Hadleo, I Choose You Again...I guess

Well, hello there again Internet! I realise yet again I have abandoned the blog in favour of more corporeal pursuits, but I'm back. After receiving for Christmas a Pokemon drawing game/ tutorial, I decided to redo my earlier post of Hadleo, after reviewing my style in comparison with the traditional Pokemon style. So here it is! A simpler shading system, a new more harmonious palette, and an actual Pokedex entry! Woo! Shiny. I'll say here that the template for the 'dex is not mine, but belongs to Bobertbra from Deviantart- go check them out for more templates, if you like this one. Its a very large image to fit the detail for Hadleo, so I'd click on it for the extra detail to show through. Also announcing, not sure if I mentioned before, the officialised titles for my Fakemon! *trumpet sounds* Infra-red and Ultra-Violet! Ah, sticking with the colour idea, as you may notice. Anyway, that's all for now folks! Go back to your what nots and I'll try and get back with more Pokemon soon!

Signing off with my usual aplomb! 

Who's that Pokemon?

Well, hello there Internet. Sorry for the long absence again- Exams and stuff get in the way a lot. Hopefully this post will show you what I've been up to. Also, stay tuned for the announcement of a new project that I've been working on alongside this one! Oooh! Exciting!
Anyway, as you may have guessed already, I've been working on my Fakemon Pokedex for my own Pokemon stuff. Not that I started at number one. Because that would be boring.
I do have quite a few of the Pokemon drawn on paper- 94 or so of them, to be more specific. Wow. That's a lot of Pokemon. Still got 71 left to go!
The reason this fine fellow is first to be posted, however, is because I recently unearthed my tablet, and so he's the only Pokemon so far that hasn't been drawn on paper first. It made it easier to get the design digitalised, but then colouring him in took a LOT of time. Believe me, it did.
His name is Hadleo, and he is my equivalent of an Umbreon. To get him you have to evolve a Ydrasileo during the night using friendship, same as an Umbreon too. The design came from a Manticore, a mythical creature that is part lion part scorpion. Only this guy is wearing a skull mask, too. In height comparison to a human, he's big enough to ride. Think like Suicune, or Entei sized. He's a Dark type- and that mane of his is made out of shadow! I'll figure out some Pokedex template and maybe put the others up with actual stats, but for now that's all you get.

Signing off!

Route One

Woah, I am on a roll today! Here is the map for my version of Route One, complete with trees, wild Pokemon, and little ledges to have fun jumping over. It leads from Heatherdown to the next town, which I
haven't named or designed or anything yet, so bare with. And another thing! Let me know what you think about names for the version suggestions include: Monochrome, Midnight or Dusk. The region is based on England, since we've not had one there yet officially- although we're getting closer! Unova was New York, and Kalos is France, so you never know. The next generation might see us finally reach Britain!

Home is Where the [START] is?

Hello, hello and welcome little peoples of the Internet, to another exciting development in the Pokemon Project! Yay! I've been using Advance Maps to create my own Pokemon towns, and here is the first.
Say hello to Heatherdown, the little starter town for my Pokemon region. (It doesn't have a name yet, oopsy)
Like most Pokemon starter towns, Heatherdown has just two houses and the Pokemon lab owned by Professor Yew, where players can obtain their first Pokemon!

Never Trust a Babyface!

Well hello, Internet! I apologize for the absence, but A Levels and redoing sketchbooks and trying to salvage final pieces for cubism have been terribly time consuming, and what not. Now, I have something very special for you today.
You see, I have been creating my own Pokemon- and, here today is the first of my Pokemon people (since the pokemon are all hand drawn on paper, and I have to scan them in before I can show you the actual creatures)
This is Professor Isabelle Yew. Don't be fooled- she may look 12, but this right here is a grown lady with a kid of her own! Incidentally, that kid is Caleb Yew, the first of the gym leaders you'd encounter in my as-yet-unnamed-region.
Sweet, but ditsy, Isabelle tries her best to keep the lab in order, but is clumsy and forgetful, so projects are often strew about half finished. Her care of pokemon, however is diligent and motherly.
Now, before you ask, I have actually done a fair number of the pokemon, so I can tell you what hers are.

Chirobi, the Puppy Bat Pokemon. Grass Starter
Sintten, the Coal Kitten Pokemon. Fire Starter
Sashus, the Seahorse Pokemon. Water Starter
Soothshaman, a Psychic Pokemon (that may eventually evolve to a Seershaman, then a Hypact)
 

Christmas, I Choose You!

Okay, so first things first, I understand I've been gone for all of December, but soon you'll see why. As part of the whole Christmas present giving scheme, I decided to make my best friend her present, mostly because I thought it would be nice, but also because I am pretty skint.
Now, said friend is a huge fan of pokemon, so I decided to make something themed along that. When asked, her favorites are either Umbreon, Suicune, or Celebi. I wasn't sure what media to use, but after a short summary of my talents, and the discovery of wonderful craft style called amigurumi, I remembered that once I had been a dab hand at crochet.
I found a pattern for an Umbreon by Wolfdreamer that was simple and easy to follow- you can find it here (http://wolfdreamer-oth.blogspot.co.uk/2010/08/umbreon-plushie.html)- and, whilst it took a few times to get the hand of magic circles, and the crochet jargon, at the end of it I had a decent little plushie to give to my friend.
Needless to say, she loved it, and I was quiet pleased with myself.

Around midway through, having done all but three legs, an ear and a tail.

Finished product!

And yes, he's sat on my keyboard stool.

Looks a bit drunk here, but oh well. 

Signing off!

Late Night Posts are the Best

Well, hello there Internet! It's late at night for me, and I want to be in bed, but I felt it was necessary to post something online, since it's been a while. I'm working on a secret project right now, and I can't share it with you lot just yet, but I'll post it on here eventually.
For now, little crow-monsters, be appeased by this concept are for Skeleton Key, a character of mine with a few unusual features. This is a late night post, so it's a rough work. Nothing fancy, but I like the colour scheme, and the clothing, which I've never been able to get right before.
The emblem on her skirt, which may give something away, given her hands, is the symbol for Hades, or Hell.
I've never decided on hair for her before, but the mix of casual and professional that the ponytail offers struck me as the right fit for my fighting girl, who also has a mission that must be completed at all cost.

Here's the introduction, scripted, for the animation I'm doing for her. This is a draft as well:

It is said that somewhere in the Middle Worlds, there lies a clock, and the closer the clock gets to midnight, the closer the world comes to being plunged into chaos. I suppose, by way of introduction, I could say I am defined by when the clock struck twelve. 

That's all for now, see you soon with Sketchbook posts!

Signing off, 

Dancing with the Devil

Well hello there internet! ((Hello Skittles!)) I'm back with an UPDATE, how amazing. Not really, but I do my best to convey some enthusiasm here, don't I?Welcome to a new section based on poetry, shorts, stories and things like that called ART IN WORDS- I have a short piece for you, based on the experience's of someone I know who at the moment is trying to cope with a lot of stress. It's entitled 'Vertigo'
Enjoy, or, well, appreciate? I don't know.

***

She stands in the rain, dark hair plastered against her pale skin, but beyond that, she is completely and utterly forgettable.  She’s a creature of the corner of your eye, the jump-scare lurker that misses your gaze the first time around. However, whilst she has your attention, she commands your fear like a master of the mind. She is wholly without remorse, or pity.
She’ll call out your inner most fear and whisper it so closely in your ear that it sounds like your own mind is telling you how you’ll fail, fall and inevitably die alone and so awfully empty that it will be like a release.
Try as you might to ignore her, the winter days are short, and the darkness comes so fast that she sweeps in with it, a wraith of your most troubled mindset, the being of a thousand horrified what ifs. She is all that you’ll never admit to, embodied in this twisted sick girl who waits for your guard to go down, for the lights to dim, and then strikes with her whispers.
The worst part is when you start to believe her. When you think she may be right, and I swear she gets louder for it. When you think- am I crazy? And she answers ‘of course’. When you fret and toss and turn in the darkness, and she just laughs.
Insanity laughs and the devil gets angry. Karma kicks you in the teeth- everything that can fail will, because hey, this is you, and she’s laughing at you, not with you- because this girl is a sick, sick, sick embodiment of your worst side, your darkness, your insane and depraved maybes.
She’s the spinning, the falling out of your skull, the long pauses where so much happens, the lapses, the tight headaches and the buzzing and the oh-god-please-don’t-be-s.
She’s Vertigo.

***

And that's my depressing little segment for the day. I've got lots of posts in the wings, since I got all my GCSE Art stuff back and can start some regular posting of sketchbook pages and the like, so, yay!

Signing off with all my usual cheer!

Big Bad WolfBat?

Okay, so I'm a fan of Avatar: The Last Airbender. Also, I love Legend of Korra, its sequel series. Enough that I spent my half term on MS Paint making my own little OC, set after the Earth Avatar that follows Korra. She's a firebender, because who wouldn't want to be able to shoot fire out of their hands and feet and mouth and stuff.
And fly, because I've seen firebenders fly.
However, she's not a goody-two-shoes, because (ha-ha!) she's a member of the Agni-Kai gang, and a descendant of Lighting Bolt Zolt, with a mean habit of setting herself on fire. Enough that she's earned the name 'Ni' which means Salamander.
The huge wolfy steed is Tahno, the wolfbat, named after the waterbender from the Whitefall Wolfbats with the epic hairbending abilities. Because, secretly, I wish Tahno were in season 2 (I haven't noticed him yet, shame) since he and his strange pronunciation of avatar - uhvatar?- was simply brilliant.
Such sass!
So that's what I've been up to for the past couple of months. Since September, or something.
School started up, and AS Levels are tough cookies, dang it.
On the bright side, I'll get my GCSE artwork back soon, so expect a post on that in the near future!

A Chibi A Day...{Part Six}

Yay! Long awaited, and probably not as good as all this time means it should be, here is my final Seeker Within Chibi! *fireworks, party poppers etc* No amulet for this one, simply because I don't know what any of her amulets look like, despite having created them myself. Because, if you remember, this is the first ORIGINAL character, not just gender-bended!
Without giving too much away, her name is Kala M Ravenwood, and her chibi is a cat. Just like Ravenclaw's image is an eagle. Makes no sense, but yep, she is definitely catty. Expect to see her joining in before the send of the season one chapters, and featuring heavily in a plot revamp for season two!
Really, since she's original, that's all I can say without giving the game away, I'm afraid.
Sorry for the delay. I've been doing this thing called the Challenge, where you help your community and basically do a mini DoE.
We're running a campaign called PASSITON in Burnley at the moment, to raise cultural awareness. Try following on Twitter @PASSITON483. I think we even have a Facebook page too!
Back to school this week, too, sixth form now oooh get me! Can you tell I'm pleased with myself? No, well maybe you're deaf then, because my horn will not stop blowing.
And that sounded wrong, so I am going to bed.

Signing off!

A Chibi A Day...{Part Three- Reloaded!}

So, you're probably wondering what Part 3 of my little Chibi Saga is doing up here instead of the long, long, LONG awaited Part 6. Allow me to shed some light on the situation. Recent comments about the Den chibi have been less than positive. His style apparently does not match that of the other chibis- a point I have to concede, having never draw a rat before, it was hard- and the lack of defining features as a Den rat rather than just A rat were picked up on.
This is my whole-hearted, and late night, attempt to remedy that.

There are a few differences between this Den and the original.
Firstly, the eyes in this Den-rat have been adjusted to better resemble the other chibis, with white spaces, a black pupil and varied shades that were missing in the original.
Secondly, the shades of his fur have been adjusted, and darkened, whilst shadows have been added to the fur spikes.
Thirdly, Den's Blood Spiral Mark- which is quite pivotal in the story of Huntik Season 2- has been added, partially, to Den-rat's back.
Fourthly, and finally, an amulet has been tucked under Den-rat's arm. Simply because I am in love with the amulet designs in Huntik. This particular addition is Cursed Archer, who has such a lovely simple amulet, in comparison to say, Caliban and Sabriel.

And that's it, really. Sorry to disappoint any who were looking for the last Chibi of the series, which is still in development. OCs are hard- there's nothing to base your work on, and I have to design an amulet for the chibi to have with it. That's hard work, ladies and gentlemen, believe me.

Signing off 

An Avian Interlude

Ok, so whilst I gather the courage to brave the waters of A Chibi A Day again, here's a little photography to tide you little monsters over for a while.
These were all taken at Hardwick Park, with the help of a group called Going Digital, which take you out there, arrange the birds, and basically guide you through taking some kickass photos.
I'd recently received a new camera, a Canon EOS 500D, and I was nervous, since this was my first time shooting with an SLR, rather than a compact. The differences are amazing.
SLRs beat compacts hands down. No competition.
So, in no specific order, I have a photo for each of the birds we had with us at Hardwick.

Tawny Owl aka Mr Big Eyes

A Barn Owl Close Up

A Harris Hawk, with a 'Whiplash' to its tie. 

A Kestrel with a blacked out background.

A (molting) Buzzard, with wings swept down. 

So, let me know what you think? Are they in focus, are they in shot, are the backgrounds too distracting?

As always, leave a comment, and I'll be sure to read it!

Signing off

A Chibi A Day...{Part Five}

Alrighty! It's finally done! I know it is LONG overdue, but hopefully it will be worth it.
Kitsuni-chan seems to be in hiding at the moment, so let's see if this can't coax her back onto the internet, shall we?
 It was hard work, I am telling you, most due to design changes, and puzzles over scales. I've never done scales before- fur is often hard enough for me to try and capture, and I wasn't sure if I should draw individual scales or just leave it smooth.
At first this was going to be a dragon that was more oriental design, and then it was going to be anthropomorphic (which looked creepy *shudder*) and then it was going to be what I know as 'African Wyvren' which only has two legs, and the arms become the wings, rather like a bat.
Finally, I settled on this dragon style, but four legs and separate wings.
A cute addition is the little amulet- no points for guessing, yes it is a Sabriel. And his expression is adorable. What can I say.
If you haven't already guessed, this day/week/month's chibi is William Casterwill, the aloof noble with family history! He's one of the three original characters in the Seeker Within- well, if gender-bending counts as original, but nevermind- the others being Loki and my next Chibi (who is ORIGINAL original!)
And that's all for now. But I will start on the next one soon, promise promise promise, okay?

Signing off

Apologies, Reasons and Updates...

So, the inevitable has happened- my concentration lapsed and my chibi project lost steam in a big way. Sorry! But not to worry, I have started up again. The chibi in question was a hard one to begin with, having gone through several design changes that will be explained in deeper depths in its post, and then I went through a couple of issues with my computer and saving. The tall and short of it is I had to redo several sections of shading I'd already completed and for a while it was put on hiatus due to a rager's quit.
Yeah, sorry about that
Then, also running along side this miniature explosion of frustration I had the last of my exams, the presentation of my GCSE work- which will feature after I get my results in August, in case there are rules again internet sharing of GCSE work before then, or something stupid.
Straight off the bat from my presentation I headed off to London to see a show, and then on again to Portsmouth to see the Mary Rose and the Victory ( "Kiss me, Hardy" ) after a visit to the RAF Museum in Hendon, since my dad used to live at the RAF base that is now sadly closed. All very fun, but since my laptop isnt really portable at the moment, it meant the hiatus was extended.
Then as soon as I got back from London it was off to Athens of all places. Very exciting, as you can imagine, but since I finish school early due to exams it's the perfect time to go on holiday- before the prices rise for the school summer holidays. Athens is an amazing place, I recommend it for everyone- just look out for pickpockets, which are famous for zipping by on mopeds and stealing bags, which luckily didn't happen to me, and for Anarchist rallies.
We happened to be sat eating lunch in a square when one took place. Eep is an understatement- they started chasing this one guy, and beating him with chairs in the cafe next to us. And then throwing the chairs. So yeah, we left early.
The strangest thing for me was the lack of police there. A huge gathering of people like that in, say, London, would have supervision from the police in case something like that happened.
It was more or that reason that the crowd's aggression that we left.
Still, exciting stuff, right?

Anyway, there are my excuses for not posting the next chibi, but rest assured it is now on the top of my list, and I will get to it!

Signing off

A Chibi A Day...{Part Four}

Firstly, apologies that this chibi is late, but when you see it, I think you will see why. I got back from visiting family on Monday and have been working steadfast since Tuesday to complete this one.
I fear the other two chibis will take just as long, since the complexity has increased since Loki and Zhalia, and Den. I mean, take this one, for example- each section had four shades- that's light, medium, dark and shadow- whereas on Loki there were only two for each section- colour and shadow.
You see how that adds up, right? Since this chibi had seven sections-eyes, head, mane, tail, bangles, tawny and pale-not including the whole other colour scheme for the Caliban amulet dangling from the tail bangles!
So, yes, alot of work, but also, extremely gratifying to see it completed.
And so, without further ado, here is your chibi for the day- Dante Vale.
In the Seeker Within, Dante is often compared to a lion, just like Loki is to a fox, and Zhalia to a wolf. So here he is, in lion form. Another hard eye colour one. He is golden eyed, but in actual fact his eyes are brown with a spot of gold that gives the impression of golden eyes. I had to change that around for the effect to work on large lion eyes.

And that's it, so, signing off (sorry again it was late)

A Chibi A Day...{Part Three}

And so the saga continues! I have to say, I am surprising myself with my dedication here. Sat at my computer with my little chibis, wondering if I'll ever make my self-imposed deadline. It's a labor of love, I'm telling you.
So, today's chibi is Den Fears, a character of The Seeker Within who hasn't actually appeared in the fiction yet- he's a Season Two character, after all, and the story has yet to reach the conclusion of the second season.
Still, for reasons that will become apparent in time, Den is a rat.
He was actually quite a challenge. I wasn't sure what to do with him- his colour scheme is entirely brown, thanks to brown hair and brown eye, and yet it worked well on the chosen animal.
Sadly my run of chibis might come to a halt for a few days, as, like i previously explained, I'm going to my sisters, and can't take my laptop with me, because of the screen linked up to the TV like it is.
Excuses, excuses, I am aware I promised you six chibis, and six you will have!

Signing off