Gorgeous Art of this Year’s Strongest Female Leads

Yup. You saw them here first. Here are two stunning pictures painted exclusively for SpawnFirst, of this year’s two strongest female leads in gaming. Lara Croft from Tomb Raider, and Elizabeth from Bioshock Infinite. They were sent in as fan art…and i literally mean ART, from up-and-coming graphic artist Bridget Simms. Take in all the exquisite details, and read about Bridget, in her own words, on how she became the talented individual that she is today:

I’ve been drawing my entire life, but I started teaching myself to draw digitally in 2010. It was always something I enjoyed doing and put a lot of time into, and something I felt I was naturally good at. It’s hard to say how I learned to draw; I think everyone starts out drawing when they are young. I just never stopped.  I currently go to school as a junior at Savannah College of Art and Design in Atlanta, and major in animation and illustration.

I chose to draw Elizabeth from Bioshock Infinite and Lara Croft from Tomb Raider. They are both so similar but also completely different in a number of ways. Both of them were thrown into situations where they have to sort of turn off their “humanity switch” and pull together to do what they knew needed to be done. Although Lara’s switch was turned off a bit sooner than Elizabeth’s, Elizabeth knew what she needed to do in order to survive. I’m also a big fan of the fact that Elizabeth was a useful companion, and not just some damsel who constantly needed to be saved.

A lot of my inspiration and ideas come from video games. I’ve always been interested in games, even though I started a bit late in the game for my generation. I remember getting a Gameboy Color as a birthday present with a Yoshi game to go with it (I loved that game so much; I wish I could remember the name). When I lost my Gameboy Color (like every kid does) I begged my dad to get me a new one, and to this day I still have my see-through purple Gameboy Color with my Pokemon Crystal cartridge in it. My favorite games for my Gameboy were Pokemon Silver and Crystal versions, as well as Kirby Tilt and Tumble.

My first console was a PlayStation, and I spent hours playing Sypro and Rayman. The first shooter I ever played was on my dad’s PlayStation 2, and it was either Tomb Raider or Red Faction. At the time I didn’t play Red Faction’s campaign, but it was good fun to have one-on-one shootouts with my dad. Tomb Raider has always been a favorite of mine, so when the new one came out I was beyond excited. I only just recently got a chance to play it (it was on sale on XBLA) and I finished in in less than a week. Lara is one of my favorite heroines and I had a blast painting her.

An example of Bridget’s earlier work. Apparently, she really loved Pokemon.

I’d say that video games have quite a bit to do with my art and how I developed my current style. Although they aren’t as popular any more, video game booklets were huge inspirations to me. I spent a lot of time copying the drawing in the booklets of games like Pokemon and Harvest Moon late at night under my sheets when it was past bedtime. Through my love for drawing, I knew that I wanted to dedicate my life to art and go to art school to pursue my dreams. My dream job would be to animate for Nickelodeon’s Legend of Korra or any other 2D animated show, but I would also love to animate or be a concept artist for video games as well.

Here’s a big SpawnFirst “Thank you!” to Bridget Simms, for her amazing contribution to our site. We’re glad to hear that Bridget is inspired by games, just as we are, and has let that inspiration encourage her to better her skills and outlook, as an artist.

If you’re impressed by Bridget’s work, make sure to check out her website HERE , and follow her on Twitter HERE