The Victor Project (Darkstalkers)

     A few years ago Udon Entertainment created a contest for the Darkstalkers fighting game where fans could submit original art with the hopes of it getting published in the tribute book. I was working at a sportswear apparel company at the time, and I had the idea to create an applique portrait of the Victor von Gerdenheim character. Victor is sort of a blue version of the classic Frankenstein character in the Darkstalkers universe, and I thought creating him out of applique would uniquely illustrate how the character is literally stitched together.

 

    I was not aware of this contest until late in the process, but I liked my idea so I moved forward with it. Time was an issue because I had less than 2 weeks to create a composition, set it up to embroider with the laser applique machine, and then piece it all together in Photoshop. Victor is ultimately made up of 4 different sew outs that were combined in Photoshop (5 sew outs if you include the bolts that I ultimately removed from the final version because they looked terrible).

 

     While I barely submitted under the deadline, the original version suffered due to how quickly it was put together. I was not surprised when my piece was not accepted. I revisited this project shortly after it was rejected and reworked it into something I could look at. Currently Udon is having a similar contest and I may revisit The Victor Project again. I'm hopeful that I can create a more compelling piece that has a chance of being accepted into the new tribute book.

 

    I did similar personal projects up until the sportswear company went out of business. My final project was a self portrait that was inspired by The Victor Project. Sadly, I never finished it because the company closed it doors before I could sew everything out. Recently, I decided to complete that self portrait and "fake" a lot of the embroidery and appliques that were never sewn. It's nearing completion so I thought it would be nice to post the project that inspired it.