A Squad of Clones Plus Change

17 November 2011 | Hisham | | Artwork, Role Playing Games, Star Wars
 

These are illustrations for pregen characters for a Star Wars Saga game to be run by Gary Astleford at Totalcon 2012.

The one in Massachussets, not the one on Commenor. Register quick if you want to get in on the clone action.

I wonder if his first name is "Gear"

Lieutenant Krieg

Demolitions and computer specialist

Sergeant Aren

Circumcisions at 50% price

Doc

Just a regular infantryman

Rudi

He shoulders the burdens of heavy weapons

Senth Herf

Obviously this guy's a Jedi

Voris Xilef

 

Revisit: The Vacation is Over

26 October 2011 | Hisham | | Artwork, Star Wars
 

After half a day of house cleaning, I discovered a long lost stash of old artwork. So I thought I'd post some of them on the blog and link to their final versions elsewhere (or on this blog itself if available.)

Here are pencils for the artwork for "The Vacation Is Over" piece for the SWAG Member Theme Art Contest from 2006.

... and they lived happily ever after.

Click here for the original blog post featuring the final artwork, which includes sparks.

 

Holy Crap! Star Wars DVD to Blu-Ray Comparisons!

20 September 2011 | Hisham | | Humour, Star Wars
 

IT'S AN OUTRAGE!

Star Wars: The Complete Saga blu-ray set has been released and I have compiled a comparison of five screenshots between the DVD and its corresponding scene in the Blu-ray version. In each image, the DVD version is the top half and the Blu-ray the bottom half. Here follows a commentary on the abovementioned screenshots.

The Opening Crawl

As you can see, the opening crawl in the DVD when viewed in Blu-ray looks so much worse. The blackness of space seems to have been greyed out and smudged in a shape that could be a mountain. Seriously? Someone thought a mountain would look good in space? Even the text font has been changed, perhaps to accomodate extra details about some "Purple Death", which I believe refers to General Tagge's underpants.

The Tatooine Desert

The picture quality is so bad after a transfer to 1080p that some of the characters on screen looks nothing like they did in the DVD (and theatrical) release of the movie. Even Obi-Wan appears to have lost his beard and wears a Conehead hat. Must be a new digital alteration! Bah! Thankfully See-Threepio looks somewhat the same.

Millennium Falcon

Everyone's favourite YT-1300 now has a design which looks futuristic and better than before. However, in the high definition conversion, the image seems to have lost a bit of saturation. Again, the background is so blurred and smudged that Cloud City looks like a bunch of rocks. This is unacceptable!

Cloud City Duel

In the first Luke vs Vader duel, the print is so horrible that you can't see the lightsaber blades at all! And there seems to have been more digital alteration done to Vader's helmet so he looks more like the Marvel superhero Thor. Another example of how the Blu-ray producers caved to current popular movies (in this case, this year's Thor) and altered something so it'll look like it's "in with the times"!

Boba Fett

A fan favourite character, Boba Fett is now digitally altered so it would look less armoured, wearing slacks and - what are those - loafers? Also, whose idea was it to digitally insert rocks around the Pit of Carkoon? Now it totally looks fake! Blasphemy!

Disclaimer: Yes, fake article is totally fake; and no, I haven't bought the Star Wars blu-rays yet because, man, they're expensive from where I'm sitting. Blasted conversion rates. All hail the classic Republic Serials! Commando Cody in that last black and white image has even appeared in this blog once before!

 

And Then Some SWAG Character Requests

25 August 2011 | Hisham | | Artwork, Role Playing Games, Star Wars
 

It's the couple of days lull before I leave town for Eid-ul-Fitr vacation at the in-laws, so I had some free time to take on some Star Wars Artists' Guild requests. Here are three character requests I picked up. I used a new Copicmarker Ciao ink brush I just purchased for their line art. Click on their individual links to read their request threads at the forums:

My name is NOT Quiche!

Ka'ron Quinch

Smuggler as requested by vinnie3.

You wouldn't want to see this bearing down on you from the sky

J'zzzt the Hutt

A Jedi Hutt as requested by Viscious the Jester.

A Republic officer AND a doctor. A good catch, ladies!

Doctor Adram Zanedi

A Republic Military officer and a physician during the Mandalorian Wars, requested by Jalaila Tarin.

 

The Great Nerd Archaeological Dig of Sitiawan

09 August 2011 | Hisham | | Comics, Role Playing Games, Star Wars
 

Earlier this month, we went back to my hometown of Sitiawan where I dug up my old stuff in my cupboard and wardrobe, then posted them on Google+. Here is a compilation of the posts, along with further elaboration, as well as a new photo near the end.

Ancient cache of geekery unearthed at my parents' house included a single Bill Mantlo / Gil Kane's Micronauts comic. I'm sure there was another where the 'Nauts battled a gentleman by the name of Professor Prometheus - at least on the cover. I don't remember much of what's inside.

Janet Van Dyne goes for several pages nekkid in combat in this issue

I found a pair of old Dazzler comics - featuring the mutant disco performer who transduced sound to light - still readable with their pages still intact. Several years later, she would be a member of the X-Men.

With guest appearances of Otto, Warren and Amora

I bought the West End Games' Star Wars RPG module titled Crisis on Cloud City, and they had a set of sabacc cards with rules. Cropping cardboard into equal sizes is harder than it looks, even with a metalwork guillotine.

Pretty sure I got an Idiot's Array before during play.

At the back of an old receipt are illustrations and game stats for a Star Wars light freighter named Nasty Nervosa. I didn't name it, the players did. Don't ask me why.

The "Nasty Nervosa" stats

Remember the old Star Wars sunday strips. I believe I culled these from the New Straits Times. Every week there was a panel that featured a character, vehicle or technology drawn by Al Williamson. I tried to collect them all. A futile effort, really.

 

SWD6: The Rancid Putrefaction of a Cosmic Caterwauling Cabal

30 July 2011 | Hisham | | Artwork, GOKL Actual Play, RPG Actual Play, Role Playing Games, Star Wars
 

Last Sunday, I ran a Star Wars RPG D6 game for the GOKL group. It started out as a one-shot, but who knows; the tale might continue another time.

The Rancid Putrefaction of a Cosmic Caterwauling Cabal

Episode 312: All Heaven Broke Loose

Long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, aboard the space station Kwenn that served as deep space commerce and transport hub, there was a Rebel cell, who sat all day for days in a spacer's cantina named The Drunken Dewback, waiting for their first mission. Then one day the young bartender gestured them to the bar. She told them to go to Anchorhead on Tatooine where they will be given an important mission briefing.

Chapter One - We're So Starving

The Rebel cell consisted of Avril Mantessa, Pew Pew and Tyvokka.

Avril was a young Jedi who had been cloistered away and trained by her Jedi parents in secret after the Jedi Purge. She has yet to use her lightsabre in combat. Pew Pew was a short furry Ewok gunslinger who wore a wide-brimmed sombrero, a poncho and a pair of blaster pistols. No one knew where he came from. And finally, Tyvokka was a Wookiee who owed a life debt to a pirate who died recently. Finding himself without an aim in life, he signed up with a group of rebels.

A view from the gm screen

Lompy watches as Tyvokka the Wookiee mulls over his next step with Pew Pew the Ewok strapped to his chest baby pouch.

The trio headed down to the spaceport levels and entered a bay filled with light freighters and transports.

 

Mithius Cragmoore

10 June 2011 | Hisham | | Artwork, Role Playing Games, Star Wars
 

Commissioned by the guys at Wicked North Games for their Star Wars RPG game group, Mithius Cragmoore was born on Coruscant to an Imperial Admiral and is now a bounty hunter with the House Benelex. He wields a pulse rifle, a blade and wears a stun cloak.

Inked and painted on paper, the original artwork was mailed to them, a first for me as a freelance illustrator.

Thanks for the commission, guys. It was great to have illustrated this character.

Click here for a larger image on DeviantArt.

 

Irfan Takes A Train To The Mall

02 June 2011 | Hisham | | Family Pics, Star Wars, Transformers
 

One activity Irfan and I did this school holiday was to take the Light Rail Transit (LRT), the city-wide train network. He rarely gets to ride on it, since we drive everywhere which is sometimes cheaper depending on the situation. So we thought we'd go to the Mall.

We set forth to the station after lunch and soon train came along.

It's a train station!
This reminds me of that scene in Top Secret!
Arrival at PWTC station
 

Darth Bill Adama?

14 March 2011 | Hisham | | Artwork, Misc Sci-Fi, Star Wars
 

A weird moment for Admiral William Adama of the Battlestar Galactica (complete with ominous shadow outline) when he suddenly spouts lines from The Empire Strikes Back at his son Lee.

What does he say, and how does Lee reply?

Click here to find out and to view a larger version of the artwork.

 

McFly, Trandoshan Smuggler

05 March 2011 | Hisham | | Artwork, Role Playing Games, Star Wars
 
Punching and smuggling, smuggling and punching

Here's a quick and dirty Star Wars Artists' Guild request I picked up: A Trandoshan smuggler named McFly!

Yes, the life preserver jacket is no accident.

Yes, he is punching Darth Vader.

 

Artoo-Detoo: Generations

21 February 2011 | Hisham | | Star Wars
 
He once commanded a squad of friendly battle droid pilots into enemy space

The little Artoo is Irfan's which was purchased from Amcorp Mall last year.

The big Artoo was bought for me by my grandfather 30 years ago or thereabouts.

How time flies.

 

A Reluctant Jedi

03 February 2011 | Hisham | | Artwork, Star Wars
 

Remember Admiral Tarn Majint from a couple of posts ago? Here's his daughter Qualtis Majint - with her blue robes and her blue-bladed lightsabre - who definitely does not resemble Bill Nighy in any way. Like any self-respecting character in any Star Wars RPG campaign, she loves thermal detonators.

We're not sure if she started the fire behind her.

A SWAG request by Jan Tolbara for his wife's RPG character on her birthday.

Made with GIMP. Click here to view (and download) a larger image.

 

Star Wars Crossover

02 February 2011 | Hisham | | Star Wars, Transformers
 

There's a breach in the spacetime continuum and strange, giant robotic entities fly through and bring their own war into the Galactic Republic! However, the creatures look somewhat familiar... eeriely familar. One faction allies itself with the Republic while another with the Separatists. With the sudden inclusion of powerful sapient giant transforming mechanical life-forms, the Clone Wars is taken to the next level!

I have the better Alec Guiness voice!" "No, I do!
My lightsabre is bigger than yours." "Oh, shut up.
 

A Kubaz Majordomo

30 January 2011 | Hisham | | Artwork, Star Wars
 

Here's another SWAG request I picked up. Derf requested a Kubaz majordomo character by the name of Rbarindan, with "many friends and relations in low places". His species is the same as Garindan, the spy who shadowed Luke, Ben and the droids in Mos Eisley on their way to the Milliennium Falcon in the first Star Wars movie.

We eats insects, thank you very much

Click here and hit the image there to see (or download) a larger version.

 

An Imperial Fleet Admiral

29 January 2011 | Hisham | | Artwork, Star Wars
 

I picked up a SWAG request from Jan Tolbara for a character named Tarn Majint, an Imperial Admiral. He is visually inspired by the actor Bill Nighy, but without the pirate hat and the tentacled face. Of course, a tentacle-faced Imperial officer isn't that much of a stretch for Star Wars.

I shall Adama-glare you to death!

Click here and hit the image to see (or download) a larger version.

 

The Savage Battle at ToysRUs

20 January 2011 | Hisham | | Star Wars
 

Today, we took a trip to Empire Shopping Gallery at Subang Jaya - a mall we've not visited before. Somewhere near the top floor of the mall was a Toys'R'Us outlet. Toys'R'Us as many of us are aware of sells toys. There are many sections in the store which I usually browse (but don't normally buy at the moment). One such section is the Star Wars aisle.

There was something I discovered here that caught my eye. A fantastic Star Wars: The Clone Wars diorama using dozens of action figures, some vehicles and a fantastic environment.

It was a battle scene, with the Grand Army of the Republic laying seige to a Separatist stronghold. And the Republic's heavy hitter was the Kuat Drive Yards A6 Juggernaut toy vehicle. Modified to have physical damages and custom-painted with carbon scoring, the Juggernaut (also known as the "Clone Turbo Tank") made a spectacular centerpiece. 

Come on, lads! Last one out gets first taste of cookie's gruel for supper!

Clone troopers are deployed from the ramp of the Juggernaut and they're mostly glad it's not a subzero environment and fighting without thermal underwear.

We've hit this AAT, sir. Should we exchange insurance details?

The Juggernaut driver seemed to have rear-ended an Armoured Assault Tank. The droideka laying on the ground doesn't seem to be having a fine day too.

 

An Anomid Tech Specialist

10 November 2010 | Hisham | | Artwork, Star Wars
 

Anomids are aliens which have no vocal cords in the Star Wars galaxy. Over millennia, they developed and communicate with each other via an elaborate sign language using their six-fingered hands. However, when communicating with the galaxy at large, Anomids wear a voice synthesiser mask which allows them to speak to other species.

This RPG character artwork of a teenaged Anomid tech specialist was requested by "Michael" at the Star Wars Artists' Guild forum.

Michael's SWAG request
 

Click here to access a larger image on DeviantArt.

 

Some Flea Market Scores

18 October 2010 | Hisham | | Star Wars
 

Here are some recent purchases from the Amcorp Mall weekend flea market. Sure some of the accessories are missing, but together they all cost less than one brand new figure.

Yay! Cheap-ass weekends!

Here they are chronologically:

From 4000 years ago!

Mandalore the Indomitable!

Seen in the Dark Lords of the Sith comic series, this leader of the Mandalorians from 4,000 years ago fell into a jungle and was eaten by a bear.

 

A Gamorrean Gentleman

01 September 2010 | Hisham | | Artwork, Star Wars
 
KILROY WAS HERE

This individual, Sarg, from the Gamorr system was a private request from "Penangallan" of the Holonet forums. As a distinguished mob enforcer, he hopes someday to be a much more refined gentlebeing, if only he could stop himself from drooling all the time.

 

Cody vs. Cody

28 August 2010 | Hisham | | Artwork, Misc Sci-Fi, Star Wars
 

In the early 1950s, Republic Pictures produced a black and white film serial featuring the character named Commando Cody. Cody was featured in two serials, namely Radar Men from the Moon and Commando Cody: Sky Marshal of the Universe. His costume included a helmet and a rocket pack, which allows him to fly.

During this time, a young man watched these serials at the cinema. More than fifty years later, as part of a movie serial he himself created, that man developed a supporting character named Commander Cody who wears a helmet and sometimes a rocket pack, obviously inspired by and a homage to the former character.

Here's what happens when the heavens open up and they meet.