Silent Hill Sunday #8: "Silent Hill Fan Art...?"

When a creative person enjoys a video game - take the Silent Hill series for example - sometimes he or she will compose a well-designed and emotionally fulfilling work to express his or her genuine love and appreciation. This is called "fan art."

When an uncreative person with no talent enjoys a video game, he or she will sometimes scribble a crude doodle in crayon on the back of a place mat at Friendly's while waiting for his or her Oreo Blender Blast to be served. This is fan art as well, but it could also be something called Rule 34; it's complicated and both are frowned upon by the other fans of the series.

Of those two categories, which one do you think my style fits into? See if you guessed right and take a gander at Matt's awesome Silent Hill fan art!

"Some fear death... others pray for it. Silent Hill 2"

Here's a lovely piece featuring Pyramid Head stabbing Silent Hill 2's protagonist, James Sunderland, in the head with a comically oversized spear. For some reason, PH is wearing a vest and James' pistol is approximately the length of a pool cue, but that's what I call "artistic licence." Other people call it "badly drawn," but I challenge them to do better.

"Who has time for tears? Silent Hill 3"

After some backlash from the local art critics who said that my previous works were too "avant guard," and "blood soaked," I decided to take a different route and create something that featured Silent Hill 3's Robbie the Rabbit. Dissatisfied with the piece thanks to a lack of a pink crayon at Friendly's, I decided to add a little crimson to the drawing for contrast. The freakishly massive tree-like structures on the right represent the feet of Silent Hill 3's main character, Heather Morris (or was it Heather Mason? Or Cheryl Morris? Or Cheryl Mason?). She's looking down at the dead Robbie the Rabbit she just found, though judging by the perspective, the (wo)man in the Robbie costume is approximately 11 inches tall. If you're more comfortable thinking of it as a Robbie doll, like in Silent Hill 4: The Room, that might actually be for the best.

Remember the UFO ending from the original Silent Hill on the PlayStation? Although this next piece was inspired by that infamous ending, I think it looks fairly close to the scene depicted in the game. Here, take a look:

"Roswell was REAL! You will be the first to go..."

It's kind of hard to see, but the alien is shooting a yellow Hyper Blaster beam at his unfortunate victim, presumably "the first to go." Perhaps it was for the best, because with such huge feet and sharp fingers (sans thumbs), it appears that the victim was some kind of freak of nature, no doubt doomed to be relentlessly mocked by the neighborhood children well into his 40s. What you can't see in the picture is the zapping noise I make each time I show this piece to another person.

Here's the scene that inspired it:

See? It's basically the same thing, only mine is drawn in crayon using four colors and the original is superior in every conceivable way. Except in the exploding head department; mine's got the original beat there. Take THAT Konami!

Did you know that the first UFO ending was inspired by this trading card from the 1950s series Mars Attacks!? Note the similarities. Also note that this makes my fan art inspired by something that was inspired by something else, so basically my picture is the fan art equivalent of sloppy thirds.

I hope you've enjoyed this guided tour though some of the greatest Silent Hill fan art ever conceived and I look forward to dazzling you all again next week on Silent Hill Sunday!