Ultraq's Final MooCow - Artwork

Sofia Taylor

LightninUltraq@Netscape.net (Emanuel Rabina) — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 07:00:00 -0500

Attempt to draw a character from one of those Bebo original videos, Sofia's Diary.

The streaming of those videos is pretty bad, and coupled with NZ's broadband (read: crappy internets) you get frequent pauses and sometimes it just refuses to load if you let it buffer ahead too much. I used to get them stopping at exactly 59 seconds if I left them to load like I would expect a YouTube video to, and on one occasion it landed on this pleasant shot of Sofia in a pose similar to the drawing above. I took a screenshot, and then tried to sketch it that weekend.

This is one of several 're-training' sketches which I'm doing to try get my drawing skills back up to speed. This is probably the only one worth putting up on my site so far.

Six Feet Under The Stars

LightninUltraq@Netscape.net (Emanuel Rabina) — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 05:00:00 -0600

Named after the song that kept getting played whilst creating it, although the message is far different from that of it's namesake: All Time Low - Six Feet Under The Stars.

The objective here was just to try create something a lot less noisy than prevous pictures; something quieter, something that I could put on my desktop without making my icons more difficult to find, something more 'tranquil'. That was supposed to be the original name for this, but then after putting the ocean waves into it, I started thinking about "ocean of stars" or "sea of stars". The first one was too similar to the Japanese RPG series, Star Ocean, whereas the alliteration of the second option just didn't do it for me (that, and I'm sure every poem about the stars has included that line it it somewhere). Google didn't help much either; first page results were about a seafood restaurant, an educational software package, or this news item about how the stars of Ocean's 13 donated a lot of money to Oxfam.

Google may still be our friend, but I don't think we can trust it to name pictures just yet. Kinda like how some celebrities shouldn't be allowed to name their children.

Amelia Windrose

LightninUltraq@Netscape.net (Emanuel Rabina) — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 05:00:00 -0600

Attempt to draw a character from the cover art of John C. Wright's, Titans of Chaos.

Heavy emphasis on attempt as this is actually quite far from what the cover art is supposed to look like (see here). This probably shouldn't even be posted up here, but I guess I'm just going nuts with the new scanner!

Am probably going to revisit this sketch in the future as I'm really fond of the book/series and the cover art.

Virginia 2

LightninUltraq@Netscape.net (Emanuel Rabina) — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 07:00:00 -0500

Second sketch of a character from the JRPG, Wild Arms 3. The first one can be found here.

While the first one used reference artwork, this one was just off the top of my head.

Virginia 1

LightninUltraq@Netscape.net (Emanuel Rabina) — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 07:00:00 -0500

First sketch of a character from the JRPG, Wild Arms 3. The second one can be found here.

The game itself is pretty simple, but when I played it, it was a rather refreshing JRPG. I can't remember what it is that made me feel that, but I was compelled to do some good-old fan drawings. A wallpaper was even in the works, but that idea never saw the day of light due to my lack of technical skill for what I was attempting. With what I know now though, I could probably give it another shot.

Phaethon's Legacy

LightninUltraq@Netscape.net (Emanuel Rabina) — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 07:00:00 -0500

My entry for the 'new' (create something fresh/original) terraspace competition, inspired by 2 stories of a guy named Phaethon.

The Phaethon of Greek mythology was the son of the sun god, Helios. His friends refused to believe this, so Phaethon travelled to Helios' palace and explained his plight to Helios, who in turn swore to grant Phaethon anything to prove that he was his son. Phaethon asked to ride his father's chariot (the sun) for a day, and although Helios strongly advised against it, Phaethon would not be swayed. When the day came, Phaethon couldn't control the powerful horses drawing the chariot, and so caused destruction wherever they went, burning the Earth in places where they went too low. Zeus was forced to intervene, and so threw a lightning bolt down upon Phaethon, killing him and sending his body into the Eridanus river.

I first came across the name of Phaethon as the main character of John C Wright's The Golden Age novels. If I remember right, Phaethon's wife Daphne entered some sort of dream-weaving competition, in which contestants had to create an elaborate dream universe. Daphne's entry started-off rather mediocre, but then evolved to follow the actions of some nameless protagonist (whom I dubbed 'Phaethon' for my own convenience) who sought freedom above all else. He took to the stars and was initially content, up until the point that he discovered that even the universe had edges. Towards the end of this dream, 'Phaethon' heads towards the edge of the universe, ready to break it apart, citing that even "...a universe-sized prison is still a prison."

The dream ends there, but I always wondered what would happen next. The picture above is my interpretation of what might have been if Phaethon succeeded in breaking free from his prison: the fabric at the edge of space-time being shattered like glass to reveal a whole new unknown. And the consequences of his actions: tearing apart the stars, causing them to spew their hot plasma fires onto nearby planets.

Much like Phaethon of Greek mythology fame.

Much like anybody who disregards the potential consequences of their actions.

Red Horizon

LightninUltraq@Netscape.net (Emanuel Rabina) — Mon, 30 Apr 2007 07:00:00 -0500

Experimentation in light flares and planet surfaces with land masses and oceans. Used as an alternative splash screen image for my Red Horizon project.

A Tear In The Night Sky

LightninUltraq@Netscape.net (Emanuel Rabina) — Sat, 31 Mar 2007 07:00:00 -0500

There isn't too much of a story behind this one. The main driving force was just to get off my ass and get back into the creative process; something I haven't been doing for several months. Sure, I could blame work, but that never prevented me from churning-out 3 pics in 4 months like when I first started with this art genré.

It felt good to get back into this, although the exercise seemed to have brought-out some of the weaknesses of my aging computer. Sitting-around for what feels like a minute, for a simple undo action, does start to wear-down my patience. And some of those radial blur effects... empires have risen and fallen in lesser time.

Apparition

LightninUltraq@Netscape.net (Emanuel Rabina) — Tue, 31 Oct 2006 05:00:00 -0600

This was supposed to be a rough outline of a ghost or apparition that I could incorporate into my next space picture. I guess I liked the figure so much that I continued to add a little bit more detail until I ended-up with what you see here. I think I may go further and start to colour it in now; of course, doing that will kinda make such an image very out-of-place in my space pictures. Well, we'll see what becomes of it.

Shelter From The Storm

LightninUltraq@Netscape.net (Emanuel Rabina) — Tue, 31 Oct 2006 05:00:00 -0600

My first made-for-widescreen wallpaper, as well as my first to (loosely) incorporate an image from my other drawing style.

There isn't too much of a story behind this one as with the others. Instead of the emotion that is usually the motivation for my pictures, this one was propelled forward from several other factors. Firstly, I was going to get a new laptop for work which has a widescreen ratio, so I really wanted to have something that took advantage of that screen. Secondly, I've always wanted to create something closer to what I intended when I made this wallpaper (this image was almost called 'Safety in Light 2.0'). Lastly, it's been so long since I did these, that I just had to go back and make sure that I wasn't getting rusty.

So yes, the original intent behind Safety in Light was to have a central planet, protected on all sides by either a single apparition or several high-tech-looking devices. This time I opted for the apparition because I thought it about time to draw something with angel wings (I even sketched the apparition beforehand). Sure it may be somewhat cliché, but the whole idea of angels or protective spirits has always had a home in my imagination.

My sort of angel would have wings that can protect against all the tangible things, and an aura that can drown the dull lifeless colours from the world's palette. They would emit strength from all their virtues that you would feel nothing but warmth and hope from being in their proximity. And in their hands, they would bear you in the purest safety, basked in a light that would turn night into day, but not cause you to squint so you could be in awe of all of it's beauty.

Oh, and apparently my angels have red hair, pale skin, and light flowing garments. Haha.

In The Embers Of Dying Stars

LightninUltraq@Netscape.net (Emanuel Rabina) — Wed, 31 May 2006 07:00:00 -0500

My entry for the 'Time' art competition at unknown-prints.

I remember stories of a glorious civilization.
Of cities with spires that reached the sun.
Of a blue planet with vast seas.
Of people with myths of humanity everlasting.

Time: such a broad subject for this competition, and me without a clue for what to do. Funnily enough, the book I just borrowed from the library has a sort of time theme to it. Central to it's plot is a space-bound destructive force (an Omega), seeking and destroying any shape or form that doesn't otherwise occur in nature. Before the story begins, an omega is discovered heading straight for Earth, with an ETA of 900 years! (and my foresight probably only extends as far as the next Olympic games!) However, not too long after the initial scare, most of the world seems to have pushed the thought aside, citing that it's simply not their problem.

If you ask me, that's a pretty irresponsible attitude. For all our triumphs over nature, delegating our impending doom to some future generation seems a bit below par. However, when I look around, that appears to be the way of things: we spend too much time doing nothing now, just so we can do nothing later. So what will we do when the end of our own Earth becomes a certainty? When our planet's time comes - whether that be by the fires of a growing sun, the collision of the Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies, or the hand of God - will we have a solution?

Without having read too much of the book yet, this picture is my own interpretation of a seemingly related phenomena to the omegas. With the heads-up display showing graphs, words, and other related information so that it looks like some sort of futuristic screen, the motivations of the person behind the screen is best left to the imagination. Could it be someone looking at what will come their way in 900 years? Maybe it's just a student, 450 years out, gathering research material for their project? Or maybe inaction and procrastination have once again prevailed, 9 centuries have passed, and that person is coming to terms with their own mortality.

Of children who saw, in the embers of dying stars...

Even if we can't grasp the distance between now and eternity, I sure hope we can understand the value of the present, and learn to act sooner rather than later.

...the destiny of their race.

Maybe then when fate comes knocking, we can tell it to shove it, and assume our own future amongst the stars.

Boundaries Of Heaven 2.0

LightninUltraq@Netscape.net (Emanuel Rabina) — Fri, 31 Mar 2006 06:00:00 -0600

A co-worker recently introduced me to a neat little landscape generating program called Terragen, and only now have I had a chance to play around with it. Looking back on any of my older pictures, creating digital landscapes has always been a problem for me. So I thought it would be appropriate to have my first go with this program at re-creating an older picture where the landscape was a large part of it: Boundaries of Heaven (hence this one now being called version 2.0).

For the first few tries, I think the resulting landscape turned-out alright. I've also taken several liberties recreating the top half of the picture as well. Because this was only an experimentation, I didn't want to spend too much time on the picture, so I used several images from my stockpile to complete it. In combination with Terragen, it only took the space of an afternoon to complete the above. To be honest, it felt like a bit of a shortcut.

I was first thinking about how such tools might be considered cheap in that they make it easier for anybody to be a self-proclaimed artist, but isn't it true of every other tool out there? Without such tools I don't think I'd even be here; my own Paint Shop Pro X helps me to achieve what I couldn't normally do through traditional means.

So I don't think it's really about cheapening the art scene, I think it's about making expression through art more accessible, which isn't such a bad thing after all. Sure it may take less 'skill' to create something nice, but since when should self-expression be confined to the elite few?

Safety In Light

LightninUltraq@Netscape.net (Emanuel Rabina) — Tue, 28 Feb 2006 05:00:00 -0600

I don't expect this picture will be accepted as much as the others. The reason I say this is because, in comparison, it's relatively simple: there are no malevolent beams, no comets or firebirds, just curtains of light draped over several planets. But it looks quite peaceful, especially in contrast to the area on the left.

Behind the light the planets can go about their business, protected from the unattractive space around them. I imagine that from the inside, they only see the light cast around them and are completely unaware of what's beyond. Ignorace is bliss afterall, right? Well that's what they say anyway, and it was that saying which drove me when creating this picture.

For a while it's been my own personal mission to be more honest and truthful when it comes to letting people know what I think or feel about them. It's good for whenever you need to compliment someone, but the downside of being truthful is that you have to also say the bad things; and people will always remember the bad things more easily. The consequence of this social experiment is that I've been labelled quite a shit-stirrer amongst my friends. And in becoming an advocate for letting the truth be known, I've instead become a proponent of general unrest and annoyance.

So can we really be happy by knowing less? My own experience tells me both yes and no, depending upon what it is we're ignoring. Drowned constantly in good news, positive emotions will start to become hollow. Drowned constantly in bad news, it will just make you unhappy. But a balance of both, given happy situations while having known sadness, really adds a quality to that happiness. That's partly the reason I've included such a dull-looking piece of space in the picture; it really makes the rest of it shine with more brilliance than it would have by itself - gotta take the good with the bad, right? There's another saying right there.

The more we know, the less reasons we have to smile, but in the times that we do, it can really be something.

From The Ashes

LightninUltraq@Netscape.net (Emanuel Rabina) — Sat, 31 Dec 2005 05:00:00 -0600

(wallpaper versions center this image and have extended borders)

Depending on what you're reading, the phoenix can have a range of mythical powers: resurrection, regeneration, tears that can heal wounds, or a bird of fire and divinity. In my books, the phoenix represents new beginnings, and second chances.

I find it odd sometimes that while the greater effect on the world around us is our actions, the things that have the more profound effect on our inner world are our inactions. You know the stories: things you could have done, things you would have done, but just didn't. Or the things you ended-up doing because the alternative was, for the stupidest reason, too difficult.

In this picture, a world has dwelled on its own inactions for far too long. As a result it has become dull, devoid of life, and an eyesore to the surrounding space it occupies. Yet, as fate would have it, that world was given the chance to fix the regret that caused it to turn down the path of decay. That chance is in the form of a phoenix, rising from the core of regret, glowing bright colours and spreading a form of hope over that world and the worlds around it.

We're not all fortunate enough to have that, but for a bird born from its own ashes, the phoenix is a very lucky creature. To be given the chance to fix a broken memory, to be allowed to destroy one regret, that's resurrection right there. Sometimes, all we need is a second chance.

Janna And mE 2: Work

LightninUltraq@Netscape.net (Emanuel Rabina) — Wed, 30 Nov 2005 05:00:00 -0600

A non-related sequel to last year's birthday present for my psuedo-sister, Janna. When the end of the working day nears, she starts counting down the minutes. The only reason I know this is because when I visited her at work after university, her part of the conversation randomly includes how much longer until 5pm. It seems she has succeeded in getting me to draw more of these things, lol.

The Path Of Angels

LightninUltraq@Netscape.net (Emanuel Rabina) — Wed, 30 Nov 2005 05:00:00 -0600

This picture attempts to describe certain people on this world with whom I have had the privilege to befriend. Particularly, I spent most of my time trying to capture the sheer light and brilliance that they emit. To do this, I've used comets.

Like comets, their arrivals from perihelion to aphelion and every other movement in-between, can be calculated, mapped, and planned. This gives us estimates of when they may be visible in the skies above, and for those who eagerly await their arrivals, gives us something to look forward to. For stargazers, the sight can be quite spectacular, and given the rarity of such events, can make the stargazer feel quite special; in-touch with something a bit greater than themselves.

However, even with our knowledge of their behaviour, it is not uncommon for comets to just disappear from their expected orbits. From the ground, there's not a lot we can do to comets except stare at them in awe. Out there, they'll find their way amongst dozens of other planets, reappearing and disappearing from our lives with their semi-regular schedules.

Personally, I admire the view; my arm and hand outstretched with foolish hopes that the passing lights can describe to me the worlds they have seen, maybe even take me along for the ride. Despite the distance, they seem much closer when I look back to remember the impact they have had on my life, and the time they have occupied my thoughts. Beacuse ultimately, the path of angels... is through my soul.

Sacrifices

LightninUltraq@Netscape.net (Emanuel Rabina) — Wed, 30 Nov 2005 05:00:00 -0600

My first wallpaper in a long time, and one of my most emotive pieces to date.

On the morning of a weekend I particularly looked forward to, I was told some rather shocking news over MSN; news that turned my world upside-down. Couple that with the number of books I am reading at the moment, and I tried my best to attach a narrative to that morning:

If this were told to me in-person, I would not have been able to mask my reactions: my hands started shaking, I began a light sweat, my stomach felt as if it were twisting in on itself, and my vision blurred as my eyes desperately tried to focus on some truth behind the words that were displayed on the screen; as if there were some meaning hidden between the pixels to reassure me that what I had just read was all a joke.
Suffice it to say, the impact was great and heavy. The final pillar holding-up the view of the world I loved and held dear - finally taken away from its supporting role by none other than the owner of that pillar - now to be used as an exclamation mark to close the sentence that described an era that had been the best of my life.

Truth be told, the news isn't actually bad, just something that has hit me harder than the euphoria that should be associated with it. I should be supportive, or glad, but all I feel is... I don't know: less significant, stupid...

...and alone.

The picture, and my attempts to describe that moment with metaphor, were my outlets to help me cope with the situation. I poured so much of that emo angst into it, so you don't really even need to be an abstract thinker to see the correlation between that picture, and my story. The picture and writing have helped, but not entirely. I'm going to let time deal to the rest of it, although time and I have never been on the best of terms.

Boundaries Of Heaven

LightninUltraq@Netscape.net (Emanuel Rabina) — Mon, 31 Oct 2005 05:00:00 -0600

In this drawing, I take a departure from my usual pictures of people, and make an attempt at a terrain/space picture. When I first started drawing, terrain was what I was good at; I could create vast landscapes and environments, but only ever in sketches on paper. Transferring this into a digital realm has proven much harder and I lack techniques and experience in this sort of thing, as is made evident by the simplicity of the mountains and clouds in the picture. Water, the sun, and celestial bodies, those are the best parts in the drawing. In other words, anything that can create or reflect light I've already got some sort of technique down for creating them.

That aside, this picture was partly inspired by the view from a balcony I was on recently. The sketch was made rather hastily (< 1 hour), and after scanning it, I started out with some basic landscape/skyline/sunset/space gradients. And then I just worked from there.

The Red Head

LightninUltraq@Netscape.net (Emanuel Rabina) — Mon, 31 Oct 2005 05:00:00 -0600

The original sketch for this drawing was made several months ago, but I let it sit there because I wanted to colour it in. I especially thought that drawing some red hair might be nice for a change. My custom pallette was devoid of red hair colours, so I had to search the internet for a good picture. The returned results were both useful and very interesting; not only did I get a good reference picture, but I also got a whole lot of colour samples from red hair dye sites!

The hair was, as always, a fun part to draw. So was trying to get that bright sunlight bloom effect - that has to be my favourite part right there!

Hold My Breath

LightninUltraq@Netscape.net (Emanuel Rabina) — Tue, 31 May 2005 07:00:00 -0500

Once again, another picture with the focus on the hair - now I don't really think I have to fear it any longer. It may not be perfect, but it's at a level I can create easily enough while still looking close to the real thing. And since it's been the focus of my pictures for so - many - years, I really think it's time to move on and start focusing on some other aspects.

Now that I have this holiday break from university, I wanted to create another drawing. A long time ago, somewhere on the internet, I saw a picture very similar to what I have drawn above. It was a simple photography shot of someone holding their breath in what looked like blue bathtub water. The waviness of the hair, the distortion of the image created by the ripples, and the general blue colour and feeling really appealed to me. I couldn't remember where I found it, or remember the exact details, but I had that image in my mind, and I used that to guide me.

Update: I have found the original photo, which is located here.

What I haven't managed to successfully do is make it look as if the nose is being squeezed shut. Another questionable bit is the hand: you may be seeing the subject's left arm, but it is the right hand that is being used to hold their nose.

I decided to skip distorting the picture with ripples because I didn't want to mutate it. I really wanted the waviness of the hair to shine through, and I think I have managed to do just that.

Janna And mE

LightninUltraq@Netscape.net (Emanuel Rabina) — Tue, 30 Nov 2004 05:00:00 -0600

This isn't exactly up to the standard I'm used to, but made a great little 21st birthday present for my psuedo-sister, Janna. I joke that she's a big alcoholic, and while she vehemently denies these claims, I always seem to end-up holding her drink for her when friends go out. This comic strip/page is just a reflection of this small part of our relationship.

The original drawing was coloured-in with pens and coloured pencils, then laminated and a stick-on ribbon was attached, just for presentation. The end result: she loved it, and keeps hassling me to do a series of these things.

Happy Birthday big sister Jay!

Not Zeta-Jones

LightninUltraq@Netscape.net (Emanuel Rabina) — Thu, 30 Sep 2004 07:00:00 -0500

Another from my collection of trying to draw more realistic pictures from magazine covers which didn't turn out exactly as I hoped; hence the 'Not' prefix in the title. The picture for that month was Catherine Zeta Jones from the movie/musical, Chicago.

This one comes from the cover of the monthly Sky magazine/guide. I can't remember which month, but I can make a guess based on the completion date.

Not Orlando

LightninUltraq@Netscape.net (Emanuel Rabina) — Thu, 30 Sep 2004 07:00:00 -0500

Much like the other picture in the 'not' series, this is a drawing of what was a facial-hair picture of Orlando Bloom. While it somewhat resembles the image from the Sky magazine, it reminds me more of a retro fashion than anything else. Nevertheless, my best realistic drawing to date.

Camera

LightninUltraq@Netscape.net (Emanuel Rabina) — Fri, 31 Oct 2003 05:00:00 -0600

This picture had quite a few errors in it. The original sketch looked a bit odd, and I've recieved alot of comments pointing me in the right direction. I was a bit too lazy to redraw the original sketch, seeing as I've edited it over and over and over... trying to fix up what was wrong with it next. So I just took what I had most recently, and started colouring it in. I've tried using Paint Shop Pro's paint brush, but that brush is rather crappy I think. But PSP7's pencil and charcoal filters are really great. I've never used the pencil one before, so this picture got the coloured pencil treatment. In the process, I've lightened-up some of those wrong features, and in doing so I think the picture turned out a bit better than how it started. Still seems a bit wierd though...

The drawing was taken from the front cover of the New Zealand Consumer magazine, November 2002 issue. It was about whether to use a digital camera or a camcorder to record that special occasion (ie: wedding). So if I had more paper down the bottom, it would have her hands outstreched with a camera in them.

Sunburn

LightninUltraq@Netscape.net (Emanuel Rabina) — Fri, 31 Oct 2003 05:00:00 -0600

I've tried about 3 times to colour-in this drawing, but I can never seem to do it justice. So, in conjunction with the Camera drawing, I used the coloured pencil style here too. Still didn't turn out very nice though, but it's better than the other times I've tried to colour it in. I've also renamed it, so that it doesn't clash with the original sketch. It came from the name of the song that was playing as I finished this: Fuel - Sunburn.

Crash

LightninUltraq@Netscape.net (Emanuel Rabina) — Tue, 30 Sep 2003 07:00:00 -0500

Inspired when I saw the music video The Scientist by Coldplay, I thought, yeah, lets draw that possibly dead lady there on the ground. Not the nicest theme, but I thought I'd give it a go. Written in the picture are comments I made for others to read, and yep, it's my first try at a realistic drawing without a reference. It didn't turn out too bad, and I have recieved some decent comments about it, noting that her hands are virtually non-existent, and that she looks like a giant on that background. Heheh.

No Idea

LightninUltraq@Netscape.net (Emanuel Rabina) — Thu, 31 Jul 2003 07:00:00 -0500

Second in line of my attempt at realistic drawings, is... err... I dunno. I got the idea to draw this face picture, and in time it just turned out almost like Rikku from Final Fantasy X. At first, when it was scanned the picture was really wide (just a little perspective error that always seems to work it's way into my drawings). And at that point my brother commented on it and said:

"Damn that's a butch chick!"

After beating him up (j/k), I used Paint Shop Pro 7 to adjust the perspectives so it didn't look so 'butch'.

Once again, credits could probably go to my critical critic of a friend (whose name can be found on this picture) for getting me to do some drawing again.

Raine

LightninUltraq@Netscape.net (Emanuel Rabina) — Thu, 31 Jul 2003 07:00:00 -0500

I've been trying some realistic drawings recently, but none were very good at all. So I took a pretty long break from drawing, until one of my friends complained recently and out of spite I told myself to make another realistic-esque drawing. All it took was one night where I couldn't go to sleep, so I popped open the drawing book, discman, and the album of Our Lady Peace, Gravity. I basically just copied the picture of Raine straight-off the album cover, which is in sorta black and white, making it easier for me to see where to shade. The picture only took the length of the album from start to finish (about 45 minutes), and you can see I got lazy with the top of the hair. Unfortunately, my drawing book wasn't tall enough on a landscape orientation, and so I couldn't draw more hair up the top, making his head look a bit squished! Either way, I'm happy with it, I just hope my critical critic of a friend thinks so too (you can see her name in the bottom-left corner).

Ion Cannon

LightninUltraq@Netscape.net (Emanuel Rabina) — Fri, 31 Jan 2003 05:00:00 -0600

Ion Cannon, Laser Satellite, Particle Beam, whatever you want to call it, it's a very big gun located in space which shoots onto the planet. The actual 'gun' part of the structure is on the bottom, underneath an array of solar panels (which I purposefully left transparent so you can see it). Metal sheeting extends from the barrel to guide the particle beam. The rest of it is housing (the gun retracts when not in use), power supply, and cooling, because we all know how important cooling is (especially if you're a overclocking enthusiast).

Winter's Dream

LightninUltraq@Netscape.net (Emanuel Rabina) — Tue, 31 Dec 2002 05:00:00 -0600

The second picture by me for 2003. This was done around the same time of I'm With You, in fact, it was done before that. The idea for this picture came from a dream I had, where it was a chilling winter, and people had to hold on to each other for warmth. Then the dream went into something along the lines of a nuclear winter, but that doesn't matter. Just like the previously mentioned picture, I haven't coloured all the way to the edges. I've also dulled the picture a bit by adding a faint sepia layer to it, to assist with the whole 'dream' part of the title. And, for no apparent reason, I added some angel feathers to it. They have nothing to do with the picture, but meh, I'm getting good at doing them.

I'm With You

LightninUltraq@Netscape.net (Emanuel Rabina) — Tue, 31 Dec 2002 05:00:00 -0600

This one was inspired after listening to an Avril Lavigne song of the same name. Hmm, maybe I shouldn't have said which song it came from. Darn. Anyway, I think the song is about whether or not there is that 1 special someone for everybody. In the 1st verse, she's talking about waiting on a bridge, so there: this picture has a stone bridge.

Even I'm surprised I drew in a background, AND a landscape. I'm ususally too lazy to draw in a decent background, let alone fully colour it in and detail it. Yeah, I'm more proud of the background than I am the subject. It's the 3rd one I've done since my graphics tablet, and I reckon I'm getting better with it... I hope.

Floating with the green spots which are supposed to be leaves blowing in the wind (if you hadn't guessed by now), are 3 angel feathers. They have nothing at all to do with the song and they weren't there in the original sketch either. It just looked a bit empty after all that colouring, so I decided to add a little extra.

Angel Of Death

LightninUltraq@Netscape.net (Emanuel Rabina) — Sat, 30 Nov 2002 05:00:00 -0600

Well, it didn't turn out like I had hoped. I removed a few layers from it to clean-up the image, the original way it ended-up was horribly messy. But I believe it turned out much better than the sketch for it.

With this picture, I tried experimenting with a few things, that's why it may not look like my usual works. But I'm still OK with it, OK enough to put it up here. I continue to work on how this guy looks exactly. In the last picture, he looked like too much of a pansy, and in this one, maybe a tad too rugged? Maybe not. I've got a long way to go...

F-22

LightninUltraq@Netscape.net (Emanuel Rabina) — Thu, 31 Oct 2002 05:00:00 -0600

Before you all start shouting at me, I know the F-22 is not in any Command & Conquer game out there (barring Generals, but that game really doesn't count :P ). But it fits in with the decor. Military hardware, things that shoot and make other things go BOOM! Yeah! With the Mammoth Tank, I made it all up in my head, but this time I actually have a 1:72 scale model of this plane in my room. So if any details are off, blame the model plane!

A Head In The Clouds

LightninUltraq@Netscape.net (Emanuel Rabina) — Sat, 31 Aug 2002 07:00:00 -0500

YAY! I got a graphics tablet! How happy am I!? (rhetorical, but you know the answer)

Without a graphics tablet, it's pretty difficult to make it look like you've done the drawing on some sort of textured surface. It's also hard to make it look like actual brush-strokes have been used. So far, that hasn't really been a problem, as I use cell-style colouring with a few special effects here and there.

With this picture, I've made it look like a childish painting on canvas. So yeah, it's a little messy looking, but hey, it's only my first try! It feels good to finally be able to draw single strands of hair and such. Paintbrush tool on charcoal setting all the way!

I sent the original picture of this to Jessica, currently on an exchange in Japan. I've been trying to get some half-decent drawings done on my letters, but to no avail, until this. Took only 4 hours! 4 hours I should've been sleeping *sigh*. My focus was on wavy hair, which still bothers me to this very day. But it's much better than when I first started, where hair was just a big clump of colour on a person's head (I only need to look at an older drawing to remind myself).

The original sketch can be found here.

A Head In The Clouds (Original)

LightninUltraq@Netscape.net (Emanuel Rabina) — Sat, 31 Aug 2002 07:00:00 -0500

Original sketch of the coloured drawing. I've put this up here because I think the newbie tablet effort I put into the coloured version was rather messy.

Mammoth Tank

LightninUltraq@Netscape.net (Emanuel Rabina) — Wed, 31 Jul 2002 07:00:00 -0500

Lacking any original name, this is my rendition of the Mammoth Tank from the famed Command & Conquer series of games. I made a very plain sketch of this tank many years ago, and so I decided to revive the design just recently. Overall, I'm very proud of how it turned out. My only quarrel would be with either the positioning or the height of the turret. Some days it looks too flat, other days it looks out of position. And on good days, I just stare at it with awe. *grin*

Behind The Waiting

LightninUltraq@Netscape.net (Emanuel Rabina) — Fri, 31 May 2002 07:00:00 -0500

Waiting for what, even I can't remember anymore. I've been on and off with this drawing for quite some time now, must've made it about last month. But besides why I named it this, I'm pretty proud of the drawing. There were some proportion screw-ups which I fixed in this digital version, and from there I just did usual my stuff. There's a streetlight right behind her, and there's Krystle, standing against a rather residential-looking background (my neighbourhood!). I purpopsefully dulled the colours: reducing contrast and adding a slight touch of sepia, to give a more lonely feel to it. Because without those changes the picture is pretty bright, and becomes far too cheesy.

Sitgmatized

LightninUltraq@Netscape.net (Emanuel Rabina) — Sun, 31 Mar 2002 06:00:00 -0600

For quite some time now, I've believed that my drawings were lacking something... (apart from true skill) Something that made them seem human. So in an attempt to create that "humanity" side to them, I drew this picture of Krystle, hugging that Aiden guy. It's not meant to imply any sort of romantic involvement, but that's what we do right? People hug people.

As you can see, there was a hint of laziness in this picture, most evident by my unwillingness to draw a hand on the end of Krystle's arm. The next biggest clue was me not drawing in the other half of her body (left side of her torso, left arm, etc). OK, so great detail wasn't my main goal this time around, but that sure is a hug.

Eternal Vigilence

LightninUltraq@Netscape.net (Emanuel Rabina) — Thu, 28 Feb 2002 05:00:00 -0600

He has a name now! And if you haven't already noticed, it's Aiden, which I believe is Celtic/Gaelic for "firey". If that's correct, then his parents gave him the wrong name! By no means does he look firey at all here, being a lazy bum and sitting in a tree, sleeping. Oh, "it doesn't look like a tree" you say? Hehe, it was my attempt at a tree anyway, which when it first started out, looked like a plank of wood. But what a relaxing spot: up in a tree, with the sunlight breaking through the leaves... Ahhh...

And now that I've given this character a name, I better get better at drawing him.

When It Hurts The Most

LightninUltraq@Netscape.net (Emanuel Rabina) — Thu, 31 Jan 2002 05:00:00 -0600

When I was drawing this picture, I was trying to get more strands of hair, and less 'whole-sections' or 'clumps' of hair. That was my main mission at the time (I have pages of drawings of hair in my sketch book now), and this is apparently the best I could do for the emotion shown. I even tried colouring it in with Paint Shop Pro 7 as usual, but I got half-way through, and just reckoned that the colouring-in process wasn't at all doing the picture justice (trust me, it was horrible).

World On A String

LightninUltraq@Netscape.net (Emanuel Rabina) — Mon, 31 Dec 2001 05:00:00 -0600

My first picture of 2002! I intended for her to look VERY angry. The original sketch was quite angry, but in the CGing process, I seem to have toned down the visible anger in her face. I also intended to have the Atma Weapon floating above her hand, because my little story (which I'll never get around to finishing) will have that sword in it. But I never got around to making that part in the drawing.

Forging A Legend

LightninUltraq@Netscape.net (Emanuel Rabina) — Wed, 31 Oct 2001 05:00:00 -0600

"WOW!" Everytime I look at this picture, I always think, "WOW!" Not trying to brag or anything like that, but just look at it!

It's finally finished. The picture in my mind of the fabled sword from Final Fantasy VI, the Atma Weapon. As stated in another of my drawings of the Atma Weapon, it has some elements from other role-playing-games, Zelda 2: The Adventure of Link, Lunar: Silver Star Story and Lunar 2: Eternal Blue. Each of which are old, and good games (though I've never played the Lunar series, I've heard they're epics).

My favourite part about this drawing has to be the shining/reflective blade. I've never been able to make anything look or appear shiny before. Previous attempts have made the object look either too grey, or like concrete.

Those of you familiar with Final Fantasy VI will know that the Atma Weapons' blade and strength increases with each characters' levels. So, I've made allowances for this by having the sword in water. You can see it's reflection, and the rest of the blade fade into the depths of the water. As for how far the blade goes, or how deep the water is, that's all up to you.

First Sketch

LightninUltraq@Netscape.net (Emanuel Rabina) — Wed, 31 Oct 2001 05:00:00 -0600

This is one of my first complete sketches of what I thought Atma Weapon (from Final Fantasy VI) would look like. The idea was completely original, or so I thought. Now that it's complete, I look at it and I can see elements of the design from other games, like Zelda 2: The Adventure of Link and maybe even both Lunar: Silver Star Story and Lunar 2: Eternal Blue. Either way, I'm proud of the finished product.

Just like in Final Fantasy VI, the blade gets progressively longer with each level-up. So, if I ever draw it again, the blade may be bigger, shorter, or maybe even non-existent...

Oh yeah, see where the hilt cuts off at the left? That's just where my paper ran out!

Anime Jess

LightninUltraq@Netscape.net (Emanuel Rabina) — Tue, 31 Jul 2001 07:00:00 -0500

This is a picture of Jessica, a friend of mine and a really great person. Before I started this one, she had only ever seen some of my older pictures. I was directing her to my latest drawing, when she asked:

"Hey, why don't you draw one of me?"

I was surprised by that, and I quickly jumped on the idea.

"Either way, I reckon it'll be lovely."

...is what she proceeded to say. She must've had some real faith in my abilities.

After about 2 pages worth of sketches of the things she wears, her hairstyle, and of course her, I managed to create 2 pictures. The first sketch was alright, but I had too much trouble fixing the errors that plagued it. So it never even got scanned. The second sketch is what you see above (just imagine no colours, no background, some crappy shading, and some sketch notes).

And it got coloured-in very quickly after scanning. I put most of my spare time into it. But I went on adding everything I knew, and anything new (in the way of colouring) that I learned, to the picture to make it look nice, hence, taking another week to finish it. Some 4th generation colouring (what my brother calls my technique level, compared to my first pic) and a misty background later, I was DONE!

The Fire Within

LightninUltraq@Netscape.net (Emanuel Rabina) — Tue, 31 Jul 2001 07:00:00 -0500

A Sephiroth wallpaper was the theme most demanded from the people I asked. For some obscure reason, this villain is well-loved by Final Fantasy fans! Either way, I'm proud of this one. The lyrics to 'One-Winged Angel' in the background, and fires making-up the screen. Amongst it all, Sephiroth's face, especially his eyes, looking straight at us.

Sunset Shadows

LightninUltraq@Netscape.net (Emanuel Rabina) — Sat, 30 Jun 2001 07:00:00 -0500

The third picture of her that I've coloured in. This idea came to me while I was lying in the lounge in the same position, while the sun came through the venetian blinds. "What an idea!" I thought, and I proceeded to draw the picture very quickly. It only took me 2 days, and another 2 days to colour in!

All the random dark bits are shadows of the clouds somewhere to the side of her (as the light source, the sun, is on the horizon). My first intention with colouring this in was to make her look sleepy, but instead, she looks sultry!

A Galvanized Memory

LightninUltraq@Netscape.net (Emanuel Rabina) — Thu, 31 May 2001 07:00:00 -0500

Now this picture has so many flaws it's not funny. Of course, I never noticed them until others pointed them out to me.

The intention of this picture was to create a male character for the story which I'll never finish. Here, he was supposed to be shouting in victory with his very shiny blade. As you may have noticed, his mouth is not open, nor is the blade shiny at all. But I did get one thing right, the picture itself is meant to be an old photograph. You can see the tarnished edges, and the fading colours as the picture nears the edges.

Fate Of A Planet

LightninUltraq@Netscape.net (Emanuel Rabina) — Mon, 30 Apr 2001 07:00:00 -0500

All of Shinra's (actually, just one) attempt to destroy meteor. The use of Shinra No.26 and Huge Materia, in an effort to remove meteor from the skies. This wallpaper was given it's name by my friend Giles. Many thanks to him, 'cause I spent ages agonizing over what to call this wallpaper.

Floating Wishes

LightninUltraq@Netscape.net (Emanuel Rabina) — Sat, 31 Mar 2001 06:00:00 -0600

To really make sense of this picture, you'll have to read the story that I'll never get around to completing. But to read my story, I'll have to upload it. And to upload it, I'll have to write it into some word document. Anyway, the second full-body picture of a character I invented. Here she's letting the wind go by, letting it carry her hair and such. Well, in my story, she says:

"...I wish I could be like the wind."

Also, I've put a lot more effort into the background (water splashes, soft reflections, rippled shadows, etc) and the hair. I've definitely improved! (check-out my previous pic, Krystle - Cliffside Figment for a comparison)

Eternal Dragons

LightninUltraq@Netscape.net (Emanuel Rabina) — Wed, 28 Feb 2001 05:00:00 -0600

One thing that has lasted most of the Final Fantasy series (apart from the name Cid), is Bahamut. And from there, Bahamut has been a constant wonder, usually the most spectacular esper, summoned beast, Guardian Force, etc... And for the first time, Final Fantasy VII had three versions of their infamous dragon: Bahamut, Neo Bahamut and Bahamut ZERO. Each one more kick-ass than the next.

Mercutio

LightninUltraq@Netscape.net (Emanuel Rabina) — Thu, 30 Nov 2000 05:00:00 -0600

Romeo's friend and loud-mouthed, verbose companion. Now where the heck did the idea for this face and hair come from? Even I don't know. It must have been the feeling of the deadline looming over my head. Well, I needed one more character to draw for my assignment, and a slightly rugged was who I thought Mercutio to be. BAM! Instant chatacter.

Materia

LightninUltraq@Netscape.net (Emanuel Rabina) — Thu, 30 Nov 2000 05:00:00 -0600

Yep, you can guess what this one is about. You won't believe the amount of effort that went into this one. At one stage it was 15 layers! A layer for each ball, rippled reflection and shadow. What an achievement (for a lazy person like me), and man am I proud of it. Probably my favourite FF7 wallpaper to date.

Chain Reaction

LightninUltraq@Netscape.net (Emanuel Rabina) — Tue, 31 Oct 2000 05:00:00 -0600

This one is about all the events that lead to the summoning of meteor. The handing of the black materia to Sephiroth (seen in both top corners), then Sephiroth going all 'lightning-like.' Which in turn brings meteor down on the planet (you can see the small twisters taking out Midgar).

Lifestream

LightninUltraq@Netscape.net (Emanuel Rabina) — Tue, 31 Oct 2000 05:00:00 -0600

Now the title should be enough to tell you what this is about. There we have Aeris and her prayer to bring forth the power of the planet's well of spirit energy join in the fight against Meteor. That well of spirit energy better known as Lifestream.

Phoenix Rising

LightninUltraq@Netscape.net (Emanuel Rabina) — Tue, 31 Oct 2000 05:00:00 -0600

This was my first attempt at an FF7 wallpaper. The first wallpaper was pretty bad, as was the next one. So this is the 3rd retry at the Phoenix wallpaper, and now it is one of the best. A fiery background (thanks to my brother Alekhine for the background), the phoenix ball that drops from out of nowhere, and Phoenix itself.

Cliffside Figment