Astral Nui

 Astral Nui, another old painting adjusted. At one time when I made this, I think I was combining the idea of the Iron Giant and  Mata Nui together. It seemed pretty cool to dream of Mata Nui falling through space like a comet. This was made when I had little knowledge of Bionicle still, unaware of Mata Nui's size, so the falling form is significantly smaller.

There are lots of scenarios which could fill in the gaps as to why the robot is smaller. Perhaps the planet he's heading for is very large, or maybe from the angle we see him he's actually pretty far away from the planet still. Both those ideas could even be combined.
 
I ask myself what earth like planet is in view, and I have no idea, so for fun I adjusted the appearance of the world as a reenactment of when Mata Nui falls to Aqua Magna in the Bionicle story line.

Can't decide which I prefer, but the adjustment was quick, all I had to do was paint the world blue.

The original is less flashy, and as always I enjoyed applying new details to give it life. Most of my old paintings were made is basic paint programs, and at one time in Open Canvas.

Tree-Sleep

Dating back to the year 2010, "Tree-Sleep" was a dream image based off a few scenes from the Life of Lewa fan fiction. I improved the image later on, adding in a sparkling sky with clouds and a moon, plus an additional blue filter.

This scene displays part of the story when Lewa would climb up into a jungle tree to rest in one of the giant moonlight flowers which open at night, growing from large vines that wrap themselves around large trees.

   In order to heighten the magical sense I get when thinking about how peaceful it must be to rest in a large flower beneath the stars, with the thought of having a perfect temperature carried through a gentle breeze, I made this video.  A musical compilation of songs that struck the mood of this scene, a way to tell part of the story through imagery and music, a selection of clips from different movie songs I like the sound of.    I did play with shades, this version is what the scene is like without a blue filter.

 The absolute original image was a group project. My friend drew the flower, I then drew in the rest, then colored the picture with marker. As part of the story, Lewa had eaten a jungle fruit shared with him by his wife, Venimbus. This fruit changed his appearance slightly, the tannins on the toxic side towards Toa, resulting in a sudden immunity and a new paint job of scaly accents, a Junti trait considered to be attractive. This is why I drew Lewa with added scale details.

Red Star Gazing

 Red Star Gazing

"What mysteries lie beyond this great solar system? What is that glowing orb of red that sits above and moves in a most peculiar manner? Are we alone, or is there something beyond that's watching from a great distance? I only wonder if survivors of our moons can see and feel it too."

What story could be made of this? I took an old piece of art and have adjusted a few things for interest. The words above are a concept of what the figure in this drawing is asking themselves. Who they are is unknown, but in concept I believe the helmeted figure may be a Glatorian in odd plating, gazing up at the starry sky while they travel through the desert. 

Secondary concept could be that this being is on a world just outside the Glatorian solar system, able to see the three worlds, but also able to see the red star as well, wondering what it is. Who knows, this beings world may have witnessed the explosion of the Glatorian's world during the core war. Their history of this planet describing it as a great nova that crackled the sky and shook the mountains of their planet.

I'm unsure of what year I made this piece, I only know it was during the early stages of my digital art discoveries. I also know that at the time I was just starting to like Bionicle, slipping the red star into the piece, but making the figure my own design which doesn't resemble a creature of their world.

I felt it was time to make the mood pop better, so I added some shading and shine first (left), then I added in extra stars along with some glow spots (right).

I played around with color, added an aurora which resulted in the image on the right. For a night scene the colors seemed a bit bright, so I added a blue filter and got my main image shown at the beginning of the post.

Afterward I wanted to play around, and made the celestial glow version on the left. This made it feel more alien, as though the figure glows in the dark.

Matachillie Maps

 I figure it's time  I share these rough maps created for the old Bionicle RP known as MN-CN-I, name then switched to the adventure of Matachillie, a world that connects to the continuing RP known as Mata Nui Investigators (MN-I).

At the time I created these maps as a guide to other members of the RP, so they would know how I dreamed of the villages of this alternate Mata Nui with its own advances and improvements. 

The Ga Koro map was my final experiment of expression before the starter days of Matachillie RP came to an end due to player complications. However, I'm glad to have made it, enjoying the challenge of creating false maps and blueprints. 

 Matachillie's Ga Koro is rather large, the size of a decent small town complete with two main docks and shoreline living areas. 

I found the digital process of map making was more satisfying in the sense of crisp, clean lines. It helped me play with my layout of the village more, giving me room to adjust. Overall, this is my favorite map.

My very first map layout for the dimension was of Ta Koro, which I left mostly incomplete and only put in the main spots most mentioned during the RP. I didn't want to spend too much time on it, so I left it simple.

 

 Second map I made was a more enjoyable process, though not a full view of the Le Koro region. I wanted to show the mini village of my OC Onah, the female air Toa of the RP. This mini village was located just outside the Le Koro region, and most of the acting that went on with the players and their characters took place here. 

I personally enjoyed this map because I've always liked the idea of mini villages for family lineages, especially in a jungle setting.