Here we are in October already and a great way to usher in this special month is something special for the Crash fans.
On January 29 1998 while working with Naughty Dog on what was to be the third game of the series I began work on Uka Uka. He's the evil brother voodoo mask spirit that is in opposition to Aka Aku. While the later is tied to Crash Uka Uka is allied with Neo Cortex.
These are the first 3 sketches in order of their completion. They're photocopies of the originals made the day they were drawn at ND's studio at Universal. I dolt know if they've been published before. I tend to think this is the first time.
7 comments:
Oh this is awesome, this is one of the characters we never saw being developed! The first deisgn is awesome, looks like Aku Aku but with fire instead of feathers (or oak's leafs?)
Happy that you like these sketches Gabriele. This was a fun character to work on. That is indeed fire along the upper rim of the mask.
Ah Uka Uka, the evil twin of Aku Aku.
Nice to see these early sketches of Uka Uka Charles! Out of all of them, the third one has to be my favorite and I wouldn't mind seeing the design in a future game!
Hey Charles, which mask was hard to conceptualize? Aku Aku or Uka Uka?
Thank you Pat. These were the preliminary sketches. By the time I got to the third one the final look for character began to emerge. It wan't hard to do either. It was fun. Aku Aku actually came into being by chance from one drawing I did during development for the original Crash game. Uka Uka was more deliberate. And since Aku Aku already existed there was something to follow.
Thanks for clearing that up Charles, I always wonder which mask was more difficult to create.
Oh Charles one more question related to Uka Uka. Was it intentional to give the shape of Uka Uka's mask to match Cortex's head shape since he fits right on to it?
I really love your orginal sketches of Uka Uka. They are very neat and remind me of a tiki hut type thing... You get the picture. I just love the drawings!
Anyways, Sorry I rarely comment on here. I do have good news though, I most likely will be moving to LA soon and If I eventually move there I will try my best go to your school. Also your newest Spyro sketches are very nice!
Thanks for your comments guys and thanks for your patience with my reply.
Pat - There was no conscious intention on my part of designing Uka Uka to resemble Cortex.
Jacob - If you're in the LA area and are looking to hook up with the Academy get in touch when you're here.
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