My Pretty

I think I became engrossed with putting folds in Hagar's robes, the fingernails, and the tooth and bone thingies (inspired by a dozen movies).

I was aiming for a tarot-like feel. Now that she's more or less shaped out (blue cat stuff next), I now see she's posed like duck-walking or something.

Grrr.

Scanners hate my graphite lines!

This is a Keith study for a group combat scene.

Atlas Bugged

I've manageed some updates and several posts in a row because I'm, er... rebelling. More people got sacked this week; some people were rewarded at the expense of those who don't resort to schmoozing up to the big heads.

So instead of becoming serious about Turnover Of Files week, I told requesting parties (including big heads) to %&#@ off for now so we can wallow in Thai food... and I can indulge in Voltron fan stuff. Is there any other way to cope?

After Zohar

I appreciated What If...? stories in the Marvel comicdom. Granted most stories did not have good art (it was one of the titles usually given to newbies aspiring for their big break) and some concepts were kinda lame, but the premise is what fan works are built upon.

My fan works focus more on revamping the look of most characters to reflect more of the mystical and cultural aspects of the Denubian worlds. The character design part is probably what I enjoy the most.

This study is one of the scenes I've been slowly developing. It 'follows' and builds on the version in which Allura's parents died while she was a baby, and right after the murders she's taken and hidden by Coran, who's depicted here as a younger man (resting with the baby in a cave), and in Denubian Realm's Arusuian warrior costume (a cross between hobbitwear and early Charlton Heston stuff, maybe?). Coran also carries the sword of Alfor here, to be given to the princess when she comes of age. I'm supposed to work in blood stains on cloth that's wrapped around the sword and the baby swaddles. I'd also like to add a few battle wounds on Coran himself.

Hope to finish this soon.

Keep Lotor Good-Looking

Prince Lotor, son of Zarkon, was introduced somewhere in the middle of the series, after the show 'tested' and killed off several villains for the story. I'm guessing he came in when there were positive responses from the Prince Bokar appearance.

But I'm not very familiar with the original Hyaku-ju-oh Go Lion storyline -- only snippets here and there courtesy of a great fan site by SG-B. But I am assuming that's how they developed Prince Sincline (Voltron's Lotor) for the original series, as this was the case of Takashi Shirogane, who was killed off only to be revived in the form of a 'brother' character. These characters were merged for the US version of Sven.

In the late 90s, Voltron was revived with 3D animation, and because it would take way too much cash to make enough nodes for perfect anatomy, the characters mostly look like crap. Voltron was later even revamped to a robot formed by gerbil-looking lions! We know the number-crunching stuff involved are all necessary, guys, but you do know the character and robot designs are the things that sell the show?... hum. The guys who were in charge of that effort kinda think like our bosses. An epiphany suddenly crosses my mind.

There were other Lotor incarnations after the 80s cartoon, but the 3D version generated the most negative feedback -- Lotor becoming an ugly cyborg? Part of the show's appeal was the romantic tension generated by some of its lead characters! You make a bad boy even uglier with not much redeeming qualities and that aspect goes bland. And the chemistry with everyone else (who also got uglier) go poof.

For future official projects, I hope WEP keeps Lotor (and everything else that's supposed to be pretty) good-looking.

Sitting In A Tree

Fan fiction and fan art are such addictive things. In real life, I do not know anyone who'd spend time developing stories and pictures for franchises that don't belong to them, so it's comforting to see many who share the insanity online.

TV shows are particularly susceptible to fan stuff, expecially when there are so many potentially more interesting possibilities for favorite characters.

I love Voltron characters, both good guys and bad guys alike. Never mind what developed (and did not develop) in canon. On fan communities, the tendency to group according to 'pairings' is amusing, too. I do explore drawing pairings like Lance-Allura, Lotor-Allura, Lotor-Merla, Keith-Merla, Zarkon-Hagar. Fun. But I'm dominantly a Keith-Allura fan.

Bad Habits Die Hard

My Voltron fan site kind of suck. I've been tempted to call it The Sucky Voltron Site, or the Empty Voltron Site, or the Unfinished Voltron Site, like in The Lame Voltron Site. But doing that would insult The Lame Voltron Site, which is actually a very cool and inspiring fanfic site!

I've been resolving to fill the Legends Of The Denubian Realm with finished stuff for the past four years, and yet everytime I go in to update the fiction and gallery pages, I can't make up my mind how to format the pages. Also, I know it sounds strange, but I find the act of putting personal stuff online somehow similar to looking down before bungee jumping (exaggerate much?). I'm thinking right now if I stick to sketches, I can post a lot more -- I'm more of a notebook-and-sketchbook-toting person than anything else, anyway.

Bishonens And Bishojos Give Me Pain

I reviewed the stuff that were 100% painted (no assistance from Photoshop) last year, and most of them were Zarkons, Yuraks, and Hagars. That's probably 'cause their character designs had the most... um... texture. Like warts and all. I managed a purely painted, decent Hunk, too, but it's pretty rough.

My husband reviewed the stuff and commented I should practice with more colors and interacting characters.

This is a Zarkon portrait I've been sketching for two months on and off. His nose is kind of crooked and so is his smile, but I don't know. I like how he looks smug. Like he's thinking, "I'm wearing a thong."

Day Jobs Are Stupid...

... But essential. Things are weirder in The Cubicle ver.2, and bosses are at their most idiotic. Ever. I'm giving things two months -- I don't even know if we get to last two more months. Meanwhile, the experiences should translate well to my favorite villains, never mind the Cirque-du-Soleil-ish costumes.

I've always been fascinated with using the Lotor-carrying-the-unconscious-princess theme. I think any variation would look good on a T-shirt. Or a plate! Okay, I'm gonna let those ideas ferment for a while...

I finished this sketch around July but as usual, haven't gotten the time to do things in color. I don't exactly remember how it developed now... it started out as Lotor and Romelle, but after belatedly looking into references, this pose should have Romelle's head leaning on Lotor's left shoulder. It's that or some other inane reason, and I just had to change the princess to Allura, and the background changed with it.

I think this love-hate relationship with paint will last forever -- my sketches start well enough, when I bring down the paint, I ruin the picture. I try to follow the standard (taught in lab classes) to use a master sketch and then just trace the stuff onto a color medium using carbon paper or a sheet with graphite rubbings. But no, I have to insist on resketching until I'm sick of the picture. I make a mess of things, and the ones that get finished almost always don't look as good as the sketches!

I need to find a less time-consuming and more productive hobby. Maybe knitting.

Welcome To The Cubicle Archives

The Cubicle is now blogging, and the blog contains unfinished Voltron fan stuff, very rare updates, rants on things that hinder people from making Voltron fan stuff, and annoying details that make a big deal out of the journey to actually finishing Voltron fan stuff. Endless nitpickings on pencils, notebooks, pens, paints, and computer systems, too. I've come to accept that the journey is what gets me going, not the results, proving I, Neogorbash, possess really low EQ.

Most things here are inspired by the 80s cartoon, other fans' works, and test stuff for an alternate Denubian universe (Legends Of The Denubian Realm). Comments and e-mail are welcome.

Things seen in this blog and that site are for personal recreational and entertainment purposes only, no infringement intended. Voltron, Defender Of The Universe and its characters belong to World Events Productions, Ltd. (WEP).