Ah, fall. Orange and brown leaves blanket the ground and my breath hangs in the air as I herd my kids into the car each morning. And let’s not forget about the pumpkins! My front porch is completely covered in these gorgeous gourds. In case you can’t tell, I absolutely adore this time of year. It’s the perfect time to snuggle up in a blanket with a controller and play a game that makes me feel comfortable and cozy. In most cases, this means pulling a Zelda game off the shelf.
I think my love for fall and Halloween is what made me love the Koroks. I know that sounds weird, but hear me out. They are small, impish creatures who like to jump out and scare you. They trick you into finding them, and then they give you a treat. See what I mean? With all that they have in common, it seems only natural to me that Koroks and pumpkins would be buddies, and that’s exactly what we see in this amazing piece from artist VialOfFire called “Korok (+ Pumpkin)“.
This is a whimsical work of art. It looks like it was drawn and colored in with marker, which gives it an almost childlike appearance. Our tiny Korok friends are sitting on a pumpkin that has to be massive based on what we know about Korok stature. The leaves on their faces are autumn colors which leads me to think that Korok faces change depending on the season. I know that’s wild speculation, but I would love to see Nintendo do that in Tears of the Kingdom.
Pumpkins, for me, have always been hard to draw. I feel like it takes a lot of work to get them to look like a three-dimensional object even though they look incredibly simple. The way a pumpkin curves and is delineated makes it almost impossible to make two-dimensional and I simply cannot do it. Vial, however, can really draw a pumpkin. It’s lumpy, it has curves and variance in height. It’s a truly sublime pumpkin. Please appreciate the dedication to the stem, as well. The Koroks have a great stem to grab on to in case Link decides to come smash it before Halloween is over (they do look a bit scared here, which makes me think that Link may actually be coming).
I’ve always closely associated Koroks with fall in my mind, so it was very good to see that VialofFire had the same idea. You can check out more of her work on her DeviantArt page. If you would like to potentially be featured in Yuga’s Art Gallery, you can submit your work to Zelda Universe’s own DeviantArt page! You can share your work with other Zelda fans and even enter some of our contests in the future!
