🦇INTERVIEW WITH ALUCARD & RICHTER BELMONT 2D ARTIST, DANIEL KAMARUDIN

A jaw-dropping, finished product always begins with a series of concepts. Without our talented concept artist, our 3D sculpt would have no vision or grounding to launch from. Here at Figurama Collectors, we enjoy every opportunity to shine the spotlight on our creative team and their skill.

Today, we’re excited to share with you an exclusive interview with Daniel Kamarudin, the concept artist responsible for creating the iconic silhouette and vision of our Castlevania: Alucard & Richter Belmont Elite Exclusive Statue to life!

What would you say was the “wow” moment that made Symphony of the Night a standout in your mind?

I really got into it while looking into the artist of the original cover art, Ayami Kojima. Her oil painting style really resonated with me. As for the game, I quite liked the idea of the Long Library, which is why I chose it for the diorama. A library tells a lot about a person, and Dracula having one this large really suggests he appreciates knowledge and was a bit of a scholar, using his immortality to learn, among other things.

You’ve worked as a concept artist on many critically acclaimed Figurama Collectors statues in the past, including Kenshin vs. Shishio and Teresa vs. Priscilla. What sets Alucard & Richter Belmont Elite Exclusive Statue apart from the rest of your work?

The most obvious difference is they’re cooperating together. We do have something similar to this in our Dorohedoro and Made in Abyss statues but not something this grand. This piece also has a ton of gothic motifs—something I'm particularly fond of.

Did you suggest any unique details or Easter Eggs to add to the statue when sculpting it? What would you say is your favorite detail or personal “thumbprint” on the statue?

The Stone Mask is definitely something I wanted to add in. I’m a JoJo's Bizarre Adventure fan and having a JoJo reference from the game be added into the statue seemed like a pretty fun idea! Outside of that, I worked in some pages from the Malleus Maleficarum and other tomes I assume Dracula might have collected over time.

Ayami Kojima’s original art style was a big influence on the design of the Figurama Collectors statue and vision of the characters. What do you think makes her style and the characters/elements of Castlevania unique from an artist’s perspective?

She’s really defined the look of Symphony of the Night by giving it a very romantic and classy feel to the horror theme of the game. When you think of her art, you think opulence, elegance, and class with a hint of grit, and we wanted to work that into the statue as faithfully as possible.

Not only do I think we nailed the look of the characters head to toe (thanks, Carlos!) but we also captured the opulence of her work through parts like the staircase, throne, wolf motif, and upside-down castle in the base.

Tell us one thing about the behind-the-scenes process of creating the statue concept that the average person wouldn’t know just by looking at it.

This thing was ridiculously hard to balance in 3D, ha-ha! The translation from 2D to 3D was already a challenging process given that the kind of stuff I design for Figurama isn’t exactly simple. Factor that into the weaving and logistics Carlos and I had to figure out as we went along to finally settle on what we have now, and the finished product is pretty satisfying!

What do you hope collectors and fans of Castlevania will most appreciate about your work on this piece?

I hope they appreciate all the intricate work that goes into the piece. A lot of work went into the little details hidden in the diorama, costumes, and base. Give the characters a good look, inspect the books and little things we dropped into the diorama, and move the statue around as you look at the upside-down castle in the base. The piece took a really long time to create, and I hope the collectors can see this as a piece of art that captures how they envisioned playing Symphony of the Night in their head when they were younger.