Steph Laberis is one of the many talented artists to be featured in “Super Button Mashers” coming to OhNo!Doom this Saturday (mere days away, can you stand it?!).  Steph is an avid gamer and illustrator/character designer whose skills have made her an active player in the creative gaming industry.  You can frequently find her whimsical and infectiously retro sticker series popping up on Little Big Planet from time to time, for example.  Below she confesses the love of her favorite (and mine) of console eras (16bit) and of beloved games Secret of Mana and Chrono Trigger.  classics. - Max: DOOMscribe  What possessed you to choose this game as the subject of your piece? Self-centered wish fulfillment! I kid. Mostly. My piece is a character named Flammie from Secret of Mana,  one of my favorite RPGs from my favorite era of gaming, the 16-bit era. I remember seeing this amazing plush model of Flammie in Nintendo Power back in ‘93 and getting incredibly excited, both for the game and erroneously thinking that there would be a plush toy line to go with the game. Of course, the plush used in the photos was a one-off and my wish was never granted. Over the last year I have picked up needle felting as a hobby and realized that I may have the skills, 19 years later, to make the Flammie I had always dreamed of. This show was the perfect opportunity to accept the challenge and put one more Flammie in the world and I am using more than felting to bring him to life; I even wired him with a speaker so that he makes Flammie’s signature cry when you squeeze his right paw. What was your favorite video game as a youngin’? Oh man, loaded question! I think it’s a tie for me, between The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past and Chrono Trigger. Those games are masterpieces and hold up better than most 3D overly-rendered garbage you see on consoles these days.  Playing anything now? I’ve been enjoying the virtual console on my 3DS, played through Metroid II: The Return of Samus recently for the first time in 15 years. Still trying to find the time to finish Skyward Sword, Okamiden, Little Big Planet 2 and Professor Layton. I do work in time for Mario Kart 7 though, I’ll put you all to shame! What amazing projects are currently devouring your time? You mean my day job? Though it’s devouring my time, I wouldn’t call it amazing. I am taking a traditional animation course right now to level-up my portfolio and defeat the boss of self-doubt to find my way into the mystical realm of feature animation. I am also working on a virtual storybook for ipad starring a kick-ass little red panda. Once I have a little more free time, I would love to try my hand at making felties of characters from Okami, Final Fantasy VI and my good friend’s Brianne Drouhard’s original character, Billie the Unicorn. You can get your Steph updates here:   http://stephsketches.blogspot.com/ And see Flammie’s progress here:  http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.250003281740818.58672.133615386712942&type=1

Steph Laberis is one of the many talented artists to be featured in “Super Button Mashers” coming to OhNo!Doom this Saturday (mere days away, can you stand it?!).  Steph is an avid gamer and illustrator/character designer whose skills have made her an active player in the creative gaming industry.  You can frequently find her whimsical and infectiously retro sticker series popping up on Little Big Planet from time to time, for example.  Below she confesses the love of her favorite (and mine) of console eras (16bit) and of beloved games Secret of Mana and Chrono Trigger.  classics.

- Max: DOOMscribe 

  • What possessed you to choose this game as the subject of your piece?
Self-centered wish fulfillment! I kid. Mostly. My piece is a character named Flammie from Secret of Mana,  one of my favorite RPGs from my favorite era of gaming, the 16-bit era. I remember seeing this amazing plush model of Flammie in Nintendo Power back in ‘93 and getting incredibly excited, both for the game and erroneously thinking that there would be a plush toy line to go with the game. Of course, the plush used in the photos was a one-off and my wish was never granted. Over the last year I have picked up needle felting as a hobby and realized that I may have the skills, 19 years later, to make the Flammie I had always dreamed of. This show was the perfect opportunity to accept the challenge and put one more Flammie in the world and I am using more than felting to bring him to life; I even wired him with a speaker so that he makes Flammie’s signature cry when you squeeze his right paw.
  • What was your favorite video game as a youngin’?
Oh man, loaded question! I think it’s a tie for me, between The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past and Chrono Trigger. Those games are masterpieces and hold up better than most 3D overly-rendered garbage you see on consoles these days. 
  • Playing anything now?
I’ve been enjoying the virtual console on my 3DS, played through Metroid II: The Return of Samus recently for the first time in 15 years. Still trying to find the time to finish Skyward Sword, Okamiden, Little Big Planet 2 and Professor Layton. I do work in time for Mario Kart 7 though, I’ll put you all to shame!
  • What amazing projects are currently devouring your time?
You mean my day job? Though it’s devouring my time, I wouldn’t call it amazing. I am taking a traditional animation course right now to level-up my portfolio and defeat the boss of self-doubt to find my way into the mystical realm of feature animation. I am also working on a virtual storybook for ipad starring a kick-ass little red panda. Once I have a little more free time, I would love to try my hand at making felties of characters from Okami, Final Fantasy VI and my good friend’s Brianne Drouhard’s original character, Billie the Unicorn.

You can get your Steph updates here:   http://stephsketches.blogspot.com/

And see Flammie’s progress here:  http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.250003281740818.58672.133615386712942&type=1


Posted 1 year ago
10 notes
Tagged: steph laberis, super button mashers, ohnodoom, video games, secret of mana, flammie, felties, felting, plush, 16bit, NES, little big planet, chrono trigger, dragon, gallery, chicago, gamer, .