Romanesco Powers Up!! (Patreon)

It was a tragic day for the world when Akira Toriyama died recently. The man had such an undeniable style to his work and especially his character design that will long continue to stand the test of time. I still remember being a kid and watching some Dragon Ball Z for the first time. It was mind-blowing! So many cool fight scenes and memorable moments, and I played one of my favorite games (Chrono Trigger) around the same time and knew, 'Hey this must be the same artist!' When I first started teaching myself how to draw with an anime flavor some 30 years ago now, Toriyama was a big influence especially on my early work. All these years later I still love drawing the occasional Dragon Ball-inspired piece. 

So for this one, I wanted to redraw one of my oldest original characters based on DBZ: Romanesco, as a tribute to one of the great artists of our time. Think I was 18 years old when I first came up with this guy, and he's changed a bit over time. But of course there's no better way to draw a Saiyan character than with bulging muscles while powering up to that next level. 

Thanks for the artwork, the stories, and especially the inspiration, Toriyama sama.

-D.B.