The bond between Link and Midna in Twilight Princess is one that evolved throughout the duration of the game and touched many players’ hearts. Whether he was a wolf or a human, Midna stayed with Link until the end, ensuring that he never had to face any challenges alone. While endgame Midna and Link bring many fans to tears, the early bond between wolf and imp is one of mischief and vengeance. The Twilight-infused pair inspired artist, Zinrius, to create a close-up portrait of the two.
Zinriu’s piece was created with a dark color palette reflecting the Realm of Twilight and the shadows that haunt the heroes. While some features blend into the dark edges, the choice to keep the majority of the piece dark, like Link’s fur and Midna’s helmet, makes the other features stand out more. The vibrant light blue lines across Midna’s skin shine out, reminding all of her magical blood. Link’s eyes reflect a similar blue and show the emotion Link is no doubt feeling as the Twilight magic curses his bones. There is anger and determination driving his every move. A similar emotion is in Midna’s one visible eye.
Midna’s eye is the only part of the piece to break the blue, gray, and white color scheme, drawing your attention to it. Unlike Link’s anger, Midna has more of a playful touch to her expression. Midna is one to tease and make fun of Link, calling him her pet while she lazes around on his back. Matched with her toothy grin, she is ready to get up to mischief, and if that causes trouble for the Usurper King, then it’s a win-win for the little Imp.
The advantage of doing a close-up portrait of the piece is that all the emotion is in the foreground and there is no need for a complicated background. And with it being this zoomed-in, there’s no room for a background anyway. It could be a sneaky way to avoid drawing a background, as some artists despise drawing backgrounds or simply prefer spending hours on the details of a character rather than drawing every stroke of grass and fluffy cloud. Backgrounds aren’t for everyone, but in this piece, one is unnecessary. Zinrius’s composition invokes the bond between Link and Midna that players came to love.
