Street Fighter - Hyper Real

You’ve heard of Street Fighter: Hyper Fighting, but check out these fantastic Hyper Real artworks of Street Fighter characters by artist Kode Abdo, based on real life models and manipulated digitally in Photoshop. I bet you’ve never seen bendy Dhalsim look so frightening, have you? Suitably impressed by his talented endeavours, infinitecontinues snatched a few words with the creator to find out how these works came about.

infinitecontinues: Hi Kode. Who are you and what do you do?

Kode Abdo: Hey there, my name is Kode, creator of BossLogic. I am a freelance graphics artist from Melbourne, Australia .

ic: So, we’re talking about your incredible Street Fighter pieces today. Tell us what inspired them, and why you went for such a mature art direction for a franchise that’s classically very ‘cartoony’, for want of a better word?

KA: Well, I wanted to show all the fans a different side to the characters they have grown up with, just like I have. I have been a fan of Street Fighter since the first game came out; I fell in love with Street Fighter ever since that day. So, one time I was in Photoshop and I noticed one of the model photos I had looked just like Sagat, so I went ahead and manipulated it to look like him. The payoff was great from all the fans – they loved them so much – so I decided to do them all. Watch out for some new ones soon.

Sagat started it all.

ic: Take us through exactly how you would create one of these pieces. Let’s take Dhalsim for example – what steps did you go through in order to create this image?

KA: For Dhalsim, I used four images of a skinny figure to get it looking just right. I use a lot of the ‘Liquify’ tool in Photoshop to bend and manipulate the human body. I was able to push the boundaries a bit, since it was Dhalsim after all – Mr. Stretch! After it all looks right, I start with the color toning so it all matches up, then I blend the skin to make it look just right, and then it’s on to effects to add that sense of energy to the image.

‘Mr. Stretch’ – absolutely terrifying

ic: Do you have any plans to complete the entire set? I suppose with the latest Street Fighter boasting a roster of 30 characters, you have your work cut out for you!

KA: I’m trying to do sooo many characters now. If I have the models for them, then yes I will do them all.

ic: Which is your favourite piece, and why?

KA: I haven’t made a fave yet, but the closest to being my fave is the Guile one I made last.

Guile – Kode’s fave.

ic: Are you a big gamer? If so, what are you currently enjoying playing? Any other videogame series’ we can expect to see made into such realistic art pieces in the future?

KA: Yes indeed. I play SF competitively – right now its SSFIV – and I’m waiting for Marvel Vs. Capcom 3, and can’t wait for the day of Capcom Vs. SNK 3! I’m thinking I might make some hyper real Devil May Cry or Metal Gear but we will see what happens.

You can check out Kode’s BossLogic website here.

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