Welcome to this week's Fan Art! This week I'd like to say ''thank you'' to the artists who have sent fan art the last few weeks. I'm happy to have new contributions; it tells me artists are still interested in the column. Of course, there are still many older pictures to be posted but please be patient. Your turn will come. I may not start with the oldest fan art, though. Right now, I'm aiming for variety of games and variety of artists. I'm also trying to have as many different mediums as possible, so I'll mix new and old every week. On the gaming side of things, I've been slaying some nasty basilisks in Baldur's Gate and it is gratifying. FF4 is almost finished, and I fear I'll have to give FFTA2 another chance.

Enough with all that nonsense, bring in the art! Featured this week is newcomer Dice's A World Apart. She says it's ripped from The Fountain's box art, but who could blame her? I have not seen the particular film, but I think that Dice's concept is very interesting. On the film's box art, you can clearly see that the two characters are pictured in front of the same background, whereas A World Apart gives you the impression that Serge and Kid are leagues away from each other, lost somewhere in stars and the clouds. Kid has a warm, reddish background while Serge is surrounded by a colder blue. It would have been interesting to have the opposite, so Kid's jacket would echo Serge's background and Serge's hair and coat would echo Kid's background, but it's just a choice like any other. The picture looks good and professional and would make an amazing poster. Way to go!

Next up is Aeris' moment of glory as she uses the White Materia. Right before she... nevermind. I like light and shadow contrasts, and Rebehm's 3D piece delivers. The dramatic lighting gives shape to the scene. I would have liked to see some greenish reflections here and there since the Materia appears to be emanating a lot of light, though. Colors are vibrant and the pose, although Aeris is obviously not moving in the scene, is quite dynamic. The following picture features Hugo and Fubar from Suikoden 3, a digital piece by Razkall. I like how happy both characters look in this picture. You can clearly see a bond between them. A strong friendship. Hugo just gave Fubar some worm to eat, and the way his right hand is placed suggests a friendly caress. The animal's happy eyes confirms everything else. The light colors in the background makes for a nice contrast with the characters' darker and less saturated colors. Fourth picture for this week is a Lunar group shot. I have not played the game, but I know the artist has successfully rendered each character's personality. My favorite would be the one in the bottom-left corner. He looks a bit arrogant and full of himself. I like the detail on the costumes: not too much, but still enough to recognize the characters. My complaint is: I want colors! Give me colors! To conclude this latest update, newcomer Boum offers you Will's Quest, featuring Will and Lily from Illusion of Gaia. I must admit I'm a fan of sketchy drawings, and I like seeing construction lines in pieces. I think it's an effective way of exploiting the drawing medium. You can't do this in photography; this is something that can only be done with hand-made imagery.

And that's all for this week! Did anyone notice some change here? Apart from giving more of my opinion on each pieces, I tried to give some highlights to the featured piece, too. By the way, just because a piece is not featured does not mean it's bad or not good enough. I choose the featured art based on how I feel about each piece. If something in a picture interests me a lot I'll probably have more to say about it. So, did you like the change? Will it spawn some discussion? I hope it does. Let's take it to the message boards, and tell me what you think about it and about the art!

Maxime