h_e_barlow

I originally wanted to draw Hahli and Macku together in order to contrast how different they are, but I ran out of space with what I wanted to do. (Maybe in a different piece later on ) Anywho, I wanted to experiment by drawing Hahli in a more dynamic pose instead of just standing there with her Kohlii stick. I've mostly just drawn figure profiles from this point, and I knew I wouldn't be able to branch out artistically unless I tried to do something new and different (which was kind of intimidating at first). But now that I've started to get a feel for it, I'm very excited to be showing more character and personality through body language. And for Hahli, I wanted to show that she is very sporty and athletic, but also still very pretty and fashionable without being dainty. She has an aggressive and competitive streak for sure, but it usually only shows itself in the arena.

Yeah, I know she's a biomechanical being in the original series, but that doesn't mean I can't draw her in a different way (in this case, human).

I realized with the last few posts I had made, I gave you guys HUGE info dumps about the characters and their background, and after seeing other info dump post on the internet, I'm SOO sorry I just loaded everything on you at once! Please forgive me DX From now on, all the large details will be placed either on my Patreon site (which is free to read) or in my journal on Deviant Art. I change the style again, since I really want to emphasize the size and shape differences between each character. I think what really helped me flesh out how I wanted Gali to look was thinking more in terms of "feeling" rather than just straight esthetics or tribal design - especially when it came to incorporating her personality, temperament, and element (water) into how she looks. I think this was the most challenging part of her redesign- shaping her overall design based on these elements- and her body type. And Gali is a curvy lady! (with like, no boobs.) So I decided to look into how to dress for pear-shaped bodies, focusing more on details on the top half of her body rather than the bottom. I've also added some shell armour for her (since she is still a Toa after all!), including a conch arm shield and shell shoulder guard. Normally I'd be posting with her mask on, but I wanted you to see what her face looks like before I slap that sucker on there. The mask picture will be posed in DA my journal for now.

After looking at the designs I had for Gali, I realized she didn't really look the way I wanted her to; she looked too much like a girl instead of a woman and her outfits just looked kind of bland and generic. Plus, I wanted to give her body and face more diverse features- part of what I want to improve on is adding more exaggerated features so everyone won't look cookie-cutter. I also really wanted to try incorporating the old lore of the Bionicle universe into The Halfway, especially tribal values. In this piece, I wanted to flesh out the connection between masks, heart lights, and the metallic spine a bit more, since they are all connected to each other in this universe. Basically, because of major catastrophic events from the past, everyone needed to have a metallic spine and "heart light" (status gauge) implanted into their bodies: In short, the machine acts as a barrier between the person and the liquid they need to function (Energized Protodermis), allowing it to be transferred into the body without destroying it. This keeps the person healthy since without it extreme symptoms of deprivation begin to show: extremely dry, cracked, and scaly red skin, glazed over eyes, difficulty thinking clearly, and strong feelings of exhaustion, pain, and discomfort. Without proper levels of EP, the masks they wear will not mould to the face and their power (if any) won't work. Masks can be taken off for a brief amount of time, but since they help regulate EP to the face, the person will begin feeling weak and their face will turn ashen in colour, eventually leading them to pass out in extreme cases. The heart light acts as a gauge, it's colour of light indicating how much EP is left in the body and when it's time for a "refill". The colour can range from bright yellow (fullest) to dark red (lowest), with various shades of yellow, orange, and red in between. Once the light starts turning orange, the symptoms of deprivation start to show little by little, often starting with itchy skin. Keeping the heart light yellow is part of the Great Spirit's Way, and is part of the duty of every Matoran. *** Overall, I'm really happy with how this one turned out, as Gali has a lot more of the cultural flavour that I wanted her to have, especially with her tattoos. The Ga-Matoran highly value purity as one of their principles, which is represented by the white tattoos they have on their bodies. Primarily, the tattoos are done around their heart light and metallic spine, but some Matoran have them on their arms, legs, and torsos as well. Originally it was supposed to be a reminder to have a pure heart in devotion to the Great Spirit and his Way, but devolved into a "I'm better than you" competition between Ga-Matoran to see whose heart light was "purist". No one is quite sure why the tattoos were chosen to be white instead of yellow, since yellow is generally the colour of light and purity on the island. But keeping with tradition, they still use white anyways. **I know it's a lot of info at once. Please let me know if you'd like it in smaller doses and I'll try to break it down to make it more digestible.

I wanted to take a break from drawing large, technically exhausting pictures for a bit; so, I decided to experiment with Gali's color palate with a rough sketch of her regular clothes. As I was playing around with different colour schemes and pairings, I never really noticed how much colour plays a part into a character's personality. Just looking at the differences between each one really gives me an idea of what kind of person each one is-even without them saying or doing anything, which I think pretty neat. With this in mind, I really like how the first one's colour palate worked out. I'm hoping to do a larger picture with more details later on, hopefully with more energy and "liveliness" than my last one. (I feel like she was little stiff and that she wasn't as natural as I'd like her to be). **As a side note, because of some insightful feedback, I realized I didn't explain why I'm drawing things this way; this is why I want to share why Gali is still wearing a mask instead of just having her normal face showing. This is because for the series I'm writing/illustrating, "The Halfway", wearing masks is an extremely important part of the story and world these characters live in. The reason why everyone needs to wear them is based on major events that happened in the past and have huge implications for the plot; because of this, I've intentionally added and designed each character to look normal, except for masks covering their faces. And as a result, something looks off about the pictures; they look odd, strange, or uncomfortable, and these is exactly the feelings I want to convey. (More details about this can be found on my DeviantArt page: http://fav.me/dberb8n) What do you think? Do you have a favourite colour scheme, and if so, why? And as always, critique is welcome and appreciated.

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! 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!

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!

I love how you kept the same art style that the G2 Bionicle series had, as well as your choice of colours. The transition from green to blue in the water is very relaxing and gives off a very tropical feeling, especially paired with the blue rocks and plants on the bottom, and I absolutely love the tribal pattern you gave to her chest plate. The only things I would suggest would be to clean up some of the lines in the background, to give a few more details to the plants on the bottom (some of them kind of look like green blobs), and to work on the shape of her right hand (It's hard to tell if she's clenching her fist or not). Overall, very nice job. Keep up the good work!

Great job! I love the liveliness and energy, as well as facial expressions, you've given to the Otokans. Your choice of colours is also very good; it would be nice to see some deeper shades of blue, green, and red on Jaller's shield, but if the colouring is in pencil crayon, I know that can be hard to do. Keep up the good work!

Very nice, I love how clean and detailed your line-work is. This brings me back to when the Tarakava sets first came out in stores (ah, childhood nostalgia). I'm just not sure what those faint lines in the upper right-hand corner are supposed to be...it kind of looks like an old or unfinished sketch.

I love the choice of colors and the "glowing" effect you gave to the lava. The soft and subtle purple background also makes it look like he's in a cave or cavern, which actually gives off an eerie atmosphere- especially with the Lava Beast standing there menacingly. Great work!

Chapter 1 (Prologue) The High Seas. Stretching to horizons of distant shores, seamless salty waters encircled every spit of land without divide. United, they had stood in unwavering purpose and resilience, determined to carry out their duties without falter, as the lights of the sky knew with great familiarity. As dawn peeked its head above the shoreline, the waters would leap to the rising sun, cheerful rays of gold cloaking the crystalline waters in glory; near end of sunset, gentle swells would caress each ribbon of twilight as they glided beyond boundary of sea and sky; at the unveiling of darkness, the silvery radiance of the moon and stars would be echoed upon the vast saline surface. Regardless of source, light was embraced and guided by the great waters without falter; and the lights and waters would return to the sequence afresh, as they had since time long forgotten. Though the seas embodied a devoted and tender demeanor towards the heavens, they held a far more ominous and foreboding temperament for those who sailed across their expanse. Every sea craft that had spanned “The Great Marine Highway” knew all too well the depths of its ulterior nature; those who still dared the venture guarded their vessels with a tense and somber uncertainty. Only the Great Spirit himself knew if their journey would end frictionless, as any weathered mariner would forewarn. For the seas concealed much within their wake, and though some had been granted a glimpse of their mysteries, far too many more had been claimed by them. Grasped by all was a bleak and disheartening reality: dead were the ancient ways of water voyaging. Still, despite the abrasive affairs between sea and sailor, six survivors of an era long past remained unscathed on their timeworn crossing. Legends had been told of strange containers, ones containing cargo of great power and potential, drifting along the salty streams of the ancient Highway. It was during the time known as “The Era of Legends” that many would attempt to seize the vessels, and with differing agendas, each one had set out to unleash their contents and command them for themselves: out of lust for war; out of scientific progress; out of sheer desperation for answers. Yet any who could have chanced a glimpse of the alien capsules were met by swift, snarling waves so terrifying even a decorated sea captain would soil himself; the fortunate few who would manage escape dare not return to relive the experience. Innumerable traumatic encounters and catastrophic losses would bring an end of the Legends as history; their well-known facts would be transformed into fables of terror and caution. The Era of Legends would drown, along with hope, as the planet yielded its greatest source of ambition to the unforgiving seas. And so, the foreigners would continue their marine voyage undisturbed for eras to come. Left unmoved, their own sequence would continue indefinitely until time itself conceded to fatigue; and, with the High Seas as their champion, nothing on earth would interfere with their destiny. That is, except one. Perhaps it was the staunch belief that the planet would always continue in the way it had, or perhaps the long inaccessibility to answers - and departure from seeking them- that would lead to the agony and horror of was to ensue. For a most formidable secret, one which had been concealed from even the vigorous seas, was soon to be uncovered by the six unsuspecting marine passengers: Such cycles were never intended to survive. * * *

"What if everything we thought we knew...was wrong?" Mystery. Betrayal. Survival. A series based on LEGO's Bionicle, "The Halfway" shifts from the original universe composed by Greg Farshtey and C.A. Hapka and takes dramatic turns into unexplored territory. Characters, settings, plots, origins, villains, storyline, and endings have all been altered to fit a new reality- one that strongly parallels our own. With new challenges, mysteries, and developments, all awaits revelation in this dramatic re-telling of the classic Bionicle story. (More information about the series can be found at: https://www.patreon.com/hebarlow) Link to review/discussion: http://www.bzpower.com/board/topic/24447-the-halfway-review/

A place to comment and chat about the series "The Halfway". Please let me know your thoughts, as well as any comments, on the series and what could be improved: sentence structure, punctuation, flow of ideas, etc. And please remember to be kind - not everyone will agree with each other, but honesty with gentleness and respect goes a long way. Link to series: http://www.bzpower.com/board/topic/24446-the-halfway-a-bionicle-series/ More info about the series: https://www.patreon.com/hebarlow

Is it ok to post pieces of a chapter at a time, or does the chapter need to be fully completed before it's allowed to be posted?