Misty Marine

I continue gravitating towards bright glowing things as scenery with mood lighting. Marine is back, and she's summoning the waters of Radha from the glowing well of wisdom. :P

Okay, yeah, whatever is going on in this scene there's nothing specific to it as far as a story goes. I just felt like doing more mood lighting pictures.

This scene took place on the bathroom vanity with its Chinese evergreen in a shiny pot, reflecting the glow of a Radha beauty defuser that puffed essential cinnamon oil.

With some basic editing like a black gradient, and level adjustments for sharpness and eye glow, I enhanced the mood of my scene.

I played further with my images by experimenting with similar techniques used for creating a watercolor over colored pencil effect on the Lewa and Pearl pictures. 

The left version is the mostly colored pencil effect. I wanted to get more of a brush stroke feel. Since this is a water themed image, I wanted it to look smooth and ripply. The way I did this was by making a copy of the colored pencil version, taking a textured brush in PSE, and applying that texture to the smudge tool set to 100% strength. The rest was just manual touch ups, dragging and dabbing my smudge brush over grainy areas of the image, resulting in a semi painted look (right).

Trillahru and the Rope Machine

 

(Jan. 4, 2017)
 

Here's Trillahru using the newly invented rope machine. Rope is a great thing for sailing, but also for other things like book binding, garland making, multi colored embroidery, all that good stuff.

In the rope hut they have a hook or clamp hanging from the ceiling by another tightly pulled rope attached to a crank. One end of the rope is attached to that, then the other strands hook to the machine, and like any rope maker, you crank the handle and make rope.
 

Okay, seriously, what this is is a miniature rope maker created from 2001 Bionicle parts, mostly from creatures like the Rahkshi and Bohrok, but also a rahi and Toa set. 

It really works, and is friendly for both play and actual use. I spent about half an hour or so engineering it, most of that time spent looking for the right parts to make it work.
 

This idea came to mind while I sat at the craft desk feeling tired as I twisted a few strands of gold and white thread together for a book. This task done by hand seems to take forever, and gets terribly boring after awhile. This is when I asked myself if there was a way to make a hand crank device which could speed up the process of making variegated cording like bakers twine. After a moment, the idea sank in, and I knew just what I could use to put this idea to the test. This is when I went to my Bionicle parts and got to work.

First try, and I discovered it worked wonderfully. I learned a few things along the way too.

In order to get the perfect rope I have to remember that first I need to twist all my strands counter clockwise, pull them taught and attach them one at a time to the device, then crank the machine clockwise to get rope that doesn't unravel.
 

First test was done with black and purple cording, which Trill so happily displays above.

I think I can use the machine to twist the thread counter clockwise too, just have to attach each thread as I go.

Here's a basic view of the machine. I wish I could make a second component that spins the thread counterclockwise while the one end is spinning clockwise.

I knot the one end of the threads, and attach it to a magnifying clamp clip to keep tension. The end of the thread could be tied or hooked to anything, but I find the clamp easiest to use. after that I just have to attach the other threads to the loops or hook of the device, and crank the little handle. I'm in love with this thing.

The basic pictures of Trill cranking the machine and holding up the final product seemed decent enough as illustrations, but I added some eye glow to the scenes for extra interest.

The rope hut is located nearby to the thread maker of Ga Koro. It's a small hut with a bamboo mat floor and woven bamboo walls. The hut is, in a sense, portable, and it's roof is woven bamboo just as the walls, then covered in lily pad leaves for waterproofing.

Trill occasionally comes here to make herself rope for personal use, and at times for selling or exchange.

I did make versions of these images with green tinting to add that lily pad roof appeal, but decided I liked the warm light of the originals best.

The Matoran light the rope hut the same way they light their homes, using warm light stones or bioluminescent lamps.

Trillahru MOC

You remember Trillahru, the map maker. Yesterday I finally took pictures of her MOC I made recently. Here she is in the village of Ga Koro just outside someones hut, possibly hers. 

Trill seems perfectly fine as an MOC for playing with, but then it occurred to me that her build and mask type may be mistaken too quickly as an MOC of Turaga Nokama. Unfortunately no choice seems appropriate to get the look of Trill in toy form considering my blue mask options are limited, and the ones that match fairly well to her drawn features happen to be masks associated with big name Bionicle canon figures like Nokama and Hahli. I could have given her the mask of Gali Mata, but that would just cause people to think it's Hahli, and this mask choice may bring the idea that it's Turaga Nokama. 

It's a win/lose sort of deal with how the build of Trill turned out....But the illustrations still make me fairly happy.

This village scene of her posing awkwardly is a digital collage made from selected images of beach scenery and lily pads. Left version is the full detailed image, but I felt blurring the background gave more focus to Trill (right)
 
 I have a main version with blurring and no glowing vignette. This one has an added green filter as a last minute adjustment, to try and balance the realism of a toy placed in a digital setting.

I'm not sure if the green tinting helped, but it's here.
 
Also, I played with shadow direction, trying to figure out which way hers should go in order to create a proper illusion. This one seems to work, yet at the same time I'm not sure if it keeps the right illusion. I played more with this one, aiming to make it seem as realistic as I can without being too extreme in photo editing. The picture on the right might be a better choice as a main image.

I felt the lily pads needed to sink into the water more since Trill still has weight to her. The water also seemed to need a slight ripple, and reflection of Trill's shadow. I added a green tint in lighting, got rid of the white vignette glow, and blurred the hard edges of Trill's form. Seems alright.

Here are the detailed versions of Trill running along a sandy trail. One plain and the other with a vignette frame to make it seem kind of like a postcard.

Again, I blurred the background to help bring focus on Trill. This scene with the hazy vignette seems kind of dreamy to me. It's like an old photo captured in time, Trill no doubt running after Pearllight as the two play during a day of exploration.

In the scene of Trill running, the youthful spring in her movements seem to help diminish the concept of her form being that of Turaga Nokama. And her spear doesn't look like Nokama's staff of authority, it's merely the only thing I had on hand which looked kind of like a spear.

Since I can never decide, here's the non vignette version. Still makes a good picture for a book.

Shredwing MOC- sticker sheet

Shredwing, yes I said Shredwing. This MOC may seem like a rebuild of Antronz, but it's not. Shredwing is the second character built in the pile the night I made Seawing. I used some parts from my bin. Shredwing started off as a basic build of Antronz who was missing important pieces, like a second wing and armor plating. To make up for that I used spare Barahki armor pieces and added different weapons, then created a set of razor wings from Vahki blades and 2001 Bionicle pieces, making a set of articulated wings. The light up blade in red was a thrill to add.

Who is Shredwing? He is one of the main characters in the Seawing comic, the second most important you could say. Shredwing is a bounty hunter with a back story that proves his character to be more mysterious than you would expect at first glance. He's not a Makuta as many assume, so what is he? That is the mystery of this story.

A little more on the build. This is the first bounty hunter based character I made in my collection. The weapons he wields all apply to his work. A curved blade with a knife balance in his right hand, and a laser sword in the left, connected to a chain with added features that become a bounty harness (I'll speak of that function in another post). He does contain a leech pod in a chest harness, but mostly uses it for scare tactics. In the menacing mechanical wings with no skin, there's an energy which allows Shredwing to float and fly. The wings themselves each have razor clip blades Shredwing uses to threaten his targets, sometimes pinning them to the ground and placing the blade slots over their wrists so they don't dare move while he harnesses them. The blades snip and clip by mind function, these mechanical monstrosities a form of prosthetic. These wings are what gave him his title. He had a different nick name before, that being Claw breaker. I can't get into anymore without spoiling the story. ;P Enjoy the build, as before, I do have some extra art to share for following posts.

Seawing MOC Panel-sticker collection

Seawing, I'll tell more about her in the next post. This MOC is a compilation figure, created from multiple spare parts sitting around on my bed from a yard sale one day, hence the combo Toa, creature mix.

I really like Seawing, especially the shape those Barahki pieces give, perfect parts for a smooth, girly structure. 

Because my MOC panels tend to hold all imagery in one spot, I call them sticker sheets. Why a sticker sheet? Having a MOC panel with all cleaned up images displayed in one spot allows me to go back and select one of the poses for other projects such as postcards, book covers, and illustrations, which you will be seeing in the near future.

Venimbus Glamor Shots

 Okay, here's a nice set of images that are like a Life of Lewa specialty. 

This is Venimbus, one of the main figures in LoL, all pretty in her royal jungle garb with traditional feather helmet tuft, leaf jewelry, and scythe adorned with hallucinogenic string pollen.

Okay, so one day I do plan on making a regular MOC panel to show Venimbus's basic form and figure, but glamor shots never hurt, and I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to use a freshly snipped leaf from our household taro plant as a backdrop and inspiration to these photos.

I love the whole jungle theme, and taro is obviously tropical, that's a given. They're really big too, so getting a nice shot with a small figurine is fairly simple.

I can see it now, these pictures being in a small scrapbook or journal which Lewa keeps and looks at often, completely infatuated by the glamorous Venimbus. :P

Marine MOC Panel

This is Marine, Princess Marine. The basic panel above is to show her MOC from different angles, with and without palace garments. Marine is an old figure, and has existed since late 2009; my inspiration for her character was purely inspired off the original single person Alegria contortion act from Cirque Du Soleil, hence the flexible build and crazy contortion poses.

Image displayed above is a clip from the contortion scene of Alegria. This contortionist and her amazing flexibility, combined with the enchanting song of Cirque, was an immediate inspiration for Princess Marine. The very scene in Alegria sparked the idea of  royalty and aquatic themes. Note the resemblance of Marine to this contortionist, specifically the blue helmet being very much like the blue hair of this performer. It's unfortunate I'm unable to find the original performance of this highly inspirational scene, however, there is a double contortion act I can find which is close enough, and still retains the original song of the performance, called Taruka, just below.

Marine was in fact the first humanoid type build I ever tried, and also the first MOC I ever gave a flexible middle to, which I was very happy about. Her original MOC build was much stockier when first made. I didn't have the pieces at the time to improve upon her, and it's not till later that I was inspired to make her a contortionist and princess, then her structure was improved, made smaller, and made flexible. The cloth, keys, and jewelry were always an element of her character, it's not till 2010 did I come up with a story for why she had keys and wore pretty clothes. Her true history formed during the age of LoL development, and I invented the idea that she was a guardian, princess, and gate keeper of a water palace in Tajun.

Tokuta Rep. Moc

Because I like making art off adventures and RP's my character gets involved in, I decided to make a Tokuta representation MOC from the current Mata Nui RP I'm in on G+. The original Tokuta is a tad different, I didn't have the parts to make my version exact, but to be honest, I like the way the rep. turned out. The structure, though simple, really seems to reflect to that of a 19 year old individual (the age which Tokuta as a character is).

I made the basic panel of Tokuta rep MOC, figuring it would be a shame to let the design go unseen. Technically it's fan art because it's someone else's character made to mimic the original, but isn't exact. My true reason for making a fan based MOC is so I can make fan art photo scenes for the RP. It's a shame that the MOC of Tokuta is rather short in comparison to my character, but I have a few tricks up my sleeve to make illusion, hopefully enough to keep Tokuta from looking so short in scenes with Pearllight.

I added extra Matoran writing on the panel for interest. It spells out "two bladed Toa warrior".

Overall I like this MOC, the legs actually came out rather nice... though I might play with that some more in the future. None the less, I'm satisfied with the overall masculine, yet youthful build.

Pearllight Nova MOC

 This is Pearllight Nova; my MOC when she's in what I call super flight mode. To the date this is her build, and I love this form.

Details: Pearllight Nova is based off the concept of Pearllight's suit having what's called a Nova form; not the kind of nova that kills all life in a certain distance like a nuclear bomb, but essentially a suit mode that's powerful enough to aid in dire circumstances. Her Nova form isn't too different from her base form; see Pearllight self MOC for basic details. The only difference is her wing set, made from parts I'm unfamiliar with. Her nova form mostly aids in sky battles, but also aids in increased power spurts that aid in nova plasma blasts...which are seldom used.

In Nova form, Pearllight's wings have blue signal lights on the top set, that way her comrades know it's her. I'll note the wings are made from technique parts of some kind, and I used a couple white Bohrok legs to hold them. They're adjustable, and removable; I'll note Pearllight can actually take the wings off manually and hang them up. On the more technical side, you may wonder what the tubes are, and why they're attached to the wings. The tubes are basically hydraulic tubes that allow the wings to function naturally with Pearllight's suit. You'll notice the tubes attach to the main part of each wing and then attach to power ports on Pearllight's suit, which only form when she needs the wings. The rest is all basic, Pearllight doesn't normally use her hair blades when in Nova form, which is why they're in their holsters.

 A final note, the staff Pearllight holds was at first an anonymous addition to her nova form; later to become something more. I now feel the staff better relates to a story concept I came up with some time ago and shared in the post Bio-lock. There I mention about a weapon Pearllight finds called the staff of dimensions; which relates to a concept I may one day make into a mini episode for Pearllight Origins. You can read about what this staff is in the Bio-lock post; but anyway, that's what I feel Pearllight Nova is holding, she's using the staff of dimensions during her nova mode.

 I also made these two Pearllight Nova posters (above and below) for the sake of displaying her as a character. They kind of have a CD cover set up to them; might use that idea for a future project. 

Kind of was going for an electrical and sort of enchanting backdrop that expresses the qualities of my character and her somewhat enchanting abilities, like her main quality of being able to heal the injured or broken hearted.

And lastly, I made the panel above displaying Pearllight Nova in her MOC form next to a representation of her in chibi form, more revealed as her Human self. Reason I made this panel is because I felt like sharing and joining in with the small craze on G+ Bionicle communities where multiple people have made chibi versions of their MOC's with the silly chibi maker; and a few have even shared their MOC chibi's with me. So I felt it would be fun to make and share in return.

Pearllight self MOC

 Finally! This is my self MOC as of today when she's in basic form. Her build has improved since the many prototype structures, and the overall appearance of my MOC is purely based off the drawing I made of her (see Official proto Pearllight Posters ).

If I had the proper parts, there are a few things I might tweak still (the shoulders mostly); but overall I'm fairly satisfied with the build and how my MOC has "grown" in a sense, through time. 

The main things I changed on her were the torso, feet, and additional hair clip. It was tricky finding a way to mimic the funny metal hair buns on her helmet, while still making them adjustable and able to hold her hair blades that serve as weapons and decoration.

I really like the shoes, and in concept these specific heels (based off their appearance) have a roller skate mode, and are helpful for back kicking, causing the little silver spikes on her ankles to poke and scratch an enemy.

Top row in the panel is of Pearllight with her hair blades in, bottom row is of her with the blades out. If you care to know the functions of my character and how her suit works, see Pearllight Design Pages. All you need to know about her basic suit function, and imagery are there.

 I'm so happy to finally share Pearllight and what she's like as of today. One day I might make a video on the figure; till then enjoy the panel. ^.~

The Red Nin-Geisha (Ninkei) MOC

 This is the red Nin-Geisha (ninja geisha), an MOC created from spare parts during an experiment to create some kind of smaller structured female MOC. I had minimal choices for the project, and wanted to make unique looking feet, so I played with some odd parts and got what now looks kind of like a set of traditional Japanese sandals; hence the idea of a ninja geisha came to be.

My options for a mask were near to nothing, the only spare I had was a silver mask of light, so I used it, and did what I could to match the color scheme as best I could. 

She ended up being quite tall for a female character because of the shoes, but I worked with it, and added a set of wing launchers to her back, in order to balance out the fact that she was almost too small in shoulder width. The wing launcher serves as a glider for when she jumps from buildings and needs to soar quietly to another roof. On the glider is a holder for two grappling weapons that aid this ninja in hanging from roof sides, and spinning in circles to clear a path when she's surrounded. When not in use her weapons appear as decorative tassels. Her basic weapon is a spear, traditional and multipurpose for fighting, or fishing.

 This character doesn't yet have a name (I've considered calling her Ninkei *nin key*) , but for now I only have a concept history which formed in my head after I made her shoes. By day she's a geisha (at some point I may dress her to look the part); and by night she's a ninja.

She lives in a simple town, and is rather quiet, her mentality somewhat dark and slightly vengeful. I might make her a character in the LoL series, just haven't settled on where or when yet.

 Ninkei prefers to stay quiet, unless she's performing during geisha hours at a tea house in her town. Her back history (still concept) is that a Makuta or maybe a Jusha gang lord killed the man she loved; ever since then she's been determined to find out which gang lord it was, and assassinate him. 

Ninkei doesn't fully abide by the code of Toa, though she is of the same species. Her mentality is that those who have wronged and killed more than one should share the same fate. 

During her day job, Ninkei performs as a geisha for extra money, and uses this job as a cover for spying on Makuta/Jusha gang lords who visit now and then for lunch, tea, and sometimes dinner. Her determination to find the gang lord that killed her love never weakens, and she only has one lead to go by, the knowledge of what tattoo symbol the lord she's looking for has on his neck. During her day job she always tries to get as close as she can to gang members, in order to get a glance at their neck; to see if they are her target.

Sometimes Ninkei hears gang members speak of assassinating certain people in her town, and she won't stand for it. When night falls and it's necessary, Ninkei becomes what the locals call "The Red Ninja"; a spirit protector of the land, and justice keeper of right. Most don't even suspect the red ninja to be female, and in legend many speak of her as being male. Ninkei takes this folk lore to her advantage; seeing people believe the red ninja is male, better clouds her cover as a geisha spying on gang lords. Who would suspect a tea server to be a skilled fighter and legendary protector of the land, supposedly a man, no mere female singer/dancer.

Her story may become more complex, and one day Ninkei may get her revenge; but for now, enjoy the MOC! ^_^

Ashton and Fiamma-togther MOC's

 Since Ashton and Fiamma are introduced several times during the start in Life of Lewa, I thought it would be fun to display them in togetherness, framed and funny. 

In a relationship sense, the two are attracted to each other, only Ashton is more attracted to Fiamma than the other way around. Fiamma secretly likes Ashton's snark, spunkiness, and charm; but also dislikes his childish nature which she feels must be broken before he's worthy of her affection. In her feistiness, Fiamma likes the strong will of Ashton, but knows that in a sense she's attracted to his bad side, and fights against that interest; using her logic over her feelings.

Here's some fun trivia: Can you see the resemblance in these two characters? Notice they both have gray hands, the same red chest plate, and both have similar shoulder armor. This was an unintentional match up, and I find it amusing seeing they're both similar (and most likely attracted subconsciously to each others similarities). :P

Also note how large a Toa's mask can be compared to a Glatorian. Their heads are about the same size, but their masks differ, which makes Ashton look like he has a swelled head compared to Fiamma, a fitting quality for his character I think. XD

Enjoy the togetherness of two fire characters from the Life of Lewa series. ^_^

Also see them individually in Fiamma MOC and Ashton MOC ^.~

Ashton MOC

 This is Ashton. His MOC was built out of spare parts left from a building session after creating Fiera so long ago. This is why Ashton's color scheme is mismatched; yet somehow I managed to pull it together in such a way that it doesn't seem too bad. The only thing I will note is that his feet aren't particularly right, they were the only feet I had at the time which didn't severely clash with the rest of his colors; but as time went on, I came to like them for some reason. If I had the proper spare parts though, his feet would be of the same mold shape, only yellow like his shoulders.

The drawing I made of Ashton in LoL-Flooded Fire was based off this MOC, not the other way around. But since I have full freedom to do as I please in drawing, I spiced up his armor and color scheme as I saw fit, and winged his mask design off the MOC, while making it more unique.

Originally this MOC had no name; it was, in my eyes, an experiment of compiled parts which soon served as some anonymous character that was often used in filler scenes during RP days. Ashton's character started out as being a trouble maker in Vulpes Toa's world; but was quickly forgotten, and had no significant role in any story, he was simply an extra. It's not till the Life of Lewa series came along that Ashton's role as a character became more interesting. Though once more his role was rather short lived, he had a more significant part in the starter days of that RP, and has now become even more interesting (to me that is) ever since I started writing LoL as a fan fiction (which some of you may know is a recent thing).

The name Ashton has been with this MOC from the day I built him, and has seemed very fitting; well chosen for his personality. Something about it that I feel matches his spunk, and
 rather stocky build.  

Here's a little trivia: Did you know that Ashton is a real name? It means Ash Tree Town, and is English in origin. I thought this was very interesting, especially since Ashton is a young fire Toa, which means he no doubt knows of the burnt forests spoken of by Matoran who lived in Ta Koro. In concept, Ashton may have had parents (meaning he was born on the LoL Spherus Magna) who named him Ashton. His father (a fire type) probably chose the name in memory of the region he once knew of (referring to Ta-Koro of Mata Nui island and it's charred forest).

A more recent concept in Ashton's history is that he's part fire type, and part stone type. His mother would have been the stone type (and yes there are female versions of every element in the LoL universe, this is related to the time shift accidentally caused by Pearllight). Being that Ashton is part stone type explains why his build is so stocky, and is also a good explanation as to why his MOC has brown feet. More of his history will be revealed later, once LoL is more established (technically my ideas are still cumulating, so Ashton's history is rather new).

 

Hope you enjoyed Ashton's MOC and name history; for those who like fan fictions, feel free to see his character in action by reading Life of Lewa. ^.~

Fiamma MOC

 This is Fiamma, an MOC who was invented in the middle of 2009, and was a short lived character  included in the RP of Vulpes Toa's world.

I created her for the heck of challenging myself to invent yet another female character, and let her personality build form there. Her original form was a tad bit different from this newest version; the main elements that have stayed the same is her base structure, and thigh pieces.

Fiamma's character has always been on the strong willed side; and in her starter days she was slightly sensitive, but also had this charm which easily seduced male characters, much like

 Jessica Rabbit, but not quite that obvious. 

In VulpesToa's world, Fiamma was a character who started off as a worker in the fire casino of the planet, and one day she was framed for something, then taken to a back room for questioning. Vulpes Toa's team found she was innocent, and releases her, feeling pity.

This role of being a casino worker stayed with her character, and later down the road was included in the alternate universe of LoL. Fiamma's job stayed with her as a figure, even in an alternate; the difference is what position I gave her in LoL as compared to what she was in the past. Her past casino job in Vulpes Toa's world (from a guess in memory) is that she was a type of show girl and card dealer. I switched her job to being less flashy, and placed her as a bar server with occasional job calling as a card dealer (but not a show girl).

 Fiamma can be rather feisty, and she knows that if she doesn't keep it under control, she could lose her job. To burn off pressure she goes to arena matches and fights off her inner irritation, taking out her anger on her opponent, but making sure she doesn't harm them too badly.

In the above panel, I didn't exactly give Fiamma normal weapons; she normally does have blades, but in this case I gave her weapons she would have on hand if a fight broke out at the casino. In her hands are two torches, usually used at the bar for entertaining and catching specialty drinks on fire, but in a time of trouble, these tools can become weapons, and burn those who get too close. A trivial bit is that Fiamma knows how to juggle torches, while serving drinks.

The additional clothing I gave Fiamma weren't originally on the character; but I liked he look and kept it on her. At some point I plan to make a panel displaying her without additional garments to show her over structure, no cloth covering the base.

Trivia: Originally Fiamma was name Era/Eira, pronounced (ee-ra). I forgot this name after awhile, and only regained the memory when a friend made light of it later, after reading about it in her journal. (It was only recently when this was discovered). I decided the name didn't match as well anymore, and changed it to something new; which is when I named her Fiamma (meaning flame in Italian). I chose the Italian version of Flame because it's the only one that sounded most feminine. But don't worry, Fiamma's original name will no doubt be used for another character elsewhere in the LoL storyline.

Hahli Pin Up Poses

In last post Hahli Mahri Modified-MOC I mentioned about this adjusted models predecessor; her modified version before the short torso problem was fixed. As stated, I planned on making a panel for this older set of images, for the sake of displaying their charm. 

Though her torso is short, I find each pose to hold its own life and quality, something I didn't feel was captured as well during photo shoot of her newer version with extended torso. This is why I made a panel displaying what I now call pin up poses of Hahli, who's positioned in multiple stances of blatant girlishness. You could practically say, in a comedic sense,

 that she was trying to be cute for Jaller.

In some ways I find Hahli's modified short torso version still holds more charm than her extended torso version.. I don't think she looks all that awkward in either respects though; unlike Gali Mistika, who definitely needed the extended torso. But oh well, improvement have been made to both, and both have their previous short torso build pictures.

Enjoy, and have a wink from the perfectly pretty Hahli. ^.~