More than a Land of Ice and Snow

[h_e_barlow]

 

 

 

Gali picking berries, coloured grass and tree bark (tannin) for dyes in the Ko-Koro moonlight.

***

After a total of two months from sketch to finish, I'm very happy to how this piece turned out; I think this is the longest and hardest I've ever worked on a piece of art.
This was my first attempt at a complete background and my first time using SAI paint as my design software.
I think the hardest parts for me out of everything were designing the shape of the basket (I hate that stupid basket!) and trying to add shadow and texture to the mountains/snow.

This piece started out as just a costume design for Gali's cold-weather clothing, but as I was doing more and more research into Ko-Koro for the story aspect of The Halfway, I noticed from both the depictions from the map of Mata Nui, (and from fan drawings of the region from Deviant Art), Ko-Koro was almost always shown to be a barren, frozen, wasteland.

And while I did love and appreciate seeing more scenery from Ko-Koro, and the ruggedness and harshness of the land, part of me was thinking:

"There has to be more to Ko-Koro than just snow-covered rocks"

Thinking about the map reminded me of the Canadian Rockies, which looking down to earth from space, just looks like snow-covered rocks. But having lived and worked in the Rockies before, I've come to see just how beautiful and awe-inspiring the entire area is; with crystal turquoise-blue water, lush evergreen forests, and majestic sedimentary mountains, the view from any time of day is absolutely breathtaking.

So, this year being such a major milestone for Canada (Happy 150th Birthday, Canada!), I was inspired  to model a background after one of Canada's most iconic and well-loved places: Moraine Lake in Banff National Park, Alberta.
The idea for the dark, star-lit sky came from the bright, radiantly clear night skies of Banff and Jasper National Park (Jasper being a Dark Sky Preserve).

I wanted to show that there is more to Ko-Koro (and it's inhabitants) than what others might expect. Yes, the Ko-Matoran do like to keep to themselves, but a large part of what keeps them home is the strong connection they feel to their land- with all the rugged, untamed, and overwhelming beauty it contains.

And as always, feedback is always welcome and appreciated.

Cheers!

[Lemony Lepid]

WOAH. That is AMAZING work. I love the mask.... the... the way you did it with the face. It looks AWESOME. I especially love the basket with the plants in it.

 

Very, *very* well done.

[Iver]

Is there a reason you decided to put a mask on her instead of just making a slavic girl at night? In any case, historically accurate clothing always makes me happy.

[h_e_barlow]

Is there a reason you decided to put a mask on her instead of just making a slavic girl at night? In any case, historically accurate clothing always makes me happy.

Hi Iver,

 

Thank-you for the feedback; I appriciate it

 

What I was hoping to do was make Gali much more humainistic than she was in the original series, hence her need for warm clothing. Since she's mostly covered up, it's hard to see the mechanical parts on her body- particularaly her heart light and an extra thing I've added to her spine. I guess without seeing these things she does just look like a girl with a mask on...oops!

 

I didn't notice it at first, but looking at it again, she does look very slavic- which wasn't my original intention. I was hoping to create a unique way that each region dresses depending on their backgrounds; and, for Ko-Koro, the English and Slavic isles stood out to me the most in terms of history and design.

Maybe I'll try incorperating other more diverse elements into her design to give a more "otherworldy" feeling- which is what I was trying to do at the beginning.

 

Thanks for the feedback!

WOAH. That is AMAZING work. I love the mask.... the... the way you did it with the face. It looks AWESOME. I especially love the basket with the plants in it.

 

Very, *very* well done.

Hi Loganto,

 

Thank-you for your input and encouragement

 

It was hard for me to decide how to do her mask at first-especially since I still wanted to be able to show facial expression and detail without looking like face paint- and how to integrate a reason why she still has to wear it as a human and not a bio-mechanical robot.

 

So, I decided that each mask "moulds" to the face of it's wearer when it's on, and then goes back to it's normal design when it's off.

That way she can smile and eat and breath without feeling suffocated and looking stoic all the time, and still have there be distinct features of the Kanohi Kaukau Nuva that are recognizable.

As for the reason she still has to wear it, I'll explain a bit more once I have all the details figuered out- but I will say she still does feel weak without it. 

 

Cheers!