Bionicle Scifi Swing-posters and video

Ah the wonders of broken headphones and a little creativity. I've gone through lots of headphones in my life, many of which have varied in style and quality. But, instead of throwing them out when they break, I prefer to keep them and put them to good use; in this case an old swivel set now serves as a hanging scifi chair (more specifically an odd swing).

I didn't have to deconstruct the headphones in any way to make this seat; I simply used a few safety pins, and wrapped its cords around itself to create this hanging chair, fit for any medium or small Bionicle figurine (or even non Bionicle figurines).

I show more of the chair in the following video, and give example of how it works. ^.~

The figure you see sitting in the chair is named Poroka, a female stone type created for the Life of Lewa fan fiction. Her story and relation to the LoL tale will be revealed in the future; likely the far future. I used her because she's easily posed, and a perfect size for the seat. I love the look of the above left image, it's almost techno Nouveau, and the way she sits makes her look like she's reminiscing on a memory.

Speaking of techno Nouveau style, I worked off that concept and made the additional poster above to display Poroka in this scifi swing. The poster as a whole was meant to look like a factory floor, and Poroka keeps the gears running by moving around the room on a mechanical seat attached to the ceiling. Makes it easier to work on large areas high up. It's sort of a concept idea.

My two favorite poses will always be the above posters. Both hold a certain emotion that just says peaceful, gentle, yet strong (basic traits of Poroka's personality).

Enjoy, and have a nice day! ^.~

Biotuber intro-experimental video

   It's odd, and I have no idea why I made this, but I might use this intro one day if I ever start making more Bionicle related videos. This was more of an experiment, started when I was practicing vocal and sang Biotubers in ascension through the microphone. I liked it, so I used it for an experimental intro video.    Toa Firestorm got me thinking about Bionicle related videos...and seeing he's an encouraging fan of my work gave me the extra nudge to try something different, and be adventurous.  

The picture I used for my video was a quick digital compilation. I took one of my favorite desktop images, added the three virtues symbol, and painted light rays coming from the center of the image; a way to emphasize importance to the universe and make it slightly more....epic. :P   There is one other guy who made something similar to this; he used the same background, only made it green, and made the symbol bigger, also made it translucent with no additional light rays. Go ahead and check that out if you'd like http://darkjedi4.deviantart.com/art/Bionicle-logo-330502992 ^.~

Tribal Takanuva Tattoo

Yes! I'm glad to have completed the final tattoo set that crosses off the additional seventh member of the Toa Nuva team. This tribal Takanuva tattoo set of both colored and black and white is a special edition member to the the Toa Nuva tattoo set shown in the post Tribal Toa Tattoos.

I went for a sun doodle theme while working over Takanuva's mask, hence his element of light. I'll note the most defined sun patterns are around his mouth, and at the crown of his mask. At first I didn't feel this design was going to look very good, but after I finished it today, I guess it doesn't look so bad.

I may continue making tribal tattoo designs for each character in the Bionicle storyline; including the titans as some wished to see. Till the future, enjoy. ^.~

Lewa Doing the wave-Stop motion

  This is an old video that was a joint project. Me and my sister worked together to make this, and it was an anonymous test run video.    The Lewa figurine in the video is my traditional Life of Lewa figurine (note he has some different coloration, a sash, and pendant).    The video was made on my desk with a white paper backdrop, side light, old webcam, and Stop motion pro. Wasn't easy working in very tight quarters.    There is a joint video to this one which will come in the future, till then, have fun watching Lewa do this funny dance move. :P

Toa Nuva and Friends- banner collection

 Hey guys; I'm happy to officially share the following poster collection (above) of the Toa Nuva and friends. As I said back in the post Bionicle banner collections-and an announcement; I felt the need to make some Bionicle themed banners for fans out their without banners for their channels, and decided to make ones of the Toa Nuva and friends from the Bionicle Mask of Light movie. 

I used already created desktop images of each Toa and Matoran, then applied the usual filters to each of the them. I then used different brushes to create backgrounds that fit their element. It's unfortunate that after completing a large majority of them, and finally got to making Tahu's banner; the beautiful brushes I used for all but Pohatu's banner stopped working for PSE, meaning I can't use them now, which made my heart sink and caused me to feel fed up with digital programs. I'll note the brushes stopped working as soon as I was ready to make Tahu's banner, which is why his banner looks simpler and less fantastic...seeing I only have so many choices with default options of PSE.

Despite the unfortunate downfall of faulty PSE programming and not being able to use my favorite brushes now; the plus side is that I managed to make most of these final banners before that happened. So enjoy, and feel free to link back to my blog and DA page if you use the banners; it helps in getting my work seen. ^.~

Below I list each banner with a link to it's full resolution image which you can download for use. Remember, downloading full resolution image is the only way to use each banner. I've included the DIY video at the bottom of this post for you to see how to properly download and apply a banner to your channel. ^.^

Toa Tahu banner

Toa Lewa banner

Toa Gali banner

Toa Kopaka banner

Toa Onua banner

Toa Pohatu banner

Takua and Jaller banner

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 banner

 Back in the post Bionicle banner collections-and an announcement I include a DIY video on how to make your own themed YouTube banner. I decided not to let my example banner go to waste (yes this banner is the one I was working on in the video). So instead of deleting it, I tweaked it to better fit my tasted and made it look better than it was in the video.

You'll notice I centered things better, and played with the text some more. Now it seems kind of cool... though  I probably won't be using it on my channel.

Trvia: The Pearllight image I used for my banner is an exclusive photo I never included in the Pearllight Nouveau collection.

Bionicle banner collections- and an announcement

It's amazing; in about a week and a half  I've crafted 16 banners, including the optional choice versions for "Welcome to the Darksyde".

 Hope you'll understand that though fun to make, banners still take time and effort. Seeing that the popularity of my designs have increased, means my time and effort as an artist is being consumed by all the requests for a free, customized YT banner. Because of this, I'm changing my game to make up for the time and work I would normally spend on other art projects not of the banner variety.

I wish to return to my other projects for awhile; and am therefore putting this banner making craze on hold. For those who didn't get one, sorry, but I'm no longer taking requests.

My first idea was to charge five dollars for every custom banner order (but due to the complications of knowing if it's legal or not according to copyright law to sell what is essentially fan art inspired by the BIONICLE series, I've backed away from the idea). This consequently means I don't feel safe in charging, but am tired of working on projects for free; seeing little benefit for my efforts in return. Therefore I announce that custom MOC banner requests are closed until further notice.

This news may be disappointing, however, I feel a need to provide all you Biotubers out there with some basic Bionicle themed banners. It seems YT banners are rather thin, so I plan to make some Bionicle themed banners of my own for those who want something to spice up their channel, even if it's temporary. I hope to make banners of the basic characters from canon storyline (which you should be seeing in the future).

Now then, multiple people have told me they're not very good with digital programs; but I feel a need to show you how to make your very own YT banners with simple, creative techniques in the video below (have fun, and experiment). Don't have a form of PS, try Gimp, I hear it's very similar, but free.

I'll also note that by making your own banners, you won't have to worry about it not fitting your channel, so as long as you use the template, and save your images in a JPG or PNG format. This means less stress for the both of us, and results with you getting a banner that will work for YouTube or any other site that allows banners.

   There are some things I feel could be better in the video, but I did what I could with only ten minutes of room per recording. If I left out a detail you wanted to know, or if you have a question, feel free to comment. ^.~

Bionicle snacks DIY

Been aiming to make this for a long time; and now, your MOC characters, or any other mini figurine can be happy like mine, with plenty of snacks in their grasp. :P

The above postcard was made as a faux candy advertisement that will be slipped into my Life of Lewa fan fiction for sure. It clearly advertises these two youthful characters love snacks.

I made these mini snack packets from candy wrappers, a little cardboard, and some double stick tape. You can find basic details here on the blog post Make Your Own Mini Snacks. The details I left out there is that I made these mini snack packets specifically for my Bionicle, having them in mind when I assembled the funny little snack packets, great for using in photography.

And now, you too can make mini snacks for your MOC characters; see how I did it in the video below. ^_^

Water Glatorian Helmet

Just posted this water Glatorian helmet image, AKA Squid Helmet on my crafty blog Pearllight Studio. To this day I love this helmet, though it's a bit tight for me to wear.

Lots more detail is on the Squid Helmet post, so be sure to check that out. ^.~

Around 2008 I set out to make my first paper mache project; and this helmet was my goal, inspired off the designs of Glatorian masks and helmets.

I designed the helmet based off the water Glatorian, and felt an aquatic themed helmet is what my character Pearllight (me) would wear as a disguise. Once I settled with my basic design, I started my work, and it took FOREVER; half a year to be precise. Was it worth it? I think so...except the fact that it shrunk.... :/ But hey, now I can pretend to be a water Glatorian. :P

Narhrki banner

 Blazing turtle 31 asked me to make a banner for him. Now though his request was very recent, I was willing to accept since he seemed more desperate than a few of the others before him, and asked me twice, second time with a please. And so, I'm happy to have made my final customized banner; a marking point that I will now be changing the rules of my terms (for a future post). This banner finalizes a set of eight; you'll be seeing posters of them all in a future details post.

BT31's request was very simple, his characters name is Narhrki, and his elememt is canon (he's a stone type). So that was the theme, it was a synch. Again I delved into Brusheezy, and found a useful rock collection set  http://www.brusheezy.com/brushes/48293-ultimate-rock-brush-collection From there I played with the brushes on this final banner. 

I used a rock texture fill for the background, then used shades of tan, brown, and gray to make my rock formations. The background sort of resembles caves and canyons, and then in the foreground I made it look like a gray rock was being fragmented and swirling around as a border. Then I typed down the name, used a cracked mud effect, and surrounded it with smaller pebbles as a frame.

 Overall it was fun, hopefully Blazing turtle thinks so too.

Silver Ignika Book

 Finally, here it is, an old project that dates back to at least 2008. I loved the look of Ignika's mask, with its man shape and silver glow; then I thought, how cool would it be to have a book with incorporated designs of my own, mixed with Bionicle, and that's exactly what I did.

Back in the day I didn't have as much knowledge on how to get perfect symmetry, so the base design came out slightly wonky, but pretty good for a first time project.

My first desire was to make the book gold, but had no luck in finding the proper materials at the time, so settled with silver scrapbook paper instead (one day I do plan on making a gold edition ^.~). The project as a whole was extremely time consuming; first I hand drew my base design out with pencil, measuring it to fit the book size exactly (same technique applied to the spine design). I did my best to make an Ignika mask symbol with rays of energy beaming from it (went through multiple designs for a book cover idea, see below). The spine design was simply made to say BIONICLE in Matoran. Longest part was hand drawing all those Aztec looking squares on the corners of front and back cover.

You'll see in my sketch page that I had a basic theme going on. I started off with a plain cover that had no Ignika symbol (still tried making it look alien in pattern though). I then tried to mimic Bionicle themes of Karda Nui; with polygonal engraved corners, or swamp ripple back drops surrounding the Ignika symbol (a representation of the mask emerging from the swamp of Karda Nui). I then worked on a sketch of displaying the mask itself, wasn't happy with it. My final idea was to turn back to the theme of the Codrex, my first concept design (upper left corner) made to resemble the Codrex opening as Ignika emerges from inside. Finally I settled with a basic back design, spine design, and front cover (upper right corner). My base cover was inspired from the music video imagery of Karda Nui, and resembles Ignika's final moments in the Codrex as he uses his life energy to revive Mata Nui.

The last step was crazy, I glued down my silver paper to a purchased blank sketch book, then came the hard part; I wrapped my designs around the book and traced over every line with an embossing tool. When I finished my pressing and tracing, I pulled the designs off my book, and had a fully embossed silver cover. (See below for the pencil/stencil designs of my book).

It may be surprising, but I haven't put anything in this book yet ( I do have possible plans for it though). Sometime I hope to make a video on it, maybe when it actually has some contents on its pages.

Spine design

Front cover

Steampunk Samurai banner

 Steampunk Samurai Jones asked me to make him a banner, claiming is PS and computer skills aren't too great... His request was for anything steampunk themed; with gears and such.

I had fun making this one. First I used some scanned scrapbook paper for the background, then I downloaded some more brushes from Brusheezy.com. I found a gear set here http://www.brusheezy.com/brushes/20271-stylized-gears-brushes by an artists named 4sidepolygon. I then found an awesome chain brush http://www.brusheezy.com/brushes/2329-linked-chain-brush which I absolutely had to use for this, and future projects.

I quickly selected different colors that match the figure, and slapped down gears where they seemed needed; then I made them metallic in appearance by using the burn and dodge tool. I loved the way they looked, and then decided to surround the figure with a gear shape, to draw importance to him. 

Last was adding his name with the fitting Veterine typewriter font, placed on a sepia green label, and surrounded with a chain. The chain idea came to mind after I saw an interesting weapon with a chain on it in the background of the photo of this figure (something about I really liked).

I'll also note, I enjoyed this theme because I actually like the name Steampunk Samurai. In fact, I can see a movie named that (heck, it would probably be some Asian steampunk film in the world of LoL). :P

Killonn banner

 ToaLighton312 asked for a banner quite some time ago, again I'm getting to it late. I have a lot to say about this one, with all its awesome new elements thrown in.

TL312 said his character's name is Killonn, and wields the elements of blood and absorption. I knew right away what color scheme would work, and those two elements just say dark and powerful.

Before I go further, here's what I absolutely must share.  SaidoDieono on DA directed me to a great site called Brusheezy a place that has free brushes for PS use. He said I could use some better flames and stuff for my work; and at first I couldn't seem to get the downloads to cooperate, and then it happened, I somehow managed to make them work on PSE, and was absolutely thrilled. I found a lightning stack, an odd whimsical fire stack (which I used for this project), and then a basic flame stack. The most useful stack has been the whimsical fire stack, made by Modblackmoon; who in her generosity has provided amazing brushes for free use in any project, and even crazier, doesn't require feedback (but that just doesn't seem totally fair, so I'm crediting her brushes anyway).

I chose a black backdrop since it was the perfect choice for the color scheme. The photo provided was cropped funny, so I had to approach it the way I did "Welcome to the Darksyde" banner; and cropped it with a circle, then placed him on a silver disk. The next step was fun (did take some adjusting though). I applied blood blotches with my basic blotch brush, then tackled the element of absorption by using the awesome new brushes. I remember in the first Bionicle movie, the Rahkshi of hunger had a purple and white glow to its staff as it drained the power from Onua; and that's the exact color scheme I used. I made it look like Killonn was stretching his hand out and absorbing the energy from his victims, all of this power sparking and drawing to him (notice how the the waves all head for the silver disk he's displayed on.) My last task was adding a name, which I wanted a unique font to match the theme of blood, so I found a site called 1001 Free Fonts.com and stumbled on a font called "Your Bloody Choice"; just the font I needed (though I'll note it was made for personal use only). My obvious color choice was red with additional effects, and I loved the way it worked.

I think this thing is awesome, hope Toa Lighton thinks so too.

Venuhi banner

Noah Carlin asked me to make a banner for his character Venuhi, and I must say the theme of this one was slightly more difficult to craft while keeping it orderly and focused.

His character is an ice type, with the additional detail that he's so powerful, dry ice temperatures are like child's play to him. N.C. wanted a black backdrop with snow falling, and additional blood splotches and flames. The blood splotches and flames relate to back history of the character; which I was told his village was burnt down. Those details actually seemed rather interesting, quite deep and sad, sounding like a story history I would cook up *cough*.

I tried what I could; first I concentrated on the ice part. I made the edges of the border icy, and added snow fall in the background as best I could. Second thing I tackled was blood blotches (which I chose red, but there's really no telling if that's accurate for beings of this mythical realm). Blood, ice, and snowfall, the scene was already coming together. My hardest challenge was adding fire to signify this figures past; I used both blue and red flames to match the overall color scheme, while still showing it's fire. I went through so much tweaking; and then finally I got to the name (at first I started with white) but then I changed it to red and put it on a white frame, making the name look important and sort of going off the theme of blood on snow (not sure if that's what Noah wants) but I did what seemed fitting. I'll also note the creative placement of the figure; I made it look like Venuhi is walking through the snow and flames, holding his weapon with determination, almost like his character has seen much destruction, and he's determined to keep moving.

The final display is very colorful I'll admit, very bold with hot and cold tones. I feel like it's very busy, but I did my best to keep all the key elements in while still keeping your attention to what's important (seems to be pretty good).

Dal Black banner

 Getting to this request late. Made this banner for Dal Black, his character having the element of shadow and lightning (also an assassin from the sounds of it).

It was slightly tricky figuring out how to pull the theme off, hopefully this is close enough. Dal wanted it to have an assassin theme, so I thought about it for a moment. How can I get into the theme of an assassin, shadow, lightning character? Well, what came to mind was a dark backdrop like the night, rain pouring down as this skilled killer walks in the shadows, his form briefly illuminated by lightning flashes from the shadowed sky filled with blackening clouds. I'll note that I made some of the rain yellow, to make it pick up on the weapon (you could say it's reflecting background light). Last was the name, went through multiple options, settled with a blue glow and metallic black letters (just to emphasize the elements of shadow and lightning). 

I think this came out pretty well (it has an assassin vibe to me...) In fact there's something oddly captivating and thrilling about this scene, makes me think of exciting episodes 

for my Life of Lewa series.

Samax VS. Zerox banner

Samuel Porter asked me to make him a banner, and this time I was provided with something new and rather interesting; a photo with two figures instead of one. His theme was to have a blue and green color scheme, and he said he wanted wave patterns behind the two with their elemental colors.

He said the name would be Samax V Zerox. I figured "V" stood for VS. and then this scene came to mind like a video game where you hear the announcer excitedly spout their names before they fight.

Upon that thought, I sort of brought it into concept while making the banner, adding the blue and green color scheme as requested; and wave designs not quite behind the characters, but next to them.

 Then I placed their names beside them, and in the middle put a split color VS. to make it look sort of video game like. Hopefully Sam likes it (I know I do).

Veus Banner

 Ethereal Avohki inika inika warrior asked me to make him a Youtube banner. I'm taking these projects one nibble at a time, and when I'm done, be sure to look out for a new details post on the entire collection of banners I've done.

E.A.i.i.w. said his MOC was named Veus, and that his "power" is a type of mutant ability to regenerate (basically a form of immortality). Honestly, the story history of the character is a lot to read, and even after skimming I couldn't quite figure out what theme to go for. So I took matters into my own choosing on what would be fitting for the character. His sword had a flame, his armor is black and gold (but looks purple when filtered), and his limbs were a basic red. I thought about it for a bit; then felt purple spikes, orange and red ripple to look kind of like hot plasma, and a celestial blotched backdrop on black, with bold gold font for the name seemed to fit. 

The history of the character in general is that he's some kind of demi god.... so I felt a celestial theme and fancy gold font did the trick in matching him (hey, I only had so much to work with). :P

Hopefully this will be good, again it's a slightly different style from the basic first four banners I created.

Welcome to the dark syde Banner

Welcometothedarksyde on DA asked me if I could make him a snazzy banner after he saw the very nicely made journal (see here BANNERS BY PEARLLIGHT180!) that his buddy 3rdeye88 made to promote my work as part of the deal when I made him a Matteo banner.

The request was to use a MOC he built which is black and yellow; has no name. He said he liked the look of Makuta Nazo's banner, and would like a style similar to that. At first he said he wanted a dark charcoal gray backdrop, but then felt white could work too. 

By that point I had already started making the banner, so I kind of flipped through the options, and went ahead to make three different choices for him to decide on. (And no, I don't feel like doing this for every banner...unless I'm being payed, then I would). The above poster is to display all three versions for easier sharing.

 My first version was the dark charcoal backdrop one (above); and at first I had a different icon, but was then provided with a better image to work with. Since the charcoal gray wasn't too dark, I was able to add black splotches, and then yellow splotches as requested. I then used the same font I did for Makuta Nazo's banner, only this time made it yellow and added color fade.

To me, cropping the character in a silver circle looked quite appealing, but this was just one option.

 I went ahead and experimented with a white backdrop instead. The colors still looked pretty good, but I had to change the font and give it a sun fade filter to make it show up. Then I realized the silvers circle would have to go, it clashed too much with white; so instead I tried using a black ring to draw attention to the figure.

 My last choice was to try a square crop instead of a circle, that way I could show all of the figure's top half, while hiding the fact that part of his arm is slightly cropped off in the photo. I find overall, the square one is my least favorite, I prefer the ones with circles (specifically the one with black and silver, but that's just me). Hopefully one of these three choices will be good for "welcometothedarksyde".

Also a last minute choice, the above version uses Blade Runner font (my first choice during the art process). I was unable to decide if I should keep it or not (seems to look very nice, and is a great exclusive banner choice).