Mecha Parts

The structure on the left is the lower leg and foot of a mecha battle robot. The one on the right is a mecha robot arm with a Gatling gun mounted on it. Also shown is an ammunition belt to feed the gun, and part of the robot's hip and upper leg. These were copied from David White's book "Mecha Zone 2" which I am using to learn to draw these fantastic contraptions.

I am not sure anyone is still reading this blog, with the possible exception of Mike. But I don't care if I am broadcasting into a void because at least I get to draw something new every day or so. I have become fond of mecha battle robots for a number of reasons. They are wildly complex and full of details, which immediately impresses me. And they are armored warrior figures, which I have loved since my earliest childhood. In my youth I drew innumerable images of Greek, Roman, and medieval warriors and knights. And...they blow stuff up, and look cool doing it. 

"Transformers" and the mecha genre came to America in 1984, as a Wikipedia entry will tell you. I was no longer a kid by then and was busy trying to do real book covers, so I never got any Transformers toys. I may have seen them, but never played with them. And even if I had encountered them as a kid, I might not have collected them because even for a nerdy person like me, these things were not for girls. The Transformers and mecha mythology are now part of American pop culture but I never picked up on them as things worth drawing, until now. Fortunately the Wikipedia article and Websites can help me educate myself in the myriad storylines, incarnations, transformations, books, comics, cartoons, movies, collectibles, and costumes dealing with the Transformers and mecha....should I wish to do that. White's book generously offers a guide to learning to draw battle robots so if I have the time and determination, I can design some just for myself. 

Two drawings are ink and greyscale marker on sketchbook pages, November 2013.