#matt lara
1571, Siege of Mt. Hiei.
During the Sengoku Jidai, the “Warring States Era” of Japan, many of the warlords faced resistance from the Ikko-Ikki, a rebellious sect of Buddhist monks opposed to the Shogunate and local Daimyos. As provinces were pacified, the monks would sow discord, throwing peaceful areas back into chaos. They were a constant source of unrest, especially for the warlord Oda Nobunaga. As Nobunaga’s sudden and surprising rise to power increased, so did Ikko-Ikki lead rebellions.
Tired of being undermined, Nobunaga launched a fierce campaign directly targeting the monks. The Ikko-Ikki were pushed back to the temple stronghold on Mt. Hiei, one of two historic founding schools of Buddhism in Japan. Nobunaga surrounded the mountain and sieged the temple for months, only to prolong the suffering of those inside. Any who surrendered to the Oda army were summarily executed.
To end the siege, Nobunaga set the mountain on fire and burned the temple to the ground. All those inside perished in the fire, effectively ending the Ikko-Ikki rebellion.
After this and other instances of brutal punishment, Nobunaga became widely known as “Demon Nobunaga”.
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Composition and color sketch. Painting with a harder brush to force myself to simplify and make bolder choices.
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Guess I’m taking all my characters out for a spin. Paint of Jocasta, Charr Warrior. I didn’t separate the values as much on this one, so it turned out pretty graphic with the strong contrast and simple shapes.
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Quick mood and character concept for one of the Hawaiian Night Marchers. I like the idea that these guys are always slightly obscured by shadow.
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More BG art practice. Added in some characters for context. Though I need to simplify my BG’s in the future so they don’t clash as much with the figures.
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Looking to get into background art for work. So I’m trying some new things and trying to find my style in a more 2D format.
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