Community Focus - Hedgem0ny

Jun 3, 2015 - DeeJ

When you imagine the Destiny Community in your battle-tested imagination, it’s easy to make connections to the real world. Our Bungie.net forum Ninjas are a force for justice. The Mentors are first responders. Other community leaders have built their own outlying settlements where they rule. I'm very much like the town drunk.

This guy is like a museum curator, making sure that every artist in our community gets the recognition they deserve.

Who are you?

H: My name is Hedgem0ny and I'm a longtime fan of Bungie and the worlds they build. I try to boost the signal of fan art and the artists themselves.

As a player, what has been your most surprising revelation in House of Wolves?

H: The Reef surprised me a great deal. The Awoken attitudes towards Guardians is fascinating. The glimpses into Brother Vance's time as a Warlock and his mistrust of the Speaker. So much to be learned just from that social space. I love the vendor and NPC dialogue. It's worth spending some time just listening to them.

As an art lover, when you’re not browsing the gallery of lore in the Vestian Outpost, where can we find you?

H: Mostly Twitter. @Hedgem0ny is where I live.

You won't get away with being that selfless. Tell us about your heritage as a player of Bungie games. You’re well known to the veterans of our games.

H: I started with Halo and became a member of Halo.Bungie.Org because I wanted to talk to people who loved that amazing game so much. From there, I went back and played older Bungie games. As to being known, it's great that Bungie have always loved community feedback and remember people over the years. Hang on...did you just call me old?

Like a grizzled ancient who roams the marble halls of a conservatory, dusting off classical masterpieces. We can smell the tweed. Reveal to us your best sources of Destiny art.

H: The Art and Stuff group on Bungie.net is great. Their competitions are fun as well. Deviantart.com is wonderful for artwork of varying skill levels. I believe there is no such thing as bad art, just passion drawn badly. Haha. It's the only place you will be able to see a My Little Pony Guardian. It's great just to see people inspired enough to make art. To create something themselves. Artstation.com is also terrific and you can find some top notch work there. Over at pixiv.net Japanese artists have been producing some nice artwork. It's certainly growing as Destiny expands. I try to put as much as I can on Twitter.
[Note: Links chosen by the Editor to provide for a safe landing - not all art is Rated T for Teen]

You’ve got a voracious appetite and good taste. Who are some of your favorite artists?

H: If we are talking Bungie then everyone there is a genius and highly talented. Bungie knows how to spot great talent from Craig Mullins to Shi Kai Wang to Isaac Hannaford to Joseph Cross - just everyone. On the community side, Gary Quill Jr is inventive and fun. Levi Hoffmeier is also high on my list. Zachary D Bradley is fantastic. His work is moody and nails Destiny. I'm a big fan of his artwork.
[Note: Not everything you'll see in those galleries will be meant for Destiny]

What is it about Destiny that seems to capture the player’s imagination?

H: The character designs in Destiny are so strong, varied, and relatable that people want to draw them. The art direction is vivid, the colors are gorgeous, and the armor/weapon variants are well-suited to individual interpretations. I have noticed there is more Hunter art than the other classes.

It’s the capes. Gamers dig capes. What do you think we can do to better support the artistic community?

H: The best way to support artists is for Bungie to continue to make great art. That inspiration alone drives the art, then the community promotes and supports it from within. The Art of Destiny book is a great resource for a lot of artists and any time you post concept art or game character profiles for cosplay the art community run with it. It's circular I guess. Creativity breeds creativity. Brother Vance would say it's "all part of the pattern."

We’ll keep doing our part, Hedge. Thanks for lighting the way for everyone who enjoys other visions from the world of Destiny.

If you love Destiny art, there are more than a few links above to keep you busy. If you have a mighty pen or brush, and you’d like to become one of Hedge’s legends, make some art of your own. He’s very likely to find you.