Monday, July 17, 2017

Mudst Go On Takua

'Mud'st go on, Takua  was an odd little idea that came to mind after "star153", someone on Deviant Art, requested for a picture of Takua and Jaller in ankle deep mud. After looking at their favorites, it was apparent star153 is someone in Brittan who has a fetish for pictures relating to the subject of characters in such a situation.

At first I wasn't sure if I  felt like making a sketch, but the more I thought about it, the more amusing the idea became. I didn't just imagine these two standing in the mud, but rather saw them drudging through it.

It became a silly idea of where all they may have traveled during their mask of light quest, and in a jungle there's bound to be swampy terrain. After creating a sloppy pencil sketch of this idea, I proceeded to think up dialogue for these two.

 Takua: "Are you sure that thing is working right?"

Jaller: "If the real herald had it, we wouldn't be in this mess."

Takua: "You're doing fine, but if we're on the right path, that mask has a strange sense of humor."

Jaller: "What's the matter, Takua, I thought you liked having adventures."

Takua: >:(

My layout of the idea was a quick and scratchy thumbnail in my sketchbook (left), and then I did a digital overlay on the photograph to better define the shapes of the characters (right). I find the base sketch before the actual outlining to be just a tad bit more charming than the final result.
When first imagining the concept, I saw it in black and white more so than color in my head, which is a bit uncommon for me. I made the picture in color first, then decided to make it black and white just to see it the way I imagined it. 

Making it black and white is like looking at a photograph from the past, a record of the chroniclers possible adventures which are now placed in stone and faded in memory. 

A bit of trivia about the piece: I created some of my own brushes for making odd cattails, swamp grasses, trees, and leaves. The background beyond the trees was a section of an actual watercolor texture I did. It seemed convenient and quick for this simple project. 

Sunday, July 2, 2017

Trill's Lightstone Necklace


While I had my paper beach scene up, after a long photo session of mug pictures, I played around with an idea of where Trill might have gotten her new little necklace.
I grabbed my Po Matoran and made a scene of teasing kindness.

Trill's little stone necklace is made from scraps of yellow cording, and a chunk of citrine. With a bit
of knotting, I made her a somewhat islandy looking charm just for fun. It ties around her neck, which means it can work for any small toy if the bow is adjusted.
I made a mini comic with the photos when a story idea started to form. It's just a silly concept, but during Trill's travels as a chronicler in training and a map maker, she meets a visiting Po Matoran on her way off along Ga beach. They talk to each other, Trill mentions how she wants to map the underground tunnels of Onu, but is spooked by the dark, and the Po Matoran offers her a gift to help her along her journey.

The joke is that he thinks she's cute, and offers his light stone necklace to impress her.