Monday 25 November 2013

Orcannas of Orcus the City of the Dead.

So this picture above, I did this a few months ago. It was my playing with this idea about doing more cartoony characters for Herenkoa and throwing away the idea of making everything overly realistic for the game, while keeping the game as close to myths, legends and realistic science as I could. 
It's a basic design around the idea of Dragon Warriors, from ancient China. 
Here is the thing, I am not even sure if Dragon Warriors really exist or if it is something I have made up from watching films over the years!

Now I wrote a piece and created a city called Orcus. I think it is on the map, the idea was this will be the dead city and everyone that was housed there had died and no one could work out why. So it was just known as the city of the dead. It's in greek mythology go look it up. Any way while I was researching this and getting my facts right I had this secondary idea. What is the city wasn't dead! What if this was just a story they created to hide from the war? 
At which point I came to this idea of them living under the city, they created this underground city and the aboveground city died away. Yet they scared off anyone trying to settle the city about producing the whole city of the dead issue and scaring everyone away.

The only issue I have with them living under the city is that it kind of links with the Centaur/Minotaur concept in a way that I did with the city of Minous and how this race came to exist with them being in a labyrinth beneath the city. Which they don't they were created there and then over ran the city itself.

Any way this leads me on to the idea of the City of Orcus and the tribe that dwells in the city Orcannans the way they hide is they fashion their armour to look like well that below and from a distance they look like fiendish monsters but under the armour they are just humans. So how is that for a concept? Having a human army that hides under their armour to make the world think they are monsters. An this all comes from the Dragon Warrior idea I was playing with a few months ago just to practise my ZBrush skills. The image below is the initial armour concept for this new tribe. 


Wednesday 20 November 2013

Music, my love, my passion, my life......

Music is my first love. Always.
An though music brings us all different emotions thoughts and feelings, we have differences in what we like what we listen to what we choose to fill out heads with it all comes back to good tunes, lyrics, timing for me.

So as I lack someone to talk music with at the moment, that is on the same level as me musically I turn to here, an this isn't a review, this is a personal adventure into music and what I think what I feel and what I like and for you well or you all it will be different.

So Music shopping I have been, and there is a fair amount of stuff kicking around in my collection now that I haven't gotten to talk about to anyone.

Black Sabbath. 13. It is a Black Sabbath album, you get exactly what you expect but three times as long as normal, which is nice. Song's not conforming to that normal method of 3 minutes and try to repeat as much as possible to fill it out.

Motorhead. Aftershock. Once more its Motorhead being just that Motorhead with some bluesy bits and some slow downed tracks, and the usual splatter of thrashed up to the eyeballs power Rock 'n' Roll.

Five Finger Death Punch. The wrong side of heaven the righteous side of hell Volume One & Two.
I'm doing these two together, I borrowed Vol One and Bought Volume Two, and after getting volume two they have been on permanent rotation all day! I've seen them live three times an they just don't do it for me live I don't know why but on CD I think they are amazing, a complete mixture of great guitar work, impressive lyrics and altering song dynamics, just amazing me to be honest, really enjoying the way the songs change and the stories they tell. They are starting to really carve out their own sound and I do hope they last, if they keep pushing harder with their writing and musical ability they should go far.

Stone Sour. House of gold and bones part 1 & 2.
Now I give the stone sour guys there dues they are amazing musicians but I did go off them a bit with Audio Secrecy, just didn't impress me and I have given this double album some play through but not enough to really give a definitive have they saved themselves moment. I just I don't know some good tracks on there but not enough to make me play it in loop like come what (ever) may or Stone Sour.

Soil. Whole. Just feels like its trying to be Scars, and to be honest it should be. Its that line up once more, just I don't know feels like they are trying to hard?

Nine Inch Nails. Hesitation Marks. Another it's Nine Inch Nails and everything you could expect and more another amazingly put together album that still makes my heart break and race with both anguish and joy.

Motionless in White.
I picked up infamous, and their first album Creatures, not sure if they are more akin to Wednesday 13 or Marilyn Manson yet, with some Alice Cooper thrown in just for kicks, they are growing on me and are an interesting band would like to see them live hopefully they will be in the UK next year and I can get a bit more of a feel for them.

Avenge Seven Fold. Hail To The King....
How many rifts can you rip off? I know everyone was joking about it but I do find my self singing the wrong song, seriously! If it comes on and it isn't often as I don't have it in a rotation like everything above, I have given it a play through and I end up singing different songs to what is playing. Nightmares the only good AX7 album and I stand by it. Hail to the King, na you're alright, go buy one of the other albums in this list.

Korn The paradigm Shift. I own it. I have heard the few singles off it and while I do like them an the album is better than that last travesty I'm still a little unsure, it just don't feel like Korn which is funny as its got the most original members they have had for a while!

AFI Burials. I am really enjoying this album but 17 Crimes is such a catchy tune even if the video for it sucks so badly. It is what you come to expect from AFI, an any band that releases new stuff and stays with what they know works well for me as that is what you expect.

I have three or four more albums still to listen to properly, but its finding the time.

Wednesday 6 November 2013

Candles

Fire burning in the night.
Bringing to you all the light.
Images flicker in the flame.
Memories from down the lane.
Past that seems to close and true.
Futures night and dark I miss you.
The time passed down it burns.
Fires rise and souls still yearns.
Darkness shrouds once candles burned.
Visions follow into worlds.
Memories still to come.
Things not passed and things not done.
Let the candles bring the light.
Into darkness they shall ignite.