2021 Minnesota Game Poster No. 3: Colorado

Click to enlarge.

Previous game posters:

Ohio State

Miami (OH)

I have been looking forward to unveiling this week's poster for some time because of the many hours I put into it, what I learned trying a new method and aesthetic for this one, and how well I feel it turned out. While most video games I reference in this series are old enough for someone to be nostalgic for them, this week, we're parodying the cover of Red Dead Redemption 2. For the unaware, it is one of the most acclaimed games of the last decade, taking place in a serious of fictional states resembling the American West. One such state imitates Colorado. In place of protagonist John Marston in my poster is Goldy; instead of a gang of seven masked riders, there are five Minnesota football players.

Much of what is on this poster I made with a drawing tablet, which I purchased just for this purpose. I love the almost chiaroscuro shading in the game's art, and I was glad to find a tutorial on YouTube that helped me a bit with imitating it. The original picture of Goldy I traced actually features him in the Jerry Kill-era uniforms, but updating the design wasn't too difficult. In the sun, behind Goldy, there is supposed to be a mountain; however, when I placed him into the picture, the mountain was obscured. The sun and the ground I gave a more scuffed, "painted" look using different brushes in GIMP, combined with the smudge tool. For the drawings, I used the ink tool.

The five players are, from left to right: Chris Autman-Bell, Coney Durr, Tanner Morgan, Braelen Oliver, and Mohamed Ibrahim. Obviously, Ibrahim won't play against the Buffaloes or in any other game remaining in the season, but having worked on this for much of June and into early July, I frankly have put am not about to spend more time to replace him in the poster.

Come back next week for Chandler's Bowling Green game poster.