of Alexandra of Denmark, Princess of Wales by Franz Xaver Winterhalter from 1864. Princess Zelda, sweet sweet Zelda. I was really proud of this portrait when I made it. Even though my happiness with it has waned in the years since I created this, I’m still flattered deeply by how much people like it. It was an early go at the whole classical portrait thing, and - like Midna - Princess Zelda is a character I would like to have a 2nd attempt at with improved skills and tools. My favourite story about this piece is that in 2019, Patricia Summersett (VOA for Zelda in Breath of the Wild) attended Auckland Armageddon where I was selling prints of my art for the first time. A supporter of mine took a print to her & the reaction was amazing. She loved it. I was so flattered. One day, I’ll do another Princess Zelda. But for now, this hangs in the halls of Hyrule Castle (at least in my mind)! + HQ art prints through my Etsy shop + More info & art in my DeviantArt gallery