Here is a shot of the work in progress of my big SFII woodcut:

It's going to be made out of two 32" panels to make an image over 5 feet long.

The image depicts Honda and Zangief fighting it out in Honda's sweet bath house stage. The CD that came with the SSF2THDR press kit is coming in quite handy for photo reference.

After the woodcut is done, I'm going to do a small edition of the prints. Stay tuned for more updates as the work comes along. I aim to be all done by Tuesday. 

Update #1 (6/21 @6pm)

I've finished all of the linework on the two panels, and I've begun the long process of actually carving them.

The perspective in the actual level was a little wonky, and replicating said wonkiness was probably the hardest part of the drawing.

This is my second woodcut ever, and the process is really fun and challenging. At 5.3', this is also one of the largest pieces I've ever done. Woodcut involves carving a panel and then covering it in ink and making prints (think of the wood as a giant rubber stamp). I have two large rolls of nice paper to print on, and I plan on making as many prints as I can. I will probably end up with and edition of 5-10. I am doing this for a monotype class, and our teacher is big proponent of working back into prints with traditional media like paint, so I might go back and watercolor one of the prints. We'll see.

Update #2 (6/23 @ 1:52 am)

After about 25 hours of carving, the woodcut is finished!

I am about to head downtown to the print shop to make my editions of the woodcut. The prints are due at 9am, so it is going to be a long, rough day/night.

For each print of each panel I have to use rollers to spread a thin layer of ink over the entire board. The board is then rolled through a printing press and the ink is transferred onto paper. The board has to be re-inked after each printing, and I have to hand-tear each sheet of paper, so I'm estimating a good 3-5 hours of work left. I'll be sure to post the finished product!

Update #3 (6/25)

The prints are all done! I did an edition of 7 of each panel. I will have photos or scans of the final product soon because I don't get them back until Friday. 

(Panel 2 all inked up)

(A Print of Panel 2)

(Panel 1 all inked up)

(A print of panel 1)

The prints are backwards because I wanted to do something slightly different from the game itself, and it's a fun nod to the sprite flipping in SFII a la Guile's tattoo.

I hope you dig them, and any comments/critiques/suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

I was lucky enough to get my hands Spyborgs, and to grill the game’s producer, Daryl, at Captivate ’09 in Monte Carlo this year, and the game really made an impression on me. Even better, the game has continued to evolve and improve. The build at E3 looks like an absolute blast.