Jungle Matoran and Tree housing

  This jungle Matoran image dates back to around 2008 or early 2009. It started off as a pencil sketch which was then copied and colored over with Prismacolor pencils. I used a mix of metallic pencils, regular pencils, and a hint of jell pen.This illustration was made as play, and there really is no set significance to the piece; but I may be using it eventually as a snip scene for the Life of Lewa series. It would apply quite well to the series, being that this Matoran's mask is heavily inspired off Lewa Phantoka's mask design. The figure actually reminds me of a fancier version of Lewa's little boy whom he named Phantoka. So, this image may be used at a later time for something like that. I think my original intent for this picture was to display a Le-Matoran in his natural habitat, and judging by the expression, he's quite fascinated by the camera and strange being holding it. It's a fun concept to look at that way, but I also feel this scene could apply to a mischievous Phantoka, letting his curiosity get the best of him.

 To make this image better, I went and outlined it in Photoshop, also tweaked the levels. To the left is the original image before it was outlined; notice the difference of how much dimension and clarity it gets with some black lines added to it? I went through several outline choices before settling on the fully outlined image of both the character and the plants (final image choice displayed at top of post). Also, being that colored pencil has a rather scratchy feel to it, I decided to experiment with the smudge tool in Photoshop and see if I could smooth out the colors and make them blend; this resulted in the right image above. I like the way it melded the colors, but it also seemed to diminish some of the details and crispness to the image, so I chose to stay with the original scratchiness of pencil.

 Since I spoke about the quirky little Le-Matoran, possibly child, I also wish to include the image above which pertains the the jungle region as well. This image dates back to around the same time as the jungle Matoran image, and again was a pencil sketch that I scanned then colored over with Prismacolor pencils. I made this picture as I day dreamed of what Le Koro homes looked like (this was before I knew as much about the Bionicle universe); and I drew up this cute little tree home which has two huts, a stairway that curves up around the tree, and a tree home elevator. Who lives in this two part home is unknown, but I playfully like to imagine that perhaps the little Matoran shown before does, or perhaps Lewa himself actually lives here now and then. It's never mentioned that Lewa lives in any home; but if I were to apply this image to the Life of Lewa series (which I just might) I would say that this tree home is indeed Lewa's living quarters, he just rarely stays in it, preferring to sleep in the trees underneath the stars.This may connect onto the reason why his home is always a mess since he just drops stuff in it, and occasionally eats there. Any other time though, he may actually have a Matoran neighbor who takes care of the place, could be why there's a second little hut... that or in a joking respect, the smaller hut is Lewa's outhouse or shed.  One other thing I enjoy about this image is that the way I colored it makes it look like someone took a picture of Lewa's home while they were vine swinging past it.

These are the two raw images as pencil sketches before color. Left is jungle Matoran, and right is the tree home. Funny how far a little color will carry a picture.

Gali Mistika, Modified Model

 In last post I displayed what was labeled as the Gali Mistika revamp panel. http://bionicfuzion.blogspot.com/2013/08/gali-mistika-revamp.html Soon after displaying it on DA I got feed back, and to my surprise, a few critiques and pointers. Shorjok advised that I not use the term revamp, being that this model is more like a simple modified figure, and also that I should display fewer images on one canvas, for a character which doesn't contain tons of detail.  His exact words were- "I understand that this is just for fun and more of a modification than anything - so why call it a revamp? Not criticizing you for lack of parts, of course, just your choice of words. A revamp is pretty much a complete overhaul - rebuilding a canon bionicle from scratch.Given the simplicity of the build, I also wouldn't recommend trying to fit so many images onto one canvas - they're unnecessary since there isn't much detail to show. Just show what needs to be shown; the poses are nice but they don't add much to the artwork in general. For example, these mocs fav.me/d6gytz2 and fav.me/d56mba2 are both highly detailed yet the guys who made them have only used 3 or 4 pictures - because that's all it needs.So yeah, I hope this helped." 

       Soon after Shorjok's comment, I was told by MataNui2001 that the Nuva chest plate needed to be higher. In reality I knew about this problem, only it's not the chest plate which needed tweaking, it was the lower body. Both these critiques encouraged me to embrace the advise with an open mind, and a day later after receiving this advise, I found a way to tweak both Gali, and Hahli into figures with appealing build that have left me more satisfied than I was with them before; and I've playfully started calling this process (the Hahli, Gali project). I took Shorjok's advise, and now know of a proper label for figures like these, which is why I now call it a modified model, not a revamp. I also considered his advise about using fewer images to show off detail on a simple figure. This resulted in the above panel of my new modified Mistika model, which embraces minimalism, but displays detail from more than one angle, something I disregarded slightly before when creating my first panel.

 The listed images above are a few selected images I like most from the panel. The image on left side displays the simple front view of Gali with her new extended body. I'll admit I like the way she looks even more than before when she looked rather short and stocky.. To fix the issue of a wiggling body, but still keeping the Nuva chest plate, I simply placed an extra peg beneath the belly part of the chest plate, and that fixed the wobbling. The left image is a very nice angle to show off the rest of Gali, being that it displays her build from behind, and shows more detail of her heeled boots. An extra thing I also added to this improved model is a blue hand piece to the back part of her body, to fill in the gap between her body and her Matoran backpack (as I call it). This hand piece also makes her a little bit meatier, not so skeleton like. For more base images of the different angles to this improved build, you can find them in this Flickr set which contains images from previous panel project as well. http://www.flickr.com/photos/76669336@N04/sets/72157635258901907/

One other thing I decided to do alongside the main panel of this improved model, is make a sticker sheet to go alongside with the previous Gali panel (displayed below on the right) from previous post. This fun concept of making sticker sheets out of the images I clean for panel display clicked in my mind after I left a response to Shorjok's critique. My words to his comment (listed at the beginning of this post)- "I get what you mean. Honestly the only reason I labeled it as a revamp is because I didn't know what else to call it...and I'm not the most experienced in labels for this sort of thing. As for the tip on using fewer images, the only reason why I crammed all the images of the character onto one canvas is because I hate deciding which ones to use for a poster, that and if you're like me, I look at the panel as something that can easily be turned into a scrapbook supply, which in this case would be a sheet of stickers. So, that's why I put all fifteen images in; but, thanks for the advise, good tips."

After I responded, I thought to myself, what a fun idea to continue. So, I took Shorjok's advise with making smaller panels with less pictures to serve as main deviations, but I also decided to make panels of large listings for the sake of special edition packages which could be turned into personal Bionicle themed stickers, or used later for scrapbook products. I stayed true this fun concept, and made a second large panel of all eight images from the new photo collection, just to display the improved version of Gali as a sticker sheet containing one of each picture taken. New version is listed (left) alongside previous version (right) just below.

Gali Mistika Revamp

 Gali Mistika revamp. So much procrastination took place before I finally sat down and finished off this large panel, composed of fifteen images, all within two days. This revamp is quite simple; nothing extravagant being that I don't have that many parts to play with in making an extremely complex MOC or revamp, but that doesn't matter. My intent for making this revamp is simply because I wanted to make Gali look a little more feminine than that of the original set, so I could feel satisfied when looking at her. Granted her mask build is rather masculine in appearance, and that gave me all the more reason to try and feminize her structure a little more. First I gave her smoother arms, and added spike decorations to them which serve as fins and flight stabilizers; these new arm shapes made her arms look less muscular and bulky, unlike before when her arms were the same boot shape as her legs. I also tweaked and played with a way to add some original Nuva armor to her torso, which served nicely as a feminine chest plate. I also went in and replaced the small leg armor pieces with the larger pieces that look more like thighs, and therefore give her a little more hip shape. Last detail which isn't entirely necessary, not at all efficient for fighting in, nor practical for battle, is the small addition of a heel to her foot. I added this piece to her for height reasons, since Gali looks rather stocky in build once you put the chest plate on her. I wanted her to be feminine, and just a tad taller, so I added a slight platform to her boot, but kept it fairly short, so it's more like a heel to a regular boot rather than some crazy peg heel of inefficiency. The last bit of fun I had was assembling the panel together; it was a slight challenge to cram fifteen images onto one canvas, but I managed. Then to top it off I added both English and Matoran lettering to spell out her name, put in my watermark, and added her Nuva symbol just for fun... that and I put it there to balance out the shape on the left of the title.

 The process I went through to get images which looked like advertisement was first done by taking pictures of the figure on a white backdrop near a bright, sunlit window. This example of the original photograph (edited version above) before it was edited, is displayed below. To make these pictures stand out and look fairly professional, I cleaned them up in Photoshop, added them to a pure white backdrop, adjusted levels, and increased brightness on the eyes of the character to achieve that radiant glow. This resulted in fifteen cleaned images; including the one listed above, which is is one of my favorites being that it expresses more in body language, and looks like Gali is either speaking to someone, or preparing to fight.

Special edition, symmetrical revamp 1

Revamp 1 original

 Something I also tried while cleaning up the photographs is playing around with mask symmetry. I took the first picture out of the collection, being that it's mostly strait on, and I decided to experiment, and find out what Gali Mistika would look like if she didn't have a scope attached to her left mask side. All I did to achieve this was select the right side if her mask, copy it, paste it, and reverse it horizontally; then I tweaked it over the left side of the image, and used the burn tool to add a little shading. This experiment resulted in a special edition image of Gali with a symmetrical mask (above right image). In some ways she actually looks a little more feminine in my opinion, with a symmetrical mask that contains no scope.

 

 These last two images are my chosen favorites out of the collection of fifteen. The left one seems to portray a very hero like pose; something about the body language which seems to express confidence, strength, and triumph. The one to the right is my favorite over all, being that it makes Gali seem quite feminine, and expresses more of a gentle side, very much to that of her actual character. I also like the way it expresses a questioning, yet perky look in her eyes, and the way her head is tilted.

For full sized images of all fifteen pictures in the Gali Mistika panel collection, see here for the full set of pictures on my Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/76669336@N04/sets/72157635258901907/

I hope you enjoy. ^.~

Toa Nakao- coloring commission

 The character Toa Nakao, a female lightning Toa, is an Original Creation belonging to WingVinnieCustom, an online RP buddy of mine. A few years ago he tells me his friend drew this character for him while they were in art class, and he never got around to coloring it; so he asked if I could complete Nakao's color theme, so I did. The above image is the final colored result of the drawing, all achieved in Photoshop.

Toa Nakao has been introduced even in the RP tale WVC has played with me, and I was even given the role of acting her character. Curious for details behind this OC? Here's the upload on WVC's DA. http://wingvinniecustom.deviantart.com/art/Toa-Nakao-393721610 Credit goes to WVC for character design, line art credit goes to his friend, and coloring credit goes to me. ^.~

Below is the original line art spread WVC shared with me, and I simply selected Nakao from the side lines so she could stand alone from the other fun masks sketched on the right. His friend did a good job in drawing if I do say so myself.

HF- Nurse Camilla, comic panel

In previous post My designs, Camilla and Gertrude I mentioned about two of my own HF character designs; Nurse Camilla, the HF medic bot; and Gertrude, the HF desk worker. Details about their character background was given, and I stated a few of the functions Camilla contains. My exact words from previous post, "She works with other staff when needed, will come around when someone needs a shot, and commonly carries around a small energy box with a transfer wire for connecting into the quaza core port to recharge a patient who's system is very weak. Camilla also contains a super powerful, internal electrical system, built into her structure for the purpose of performing electric shock CPR." Each of the functions mentioned, exist in the three panel comic scene above, of Camilla in action.

From left to right; Camilla comically stating she'd give it her best shot, needle in hand (this quote existed before I made the image, and I found it fit perfectly into the scene, so I used it.) Middle panel is a flash scene of Camilla preparing to administer electric shock CPR, yelling "CLEAR!" (you can see her palms are what administer the shock. Right panel is of Camilla walking down the recovery halls with her recharge box, asking around to see if anyone needs a boost.

Additional functions about Camilla, ones that are an afterthought in her build, are that the ridged spots on her skirt and boots light up when she's charging for CPR; and she can also show a patient's vital signs by using herself as a monitor. If she places her hand on them, her electric charge indicators will blip and show the current condition of a hero.

The composition as a whole, came out rather interesting. Each scene has it's own unique setting to it, and is meant to display small peeks of the HF medical area; or in the case with middle panel, meant to harbor suspense. The first panel on left was rather fun to draw; I even gave Camilla a nurse hat in it. Background was meant to just show she clearly works in a place full of monitors and medical beds, with the HF hospital symbol displayed on the wall slightly. Middle panel is meant to be dramatic, like a scene where you see a flash of light, then hear monitors beeping and the pulse light ripples madly in the background as Camilla prepares to do her thing. The last panel has to be the most interesting in composition, being that everything is angled and tilting towards Camilla, so she's central focus as she walks down the hall way. I also had a little fun with drawing folds in a blanket that drapes over a patient on the right bed.

This image dates back to about 2011. Mediums used- Colored pencil and jell pen.

HF, My Designs- Camilla and Gertrude

During the time Hero Factory first came out, I was naturally disappointed when seeing the minimalism LEGO had applied to the designs of this new series. With this disappointment, I figured, if I  were the designer of HF art, I would make the characters more artistic, and less manufactured in appearance. Naturally, I like day dreaming of my own scenarios and characters which can fit into an already existing universe invented by another (in other words, I like inventing alternate fan fiction ideas). This led to day dreams of my icon character, Pearllight, showing up in the HF world at one point; and the invention of my own characters, drawn in my own style, followed after. I figured, maybe Hero Factory could be more interesting if I apply my own ideas to it... never did become an avid fan for Hero Factory, simply remained neutral and saw it as a separate story which belongs in its own category; but I did invent my own characters which apply to the series, and did in fact include these inventions in an alternate scenario episode as part of my favorite Bionicle fan fiction "Life of Lewa". But enough talk of the why I made these characters, now I'll be sharing who these characters are.

Nurse Camilla, female medic bot

 Nurse Camilla, my first personalized HF character, is associated with a basic day dream of who might be working in the repair center of Hero Factory. I figure there's a repair center in the Hero Factory somewhere, and I applied my own ideas to this concept. The repair center of the building no doubt has staff who get heroes, and even damaged villains in custody, and repair them back into functioning order. Whether it be missing limbs, snapped wires, internal circuitry damage, or quaza stone repair/replacement; the medical repair team is always standing by. I thought up ideas for what the repair center may be like, and it's kind of like a pleasant hospital area with mechanical based things thrown in. Nurse Camilla happens to predominately work in the recovery section of repair center, where she checks over patients who have just undergone surgery or check ups pertaining to serious problems. She works with other staff when needed, will come around when someone needs a shot, and commonly carries around a small energy box with a transfer wire for connecting into the quaza core port to recharge a patient who's system is very weak. Camilla also contains a super powerful, internal electrical system, built into her structure for the purpose of performing electric shock CPR. Camilla's functions and daily work, all of which have been explained above, are shown in a three panel picture I made, which will be shared at a later time.
     Camilla was built to look pleasant and calm, valuable traits for a medical bot who's made to comfort and care for injured heroes. I wanted to make a female bot who didn't look so flat and generic like the lady bots working in the emergency call center answering the Hero hotline, or resembling the news reporter Daniella Capricorn from the HF cartoon. Camilla's hair isn't made of metal panels like that of Daniella or other female bots, but rather made of fine wire strands which sway and flop like actual hair strands. These fine strands attach to a metal bun base which is connected to Camilla's head, and in a prototype concept, the bun may be twisted, which causes the metal strands to be drawn inward, consequently resulting in a shorter hair style if necessary.

Gertrude, front door desk worker and paper work employe

 Gertrude, the front door desk worker of  Hero Factory, is a slightly grouchy character, her personality professional, and by the book. Her character is roughly based off Roz, the slug monster from "Monsters inc." Anyone who has to get and return files at Gertrude's desk, dread the encounter. It's hard to make Gertrude smile, some younger heroes have tried, and only one of them nearly succeeded. Even the most experienced heroes are secretly intimidated by Gertrude, being that she can be rather cold, and knows anything about everything that goes on in Hero Factory, being that her job is to document everything about Hero Factory, missions, hero reports, and even data files on every worker in the HF building, including details that connect to every hero on a personal level. Many heroes, including Preston Stormer, are uneasy around her, fearing she's able to black mail anyone, at any time. Anyone who enters through the front door will always see Gertrude constantly working at her desk. If anyone has a question or appointment, Gertrude will make sure they're checked in, and given passes if they're visitors of HF, but not workers.
    Gertrude's build is meant to be stocky, and business based. Her structure in general, was made to be efficient and energy reserving, that way she can work many hours at a desk and never get worn out. Her base structure, with additional skirt plating, is made to look like a classy business outfit. She can change out color panels for variety in outfit design, but usually prefers wearing wine purple at all times. Her hair is solid, and always shined to perfection. There are slots in her hair bun which hold what appear to be decorative sticks, but are actually pens she can pull out for signing special documents. Gertrude also has a set of built in cat eye glasses that contain a computer screen projection option. She can replace these glasses for varied looks when she pleases. Gertrude is one of few in HF who has a nose and dominate feminine features, like rosy cheeks and defined lips.

Both Gertrude and Camilla were included in a Life of Lewa episode where Lewa accidentally portals to the wrong dimension. that tale, is however, for a much later time.

Art details- I added the Hero factory H on both pictures, matching the color scheme with the character. I feel blue would be the dominate color of repair center; and as for the green H of Gertrude, I sometimes imagine a neon sign of it that may serve as a clock which hangs on the wall of Gertrude's open desk office. Mediums used: Prismacolor pencils and jell pen.

(Below) The two images displayed are the original color quality versions of Camilla and Gertrude. I adjusted levels to bring out the rich tones of these two beauties.  

Matoran Translation charts

The above picture is the beginning of a little something which has a future purpose. I call it a Matoran translation medallion. This is just the first stage of the project, the base image if you will. My future plan is to make a double sided medallion out of these charts, one side alphabetical, the other side numerical.

My inspiration to make two circular charts came from a day dream on secret coded messages. The idea for a Matoran translation medallion connects to an idea having to do with pen pal connections. I thought about how you send letters to a friend and how easily someone else could just pick up your letter and read it. That led to an idea of writing coded letters..and if your pen pal is a Bionicle fan, what better choice than to use Matoran. Now lets say your friend is a bit rusty in Matoran, and you want to be sure they can read your special coded letter? That got me thinking, why not make a special medallion for translating Matoran to English, both numerical and alphabetical. It will not only make the decoding experience more interesting, but also serves as a special treasure your friend can wear around their neck, knowing your words are understood only by those who know the code. The medallion itself is a future project, and I'll try to make reference back to this page once I make, and post the completed work.

 To make the charts, I used some methods of sacred geometry (example right) and a protractor (example left). For the alphabetical chart I went through several design stages, just so I could get a perfectly divided 26 spaced circle. The math involved made my head hurt, but it was worth it. As for the 10 point numerical chart, that was fairly simple, all I had to do was follow the book on how to make ten with the star shape. The lines of the chart I added in later through Photoshop.

(Below)- This was my very first design chart, to get the general concept out on paper. I was working on trying to get 26 lines, but later settled for spaces. Since this was just a chart, I went ahead and wrote out the letters to get a general feel for what I wanted. Looks very similar to the finished chart, only the letter alignment is just a tad bit different.

Photos of translation medallion still to come, so stay tune for the future product. Till then, have a great week. ^_~