An Art Style Beyond Technique: Bengus the Legendary Capcom Artist (Breakdown and Analysis)

[@persona83]

90s Capcom was pure art. They nailed every aspect of their craft, with cutting edge hardware, great music, beautiful artwork and addictive gameplay.

[@jasonfanclub4267]

True, it was so appealing

[@jamjox9922]

For real. I would spend hours just admiring the art, the sprites; everything from Street Fighter 4 and forward doesn't have the same appeal. Almost everything in the video is worthy of a poster--it's not the same for newer art on Capcom's base.

[@ffiiggyy]

I shall forever appreciate his work on the Darkstalkers series, he just draws Morrigan so well.

[@GameArts1]

Oh yea he does, and Lillith. Damn. However I must say, Kinu Nishimura is breathing in his neck on this one haha.

[@LowellLucasJr.]

​@@GameArts1Completely agree! She Dominated the sexy side of Capcom!❤️😘

[@Ilyak1986]

Morrigan is now the crossover princess. She transcended her original franchise, to the point that if there's any Capcom crossover ever going on, you can expect her to pop up almost immediately, and be among the best characters in the game. Heck, she's ranked as the #1 character in Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 by some people--a game that's the height of busted.

[@driftingswordsmanzer]

Bengus IS the fighting game artist. Love his and Kinu Nishimura work.

[@JPisnotaquasarnorapulsar]

Ehhh debatable, I am more of a Shinkiro guy myself

[@harrylane4]

@@JPisnotaquasarnorapulsar never liked shinkiro, tbh. Every face looks the same, and it’s an extremely unappealing artstyle. He used to be better, in the mid 90s. Not great, but not as bad as he is now… but there’s never been a point where I’ve looked at his work and said “yeah, THIS should be the face of FG art”

[@thewanderer3678]

@@harrylane4 BUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUH

[@lingux_yt]

​@@thewanderer3678he's telling the truth, everybody looks the same when shinkiro draws them

[@inisipisTV]

AKIMAN - IS THE FIGHTING GAME MASTER. He’s Bengus and Kinu’s Master and teacher and the Original creator and Head Art Director of Street Fighter Series.

[@yungb254]

I love Bengus and can respect his ability to adapt with the times, but what he did in the 90's is what we all remember him for. Legendary.

[@jefferyquick3280]

Bengus, Akiman, and Kinu Nishimura. Capcom holy trinity of artists.

[@sicksmoker253]

Endayan?

[@NegoClau]

Them, Edayan and Shinkiro!

[@andresleonardopelaezamoroc3914]

You right because Shinkiro's style Fit so much better with SnK franchices.

[@GTXDash]

The ears. You can tell it's him by how the ears are drawn. He puts just as much detail in the ears as he does the eyes and he makes sure that they are anatomically correct, which not many artists do. This is something I've tried to do with the art of our upcoming game. He is probably my most favorite artist of all time. Most anime artists limit themselves to what the anime look is known for, whereas he just does whatever looks cool.

[@GameArts1]

Nice catch! Bengus indeed shows the ears a lot in their full glory, no matter the character they are well visible and like you said; anatomical correct and detailed.

[@natewatson6962]

I feel like his work in the mid-late 90s stages had an air of youth to it, he has like a God given aptitude for anatomy, composition and character, but it was raw with a blind confidence, and a lot of energy. He was free enough to just try some different things and they all worked, and were fun. Scratches my brain just right, can't get enough of it. Even the colors were incredible.

[@Lemlimz]

It's awesome how his interpretation of the marvel characters become so influential for many artist even for people that work for marvel itself

[@blueperseverance3912]

I have the darkstalkers artbook and his design and style is standing out so beautifully. He is a blessing for the capcom team.

[@Kusanagikaiser999]

Capcom have so many incredible artist working with them and Bengus is absolutely one of my favorites, his work in SF Alpha and Marvel vs Capcom is just on another level.

[@LightCyrus]

Love this artist. Such a classic.

[@boombox2ikik239]

Him and Kinu Nishimura’s work were the reason I got more serious into drawing. Seeing their art in the street fighter games had me at awe when I got into fighting games and made realize that it was what I truly wanted to do in life.

[@GameArts1]

Inspiring! Thanks for sharing.

[@Psycho-Thinker]

I didn't like Kinu Nishimura art in Capcom vs SNK 2

[@CyberDragon10K]

Alpha/Zero 3's match victory portraits are _so_ striking. The dramatic poses and usage of foreshortening/elongating make each one stand out, from Guy leaping overhead, to Ryu's flowing headband, to Dictator dismissively tossing his cape aside.

[@Luh_katkat]

I knew his artsyle shared a resemblance to akira toriyamas art! My two favourite artists, i do wish he would lean more to his old artstyle again though.

[@MISCDesigns]

His artwork on SFA1 really helped me with my own artwork. You can also see a lot of his style in Ed McGuinnis' early artwork.

[@Rukiman_no16]

He's like the Kakashi of art. Picks whatever style he wants and masters it.

[@waynealright8047]

I really will watch ANY video about Bengus. He’s my favorite artist ever! I’ll watch this later, thanks for making it!

[@nimhard]

my fave artist ever - being a fighting game freak - many of his works are forever burned in my mind

[@operaenthusiast58]

2:06 that drawing of Hayato goes HARD man! I ve always liked it since the 00s

[@GameArts1]

+1

[@UnifiedEntity]

His art made me want to play Mvc2 in the arcades ON SIGHT when i first laid eyes on it as a kid

[@ram_taka3436]

definitely one of my favorite inspirations

[@shinzankuro]

Bengus is a living legend! My ultimate inspiration in artworks!

[@ubonsolavong999]

Bengus is legendary !!! Nostalgic asf seeing his art in game magazines and arcades....

[@ichigen511]

Excellent video. My brain has burned so many of Begus' art into my memory he isone of the best and so much variety in his style. On of the best of any medium or genre. Cheers!

[@smileydog5941]

I let out a deep sigh of ecstasy, mouth agape, seeing this video in my feed, and finally learning the name of this artist. You don't understand, man, a reeeally like the art for Marvel vs Capcom. It's too good.

[@bamezu7165]

His Alpha drawings were peak shonen ... Those Ryu, Guy, Sagat (holding a defeated Dan by his head ...) Many years later I searched for those and when I saw it was the same guy as plenty of all capcom games (XMen / Marvel ...) I was baffled. 2:28 I didn't knew that one ! 😍

[@CDages]

Once he went digital, his quality really took a drastic dip sadly. But his work prior to that is quite frankly ICONIC! His work in Vampire, and Marvel Vs series is FAR superior imo to what he would contribute to Street fighter. I've always gravitated towards artists like Edayan (who's criminal overlooked) Ikeno, and Akiman for Street Fighter.

[@GameArts1]

I like your taste :). Indeed Edayan and Ikeno have some excellent works. Imo Akiman is a great symbol on the franchise. Capcom has so many talented artist imo. (Megeman, BoF etc are also excellent imo)

[@ihsanaminTV]

If I'm remembering correctly, his entry to the Street Fighter series began with finishing inks and colors on Nishimura's pencil sketches on the SFII Hyper Fighting bust/action portraits. He then pitched in on the Super SFII/Turbo promo portraits. Also: He supposedly ghosted many of the pieces attributed to Shinkiro for Capcom vs SNK. Mimicked his style insanely well.

[@GameArts1]

Cool, tnx for sharing.

[@Shinreetlegna]

According to fighters generation, the original Street fighter 1 character concepts were by Bengus. That takes his involvement with the SF series back to 1987 or even 1986.

[@BourneFighting]

Bengus is one of the greatest. Period!

[@meh.96]

That is passionate artist right there. He just enjoy drawing things, and try to implement new stuff from what he learned.

[@curbyour____9506]

Nice timing for Darkstalkers anniversary

[@Alfred_the_doodler]

Oh hell yea! Love bengus!

[@greatrulo]

I love Bengus' work, I wish there were more deliberate compilations of his work though, most are either very rare to find, expensive or not quite comprehensive.

[@GameArts1]

Yeah, good point. it's hard to find his works because they are spread over many game artbooks. Also most people claim 'this' or 'that' is Bengus his works but its Edayan or another artist instead. So I had to keep it to the art I could verify and were relevant for the context. (I have SF artbooks but not yet darkstalkers, I will soon). This vid took quite lot of work because Bengus also switches often in technical style; a couple of art pieces were almost unidentifiable sometimes.

[@Mclucasrv]

I think SF5 was his worst era problaby because of rushed work and it felt like his artstyle was ina transitional fase.

[@moggless]

will still take bengus' anyday of the week than artgerm's stiff drawings.

[@Mclucasrv]

@@moggless his early SFV on the story mode is kinda all over the place but the later ones had good composition Im still not a fan of the coloring but it did not bother me so much after getting used to it.

[@ZEBASS]

@@moggless Indeed. A rushed/flawed scribble by an awesome artist is still more valuable to me than something that is stiff (and also really boring in terms of color composition), even if it has a ton of rendering and a million brush strokes.

[@darylcastillo1439]

Bengus is the most inspirational artist to me. His work from the first Alpha through the Marvel games really got me into drawing and playing those games all the time.

[@CallMeSugarMilk]

Shoutout to Bengus Gotta be one of my favorite genders 🙏🏾

[@warrenbradford2597]

Interesting perspective on Bengus. I read about him in the Capcom wiki page for him when I realized he did the art for the majority of the Capcom Fighters.

[@estelagonzalez2017]

I had no idea that this was the name of that artist I've been admiring since the 90's...omg...thank you so much for this video!

[@SanguchitoPapa]

loved thissssss

[@uiebwuiowebuiopwebfoipbewfoip]

love your videos, please keep making them !

[@GameArts1]

tnx apopodo!

[@kevin9989]

"We each have our own reasons to pursue art!" YES! Thank you for the video, fellow artist.

[@SaiOkami777]

Bengus' MVC 2 art is absolutely goated

[@aidanhever3369]

Bengus is also one of my inspirations for my art style, next to Ken Sugimori, Bruce Timm, Todd McFarlane, and even Rumiko BAKAhashi.

[@DeeDee_Nola]

Yoo this is my FAVORITE art style it's crazy to see someone talking about it Ever since finding Marvel Vs Capcom in the 90s as a little kid this has been the apex of art for me

[@omirlee3908]

So growing up playing marvel vs capcom, seeing Bengus’s work-define inspired me to pursue art.

[@p5rsona]

his work on the alpha series, up to mvc2 is absolute god tier. his ability to convey 3d forms, anatomy is second to none, not to mention his designs, poses, composition... just looking at some of them from the video, they belong in museums. for me he really hit his peak on mvc2 in terms of technical skills. looking on his later stuff however, lets just say im not a fan which feels really sad to say. hard to believe its the same artist, almost amateurish in comparison.

[@GameArts1]

Well said. I had to proofcheck it was him on some of his later art pieces tbh. But agreed, his alpha and MvC works are nuts.

[@positiveliberty]

exactly! what happened to bengus? his art in SFV and 6 is terrible! it comes off as really lazy--almost as if he's lost interest in his work. his work in marvel 2 is some of the greatest capcom art of all time

[@ArchOfficial]

@@positiveliberty It's more likely that most of the mediocre pieces (story illustrations etc.) were made with a day's deadline or less, very likely multiple a day, while older pieces and the poster art would have hopefully had a more typical week or two, perhaps a few days at worst. It's easy to forget that basically everyone does pretty bad work if they're asked to produce challenging pieces in a very short time. Skilled artists operating firmly in their comfort zone can bang out good stuff pretty quickly in single-digit hours, or produce good sketches in minutes, but get them out of the comfort zone and you can add a zero to the time spent.

[@DoormatKineko]

I love bengus's work so much, i feel youve put into words exactly what i love about it. theres just so much personality and maybe even soul in it. it pulls you into the world of the characters. Your art style analyses are so awesome! Thank you!

[@GameArts1]

Well said, indeed he adds soul to his character art, they live an breath. (lol now I wished I put this into the vid haha)

[@BestofIIDXanimations]

I loved the art he did for MVC2, the final pieces had a strong aesthetic of unfinished sketches, not even the whole figure was even defined and the shadows were like a grotesque cross hatching, yet the result was so good and iconic!

[@neogotham2k39]

Bengus is a great artist and I like the Darkstalkers characters' designs!

[@cortexcarvalho9423]

I've never found anything like what he did in the art of darkstalkes. The exaggerated perspective distortion is beautiful! (but I'm going to assume inspiration from the film Dr. Caligari's Cabinet). The theme helps in itself too. The colorful and comical combining with the dark and mysterious. I don't know who designed the game's character, but the appearance of the characters themselves is distorted and comical apart from Bengus' art. SWEET!

[@Vitor20XX]

I like his art so much, Darkstalkers 3 artworks is my favorite.

[@waynealright8047]

Such an interesting look at Bengus’ style. I absolutely hero worship this man and I am so sad to hear that he is shy. I just want him to teach me, like he did Edayan but I imagine I have a bit of that Sakura energy and would frighten him off!

[@RyonMugen]

Bengus' art was always perfect and amazing in everywhere! It fit so perfectly, and even his X-Men art was spectacular!

[@ItsAkile]

My beloves, his ability to just make good styles and consistly expand. I also always loved Shinkiro's work,

[@xGunbladeKnightx]

He has some illustrations that I love, like the Darkstalkers 1 poster, but other works look very simple, as if he did them without much motivation.

[@Quantum722]

The man who made the cover art for MVC2 to the guy whose an absolute legend

[@ChorizoPringoso]

Bengus art is the art of 90s childhood ❤

[@Psycho-Thinker]

His Alpha 2 art was masterpiece

[@localdude2979]

Thumbnail No gooning challenge: IMPOSSIBLE

[@figuredrawing4912]

His new art can be.....VERY not good, but his older stuff....legendary.

[@GameArts1]

Unfortunately I have to agree on this. He's great at composition, but one of his newer works made me confused what I was looking at (Overexposed with effects).

[@ariowirawan16]

Glad to recommended this by youtube Really interesting analysis video , now i have more fascination with this artist.... Didn't expecting all that artwork made by 1 person with really fluid techniques and style Hope you become more popular

[@pshe2mg]

I wasn't expecting this analysis approach, but it Was fun learning some easter eggs

[@CraigSmithII]

Bengus' (when he was known as CRMK)Super Street Fighter 2:Turbo character art back in 1994 was the best in my opinion. When I was improving my art in my high school years, I looked at his stuff along with the SNK art as well while I was still following the Jim Lee/Andy Kubert stuff from Marvel comics & still do today with Bengus, Kinu Nishimura & Akiman on the Capcom side & Eisuke Ogura on the SNK side

[@ashleybanks-wm4cg]

Thank you for teaching us this I never knew this and always wondered

[@sonicphoenix7]

ikeno and nishimura are my favs but bengus art goes hard

[@SpiderHam]

Bengus is the kind of artist I like to be too! This was a wonderful video!

[@jaredmatarodriguez8716]

His art in: Street Fighter Alpha, Darkstalkers, Power Stone, Rival Schools, Street Fighter EX, just amazing!!!

[@haraya_manawari]

been a big fan of his works since MvC and Vampire

[@michaelbullen3104]

Bengus and Shinkiro are gods

[@JaceAce22]

His anatomy study is incredibly detailed for all his cartoon-anime styles. His poses and gestures don't seem to hold still for the camera.

[@adrianmartinez-lq5he]

There is was a time when this guy alone was the biggest game artist in the industry Gesture and style over consistency

[@Ranchor489]

Bengus cemented the Alpha series artsyle as the definitive Street Fighter, or even as far as Capcom, look. That is a skill and talent beyond any measure.

[@SepoMorales]

Hey man, it's been a while since i saw one of your videos, DAMN YOUR VOICE HAVE IMPROVED, that diction, pronunciation and rythm got waaaaaay better. Keep it up man

[@GameArts1]

Thanks Sepo!

[@noiJadisCailleach]

Do one for the art on the whole Mana franchise. The character designs are intricate. The environment has a life of its own. And even if you go back 30 years from now, the in game art style as a whole is still waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay ahead of its time, if you compare it from most game art out there. Game art that can match Mana's game art level are only a dime a dozen. When i observed this fact at first, i couldn't believe it. Then, the more i dug into it, the more shiny i found this thing to be. It's really bizarre how the incredible art in Mana has widely flown under the radar for so long.

[@GameArts1]

I do love the Mana franchise, it was my very first video in this ''style'' haha. However I need to check out how to approach it, mana games are for whatever reason not popular and atm I rather focus on growing my channel for now. But I might issue the main artist in a poll soon. We'll see.

[@Rammy_Latin]

Great video and channel, ima subscribe! All of his art is iconic to me, from SF Alpha to the versus series. But I especially love his work for Darkstalkers. I love how expressive he draws them. Bengus, Kinu Nishimura and Itou Mami are my favorite artists for anything Darkstalkers 💜 Also 10:13 is actually my phone wallpaper so I was caught off guard when it popped up lol

[@sicksmoker253]

Endayan is also really good, his work in Rival schools is god tier

[@alexlovehall7796]

Bengus is one of the GOATS of Capcom artists for me

[@mishikomishiko9088]

My favourite artist from the Capcom classic era! ❤

[@rashodmasters4299]

I've always loved the art from those series but I never knew he had such a funny pen name lol

[@GameArts1]

He has a second pen-name 'Gouda Cheese', based on a Dutch cheese brand. When I read that, I really needed to verify lol

[@DreadDoorMan]

Everyone talking about Bengus, Kinu Nishimura, and Akiman and don't get me wrong I agree with you all! I absolutely love their art, its amazing but... Daigo Ikeno... His art is nuts!

[@GameArts1]

I'll add him someday to the artist poll list, but idk when I'll do another fighting game poll.

[@ZEBASS]

Add Haruki Suetsugu (Sensei) and Tatsuya Yoshikawa to that list! Still I like Bengus the best 🧡

[@penixtrite6709]

Excellent vid! Very informative and made me learn a lot. I hope you'll make a vid on Kazuya Nuri one day, he's one of my favorite artists and I would love to see you break down his style!

[@y_s4021]

Yep. This is the guy that made me want to draw.

[@basti.9022]

Bengus has the Sauce!!!

[@Quartered_Rodent]

"We each have our own reasons to pursue art." Bengus

[@Godspeace21]

What an incredible artist.

[@pablocasas5906]

Bengus' work on Marvel vs. Capcom is some of my favorite fighting-game art, I think it's the definitive 90s Capcom artstyle, incredibly well-drawn and colorful By the way, you should talk about Tonko, she's kind of like the SNK equivalent of Bengus and Kinu Nishimura, particularly by her work on Mark of the Wolves

[@GameArts1]

I'll add her to my request list. i will do poll but it wont be the next, thanks!

[@LowellLucasJr.]

Bengus works before SF5 were marvelous. Sure some things were sketchey but had alot of raw fury to them. His works on Alpha 3( Zero 3) what's when is our started getting a lot more simplified than before and not near as dynamic as you would see with his works on the first two alpha games. I wasn't really a fan of it but I know a lot of people love the cartoony tlexpressions such as Vega licking out of his face mask like a food bowl for his versus illustration. By the time he got on Street Fighter 5 his work was really super loose and used a lot of generic faces. A lot of the characters endings I couldn't tell who they were until they revealed their names! My guess, Capcom just let him have a free rein because Bengas is a household name with the studio and any work he dishes out, fans would love anyway. I'm a little sad because I hold him and Nishimura up to the same standards I hold aikman (who still pushes the envelope) but it's all good because he's done some great work that will never be forgotten.

[@terry-]

Great!

[@helldanart]

One of my favourites!!!

[@sorubro2193]

My favorite, with edayan

[@gunsslip]

GOAT

[@eltomyx2868]

This video is totally inspiring. 🎨

[@makhundred]

really nice video

[@misterjersey5460]

2:26 *OHH MAY GAWD*

[@fobo3361]

if you wanna get this level of flexibility in your art, STEP ONE, LEARN REALISM, I am so serious when i tell you this, everything is rooted in real life, if you dont start there you're limiting your understanding of all elements of art, once you learn how things actually look, THEN you can simplify, stylize, and emphasize where you see fit and create something that is truly your own

[@RexVergstrong]

Subscribed. Hope to see one of these on Daigo Ikeno.

[@GameArts1]

Excellent suggestion. I will add him to a poll someday, so it wont be the next (I did 2 fighting game artist back to back and want to keep the channel playfull before YT begins to thing I'm SF channel haha).

[@JanBautista-m3r]

MAX.D, original staff and artist of Metal Slug series.He can do both realistic and Anime stye. He can also draw mecha hand draw.

[@rabble_rousdower]

I'd love to see a video on Halo's art. I have a Halo 4 art book and the concept art done for that game was absolutely incredible. I'd love to see your analysis of the Bungie era compared to 343i's

[@GameArts1]

Cool suggestion. So I did plan on checking out art like Halo, Darksouls etc type of art, however atm YT is unforgiving when switching content too much in this stage, that's why I keep it to 'japanese game art/manga' for now. (maybe I'll branch out later idk). Tnx.

[@viola0livido]

Hi! Yt algorithm suggested me your channel yesterday and I immediately subscribed! Are you planning to cover first Resident Evil art (1995) as well??

[@GameArts1]

Atm I'm more focused on individual artist, but I'll add it to the request log. Thanks!

[@viola0livido]

@@GameArts1 I don't know if behind first RE there was only one artist or more than one 🤔

[@RaitoADV]

Amazing video dude! If you plan to tackle other fighting game-related artists in the future, please consider Shinkiro or Eisuke Ogura from SNK. They are legendary artists when it comes to fighting games 🙏