GODZILLA VS GIGAN (Toybox Edition)

24x36 canvas; acrylics

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Hello from G-Fest! Here’s the reveal of my next big painting - it's GODZILLA VS GIGAN, with the monsters portrayed by their Trendmasters counterparts, along with a cameo of an Imperial Godzilla as the Godzilla Tower!

I've been wanting to do a Gigan-themed poster for G-Fest since 2011. It was about time I did one.

Originally, I was going to use the designs from the movie. A fairly straight-forward tribute. While doodling some ideas for a composition, I joked to myself that I should do the Trendmasters designs because of the off-chance it would rustle some jimmies. That's when I really started having one of those gut feelings that I would be making a mistake if I didn't seriously follow through on it.
The inspiration for choosing these particular toy designs lies within my childhood from 20 years ago; I liked the movie so much, I wanted to reenact it with my toys...but I didn't have Anguirus. I have since acquired him, and ever since, he, Godzilla, Gigan, and Ghidorah all stand with each other specifically because of this movie. As for using the Imperial Godzilla, it's based specifically on the medium-sized version. It was the closest thing I had to one of the Showa-era designs then. Unlike the large 12-inch version (which always came off as a hybrid of '64 and '84), the medium version kinda resembles the SoshingekiGoji (1968-72) version, albeit with four toes.

Long story short, I went this route because I felt it'd be a better story than, "I just really liked the movie."
I started making the piece with the background first. The combination of the blue, red, orange, and yellow is inspired by some rather beautiful sunsets I've seen in the past few months, and I really like that color combination. A spontaneous idea came to mind, which leads into the elephant in the room I haven't mentioned - not to end it on a bit of a downer, but with Haruo Nakajima's passing last year, I wanted to acknowledge him in this piece, as GIGAN was his last film as Godzilla. (It was also a bit of a compromise for going with the Trendmasters designs that I use the film designs for this part of the piece.)

Anywho, no matter where you are, have a fantastic weekend, and stay awesome, my friends!