About Me
My goodness, it has really been awhile since I've posted anything here. After a month of work at MPH as my excuse to not be an active blogger, now I have another one; a big step forward in my life and it's University. Yep, no longer I'm learning as a teenager; being spoon fed in many ways that I haven't noticed until now. Now, I'm learning as an adult; figuring out on how do I survive in this cruel world and no longer imagining it as I always do as a teen. Alhamdulillah, I was able to get myself into a designing university and though it is expensive, with god's will, I hope I can find a way to pay not only those fees but also paying my parents back. So, here in this post, I shall post some of the artworks I did in my studies! Why now? Well, the first semester is almost over so with the weeks of freedom I have, why not start with this blog of mine?
It's not much but it's a start. I haven't really explored the deeper and better uses of Photoshop but in time, I will. This is just basics of adjusting color and brightness. I prefer candid pictures because to me, it captures the true essence of people rather than posing ones.
Now this is one of the pictures that I submitted and frankly, I'm happy with it. The subject is certainly a challenge as it requires me to travel. It's definitely a good experience because I've never done things like this.
Even with time not being on my side, I must admit that the works I had to do was very interesting and this is one of them:
Chose your own local movie and start Photoshopping it! I had to chose different stills from my movie by watching it. Bunohan was just a random movie I picked because 'Budak Kelantan' was nowhere to be found but be that as it may, this flick was really good. It wasn't the regular shallow story that most local films offer nowadays. It was a complex story of a dark mishap between brothers from another mothers...did that make sense? Well, it's a conflict between step brothers whose dad had made lots of mistakes and this includes numerous failed marriage.
Another scene I've chosen and below is the photoshopped product:
BAM!
Bad, isn't it? But this not the end product though. In fact, this is sort of a last minute work since I didn't really know how to use Photoshop. But Alhamdulillah, my friends helped me a lot with it and this is as good as it gets at the time. Oh, did I tell you that I had to paint it after I'm done? What the heck?! I'm not that good with painting and there I was, forced to this and to make matters worst, this was the final project which would be 40%...damn. Which leads me to lesson number two of being a designer:
"ALWAYS PUSH YOURSELF BECAUSE THE MARKET IS VERY DEMANDING"
Seriously, the standards in my university is high and they really push their art students to the max. I'm not sure if other public universities are like this...oh, and my university is a private one.
And this is the final product; chosen out of simplicity and conveniences. The color scheme I chose (which is a must and no spontaneous colors is allowed) is analogous colors because I already bought the color blue and I don't want to leave it to waste =P
I also had to use live trace in order to make the painting process easier. I'm not sure what this style is called but basically it's when you simplify the colors in groups of patches instead of the real life complexity. Below is the steps of painting it:
Alhamdulillah, it was better than expected. I had a bad history of painting when I was in primary school and the fact that I didn't tried to improve throughout my whole teen years really didn't helped with my odds of executing this artwork.
It took 3 days in total to finish this and I'm pretty satisfied with the men. The background isn't the best that I could do. Maybe the problem was with the photoshopped composition in the first place but it is what it is; I did what I could.
And here's another hand drawn/colored artwork of mine:
Now, I haven't been posting much of my original sketches but oh boy, I'm gonna make it up to this with not only the sketches I did for my assignments but also with fully colored characters! :'D
Finally, I get to post fully colored characters for the first time and this, to me, is the main event of this post.
The assignment required me to make character concepts and I knew then that I wanna make sure that this will define my style. I always prefer a realistic and simple story and that's what I did with my characters. Instead of sketching out of this world characters with heavy and huge weapons, I just drew characters that stays true as possible to history; reflecting their culture and personality.
Before I get to the colored characters, here's my first inked post: Space Opera
As for the lady on the far right, the credits goes to my friend for helping me out with the designs...thanks pal! This was also a last minute work as you may notice, their eyes aren't colored. But I'm still happy with it because I've never colored anything yet and to see it being better than I expected is really fulfilling. But wait, there's more! The next work is I have to make a poster out of these characters.
I had to come up with a title to and that took me a long time to figure out the right word for them.
I had to use all of the characters and I did but I decided to do another one where it only focuses on these two. I think that the background could still be improved though. This isn't the the artwork I submitted.
THIS IS:
I believe that as an artist, there's always room for improvements in your artworks but quite frankly, I love it!
As you can see, I adjust some things here and there. Most of the eyes are colored and one of the character's clothe is recolored. I even add some shades on the main character's face (Center) and change the Malay woman's skin tone. I decided to make it into a comic book cover since it was empty with texts. It's just that their poses aren't suited for a movie poster and, of course, I don't have much time to redraw them. So, I just work with what I got.
Well, I'm sooooo satisfied with this post because it's full with pictures and artworks unlike the previous posts which had only 2 to 4 artworks. The first semester is technically over (I have one more exam) and in the end, I learned a lot. Though at first, it seems like total perfection is demanded and I wasn't really fond of it but it all became clearer and easier (Thank god) once I get along with much of my course mates and lecturers. It's just their way of pushing us to be our best. With the free time I have, I hope I can get a lot of personal artworks done, Insya Allah.
Here's hoping for better days for me, my family and friends,
HAVE A NICE DAY AND SALAM!
Not a very appealing art but that's, sort of, the point. When I received my first assignment, it was this; to create lines that give you and the viewers the regarded feeling. This is suppose to be graceful and quite frankly, it's a bad one. I was utterly shocked with this homework of mine. I was all "What the heck?!", clearly I wasn't expecting this but then again, what should I expect as a stranger in this phase of life? Not the most fun but sort of interesting. Why is it not fun? It's not just because the limitation of it (You can't make the lines representing any objects or even shapes) but also the little time given. I had to create six line artworks while juggling assignments from five more subjects! But hey, that's the first lesson as an adult, nobody waits for you. So, even with the brief disappointments, I just gave it my all. Make no mistakes though, this isn't going to be my complaints about the education system. It's rather a shift of my feelings and artworks throughout the first semester.
Another subject is photography which I must admit, it wasn't my best field. As you can see above, it slants to the left which is pretty horrible. But of course, this is not the picture I submitted for the assignment (That would be suicide). This is 'Masjid Besi' at Putrajaya, one of the sceneries that I've chosen to took my picture at the time. The architecture is just mesmerizing; filled with modern and huge marbles. Fortunately, as a designer, it is a must that we learn the magic of photoshop and indeed I did.
It's not much but it's a start. I haven't really explored the deeper and better uses of Photoshop but in time, I will. This is just basics of adjusting color and brightness. I prefer candid pictures because to me, it captures the true essence of people rather than posing ones.
Now this is one of the pictures that I submitted and frankly, I'm happy with it. The subject is certainly a challenge as it requires me to travel. It's definitely a good experience because I've never done things like this.
Even with time not being on my side, I must admit that the works I had to do was very interesting and this is one of them:
Chose your own local movie and start Photoshopping it! I had to chose different stills from my movie by watching it. Bunohan was just a random movie I picked because 'Budak Kelantan' was nowhere to be found but be that as it may, this flick was really good. It wasn't the regular shallow story that most local films offer nowadays. It was a complex story of a dark mishap between brothers from another mothers...did that make sense? Well, it's a conflict between step brothers whose dad had made lots of mistakes and this includes numerous failed marriage.
BAM!
Bad, isn't it? But this not the end product though. In fact, this is sort of a last minute work since I didn't really know how to use Photoshop. But Alhamdulillah, my friends helped me a lot with it and this is as good as it gets at the time. Oh, did I tell you that I had to paint it after I'm done? What the heck?! I'm not that good with painting and there I was, forced to this and to make matters worst, this was the final project which would be 40%...damn. Which leads me to lesson number two of being a designer:
"ALWAYS PUSH YOURSELF BECAUSE THE MARKET IS VERY DEMANDING"
Seriously, the standards in my university is high and they really push their art students to the max. I'm not sure if other public universities are like this...oh, and my university is a private one.
I also had to use live trace in order to make the painting process easier. I'm not sure what this style is called but basically it's when you simplify the colors in groups of patches instead of the real life complexity. Below is the steps of painting it:
Alhamdulillah, it was better than expected. I had a bad history of painting when I was in primary school and the fact that I didn't tried to improve throughout my whole teen years really didn't helped with my odds of executing this artwork.
It took 3 days in total to finish this and I'm pretty satisfied with the men. The background isn't the best that I could do. Maybe the problem was with the photoshopped composition in the first place but it is what it is; I did what I could.
It's a little off...I know
And here's another hand drawn/colored artwork of mine:
This was fun.
Now, I haven't been posting much of my original sketches but oh boy, I'm gonna make it up to this with not only the sketches I did for my assignments but also with fully colored characters! :'D
Finally, I get to post fully colored characters for the first time and this, to me, is the main event of this post.
The assignment required me to make character concepts and I knew then that I wanna make sure that this will define my style. I always prefer a realistic and simple story and that's what I did with my characters. Instead of sketching out of this world characters with heavy and huge weapons, I just drew characters that stays true as possible to history; reflecting their culture and personality.
Before I get to the colored characters, here's my first inked post: Space Opera
As for the lady on the far right, the credits goes to my friend for helping me out with the designs...thanks pal! This was also a last minute work as you may notice, their eyes aren't colored. But I'm still happy with it because I've never colored anything yet and to see it being better than I expected is really fulfilling. But wait, there's more! The next work is I have to make a poster out of these characters.
I had to come up with a title to and that took me a long time to figure out the right word for them.
Why Takrif? Well, it's my attempt of redefining a Malayan hero in the 1500's and takrif means definition in Malay.
THIS IS:
I believe that as an artist, there's always room for improvements in your artworks but quite frankly, I love it!
As you can see, I adjust some things here and there. Most of the eyes are colored and one of the character's clothe is recolored. I even add some shades on the main character's face (Center) and change the Malay woman's skin tone. I decided to make it into a comic book cover since it was empty with texts. It's just that their poses aren't suited for a movie poster and, of course, I don't have much time to redraw them. So, I just work with what I got.
Well, I'm sooooo satisfied with this post because it's full with pictures and artworks unlike the previous posts which had only 2 to 4 artworks. The first semester is technically over (I have one more exam) and in the end, I learned a lot. Though at first, it seems like total perfection is demanded and I wasn't really fond of it but it all became clearer and easier (Thank god) once I get along with much of my course mates and lecturers. It's just their way of pushing us to be our best. With the free time I have, I hope I can get a lot of personal artworks done, Insya Allah.
Here's hoping for better days for me, my family and friends,
HAVE A NICE DAY AND SALAM!
I didn't had a negative reaction towards this movie nor did I had a positive one. What came to my mind is "Wow, time flies really fast". It seemed like yesterday when I first saw Tobey Maguire's Spiderman. Now, my favorite childhood version of Spidey is nothing but a blast from the past with this new version coming out in theaters soon. It seems like there's no more classic superhero plot with this one and honestly, It's a bold move. With the phenomenon of Christopher Nolan's Batman, superhero films tend to be more realistic with their story line. There's no more cliche' destined to be great plot with no relevant explanation whatsoever. Writer's also tend to satisfy the comic book fans with major and interesting twist with the hero's iconic history , looks, relationships and so on. Thus, let's go on with my expectations or predictions with this film.
One of the biggest changes with the costume, to me, are the web shooters. In the comics, Spidey can't really shoot organic webs but they gave that powers to Tobey's Spiderman. I think it's because they thought that it would be more logical. I really do agree because being bitten by a radio active spider should give you web-shooting ability as well right? Why stop to just strength, agility and reflexes? Now, do I agree with the mechanical shooting webs? Yes, because I understand the necessity of it. They wanted this new version of Spiderman to stand on his own and giving him that would certainly do the job. As for his new red stripes, it's an interesting twist to it but according to most people I've ask, especially old ones, it seems just the same. It takes a true geek to notice it...haha. His eyes are also yellow. Not sure if I'm okay with that but lets just see how they pull it off.
What do I expect from the story line:
Well, first, it's a stupendous move to recreate Spidey's legacy by relating it to a Bio or DNA altering plot. To most eyes, Spiderman is a hero with Spider-like powers who fight random gifted villains. But in this film, it emphasizes the DNA altering gimmick with Peter Parker's parent's dark past and also the new villain; The Lizard. I'm guessing that there's gonna be a lot of slime and ooze; considering the bio gimmick. Surprisingly, we only saw Venom's slime in Tobey's Spiderman and it's not green. I don't know, green slime always symbolizes bio to me. With this gimmick, I also see potential for them to bring in some animal-themed villains for Spidey. I just noticed that most villains that the old movie had were people with mechanical advantage. Having a random symbiotic alien and another accident is not much of a creative way to introduce a villain. Again, I like to emphasize, since I'm a huge fan of Batman ( :p ), the bar for realistic and smart writing for superhero films has been raised and having random accidents more than once in a movie series is uninteresting. Now, there's a huge possibility that three villains such as Rhino, Vulture and Scorpion could be introduce in a very unique way. I also see the Osborns being heavily used again in the plot. Perhaps, the sequel would introduce the Kingpin who wants this new bio-tech freaks to be in his army in order to take over New York or Kraven the Hunter could appear as a hitman and he is tasked to hunt all the bio-freaks.
Spidey's legacy could finally be told in a way that could bring out the same feeling that comic book fans get while reading the comics; witty, action packed, teen drama or whatever it is that they feel. Quite frankly, I see Spiderman as a big time underdog superhero in the Marvel universe; balancing his personal life that we could relate in many ways and stopping villains while holding on to his infamous belief, "With great power, comes great responsibilities". How could you not see him as an underdog? You've got the genius millionaire, Tony Stark and the legendary Steve Rogers saving lives. With talents such as Spideys', people might say that he is useless. That, people, is the beauty of Spiderman; doing the right thing regardless of what people say and the very thought of it just gives me a nostalgic feeling of how I enjoy watching Spiderman as a child.
Of course, there's only one thing I might not like about this reboot. Judging from the trailer, Manhattan would be in panic...again. Didn't The Avengers just saved it? Haha. My point is, I prefer to see Spiderman saving lives in smaller scales; without the destruction of huge buildings. I'd like to think of him battling villains where there are no civilians to see. It just goes to show that Spidey saves people without ever wanting or needing the publicity. Well, that's it for his post. I've been busy with my University lately so yeah, there are no sketches for this post....sorry.
Here's an old song from the old movie, I LOVE IT SO MUCH! :')
SALAM AND HAVE A GOOD DAY EVERYBODY!
When I dropped my early comic idea for this blog, most of my posts lacked original designs from then on. I've posted a few short comics but they weren't enough for me. I wrote some reviews and even posted some random videos just for the sake of making this blog more...alive, so to speak though I did enjoy writing the reviews. I had a project of making a 10 to 20 page comic book with a friend but alas, it didn't came to reality as there were loads of technical difficulties and time problems. I had my part time job at the time while my scanners and laptop were completely annoying and unhelpful. In the end, I lost the script due to reformatting. Oh, I saved most of sketches and files in a hard drive. All but ONE and it had to be that script. The project was called Hipter Stan. A hipster who works on the moon.
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It was meant to be a dark comedy/science fiction/action genre...it could of been epic you know. Now, me and friend ditched the supposedly hipster fashion of wearing huge glasses, having funny moustache and the scarf around their neck. I was thinking about making him having a nerdy look with hairs combed to the side. Stan was an ignorant person who doesn't tolerate well with other people's opinions and in the story, he met other versions of himself from different universes.
A version of Stan from a universe that was on the verge of war. He's the one who made the Stans capable of meeting each other from multiple universes due to his gun.
Some of the possible looks for the Stans.
Before Hipster Stan was dropped, while this project was still in the writing process, I did sketched a few short comics. Unfortunately, they're not much but I plan to do more, Insya Allah.
Dragon Ball paradoy: Still Standing.
Mission: Bond, James Bond.
I am somewhat of a perfectionist and I tend to make sure my stories are epic. I often write my stories half way and dropped them because I thought they weren't epic enough for me. I forget that I'm still learning; still in the rookie phase of writing and drawing; a newb, so to speak. So, this time, I went all out random! I sketched random shapes, gave them eyes and mouth; put in a straight forward and simple plot and done, out came Riley! Yep, that's the title of the comic and Alhamdulillah, I can finally post it. Now, the purpose of this comic is for constructive criticisms; to improve my writing and drawing capabilities and I hope once you've read it, you can tell me what you think. You can comment on this post or email me at Faqihin_Rules@yahoo.com.
My Hipster Stan partner also finished his own short comic recently and here's the link: Haxorxor on DeviantArt
Well, this is just part one of my short comic, Riley, but I hope I'll get to post part 2 soon, Insya Allah.
Some behind the scenes pictures of how I spend my time sketching. Most of the time, I would take a laptop and one of my Transformers figure for inspiration.
Of course, I would listen to songs to keep me passionate while drawing and recently, I've listen a lot to Assassin's Creed Revelation's scores. "You have earned you rest" is my favourite. About that toy, I know it seems weird but quite frankly, I do get distracted a lot. I'd often draw for 3 minutes and start to hallucinate my ideas, thinking about my personal problems and so on. Looking at it just keeps me focus for awhile...somehow. Yeah...weird..haha.
And here's the link to my short comic: Riley Part One
You have to download though because I think posting all of the sketches here wouldn't click somehow. I think it would just be easier if you download it. Don't forget to give me your opinions, okay? Again, comment here or just email me at Faqihin_Rules@yahoo.com.
Salam and have a good day everybody!
Dragon Ball paradoy: Still Standing.
Mission: Bond, James Bond.
I am somewhat of a perfectionist and I tend to make sure my stories are epic. I often write my stories half way and dropped them because I thought they weren't epic enough for me. I forget that I'm still learning; still in the rookie phase of writing and drawing; a newb, so to speak. So, this time, I went all out random! I sketched random shapes, gave them eyes and mouth; put in a straight forward and simple plot and done, out came Riley! Yep, that's the title of the comic and Alhamdulillah, I can finally post it. Now, the purpose of this comic is for constructive criticisms; to improve my writing and drawing capabilities and I hope once you've read it, you can tell me what you think. You can comment on this post or email me at Faqihin_Rules@yahoo.com.
My Hipster Stan partner also finished his own short comic recently and here's the link: Haxorxor on DeviantArt
Well, this is just part one of my short comic, Riley, but I hope I'll get to post part 2 soon, Insya Allah.
Of course, I would listen to songs to keep me passionate while drawing and recently, I've listen a lot to Assassin's Creed Revelation's scores. "You have earned you rest" is my favourite. About that toy, I know it seems weird but quite frankly, I do get distracted a lot. I'd often draw for 3 minutes and start to hallucinate my ideas, thinking about my personal problems and so on. Looking at it just keeps me focus for awhile...somehow. Yeah...weird..haha.
And here's the link to my short comic: Riley Part One
You have to download though because I think posting all of the sketches here wouldn't click somehow. I think it would just be easier if you download it. Don't forget to give me your opinions, okay? Again, comment here or just email me at Faqihin_Rules@yahoo.com.
Salam and have a good day everybody!
Alhamdulillah,
this is my second post labelled 'Book reviews' and I really don't do a lot of reading. I'm trying to get use to reading since my ambitions involves creative writing. I believe that you have to get inspirations from many resources; relying only on television isn't much of a good idea. To be frank, I feel really good about myself because I don't read a lot of novels and to finish this one which I've spent more than a month is really satisfying. I'm a pretty slow reader you know and I bet if I would to tell a regular book enthusiast that I spent a month reading a 300 page book, they would laugh. By the way, here's the first post of Book reviews: Comics (DMZ Friendly Fire and World War Hulk)
I stumbled upon this book's wikia about a year ago and the main character's design fascinated me. What makes it more fascinating is that there's rumours that there's going to be a movie adaptation of it and so, with those two facts bearing in my mind; I bought the book. It was sort of serendipitous--well, not really; spontaneously stumbling Mumford and Sons's Sigh No More album was serendipitous because I tried to looked for it for 3 years. They're not popular in Malaysia so it was difficult to find it. I found this book when I was working at MPH Bookstores and since I get 20% off as a result of employee discount; I figured, why not just buy it? So, the story is a combination of detective and magic though I didn't felt much of the detective part. It felt more to a "secret magical society living in our modern world" kind of plot. Did that made sense? I hope it did. Maybe it's just me but the story definitely focus more on explaining the secret magical society's history rather than emphasizing the crime solving. The story starts with an adolescent girl who got herself involve in a secret world when she investigates the curious death of her uncle. Stephanie Edgley met Skulduggery Pleasant, a walking skeleton with good taste in fashion and highly mannered, while sticking up her nose in this awfully dangerous world and thus, causing them to be good friends. In my opinion, this book focuses more on the magical world's history. Don't get me wrong, they are plenty of investigations going on but with the Faceless Ones and The War being told; it just screams out history to me. To know more about the Faceless Ones and The War, buy the book! It's good--I mean, I don't read a lot of novels but it kept me reading; that proves something, doesn't it?
What I love about it though is the main character, Skulduggery. He's the kind of character with a vast vocabulary and manners; a fine combination of making a gentleman. I love smooth talking characters, they look just so cool and fascinating to me. They could give low IQ villains a hard time understanding them with their choice of words. Plus, it makes you sound more intelligent! He's also funny. He makes intelligent jokes which I always choose over slapstick and dirty ones.
Another character's appearance that caught my attention was Ghastly Bespoke. Now, I didn't saw a picture of him before I read the book. After I read it, he's description was sort of weird to me. A man who had a boxing background thus leading him to have a strong upper body strength; big arms and muscular all over. But be that as it may, he chose to be a tailor instead. He's background and physical appearance is quite a weird one. He's face is said to have many scars; an unpleasant sight to be seen. But official artworks of him didn't click with what I expected. So, I made a sketch of my own.
I admit, Ghastly's appearance is quite hard to execute and this sketch of mine didn't satisfy me. Instead of scars, I gave my version stitches. Seeing the movie adaptation of him would be fun to see how they made him into reality.
Now the question for me is will I buy the next book? Well, of course but not now. I'm going to college soon so I need to save money. Besides, I have loads of other things to buy and so I guess, I would probably buy the book next year. Thankfully, this book wasn't a waste of money and I give it a 3 out of 5 for a good read. It's the first instalment; there are loads of story introduction in which I presume the next books should be good with it being build up.
Lately, I haven't been posting sketches of my own design a lot but now, alhamdulillah, I've finished part one of my short comic! :D
I'll post it soon, Insya Allah and I'll be hoping for some constructive criticism.
That's all for now, Salam and have a good day everybody!
this is my second post labelled 'Book reviews' and I really don't do a lot of reading. I'm trying to get use to reading since my ambitions involves creative writing. I believe that you have to get inspirations from many resources; relying only on television isn't much of a good idea. To be frank, I feel really good about myself because I don't read a lot of novels and to finish this one which I've spent more than a month is really satisfying. I'm a pretty slow reader you know and I bet if I would to tell a regular book enthusiast that I spent a month reading a 300 page book, they would laugh. By the way, here's the first post of Book reviews: Comics (DMZ Friendly Fire and World War Hulk)
I stumbled upon this book's wikia about a year ago and the main character's design fascinated me. What makes it more fascinating is that there's rumours that there's going to be a movie adaptation of it and so, with those two facts bearing in my mind; I bought the book. It was sort of serendipitous--well, not really; spontaneously stumbling Mumford and Sons's Sigh No More album was serendipitous because I tried to looked for it for 3 years. They're not popular in Malaysia so it was difficult to find it. I found this book when I was working at MPH Bookstores and since I get 20% off as a result of employee discount; I figured, why not just buy it? So, the story is a combination of detective and magic though I didn't felt much of the detective part. It felt more to a "secret magical society living in our modern world" kind of plot. Did that made sense? I hope it did. Maybe it's just me but the story definitely focus more on explaining the secret magical society's history rather than emphasizing the crime solving. The story starts with an adolescent girl who got herself involve in a secret world when she investigates the curious death of her uncle. Stephanie Edgley met Skulduggery Pleasant, a walking skeleton with good taste in fashion and highly mannered, while sticking up her nose in this awfully dangerous world and thus, causing them to be good friends. In my opinion, this book focuses more on the magical world's history. Don't get me wrong, they are plenty of investigations going on but with the Faceless Ones and The War being told; it just screams out history to me. To know more about the Faceless Ones and The War, buy the book! It's good--I mean, I don't read a lot of novels but it kept me reading; that proves something, doesn't it?
 |
| It's too sketchy, don't you think? |
What I love about it though is the main character, Skulduggery. He's the kind of character with a vast vocabulary and manners; a fine combination of making a gentleman. I love smooth talking characters, they look just so cool and fascinating to me. They could give low IQ villains a hard time understanding them with their choice of words. Plus, it makes you sound more intelligent! He's also funny. He makes intelligent jokes which I always choose over slapstick and dirty ones.
Another character's appearance that caught my attention was Ghastly Bespoke. Now, I didn't saw a picture of him before I read the book. After I read it, he's description was sort of weird to me. A man who had a boxing background thus leading him to have a strong upper body strength; big arms and muscular all over. But be that as it may, he chose to be a tailor instead. He's background and physical appearance is quite a weird one. He's face is said to have many scars; an unpleasant sight to be seen. But official artworks of him didn't click with what I expected. So, I made a sketch of my own.
I admit, Ghastly's appearance is quite hard to execute and this sketch of mine didn't satisfy me. Instead of scars, I gave my version stitches. Seeing the movie adaptation of him would be fun to see how they made him into reality.
Now the question for me is will I buy the next book? Well, of course but not now. I'm going to college soon so I need to save money. Besides, I have loads of other things to buy and so I guess, I would probably buy the book next year. Thankfully, this book wasn't a waste of money and I give it a 3 out of 5 for a good read. It's the first instalment; there are loads of story introduction in which I presume the next books should be good with it being build up.
Lately, I haven't been posting sketches of my own design a lot but now, alhamdulillah, I've finished part one of my short comic! :D
I'll post it soon, Insya Allah and I'll be hoping for some constructive criticism.
That's all for now, Salam and have a good day everybody!
I've just notice something; I haven't post anything labelled 'Experimental Character' (EC) for a while. Since I've dropped 'Nurul Shakira', I guess I completely forgot about it. Alhamdulillah, I did manage to post some short comics but they're under the label 'Shorts'. The original concept of EC was to share you guys the development of my characters; sharing how they started out and where did I get the inspiration. Then, I would post short stories of them. Well, I don't think I would want to continue posting short stories of them but I do, however, want to share the development of a few characters...just for fun :D
A friend of mine once reminded me that sharing ideas can make them better by knowing the opinions of others and so, I'll continue doing EC. Besides, I feel sort of guilty because the past three post of mine didn't had any of my sketches =/ ....man, that's not good.
And just for the sake of making this post longer :p
...here's the first post of Experimental Character.
A friend of mine once reminded me that sharing ideas can make them better by knowing the opinions of others and so, I'll continue doing EC. Besides, I feel sort of guilty because the past three post of mine didn't had any of my sketches =/ ....man, that's not good.
And just for the sake of making this post longer :p
...here's the first post of Experimental Character.
Sort of creepy, don't you think?
I also had this idea of how I would practice writing creatively by writing something new and random once in a while. I would take two different things or person and combine them; trying to come up with a story or characters that's original as possible. Sadly, I haven't done that. So, I guess, posting EC is also a way for me to improve my creative writing. Yay me! :)
The sketch above is a combination of Adventure Time's Jake the dog and Ron Weasley. I'm not sure if it's obvious enough for you but the clothes are based on Hogwart's students attire while his face was inspired by Jake the dog. Jake had a shape shifting ability; he's body would expand and grow as if he was made from rubber. So, yeah, I guess, the guy above is made out of rubber...I think =/
It's still in the brainstorming process and yes, the thing he's holding is sort of like the snitch. Figuring out his personality is not the best thing to do now because I'm not sure how would I want the plot goes. I prefer to figure the plot first and then I'll start with the characteristics. For now, let's call him Tom. The next sketch it's not good though, I was in a rush but hey, it's still in the brainstorming process. I'll improvise it =)
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| I think this by far, the worst scanned sketch I've posted here . Sketching Tom wasn't enough to spark some ideas for the plot and so I drew this guy...a bald midget =) dude, that's so meannnn -__- |
He's not suppose to be short though he is suppose to be bald. Again, I combined two random things and after I drew Tom, I decided to draw something for the first two posts I see on 9gag. The first one was a post about a Pokemon game which I'm not sure which one. I noticed that the Pokemon's name was Rassilon and so I googled that. It turns out he was a villain of some sort from the show Doctor Who; a time lord who, for the namesake, uses the power of time. The second post was a cosplay of Lord Voldemort which was pretty good. Who would've known that you could find decent inspirations from a website like 9gag huh? Let's call the guy above Professor. I imagine him being a mad scientist who had just discovered time travelling through the combination of Science and Magic. The Snitch looking thing that was on Tom's hand provided the magic while the Professor's glove somehow uses the snitch's powers to open time portals. Oh yeah, the glove is actually a remote to control a satellite that opens the time portal. How did Tom turned to rubber? Should this be a dark comedic story or a serious one? Well, this is part of the fun! Share your thoughts please and give ideas that's entirely different from mine if you want! =D
Salam and have a good day everybody!
Salam and hello everybody!
I've been waiting for this one for months now and finally it had arrived in Malaysian theatres last Friday! When I saw the trailer, I expected a straight forward all action flick where there's action for every 8 to 11 minutes. I wasn't always fond of this kind of flicks but since it's The Avengers; the heck with it, I'll try to enjoy it anyway. It's just the idea of it is breathtaking to me; six major superheroes join forces in live action. I know that there's already a superhero team film like X-Men but The Avengers is something entirely different. Four of the heroes had numerous movie incarnations before and 2 of them are very well known around the world. It's like seeing years of their legacy accumulating in one epic movie. Well, enough with the hype and let's get on with the review!
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I've explain my ratings before but I'd like to remind you again on what the numbers mean:
1/5: Pathetic/ Wasting time/ Disrespectful or any other insults you could think of :)
2/5: Boring/ Cliche'.3/5: A good film to past the time/ Could of been better.
4/5: An awesome and inspiring movie.
5/5: Ever green/ An instant classic/ Inspiring/ Epic/ Genius.
The addition of 0.5 is somewhat an extra to films that I think that could go to the next level of the ratings. Did that made any sense? :/
REALISM
The first few minutes of the movie was a bit typical to me; starting of with a huge action scene with explosions and car chases. Huge action movies like this often start with a massive action scene but hey, it wasn't bad. It revealed the desperate situation on why would one even consider asking 6 remarkable people join forces to save the world; the reason being war. This is where I find it most interesting about the movie. As you can see the three heroes above, their costumes are amazing. Whoever worked on the costumes, bravo! They manage to satisfy their iconic looks while maintaining the realism of the story. Let's face it, tights are unacceptable in reality. To me, of all the heroes, Captain America and Hawkeye's costumes are the best. In the comics, they wore tights. Captain America had those wings sticking out of his head while Hawkeye wore purple tights that seems like they were inspired from the medieval days. I love how they change that blue mask into a helmet with a picture of wings instead of those that were sticking out. Hawkeye wore sleeveless S.H.I.E.L.D. agent's wardrobe; the kind of clothes that fits for a spy. I also love the angle where The Avengers initiative is a last resort of saving mankind. We've seen them destroy world threats alone before and thus why would they even need to team up? It makes the story more realistic. Oh man, there's just so many things I love about the story. Another angle I like is where the Asgardians; Thor and Loki are treated as Aliens instead of Norse Gods. I like to think that they were mistaken as Gods long time ago while in fact, they're just advanced aliens that look like humans. Now, I'm not sure if they're sticking with this angle entirely but so far, it seems like they're balancing it between the Norse Gods factor.
BALANCED
Another thing that really surprises me is that the story is well balanced and I mean, REALLY BALANCED between the earth's mightiest heroes. Iron Man, Tony Stark, is the centre of almost every posters but the story really builds up character for each of them; even Hawkeye who had a little screen time in Thor.
The three underdogs of the team, in my opinion. They don't have huge advantages like Stark's armour or Thor's supernatural abilities. Although Captain America, Steve Rogers, is a super soldier;It was enough during WWII but not for the modern world filled with an army of aliens. I'm just speechless by the level of 'balanced' that this movie has. It's sort of ridiculous because I assumed that a film like this, with a huge gimmick as a promotional boost, would be a simple action flick. Well, I was dead wrong! It focuses on how the situation affected them as an individual instead of making them emotionless heroes who strongly believes in morality. They had arguments, fights and so on. Personally, Hulk versus Thor was my favourite. Speaking of Hulk, I have to say that his part of the story was really impressive. Since reading the comic book "World War Hulk", I have a better understanding and admiration of the character. He's very complex and it's a surprise seeing him being personified very well even in a movie with many more other iconic characters. To me, the best quote of the move is not "If we can't protect the earth, you can be damn sure we'll avenge it" by Tony Strak. When Black Widow was tasked to bring Bruce Banner to Nick Furry, she asked him what's his secret of surviving a year without an accident. Banner gave the answer when the climax starts, facing the invading aliens "That's my secret, Captain......I'm always angry" and then he willingly transforms into the Hulk. That, to me, in a way, explains the whole Hulk legacy :')
And it was epic.
In conclusion, The Avengers really lived up to it's hype. It satisfy both the comic book lovers and the general audiences. Let's not forget the kids too, the film is also kid friendly. But make no mistakes, the most anticipated superhero flick of the year is Christopher Nolan's Batman series; The Dark Knight Rises. This time, the expectations of sheer epicness has been raised. I give The Avengers a rating of 4.5/5 because it is pure awesome but it could be an epic movie (5/5) if it had tried another villain. I don't know, it's missing something. The whole Earth vs Aliens plot has been used many times in the comic and the animation world when they're about to introduce a superhero team; this also includes DC Comic's Justice League. I'm not saying that it's a bad or dull thing; it's just that maybe that they could give a little more awesomeness with a different villain or a plot twist of some sort.
Salam and have a good day everybody! :D
Here comes another Pop culture phenomenon! Why do I say that? Well, it's the buzz that people are giving to this film but more importantly; it's what most teens are saying about it. Honestly, we can't deny the fact that at certain times, it's the teens that set what's trending with the film industry nowadays. Sometimes, it's a sad fact considering that some teens say that The Twilight Saga is a good film which I'm not much of a fan but this time, stating The Hunger Games as the next smash hit is something that I can agree.
As you all know, the film is an adaptation of a book written by Suzanne Collins. I worked at MPH Bookstores and so you could say I got a front row seat to see how this Pop culture accumulates. I'm an observer and seeing how people would react to the book and film is really fascinating to me. The company kept ordering loads of these books. Suzanne Collins wrote a trilogy of it and each had different covers. I had to know which one's the adult version, kid's version, Asian or UK imprint and the list goes on. The books were arranged at the highlighted shelve where people could easily find them. Practically, not many bought the book before the film releases. So, the books sort of stood there untouched.
And this is where the show really started. As I was walking around, looking for something to do, the shelf containing The Hunger Games book were surrounded by teenagers. "Ah, here it is!" screamed an enthusiastic 16 something year old girl. Everyday, teens surround the shelve and have a loud and sometimes annoying conversation; saying what they thought of the film. Heck, a girl came to me and asked if the store had the mocking jay pin for sale -_- (This might sound egotistic but yeah, I was annoyed by that question).
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| I'm not posting this picture because I'm another silly teenage fan. Just sayin' :) Look at this picture. I mean, c'mon! They're even promoting this film in a teen-ish way. You don't see films like X-Men: First Class having lovely pictures of the casts being together now do you? It seems like they only do this when they're making a teen film. |
Now, I'm going to tell you how this phenomenon happened around me before and after it was released in theatres.
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| Pre-Release |
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| Post-Release |
All right, now comes my review on the film. About two weeks later, I went to see the film. I was a bit surprise because the film is slow. Normally, that sort of films wouldn't be a hit for young viewers but I guess the novel adaptation factor helped it to get it's audience. A fast-paced action with a bit of a teenage love story would do the trick but not The Hunger Games. It really focuses the idea of being in a battle to the death experience; how would it affect you and how it felt. It sets in a fictional future where the North America was renamed Panem and was divided into twelve districts after a war of some kind ended (Correct me if I'm wrong). To maintain control of these districts, they held The Hunger Games where one boy and girl ages 12 to 18 is chosen at random from each districts. The Hunger Games is a televised battle to the death where there could be only one winner. In this first instalment of the series, it focusses more on Katniss Everdeen's experience upon competing in the games willingly as she wanted to save her little sister, Primrose Everdeen, who was originally chosen for district 12. It didn't focus more on the games though. You know, like how action packed films usually do. This film, thankfully, had heart. So, I give this film a 3.5/5 because it's a good film though it could've been better if it focuses more on the first instalment. They end it with a huge indication of a sequel. To me, making a movie that really feels like it has ended and somehow making a sequel to it is way better.
Happy Hunger Games and may the odds be ever in your favor.
Pffttt! That was a bit lame, wasn't it? :p
Have a good day everybody! Salam!
