Fem Skrall Skaliska

 Fem Skrall, a Queen Skaliska concept design, pen sketch from 2009 now colored and backdropped.

Skaliska is a villain from the Life of Lewa series, a very evil witch, second worst baddy in the story. The cape is to add to her whole royally evil queen look, also based off the clothing the MOC wears.

 Original pen sketch on the left, colored version right. The pen sketch was based off her MOC, but not exact to her. A redraw of Skaliska may be in order some time in the future.

Final piece with color and cape, minus background. She's so creepy, I love it. :D

Puzzled Lewa

Nothing like some black outline and color to an old sketch which dates back to  at least 2011. "Puzzled Lewa", kind of debated on what to do with the sketch, put off coloring it till a day ago and am happy with the results.

I should try this style more often, has an odd charm I like. And those added details, mm....I love double shades on one my favorite characters.

Why is Lewa puzzled? I remember when I sketched this, a concept came to mind that still makes me chuckle; I was doing this without much care, and as I drew I saw Pearllight smirking and looking up at Lewa saying, "Hey Lewa, ever wonder why your feet look like giant gray slippers?" That's why he has that puzzled face. :P

Sometime I may make a full scene of that day dream, and use this existing image to complete it.

Flame's History Share

 Flame's History Share, a scene for LOL chapter 11, "When Cultures Collide". I did my mini photo shoot as usual and got the base shot (above), and a close up (below).

This close up may be the official picture for my chapter. I like the angle of it which shows the engagement between characters, Lewa and Venimbus listening with interest while Flame tells them history and his story on how he became Lewa's buddy.

Frosted Stories- Feb 2015 photos

Another snow day, and this time I had more enjoyment during photo shoot. Woke up to find it had snowed while I was resting and reached around a foot deep, also the perfect texture for sculpting (that wet sort of snow that sticks to itself well). 

I spent half my day outside and brought every icy figure I could think of with me. Frona and fancy Gelu were of course in the bunch, along with Natasha and original Gelu, a maskless Toa Metru of ice, Kopaka Mata and Nuva, a Borahk and Vahki, plus Hordika Nuju.

With all these figures in the bunch, I ended up with a batch of random photos that as a collection I've come to call, "Frosted Stories".

 Snowy Stroll

Snowy stroll was an opening scene to the collection, of Gelu and Frona walking together with their arms wrapped around each others in an intimate sort of way. Just a nice little walk through the cold, a normal day for any ice type.

Sadly I did have my run ins of bad luck today for Photo shoot. "Snowy Stroll", "Off To See the Blizzard", "Brothers Duel", "Triumphant", and "Dancing" are all retakes of the original shots which I accidentally deleted, and yelled at myself internally as my heart thud in panic from my sudden loss. Couldn't get them back, but thankfully there was still enough time to get make up shots before it got dark. I even managed to get the extra splurge of the moment picture, "Worn Out".

 Off To See the Blizzard

The two Gelu figures in my shots of the day are suppose to be twin brothers. I thought it would be fun to have them both walk with Frona arm in arm, like Dorothy and her friends in Wizard of OZ, hence the name "Off To See the Blizzard".

 Brothers Duel 

I have a feeling the original shot may have captured the scene better, but the second try is still fun. Siblings sometimes have their rivalries, but a duel between twin brothers can be like fighting your own reflection. I think I'll call the one to the left Chelu (for these pics).

 Triumphant 

Even though they were fighting each other, the brothers raise their hands in triumph at the end of the duel as though they hear a cheering audience.

 Worn Out 

Unfortunately Chelu gets tired after duels and flopped in the snow for a nap.

 Winter Dancing 

One of my favorite scenes, the capture of movement seeming so natural in this shot. Ice types dance too, this dance being a winter dance of spinning around in a medieval waltz sort of fashion. Chelu gets to dance with Natasha and Gelu with Frona.

These scenes were actually kind of hard to get because it started snowing soon after I got outside and it was hitting me in the face. I also couldn't actually get more complex shots in the snow because the cat pooped on my winter boots and my normal boots aren't waterproof.... -_- (couldn't actually step in the snow).

 Winter Dancing Single 

Seeing I lost the original close up shots of the dance, I cropped the one side of my full scene because I love the movement between characters so much.

 Dancing 

"Dancing" is a retake to make up for the "Winter Dancing" close up shot. It still captures an interesting amount of energy I guess.

Maskless 

Maskless, a scene depicting a lone ice Toa who lost his mask, his energy so low that he collapsed to his knees too tired to continue, asking Mata Nui why his days have been so hard. You can see there are two angles I took, one more from the side, the other more towards his front.

 Behind You 

Why was the Toa so worn out, and how did he lose his mask? You might say the answer sometimes comes to you. A Vahki had followed him, and the Toa glances out the corner of his eye.

Again I took two angles of the scene, overhead shot gives more of the sense that the Toa is prepared. In the image below, the Vahki is actually running at him; guess he'll need to think fast.

Rushing  (that name seems good enough).

 At My Control

Two shots in different spots of a Kopaka Mata set with a krana on his face and a Bohrok in the background. The one above captured lighting better, sadly it also captures the fence.

This more flat land surrounded by nature location does bring a bit more of an island feel, not so industrial.

 Halt 

I'll admit I rarely ever take pictures of Kopaka Nuva standing in the snow, but today seemed like a good day to do it.

Loner 

Cause we know that's Kopaka's style. I decided to emphasize that trait by getting a pic of him walking alone, first trying distant shot (right), then got a bit closer (left).

 Tension 

There are some set backs to walking alone in the white wilderness, you never know when a Bohrok will show up.

Again I took multiple angles and chose these two as my favorites.

Sad Sleep 

Originally the title was just "Sadness", but "Sad Sleep seems to fit better. Here is Nuju Hordika resting under a tree.

"Sad Sleep" distance shot (left). "So Depressed" (right).

"So Depressed" really seems to capture how Nuju feels, especially as a Hordika sitting on a lone pipe in the cold.

 Sicline's House 

Seeing the snow was perfect for sculpting, I didn't pass up the chance to do at least one sculpture. This is Sicline's house, or at least as close as I can get to it when sculpting. Sicline's home in the MN-CN-I RP is a rather large place located in Ko Koro just outside the village. I've pictured the inside to be even grander than the size.

Piling the snow and carving out some steps, a door, and windows, then adding some twigs and snow clumps in the side yard to look like caked trees took me less than ten minutes. Granted if I had more time and my gloves were better I would have worked on it a bit more (but my gloves were drenched after a few minutes, and the sun was going down).

The normal version of the home in the evening light is nice, but I also wanted to depict what it's like at night, so of course I did photo editing to make the picture dark with glow spots.

Sicline's Doorway 

Just a close up view of her home in both day and night setting.

Snowy Encounter- Winter Photos 2015

The Gazing Orb

Taken on Feb. 17, 2015. I was glad to finally see snow fall starting on the 16'th all the way through the 17'th. And you know what that means, time to play in the four to five some inches we got.

My first few pics I call the Gazing Orb are random pics of my Frona MOC gazing at a watering bulb. I thought it seemed kind of interesting.

At first my heart wasn't in the photos, I felt like running around or talking with someone and asked myself why I was taking pictures of toys in the snow again; but after I got them on the computer, I appreciated them a bit more.

Gelu's Arrival

 Since I love the Gelu figure, I tossed him into the Snowy Encounter collection. Gelu's Arrival is just a way to introduce him into the snowy surroundings like he's following the steps of Frona through the forest.

 (Left) is a second version of Gelu's arrival. (Right) "A Warm Greeting", is an image that actually came after the following below. I like the idea of two ice type friends being a bit warmer in nature for a brief moment, so I had them hug under a lone tree.

 "Snowy Encounter" two angles of a single scene above and below. Overhead seemed pretty interesting, but I can't settle on which I like more.

 Snowy Encounter was sort of a concept scene as I played in the snow. I wanted to bring both characters together and it sort of reflects some other characters from the MN-CN-I RP, those figures being detectives Sicline and Kyrian, an ice type and blizzard type (air and ice mix). In general it's just a scene which shows Gelu finally found Frona in the wilderness of white.

Observing the Trees

"Observing the Trees", one of my favorite images in the collection. An interesting day of observation in the winter wilderness.

 Close ups of tree observation. Gelu's observing gaze and Frona's semi icy stare, sometimes study can seem a bit *chilling*.

Bouquet pod-mamillt-hornet honey-LOL encyclopedia

 Continuing pages for the Life of Lewa encyclopedia. The following pages show more objects mentioned in Life of Lewa chapter 10 "Lewa's First Date". 

The bouquet flower pod and mamillt were mentioned in the episode; hornet honey on the other hand is an extra faux product which hasn't yet been mentioned in any episode, but I hope to include its name at some point.

I do enjoy inventing objects which don't exist, it gives me a sense of enchantment to be able to bring out imagery and description onto a page displaying objects of fantasy and faux reality.

It's like I'm walking through the world in my head and recording the little things that have been observed. That's essentially why my MOC is Pearllight, because that's what she does; explores, observes, catalogs.

The bouquet sketch itself is based off the prop bouquet miniature used in the picture "Lewa's First Date"

 Bouquet Pod

 From Life of Lewa chapter 10 “Lewa’s First Date”. The bouquet which Lewa purchased
 had an odd water pod over the cut flower ends of the bouquet.

This pod held water to keep the flowers alive. It’s bottom is firm and tear drop shaped,
able to hold large amounts of water and sustain itself during travel.
             
These flower pods are commonly bread for two uses, one for slipping on bouquet ends,
the other for using as small water bottles or drink holders of medicine and fruit juice. 

The pods grow on a certain plant, their sole purpose for holding water which the plant uses
 during times of drought. These water holding pods have been found helpful for the uses
 listed above, and locals of Aquabosphera started using them for practical purposes.

Each pod is like a flower, a very firm, smooth flower with a hard base and rippled top that
opens and closes to capture rain. The soft rippled top is strong, but flexible, and when used
as a water bottle or bouquet pod, as it's commonly called, it's simply shut with a piece of
thread or ribbon.

Mamillt 

Mamillt is a type of Glatorian grain made into a hot cereal.

It has the texture of oatmeal and grits, and can be cooked in either hot water, or for richer flavor, hot milk.

The mamillt grain grows in large fields like any long grain such as wheat. It's then processed and the grain is bagged and used for hot cereals, muffins, and breads.

Some like mamillt savory, usually mixed with sausage and fried egg. Most prefer mamillt as a sweet hot cereal, mixed with choices of jelly, syrups, or hornet honey.

Mamillt is normally stored in a twine shut paper bag with a label that has the grain image on it, name, and listings of grit grade. The grit grade determines whether it's good for making bread, or better for cooking as hot cereal. The finer grain is the one used for cereal, and is occasionally mixed with larger grain grit for a combination texture. 

Hornet Honey

 

Hornet honey is obtained from a special honey hornet that hive on the edges of jungles or forests. As their name implies, these hornets are special because they make more honey than they need, and their honey has a certain tang to it which is well liked over bee honey.

A special armor with a metal under mesh must be worn while collecting the honey from these hornets. They have farms in jungle regions where they raise these hornets for their honey, and surrounding these farms are warning signs so people don't disturb the hives and pay the price.

The special armor is found to be the only safe way to collect the honey seeing like any hornet, they have no limitation in stinging, and they also have pinching mouth parts.

Once the honey has been collected, it's put into glass jars with a simple label on the front, capped with a leather lid and secured with waxed twine.

Candy Slugs-LOL encyclopedia

 This is a relative of candied fruit slugs from Life of Lewa, mentioned in previous post.

As stated near the end of last post, this second product based off of and very similar to candied fruit slugs was to be included in the encyclopedia.

The following encyclopedia page below describes the sugar candy version of the candied fruit slugs. For full detail on this faux product, scroll down. As last time, I've included the encyclopedia page details directly below the image.

Candy slugs

Candy slugs are a look alike product of true candied fruit slugs. This product is an actual novelty candy for those who don't like the texture or thought of eating the actual candied slugs of the Junti region.

Each candy slug is a molded sweet that looks like the real thing, but is made entirely from sugary products. The centers contain marshmallow, coated with a layer of caramel, then encased with a raspberry orange jelly candy, and then dipped in chocolate.

Tourists and visitors like these candies over the real thing, and some buy them as a pleasant joke, letting some believe they're about to eat a real slug, just to find it's candy.

The main difference between these candies and the real candied slugs is the packaging. The label is different so you can tell the real thing from the novelty sweet.

Note, it says Candy slugs, not candied fruit slugs. And the bottom specifically states they are chocolate coated slug shaped candy.