Mike Roshuk is a professional Photographic Artist, Illustrator, and Graphics Specialist based in Edmonton Alberta. He specializes in merging the worlds of photography and illustration, creating beautifully rendered artwork ranging from scenes of fantasy to pop-culture inspired images. I asked Mike to walk us through his mario world inspired composite

Whenever I’m trying to think of an idea for an image to create, I draw inspiration from aspects of pop culture that I have a strong connection with. This whole Pokemon Go craze these days has had me thinking about my favorite games from when I was growing up. Super Mario Brothers 1, 2, 3, and Super Mario World on the SNES were a huge part of my childhood. I thought it would be great to put a spin on some tribute pieces to these games.

Like with most of the images I create, I begin with a series of sketches. I took a look at a bunch of game screenshots for reference (although much of it was already burned into my subconscious anyway), and sketched out a few rough ideas based on the 3rd installment of the Mario series. Of course, I wanted to have a female version of Mario, and wanted to focus on creating some scenes with a lot of energy to them, rather than the typical pin-up style I’ve normally done in the past.

[Read More…]