“This is where you meet your end, Strider Hiryu!”

Self critique: Part of me still thinks I should’ve extended the arm in the back all the way, with the palm facing back instead of bending forward. The truck’s cargo roof is actually different in-game than here, but I was too late by the time I realized.

Finally I get around to this one! Early last year while I was compiling a list of retro videogame pinups to do, I was listening to some music. That’s when I stumbled upon a remix of the first stage from Strider 2 from Johnny Atma. It ‘s been a looooooong time since I’ve last played that game (though I have played the Strider reboot on Steam). Out of nostalgia, I watched some Strider 2 gameplay. That’s when I was reminded of the fight atop the cars with her on the High Society Residential Area of the Neo Hong Kong stage. I was in a dynamic angles fix around then as both the JSR Mew pic and the Dagger pic were still kinda fresh in my mind. So I wanted to do another one. The setup I was planning here was also something of a callback to the Kurokishi pic I did last year as well, which also took place on top of a moving vehicle.

Getting the pose here was actually quite the struggle. I was definitely gonna have Tong Pooh stand in her neutral kung-fu pose. Simple enough. But getting it to what I needed it to be was not easy. I looked online for this pose, to which they were plentiful. However they were all from a side angle and not from the front like you’re seeing here. So I moved to plan B, which was to break out one of my Body-chan models, pose it, and get that head-on angle I wanted. That’s where problem reared its ugly head. The model was unable to dip low enough to the floor. You can kinda see what I mean on my Instagram where I was trying to get a shadow reference. So that was another dilemma. This is where I had to start up Plan C. For the first time ever, I had to use the 3D model provided with Clip Studio Paint. I was able to get the pose low enough to the floor, as well as get the angle that I wanted. On top of that, thanks to a feature the program has when I use the scroll wheel, I was also able to warp the perspective to make parts closer to the viewer appear even closer, like her foot. After that, I treated the 3D model like a Body-chan model and traced out the construction lines like I normally would. And from there, that’s when I’d begin drawing her out.

Speaking of, let’s get to that part now. There were several designs Tong Pooh had throughout the years across all the games she’s been in, including Strider, Strider 2, Marvel Vs. Capcom, Project X Zone, and the Strider reboot. I decided to stick closer to her look in Strider 2, along with a bit from Project X Zone. I decided to add some embroidery on parts of her outfit (if you’re viewing the clothed variant that is). Her sash is usually on the shorter side, but I made it longer for that dramatic effect I’m trying to accomplish here.

The background was a no brainer. It was gonna take place in the Neo Hong Kong High Society Residential Area from Strider 2, the same stage you face her in. This one was gonna be a challenge since it’s not often I draw vehicles, and futuristic ones at that. I looked at the gameplay footage again and took inventory of what types of cars passed by and would be easy for me to draw. I picked the transport car with the red triangle on it, a blue car with a yellow stripe on the bottom, and the brown car. The one with the headlight shining directly on Tong Pooh was made up. And of course there’s the truck that you start on, which Tong Pooh is standing on right now. Because of their complexity (and because I wanted to get this over with), I shaded them all (except the truck) via filter shading to take care of all elements of each vehicle in one go. The buildings were easy since I’m still kinda fresh off of drawing 99th Street Bounce, of which there were PLENTY of buildings to draw. However unlike 99th Street Bounce, which had a general purple hue to it, Neo Hong Hong has more of a slightly orange, old halogen streetlamp hue. So I tried out that filter, and it actually looks pretty good.

Overall this pic came out alright. Hoping to do another pic like this soon, probably with Strider himself!

Done on Clip Studio Paint. Cintiq 16 tablet used. CSP 3D Model traced for construction lines, than drawn freehand the rest of the way.

Tong Pooh, Strider © Capcom