PITFALL! (covered version)

Pitfall! (my version)

Inspired by the fantastic Covered blog, I thought it would be fun to create a “Doc Pop” version of the classic Activision game “PITFALL!“. The piece was created over a week’s worth of BART rides, using cheap watercolor and ink. I also experimented with a “reverse” applique technique on the rainbow that looks totally for awesome in person.

Pitfall was one of my earliest video game addictions. As a longtime fan of the “platform game” genre, I’ve always considered Pitfall to be the godfather of the genre. Although it’s not technically the oldest side-scrolling game, I feel that modern platformers more closely resemble Pitfall than Donkey Kong. The art on all the classic Activision games were great and usually worked the Activision rainbow into the art in interesting ways. I particularly like the art on the Pitfall! package and enjoyed having an excuse to study it more. One of the surprising things about this classic cover is that the protagonist is the LEAST interesting thing on the whole image. I doubt that was on purpose, so I was glad to add a little more depth and excitement to our swinging hero.

Although I’m really happy with the illustration, the rest of the “packaging” didn’t turn out quite as well… especially in the scanned version (seen below), but I’m glad I tried doing something I’m not comfortable with (lettering and cutting) and the end piece looks pretty good on my wall.

Pitfall!

[edit: if you enjoyed this piece, you might want to check out my “Pitfall! Roundup” too]


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10 responses to “PITFALL! (covered version)

  1. bartcusick Avatar
    bartcusick

    Awesome! The cut out rainbow idea looks great. And the fact that you did it while on the train is amazing.

  2. […] by the grest reinterpretations of comic book covers over on the Covered blog, Doc Pop created a wonderful version of the cover for the Atari 2600 video game “Pitfall” that was released by Activision in […]

  3. Bart Cusick Avatar

    Awesome! The cut out rainbow idea looks great. And the fact that you did it while on the train is amazing.

  4. […] game designer, and professional yo-yoer Brian “Doctor Popular” Roberts created this watercolor and ink remake of Activision’s Atari 2600 cover art for Pitfall. Inspired by the comic book recreations at […]

  5. Star Avatar

    This looks super good!Doc, I know I've said this before, but I'll say it again- you're really owning this cheap watercolor thing! Kudos!

  6. DocPop Avatar

    thanks Star!

  7. […] I was researching my last piece I came across a few Pitfall! links worth […]

  8. […] is my first comic cover remake that I’ve done… unless your count my Walken Dead or Pitfall paintings. Tagged: comic book · cover · craig thompson · donatello · […]

  9. […] Doctor Popular painted this wonderful and colorful cover version of the Pitfall cart art while riding on the train over the course of a week. The results are colorful, impressive and decidedly retro. […]

  10. […] I was researching my last piece I came across a few Pitfall! links worth […]

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