Showing posts with label site news. Show all posts
Showing posts with label site news. Show all posts

Sunday, March 19, 2023

2 Years of me being back!



It's officially been 2 years now since I have been back to working on Zelda content! If you were around in the community in the early 2000's, or even 2011ish, you may have caught my other big bursts of work, but disability and website issues built up and took me away from it all. Thank you to everyone that checked in over the years though, one day it finally clicked that I really do want to be back here working on all this with everyone else. It's been really fun being back. I can not believe how wonderful the gaming and preservation community and enthusiasts are. We have found so many cool things together, we have gotten so many more works translated, we have discovered so much lost material. All of you are so amazing and I hope even some of this has brought people even a drop of the joy it has brought me. 



I'm going to try to post more on other social media, not just twitter, and I want to try to start fixing up my actual site at some point, but for now I am just going to keep scanning to try to make sure these things aren't lost forever. We need a library for old Zelda works, there's too much left to be discovered from them, and I can't wait to see what working towards that future holds.

~Melora

Friday, December 3, 2021

I got a better scanner, here's the difference:

In the menu you'll find my scanning guide and from it you'll see there's a link to a more in-depth scanning guide. It links to a community written guide for Gaming Alexandria. They scan some stuff for the Video Game History Foundation. Anyway, my little Canon Lide 300 was great, but it maxes out at 1200dpi and so it starts showing small remnants of compression artifacts at that level. Really wasn't the end of the world but considering I want these scans to be the final time anyone has to rip apart these books, I want to really go bananas with doing it right. 

Got this guy based on the recommendations of that group, which doesn't break the bank but isn't cheap either. Epson Perfection V600 is for sale for about $250. The Canon Lide 300, which I still do like way more than the similarly priced Epson V19, is around $110, (if you can find it, it's also an older machine.)


It makes sense there would be a quality difference, the higher end Epson is deep. It has room for better equipment, it goes up to something like 9400dpi- for god knows what reason. Reading molecular structure? To flex? It kind of sucks if you have a small space like I do, because the scanning bed isn't any bigger than my little Canon, but whatever, I just have to keep my desk more free of clutter. Here's the size comparison:


But, more importantly, here's the image comparison. This is at 1200dpi and zoomed in at 600% and all adjustment features have been turned off for these with both scanners. I do all my adjustments post in photoshop (Please keep in mind Blogger may add some compression too, this is just a rough example)

Left, Canon Lide 300, $110. Right Epson V600 $250. No adjustments and zoomed to 600%

Same image as the comparison above with un-adjusted colors from Canon Lide 300


Same image as the comparison above with un-adjusted colors from Epson V600


Here's an image, for no real reason, (it was my first test image so I just have it sitting here) showing the different scan sizes, It was done with the Epson V600 if you're curious.


Thanks for coming to my nerd talk

EDIT: If you're in default profesional mode, like you don't have presets you're importing or calibrating yourself, then every time you do a new preview in professional mode you have to hit the reset button to turn the color correction off. (You don't have to do a new preview with each scan so it's honestly not a big deal, but I mention it because it will catch you off guard.) You can see the change in that icon on the left: You don't want the arrows touching the sphere. Look at the pink post-it note to see how much that auto correct burns the image. 




Tuesday, September 28, 2021

Saturday, August 14, 2021

UPDATED 2022-06-06. The 60+ Out-of-Print Zelda Publications I'll be Scanning to Preserve


Hey everyone! I'm still looking for people who would be willing to help translate the old Zelda manga and maybe even the Japanese novels. The truth is that it's harder than it looks so, if you're not advanced, it's going to wear on you. But it's tragic some of this hasn't been translated for 35 years now so, if you think you can help, please contact me at melorasworld@gmail.com

So, anyway, I know it looks like I haven't been doing much since the tail end of May 2021 but that's only partially true. In the summer I do take off from civilization to backpack in the wilderness but, in the downtime, I've been connecting with other fans and helping get material to people who need it for their own projects and connecting with people who are helping with some of History of Hyrule's. There are so many amazing people out there that we have a lot to thank for and I can't wait to share more about. I also did a guest spot on Sacred Realms Podcast where we talked about Zelda art, it was so much fun, be sure to check them out. I've also started making more archival scans of all the old Japanese publications.

Here's a list of what I'll be scanning that I'll keep updated! This is DONE!

Manga:

  1. manga_loz_en DONE! 1/60 (Uploaded) Re-scanned at 1200dpi
  2. manga_aol_1 DONE! 2/60 (Uploaded) Redo?
  3. manga_aol_2 DONE! 3/ 60 (Uploaded) Redo?
  4. manga_aol_3 WANTED! (UploadedI do not have this, it's so rare! It can only be found in the February through August, 1988, One Pack magazine issues. I'm told they went out of business right after this so it was never collected in a volume like the others. I'd pay around $400 for each issue. Contact me if you think you can help me, the internet in general, find and preserve this rare piece of history. I currently have February and April's issues but need the other 5.
  5. manga_loz_wan DONE! 9/60 (Uploaded)
  6. manga_lttp1 DONE! 14/60 (Uploaded)
  7. manga_lttp2 DONE! 15/60 (Uploaded)
  8. manga_lttp3 DONE! 16/60 (Uploaded)
  9. manga_la1 DONE! 10/60 (Uploaded)
  10. manga_la2 DONE! 12/60 (Uploaded)
  11. manga_old_loz_trans DONE! 44/60 (Uploaded)
  12. manga_old_aol DONE! 45/60 (Uploaded)
  13. manga_aol_wan1_en DONE! 4/60 (Uploaded) Redo?
  14. manga_aol_wan2 DONE! 5/60 (Uploaded) Redo?
  15. manga_aol_wan3 DONE! 6/60 (Uploaded) Redo?
  16. guide_manga_multi (this is a guide, I will do it later)
  17. manga_lttp_zalda DONE! 46/60 (Uploaded) 
  18. manga_loz_13 DONE! 31/60 (Uploaded)
  19. manga_lttp_dbz1 DONE! 17/60 (Uploaded)
  20. manga_lttp_dbz2 DONE! 19/60 (Uploaded)
  21. manga_lttp_dbz3 DONE! 18/60 (Uploaded)
  22. manga_lttp_dbz4 DONE! 20/60 (Uploaded)
I'm not doing the Himekawa manga because it's all still in print so please support them like I have always asked people to do. Like I really want a Breath of the Wild manga by them so sales need to be strong!

4Koma
  1. 4koma1 DONE! 7/60 (Uploaded)
  2. 4koma2 DONE! 8/60 (Uploaded)
  3. 4koma3 DONE! 22/60 (Uploaded)
  4. 4koma4 DONE! 23/60 (Uploaded)
  5. 4koma5 DONE! 24/60 (Uploaded)
  6. 4koma6 DONE! 25/60 (Uploaded)
  7. 4koma7 DONE! 26/60 (Uploaded)
  8. 4koma8 DONE! 27/60 (Uploaded)
  9. 4koma_la_kei DONE! 38/60 (Uploaded)
  10. 4koma_la_kou DONE! 39/60 (Uploaded)
  11. 4koma_action1 DONE! 36/60 (Uploaded)
  12. 4koma_action2 DONE! --/-- (UploadedI have this now but didn't know if I would find it so I have someone else's 300dpi scans uploaded
  13. 4koma_action3 DONE! 37/60 (Uploaded)
  14. 4koma_lttp_kou DONE! 35/60 (Uploaded)
  15. 4koma_mm_enix DONE! 28/60 (Uploaded)
  16. 4koma_mm_kou DONE! 29/60 (Uploaded)
  17. 4koma_ooa_kou  DONE! 40/60 (Uploaded)
  18. 4koma_oos_kou  DONE! 41/60 (Uploaded)
  19. 4koma_oracle_kou  DONE! 42/60 (Uploaded)
  20. 4koma_oot1 DONE! 32/60 (Uploaded)
  21. 4koma_oot2 DONE! 30/60 (Uploaded)
  22. 4koma_oot_bou DONE! 21/60 (Uploaded)
  23. 4koma_oot_fut DONE! 33/60 (Uploaded)
  24. 4koma_oot_kou DONE! 13/60 (Uploaded)
  25. 4koma_oot_tan DONE! 34/60 (Uploaded)
  26. 4koma_ww_jp  DONE! 43/60 (Uploaded)
Novels and Other Books:
  1. book_blacktriforce DONE! 47/60 (Uploaded)
  2. book_novel_aol DONE! 49/60 (Uploaded)
  3. book_novel_loz DONE! 50/60 (Uploaded)
  4. book_novel_lttp DONE! 51/60 (Uploaded)
  5. book_novel_lttp2 DONE! 52/60 (Uploaded)
  6. book_novel_lttp3 DONE! 48/60 (Uploaded)
  7. book_adventure10 DONE! 11/ 60 (Uploaded)
  8. artbook_terada
  9. guide_zeldabox
  10. guide_lttp_np -Done (Uploaded) but redo it with a book with better color
  11. guide_lttp_de
  12. guide_la_np
  13. guide_la_de
  14. guide_beno DONE! by Annon (Uploaded) 300dpi, not 600
  15. artbook_z_collection DONE! 53/60 (Uploaded)
  16. artbook_z_collection (2)
  17. artbook_z_collection (3)

Other Scans I've made:

Other Guides: I have more than a few I'll be fully scanning but they're last on the list because, besides the art, it's usually just game help information in them. But it would be nice to have them preserved regardless!


This is an example of what I'll be doing when I say archival scan project:

An old 600dpi scan from the site:


New 600dpi scan with pages removed from the binding and a dark backing to prevent image bleed-through:
The binding glue on many of the old books is falling apart, so this isn't particularly painful to do, but the deeper tears near the binding are where it has turned into a concrete resin and absorbed the paper into itself so there's a little bit of patching that needs to be done.


Repaired image:


Further cleaned and almost complete:



Saturday, May 29, 2021

UPDATE. Archival Scanning Project: Zelda Manga, Novels, and Guides

Over the next year or so my goal is to make high resolution, archival quality, scans of all of these no-longer published Zelda publications so they're never lost. Most (if not all?) have been out of print for 35-20 years, many of the publishers aren't even in business any more. I don't really know what to do about it after that though. Right now manga publishers are going after some scan sites: mainly because people were making major ad and subscription money on thousands of works STILL being published; which is pretty messed up. I want to state, in the 20 years I've been doing this, I've never had a single ad or sold a single thing to make money on anything from my site. I've never even so much as linked to my personal online art stores. I busted my ass and pushed for years to see the Himekawa manga officially localized outside of Japan and to get Hyrule Historia released outside of Japan too. Like, let's pay publishers and artists to do the work so we can get more works made. I absolutely get that not everything gets localized in every language and that not everyone can access and afford things though. I mean, I grew up really poor and literally started this site because my favorite childhood Zelda art book/game guide was stolen from me and I couldn't find it again to see the art I had been so inspired by again. I looked for a decade before I found it and had to spend $100 to buy it at auction. Money that also did not go back to the original creators. ...Which is also why I wish publishers could find ways to work on that issue too. Like offering free online libraries of work that there isn't much of a market for any more. Or, if they don't want to bear the costs, would even okay fans to do it under certain circumstances. Anyway...

My old hard rule was to remove them if we heard they were going to get picked up officially, to only do works that had been out of print for years, and for all of that: to make the available manga scans just barely big enough to visually understand what was going on, so people could see what they were about but would still be encouraged to buy them when they could because the small size really isn't incredibly enjoyable. It's pretty clear none of these volumes are ever going to officially see the light of day again. You can't even find them on auctions sites any more even if you have the sometimes hundreds of dollars needed to buy each one. In an ideal world I would want a new publisher to pick up the rights and produce them, give money back to the original artists or their families if they have passed, or use it to fund artists to do new works. Sadly the chances of that happening are probably close to Zero if they haven't happened by now (or maybe I should start writing companies like an insane person and beg them to get the rights and re-publish them, ...who knows.) Unfortunately, originally, copyright law only covered around the first 14 years of a work. Which means every single one of these could be reproduced without a sometimes insane and over cumbersome process.... but then Disney fought to change that to nearly a life time, with the ability to be extended... So... 2056-2066ish is the earliest...? That's just cruel to fans who simply want to be able to experience a part of the history of their favorite series. Anyway, just know I will preserve them and that I will be trying to figure out how to handle this in the most ethical way possible. 

This is just a picture of my Zelda manga and novels, I don't even know how many more guides and artbooks I have. 


A long time ago some of my 4koma suffered water damage and I forgot about it until now. If you have any of the remaining volumes below, and are willing to sell them, please contact me.

Edit August 2, 2021: I located 2 at auction, Piney/dat_pinez located 2 others and is sending them to me, and Edit 2: now Ikhana and Piney have helped me find the other missing ones.



I also need another German Link's Awakening guide because mine came with a missing page that has art on it. Thank you!



Sunday, April 4, 2021

I've been working on the site again

Long time, no see.  It's only been about 7 years and a couple of surgeries later! Well, the nostalgia bug bit and I decided to pick up some old projects that I never finished. But first, follow me on Twitter!

1. The official art gallery. Even with amazing newer books, like Art and Artifacts, which added art that had never been public before, a lot of old art is still missing from the internet. At least in a cohesive and easy to reference manner. So I decided to try to complete the gallery. I'm using the same Flickr account. For the past month I've been internally organizing files, scouring the web, and renaming and nit picking the gallery. Right now I'm focused on the 1st four games because they have the most art with odd and scattered sources. Once I'm done adding I'll need to go back and re-edit some files so that we can have one good version instead of 2-4 funky-in-different-ways versions.

Getting the lesser-seen official art online is why I started History of Hyrule in 2002, and here I am after all, unable to leave that task unfinished.

2. Getting the old official manga translated. It's so good and no one has picked it up in all this time. It's really bugging me. One volume is already 35 years old! We need this. So I'll be working on that too after I work on the gallery a bit more. But write me if you can translate, I'll switch gears if it means making this happen.

This is my fav, 4 part series of Legend of Zelda through the Adventure of Link. He has pink hair pre-LttP! And even rides a Loftwing!! (-cough- okay, parrot,) into battle against Ganon:

https://historyofhyrule.com/publications/manga_loz_en/index.html
https://historyofhyrule.com/publications/manga_aol_1/index.html
https://historyofhyrule.com/publications/manga_aol_2/index.html
https://historyofhyrule.com/publications/manga_aol_3/index.html

And this other 3 part Adventure of Link one that sticks incredibly close to the game, closer than any other manga. Don't want to play AoL but want to know what happens? Seriously, here you go:

https://historyofhyrule.com/publications/manga_aol_wan1_en/index.html
https://historyofhyrule.com/publications/manga_aol_wan2/index.html
https://historyofhyrule.com/publications/manga_aol_wan3/index.html

This tLoZ one is pretty cool too, it's almost like a game guide, but I wish Link wasn't so absurd looking. That's the only reason it's last, the rest of it is amazing:

https://historyofhyrule.com/publications/manga_loz_wan/index.html

Thursday, March 14, 2013

History of Hyrule

My informal, partial, hiatus is being extended due to the fact that I'm going to be having yet another surgery (a common one but it has a longer recovery time) so I just wanted to make a post to keep at the top of the blog here:

If you didn't know! ~This blogger account is just History of Hyrule's "update" section.

For the real site, which is a work in progress, please go to historyofhyrule.com



I also do a lot of stuff on our Facebook page.
...and I post a lot of fanart and other neat stuff on our Tumblr account.
You can also find our temporary-official-art-gallery-in-progress on Flickr.

I still have thousands of pieces of official art to add... So, right now, the site pretty much only consists of the artwork for the fanart calendar event and then there's the HUGE publication's section ...which has thousands of pages of published material already; but isn't even close to done:

Here's an index of the "Publication" areas you might like the most:

Publication's Section:
. all the zelda doujinshi we have
. . . doujinshi by language
. . . doujinshi by artist
. . . all the zelda doujinshi we don't have
. all the zelda comics I know of (well, I have more web-comics to add)
. all the zelda 4koma I know of
. all the zelda books and novels I know of
. all the zelda manga I know of
. . . manga by language
. . . manga by artist
. . . manga by game
. miscellaneous zelda publications
. a list of every manga, comic, and doujinshi artist I know of

Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Doujinshi Additions!

Some new doujinshi arrived, thanks to Anastasia, and more is on the way; so just a heads-up that this is stuff that will be added to the site in the future!

Edit: Here are some links the artist posted of one of the best ones (thank you Feri!) http://www.pixiv.net/member_illust.php?mode=manga&illust_id=28725284 and http://www.pixiv.net/member_illust.php?mode=manga&illust_id=24165950


Monday, February 4, 2013

Just working on things, an update:

Hey everyone!
Good news is that my health has been holding up for a few days now; which means I've been working on site stuff like mad.

Right now I'm building a "new" website for the calendar contest so I can move it off the forums ~and then I start-up the new event for this year. I've always realized that reading through one long forum post, for every piece of info, is pretty monotonous and frustrating. In fact, this has been the plan since year one; but time or motivation has prevented me from doing it until now. ~Bad news is that it's going to take me more than a few days to finish.

I also have a TON of emails to answer. And none of them are really things I just want to make a quick reply to. (I think I already cleared those out of the inbox?) They're things that I really want to make in-depth replies to, or they're about stuff I need to spend time on. I kind of disappeared around September, I only was able to get to the contest during that time, so I have a lot of catching up to do. It will take me a while to build the contest site and work through those emails. So, for everyone who has written me, thank you for your patience; I honestly can not wait to get to your letters. I actually look forward to it a lot. I'm hoping I'll be able to do at least a few here and there.

I also still have sick pets to care for, so my time online each day is pretty limited. u_u

Anyway: I don't know how long it will take me, but I have big plans so I'll just be doing what I can until I'm all caught up! (and I might post a few doujinshi that I already had ready in the meantime) ~Thanks!
~Melora

Sunday, December 9, 2012

2nd Annual Calendar Contest Winners


After this, I hope to be posting a follow up discussing some of the other pieces that came really, really, close to being the main picks. I feel that's very important, because it truly was so incredibly close for so many of them... Plus, I still want to come back and comment on everyone's piece! Unfortunate timing occasionally prevented me from commenting on an entry, and it's been driving me crazy. I'll also be re-checking the entries on flickr soon; making sure all the links and info for the pieces are up-to-date.




This selection was really hard to make. Thank you to everyone who entered and made this so difficult and amazing at the same time. I hope you will join us again next year. And thank you for bearing with me; it's been over a week since the contest deadline passed and I know how long that must have felt. There were over 30 pieces on the table that could have been the final picks, (and that wasn't including the ones I loved but knew would be harder to read when printed,) and really: any of those would have been great choices. While I originally narrowed it down by doing things like, selecting ones that I thought fit the theme the best, seemed well thought out, inspired, would print well, were the most "skillfully" done, had good polish, and were ones that just spoke to me or were pieces I thought would speak to the most fans: Out of those, what ended up influencing the very final choices was that I, basically, tried for the most variety.

About the free-downloadable calendar:
These are merely my choices for the main calendar and the 12 prizes. But the real point of this yearly event is to have a free, downloadable, fan-calendar that any Zelda fan would like: so, if you have other favorites, and simply want to make a calendar with the pieces you would have chosen: Please know that ALL the entries will be on the site, with a blank template, so you can make your own version of the calendar. You don't have to stick with my choices. I'll be making another announcement when the new calendar and the blank templates are ready. It might take me a little while, but it will be finished before January.

Last year's calendar, and entries, can be found here. As soon as I make the template for the 2013 calendar, you can even use last year's entries for your new 2013 calendar too. That's one of the reasons I always want them to be the same size ratio. :)

And please remember:
Each and every one of the artists involved only deserve positive feedback; everyone did an amazing job, and these picks were extremely difficult because of that. These are only the results based on my, (and another judge's,) final decision. If you disagree with me, don't take it out on any of the artists. These were my choices, not theirs. I ultimately wanted this contest to be about encouragement. I know 99% of you are awesome and that this hardly needs to be said, but; I know not winning is incredibly discouraging, but please avoid leaving public comments on any of the entries saying someone else should have been picked for one of these spots. If you want to tell someone you feel they should have won over someone else, then consider that notes and email may be a kinder option. Thank you for understanding! ♥

Final Participation Prize:
I'll try to do the lottery-style drawing for the last participation prize very soon. Remember that the 12 finalists, and the other early participation prize winners, will be excluded from this final prize drawing to ensure that at least one more artist has a chance to win something in this event. I'll be updating the list on this post so you can see who is eligible. This means you still have time to double check things for me: If you entered, but your name is not on that list, let me know ASAP! Once we do the prize drawing; there is no going back.


*** The 12 Winners ***
(If you're one of these 12, please check your email. I sent you some info before I hit post here)


January


Artist's Name: Shadottie
Website: http://shadidraws.tumblr.com/
Image Location: http://shadidraws.tumblr.com/post/36891967996/this-moment-in-the-legend-of-zelda-ocarina-of

Artist's Summary: "This Moment"
This moment in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time will always be special to me. I was really young when this game was first released, and there were many things that terrified me in game. But I pressed on, got through my fears, even if it took years, and made it to the end. It was incredibly rewarding to finally defeat Ganondorf, hit the credits, and find that all the people of Hyrule were gathered in one place, celebrating this victory. Hyrule can finally live peace and prosperity.

Some Brief Reasons for the Pick: The artist managed to take a scene from the game, one that I did not even like originally, and they turned it into something I love. It really gives that moment life & it's just got a great feel as an art piece. They way they used the sage's colors was really fun and, while the vibrant colors are throughout the whole piece, they don't come off as being too overbearing. Like all great art, they seem to have found the right balance. Including detail, and lack there of: it's really the right amount of everything. Plus, the composition is just really good and the whole thing reads very well~ even printed. It's also a celebration of one of the most important moment's in Hyrule History: the triumph of the Hero, instead of Hyrule's fall into the Era of Decline. So it's a HUGE one for the theme of the contest.

...And doesn't it make a great piece for bringing in the New Year? It's every friend out celebrating under a brilliant night sky. Perfect!


February


Artist's Name: Hadece
Website: http://hadece.deviantart.com/
Image Location: http://hadece.deviantart.com/art/Zelda-Until-the-last-Breath-340206714

Artist's Summary: "Until the last Breath"
"Young lad, do you plan fighting the mighty beast Ganon? It once was a proud man, blessed with a bright mind and immense power by the goddesses. But he strived for too much. So when he gained the land he desired for, his mind fell to the darkness.
The man was swallowed, leaving behind a struggling beast. Now it is not more than a wild animal, blind of anger and desperation, waiting for someone to finally release it.
Will you have the courage to strike the giant, young lad?

So go on.

But it is dangerous out there. Take this."

Some Brief Reasons for the Pick: Well, for one: It's goregous. The detail is awesome and it's so well done. It doesn't just look like it: it feels like it's taking place in an old, lost, realm. Some place that is not use to being disturbed. Some place that you shouldn't be disturbing. Just like how it can feel sometimes when you wander alone through an empty cave, ruined castle, or old forest. (Or; like how the old Zelda often games felt to me.) Somehow it feels quite, and eerie, like the moment is frozen- like you're catching your breath: It really is the moment of realization that the power of destruction is going to be crashing towards you. I love how the pillars are showing the history, they're so much fun to decipher. The lighting composition is amazing.

Maybe I picked it for the February slot because it has a cold, almost lonely, feeling to it. Link is alone and has that to face. And February has always felt like the coldest month to me.


March


Artist's Name: Mikey Patch
Website: http://irontree.deviantart.com/
Image Location: http://irontree.deviantart.com/art/The-Legend-of-Zelda-Shadow-of-Katirok-End-Duel-340525578

Artist's Summary: "End Duel"
This is a scene from the final battle between Link and the Sheikahn dark wizard Agahnim in the "Shadow of Katirok" fan story - written by Andy Pinkston and Mikey Patch

"Some time ago, before the King of Hyrule unified this country, there was a fierce war in our world."
— Deku Tree Sprout

Link awakens from a terrible dream of war and destruction. The last time he dreamt of something so significant, Hyrule was overthrown by the bearer of the triforce of power. He had to travel through time to change the course of history. But maybe this change made a new path for evil to tread.

During the Hyrulean civil war for the Triforce and the sacred realm, 2 warriors saved Hyrule from the Garo interlopers from the north. One (the most powerful) was a Fierce and loyal knight of the King named Ealit, and the other was the prodigy of the sheikah named Agahnim. Under the direction of the Majune, the matriarch of the sheikah, Agahnim betrayed Ealit and the king in a plot for obtaining the triforce. The traitor sheikahs were executed and Agahnim was banished to the desolate land of the Garo in the north called Katirok.

8 years later, the time of peace granted by the Hero of Times victory, is coming to an end. Agahnim survived, and has returned far more powerful that ever before. Link must find a fierce power from the past in order to protect the future.

Some Brief Reasons for the Pick: This is one of those pieces where it just feels enough like an actual Zelda game or story that you'd hardly question it. Every element in it is something that already fits with what we've seen from the franchise, but it's all new and the piece makes its own story. It feels like it adds to the series. It's gratifying. It's so amazingly well done. All of that is impressive; it's an extremely impressive piece in every regard. And I love seeing an Agahnim-like entity more of a "modern" Sheikah's garb; it really works for that character's concept to have more than just The Eye on his robes. Kind of marries that symbol from A Link to the Past with what was seen in Ocarina of Time and the later games.

I kept thinking of the betrayal aspect that was so integral to Agahnim's story~ that I guess I placed it in March for some loose, conceptual, "Ides of March" tie in. Plus, the name "March" coming from the celebration of the god "Mars" -Having a violent piece for the month seemed quite a decent fit. The colors are beautiful and seemed to work well for the time of year too.


April


Artist's Name: Evelmiina
Website: http://evelmiina.deviantart.com/
Image Location: http://evelmiina.deviantart.com/art/Fate-of-the-Trinity-pirates-339702256

Artist's Summary: "Fate of the Trinity Pirates"
Long before birth of the hero of the wind, a small group of pirates became notorious for their hunt of what was known as golden triumph forks. They were fearsome, for they used whatever means, once they got a whiff of the prize. Some thought, that gods themselves punished them for their arrogance. However it was, they perished at the sea.

A bit of this and that, I thought it’d be interesting if it was their ship that is the ghost ship in the wind waker. Even after their death, the ship wanders about carrying the memory of their failed mission. As for their looks, I thought it’s interesting contradiction that they resemble the three goddesses, but whether they actually are their incarnations or not, who knows.

Some Brief Reasons for the Pick: This is another one of those pieces that, while it didn't really happen, I want it to happen. I can believe it happened. It creates a side story that gives an almost inconsequential aspect of the game, that seemed small to me until now, a really great depth. It's a really fun thing to think about. I love how it feels like a last desperate stand of people to whom fighting is familiar, and also feels as if it's the persona of the ship. There's so much glorious attitude to this piece. I love the style, the look, the character design. I love picking apart the details. It's just really damn cool. And the piece is so successful because it creates its own story in your mind. The artist's description sums everything up so wonderfully; but you wouldn't have to read that to get a similarly amazing story from it. It made a tale, a legend, that will be told as a part of the history of Hyrule.

As for the month? I tend to always think that something storm related can work well for April.


May


Artist's Name: Karlen T.
Website: http://kgoggles.deviantart.com/
Image Location: http://kgoggles.deviantart.com/art/Leaving-the-Forest-313419666

Artist's Summary: "Leaving the Forest"
"When you play my Ocarina, I hope you will think of me and come back to the forest to visit." - Saria

Some Brief Reasons for the Pick: I love the peaceful feel. I love how it shows a whole region (and without it feeling forced together.) It's all encompassing and sums the moment up so well. It's beautiful; just like the Kokiri Forest should be. The work of art exemplifies why it must have been so hard for Link to leave. (...Yet Saria looks so assuring because she know's it's right! You have to go. But, in that moment, as far as she and you know, the she and the forest will always be there for you to return to.) The piece personifies charm: and there's hardly a more charming moment in the series. It's everything it should be; except, I think it makes it even better. So well done!

Picked for May, because it's such a beautiful "spring-like" piece, a time when the world is young and green.


June


Artist's Name: Skull the Kid
Website: http://skull-the-kid.deviantart.com/
Image Location: http://skull-the-kid.deviantart.com/art/The-War-of-the-Kings-and-the-flood-of-Hyrule-339902948

Artist's Summary: "The War of the Kings and the Flood of Hyrule"
I chose my favourite part of the Legend of Zelda mythos and probably the most tragic of all: the very end of Hyrule.

The vain struggles for survival of the kingdom against Ganondorf, the Goddesses act of the flooding and the exodus that lead to the civilizations of the Great Sea.
The best way to describe this image could be quoting Daphnes Nohansen Hyrule himself:

Once, long ago, this land of Hyrule was turned into a world of shadows by Ganon who sought to obtain the power of the Gods for his evil ends. My power alone could not stop the fiend, and our only choice was to leave the fate of the kingdom in the hands of the Gods...

Some Brief Reasons for the Pick: Great style (it also prints so beautifully!) and very clever. It's familiar, like the official Wind Waker art, but it's actually a very different style, and it's so skillfully done. While still retaining a look that's extremely modern and very appropriate for videogames, (like the Wind Waker, of course) it also manages to merge the feel of the official art, and our real-world's old-world style, perfectly and without flaw. I'm very impressed. The details are great and tell so much of the story~ This piece makes me want to see one of Hyrule's books on history illustrated in this way, or walk down a hallway lined in tapestries like this. For some reason I really get caught up with how Ganon's cloak encompass destruction, of villages by flame, while King Daphnes's is not just the people of Hyrule, but it seems to give us the feeling that he is their hope as well. I love those two parts so much. The swirls (the circular graphic design aspect) of the monsters is enviable. This piece includes so many series details without feeling as crammed as that many details should have to make it feel: in other words, to write about everything shown here would take many, many pages. This piece is a wonderfully thought out, passionate and succinct, visual summary of so much of the series.

The colors, the imagery that's a little fiery and a lot of water; it seemed to make a decent choice for a summer month. June it was.


July


Artist's Name: Josh
Website: http://xxkuronoxx.deviantart.com/
Image Location: http://xxkuronoxx.deviantart.com/art/The-Hylian-Charge-338063517

Artist's Summary: "The Hylian Charge"
Just before Link enters the Twilight Realm one last time with Midna, he leads the Hylian army to push back the corrupt Twili forces back into their realm.

Some Brief Reasons for the Pick: Goodness, we really needed a good war piece for this theme. (We got two true ones and, man, it was hard to pick between them.) There could probably be articles and article's written about "Hyrule's Forgotten Wars." There's so much talk of them in the series, so many hints; but I think that it's such a complicated thing to actually draw that we never really see them depicted in full scenes. We don't even see them in the games because, (even still!) they'd be so incredibly taxing on the systems. This artist really took the task to heart and it shows. This is beautifully done; there's so much detail, and the mastery of color, and the coloring for the lighting, is something I will never get tired of going over. The moment feels desperate, and it feels valiant. It's not just Link, but all the people of Hyrule, fighting for their homeland.

July is a good war month, with so many country's "independence days" happen during this time.


August


Artist's Name: Aquanut
Website: http://aquanut.deviantart.com/
Image Location: http://aquanut.deviantart.com/art/Book-of-Mudora-340721361

Artist's Summary: "Book of Mudora"
Link fulfilling the prophecy about using the Book of Mudora to translate the stone tablet in the desert. I like the idea that the Book of Mudora contains the records of Hyrule's history as well as being a translation key, so the Hylian spilling from the book is spelling out some lines from OoT's creation myth.

Some Brief Reasons for the Pick:  A forgotten language rediscovered! The past comes into the future and  history is brought into relevancy again; It's not just legend anymore. It's the moment the quest can move forward and new realms open -thanks to what the ancients left behind. If not for that book, so much would have been lost. There would have been no way to connect the past and future people of Hyrule. It's one of those moments where the importance of the in-game items is really highlighted. When the game design works realistically. I think it's kind of easy to forget about stories being behind the items, or just not think about them as anything at all, since there are so many you grab along the way: but seeing it as an illustrated scene really helps them make an impact. The designers actually thought about how things could work- they gave items a little story, they placed design features in the game, (like monoliths with a lost language,) to make sure things made sense for the player. It's simple concept, but often over looked in games. It's not just some random mechanic. And, as a work of art: This piece has great design, great color, and it really feels like the game should. I love that it's like a sandstone desert with the light just peeking over the ridges, the dark storms looming in the background. It's how I pictured the top of those rocks, by the desert, in a Link to the Past to be; yet this is even more vibrant and foreboding. It was a wonderful concept to pick for this theme, especially since it was so inspired by the release of the book "Hyrule Historia." (You know, it was released on December 15th in Japan.. so we're only 6 days away before the 1 year anniversary of it!)

Besides the colors seeming a great fit for August: I'm so sorry but... I couldn't help but place it here as a reminder that you're probably about to start yet another year at school. TIME TO OPEN THOSE BOOKS!


September


Artist's Name: Ebillan
Website: http://ebillan.deviantart.com/
Image Location: http://ebillan.deviantart.com/art/The-Arrival-of-Demise-323149918

Artist's Summary: "The Arrival of Demise"
When the gods of old left the world they created, they trusted their ultimate power, the Triforce, to the hands of Hylia so that she could protect it. She did so throughout the Era of the Goddess Hylia until one day a crack opened up in the earth and the Demon King Demise and his demonic hordes came forth from the fissure...

In order to prevent the great power from falling into the hands of Demise, Hylia gathered the humans and sent them skyward with the Triforce, beyond the reach of evil forces wrecking havoc upon the surface world.

Some Brief Reasons for the Pick:  I LOVE the atmosphere in this. There were a lot of really great "beginning of Hyrule" pieces; but this one seemed like the perfect moment to really define the history of the land. The dread and the hope that came to fruition at this moment; the piece made an impact on me. It shows a real turning point~ when darkness comes to the land and the golden power is placed out of the reach. I also really enjoy the fact that, even though these aren't colors I would normally like in a piece of art; I love them here, they're simply perfect. Again, I think this is a piece that has just the right amount of detail, and just the right details.

The colors, and the mood, seemed to make it a great choice for the beginning of fall.


October


Artist's Name: Tawny
Website: http://niraven.deviantart.com/
Image Location: http://niraven.deviantart.com/art/The-Ancient-Power-334435768

Artist's Summary: "The Ancient Power"
“It is called Majora's Mask. It is an accursed item from legend that is said to have been used by an ancient tribe in its hexing rituals. It is said that an evil and wicked power is bestowed upon the one who wears that mask. According to legend... the troubles caused by Majora's Mask were so great... the ancient ones, fearing such catastrophe, sealed the mask in shadow forever, preventing it's misuse. But now, that tribe from the legend has vanished, so no one really knows the true nature of the mask's power...”

A theory I decided to put into motion. Impa enters the Lanaryu Mining Facility of the Past with a Timeshift Stone, in order to remove Majora's Mask and seal it away in shadow. After viewing the extinction of the Ancient Robots, it was clear Hyrule's safety was at stake. When I first played Skyward Sword, I was immediately struck by the similarity in the music between Lanaryu Mining Facility and Majora's Mask's theme. I found the vibrant colors reminiscent of the mask, and found it interesting that even if the Thunder Dragon was saved, the Ancient Robots still all died out. I theorized they could have discovered or created the Mask, seeking an alternate power source as the Thunder Dragon ailed. Electricity could easily be viewed as “a hexing ritual” by the rather medieval races that we've seen throughout Zelda games. Impa's time portal also very much reminded me of the portal through which Link enters Terminia, which is often referred to as “Hyrule's shadow”. There are so many more details I could share on similarities, but then this description would go on and on and on-- my original document going over similarities was well over 900 words. So, I will spare you reading it here and instead let my artwork tell the story.

Some Brief Reasons for the Pick: Very pretty and very well designed as a work of art. Conceptually mind blowing ...just perfection. AKA: It doesn't have to be real to feel real. It's simply fun to think this. It's simply fun to have an explanation like this. It inspires! This is a muse. This is a reason to want to go back through each game and explore every detail of the series in depth and let your mind just expand them. This piece takes such amazing, and kind of mysterious, aspects and very important tales from two great games and merges them to make a really cool moment and idea happen. It expands and explains. Please let yourself get carried away in the artist's summary.

Why October? Colors and, heh, of course: a mask.


November


Artist's Name: Cojirou
Website: http://cojirou.deviantart.com/
Image Location: http://cojirou.deviantart.com/art/The-Recording-of-the-History-of-Hyrule-311782913

Artist's Summary: "The Recording of the History of Hyrule"
I chose to paint the painting of the painting of the Royal Family found in Wind Waker's Hyrule Castle. I adore that game. No long description history behind this picture, because well... it's pretty self explanatory.

Some Brief Reasons for the Pick:  As soon as you see this piece I hope you say what I said~ that there could not have been a more perfect moment to choose for this contest. It's one of those things I hate myself for not thinking of because it just needed to be. This needed to exist. It seems real because it had to be real, this moment had to happen at some point in time for that picture in the Wind Waker to exist. (And the revelation found in that portrait was such an important one in the game.) Plus, the style is so insanely perfect! The artist did such a remarkable job re-creating the right look and feel! Bravo!

Loosely chosen for November because of everyone getting together, and the colors, kind of reminded me of the Thanksgiving holiday in the US.

December


Artist's Name: Breana Melvin
Website: http://89ravenclaw.deviantart.com/
Image Location: http://89ravenclaw.deviantart.com/art/Finding-the-Master-Sword-317954642

Artist's Summary: "Finding the Master Sword"
Link finds the timeless Master Sword, hidden and forgotten by the world.

Some Brief Reasons for the Pick:  Again, it never happens in the game: but it does happen, doesn't it? Another Link, from some other time and place, finds what everyone has forgotten was anything but legend. How can we forget the importance of the sword? Without it Hyrule would have been doomed many times over. It's also just an amazing piece of art; not just for winter, it's goregous in every way. It has such a sense of wonder about it; one that can hardly be explained.

A pick for December because I hope everyone has a beautiful winter; filled with everything they want and need!

All of you, thanks so much for helping make this event great!
~Melora
(There are probably typos I will come back and fix; I've had a small cold ;p forgive my awful writing!)

Thursday, November 29, 2012

New Entries Uploaded (With UPDATES): Check for Yours & Just Hours Left!

I have responded to all the contest emails that had entries in them. (I still have a few non-entry emails left.) If you have not heard back about yours, please resend with the image attached and comment here or note me on DA or Facebook to let me know it's not going through so I can add your email to the contest email's safe list.

We currently have over 126 beautiful pieces by 110 amazing artists!



If you do not see your entry in the flickr gallery, let me know ASAP. I need you to help me double check these things. If it is not in there, there is a small risk it will get missed for judging, (though I will do another pass through of all the emails before I start, just to be safe) so your help is appreciated! Below I will post the list of current participants with valid entries in. Check that for your name as well. I will be updating this list until the contest deadline happens.

You can also find the ones from DeviantART (it's not all of them, just the ones on DA) in this group folder. Please honor the artists and leave them a nice comment if you have some time! Thank you to everyone!

You still have until midnight, PST, November 30th, 2012, to get in entries and updates! That's around a day and a half left to do what ever you need to do! But, please do not wait any longer than you have to get something in. Emails sometimes error and I can not make exceptions on the deadline. The "midnight" deadline is slightly loose in the sense that, as long as your entry is in my mail box by the time I check it, it will be counted. If it comes in while I'm checking, that's too late. So, while that gives you a few extra moments, do not risk waiting a second past midnight, November 30th, on this PST Time Zone clock.

And, yes, you can update anything about your piece all the way until the deadline. Including the art. You can even update it after the deadline, but anything that comes in after the deadline will not be counted towards or judged for the contest: it will only be included with the other entries for the spirit of the event and so people can use it on their calendars if they want. Basically: If you finish late, or want to change something later, you can still send your piece in to be included with the other calendar pieces, but anything that comes in after the deadline will not count towards the "contest" part of the event. Only what I have AT the deadline will count towards the contest.

EVERYTHING must go to the contest email, historyofhyrule.contests@gmail.com  I can not accept notes or comment, anywhere, as valid entries unless we agree to it before hand. Other notes and comments can only be used to notify me if you think something has gone wrong.

& thank you to everyone who has entered so far, everyone who is going to enter, to the people who have commented on entries, and to everyone who has shown interest in it! I can't wait; it's so exciting! Good luck to you all!


This list of current participants:
Being updated as they come in...
  1. Linksliltri4ce
  2. Paper-Plate
  3. Robson B.
  4. Drisana Rodriguez-Martin
  5. Poly
  6. Mizueyes777
  7. Bookwormtiff
  8. Val Toukatly
  9. KingdomTwilightXIII
  10. Christian H.
  11. Ryttu3k
  12. Doudet
  13. SYChunsa
  14. Kylias Darkheart
  15. Erika P.
  16. Kyle L.
  17. mrpretzel
  18. Gakoru
  19. Elizabeth R.
  20. Clara B.
  21. Ashleigh
  22. Julieta
  23. Gimme
  24. Kreus
  25. Miniktty
  26. ApplejackMan
  27. Link24656
  28. Ryuupix
  29. Kyasarin Mire
  30. Jujulica
  31. Karnella
  32. Lisa H.
  33. Kudaku
  34. Fainttos
  35. Song C.
  36. BunBun
  37. Carolyn D.
  38. StardustFawkes
  39. Nummonkee
  40. Kichisu
  41. Zelidnia
  42. Lunasatomi
  43. Polina T.
  44. Miry
  45. FierceDeku
  46. Leeatard0
  47. Dagronrat
  48. Christin
  49. Ryoga
  50. Kuurankukka
  51. Leia C.
  52. AttractiveAustrianAristocrat
  53. Amber W.
  54. The Williams'
  55. Evanatt
  56. Pizza Breath the Awesome
  57. Chato Jr.
  58. Methuselah-Alchemist
  59. Aud Green
  60. Mellifera-imiya
  61. Link Fanatic
  62. Monkeykaos
  63. Byrch
  64. Malu CLBS
  65. Blackash
  66. S.C.
  67. Katie L.
  68. Steh-chan
  69. Zalogero
  70. Luluchia
  71. Gizmo
  72. Ideya-Freak
  73. Pandora
  74. Scowling Elf
  75. NelmaThyria
  76. Uni
  77. Gabriela Birchal
  78. Ponthion
  79. WhiteFoxCub
  80. Wings33
  81. RikkidoSnake
  82. Ari
  83. Niram
  84. Keyshe54
  85. ViridianRain
  86. Ferisae
  87. Majora
  88. 8-Bit-Hobo
  89. Kuroari (Wow! 100 plus the 3 below! 103 artists!)
  90. Stephanie J.
  91. Fenrisfang
  92. Seeburglar
  93. Sophie T.
  94. 7essa!
  95. Evergreen13
  96. Green Tea of Death
  97. The Great Ahtnamas
  98. Andrei Abismo
12 Main Calendar Winners:
  1. Karlen T.
  2. Cojirou
  3. Breana Melvin
  4. Aquanut
  5. Shadottie
  6. Mikey Patch
  7. Evelmiina
  8. Hadece
  9. Skull the Kid
  10. Josh
  11. Ebillan
  12. Tawny
Participation Prize Winners: (They are removed from the above list simply because they already won one. This way their number wont be drawn for future participation prize lotteries. They are still eligible for one of the 12 calendar spots though! No worries):
  1. Waffletea
  2. Ebillan
  3. Hina-ichigo

Out due to art issue, at least until reply is received: (Please email me back if you want to be counted in!)
  1. Leah
  2. Crystal M.