Chilling in Cameron - Part 2

(This a continuation of my previous post)

I think I should just stop apologizing for late posts because of my tardiness. However, like always, I have a good excuse. I recently moved out of my old place and this new abode of mine has no wi-fi or whatsoever. So, my only source of Internet surfing is either at my workplace or random cafes. More on that next time.

I will start off with a LEGO photo this time, featuring Mr Bee again (Cy in disguise). One of the highlights of Cameron Highlands is the numerous bee farms speckled from one end of the valley to the other. The one below was taken at a bee farm near the town, Brinchang.

buzzzz....

The bee farm aside, I have traversed from precipitous forest to posh British-styled cafe. Indeed, it was my opportunity to pretend as an adventurous trekker and high class bloke. Two polar opposite social roles which I was more than eager to become. 

Let's start with the latter. The venue was Ye Olde Smokehouse situated at a wide estate with a goft course to which I presumed was left by past colonists. I supposed in their mind, they were thinking that since the air is cooling and fresh, let's build a fancy house up here to take in this wondrous view of Malayan valleys. If so, I was glad that they did because the place was amazing. The moment I stepped into the house, I momentarily forgot that I was in Malaysia. The interior was decorated with ornaments you would usually find in an old European house, ranging from vintage pictures to intricately designed furniture.

Don't get me started on the food. I actually felt full (which is a rare moment for me). As a matter of fact, I would puke if I did not have a controlled gag reflex. Nonetheless, with such high end ambiance, my wallet endured a third degree burn. For just two people, we spent more than RM120, excluding appetizers and desserts. Still, it was one of those once in a blue moon experience that I don't mind spending.

The Entrance to Ye Olde Smokehouse.

Next stop, I will feature the Mossy Forest. As one of the popular tourist destination of Cameron Highlands, they did not fool around when they called this place mossy. Situated high up on one of the myriad mountains in the area, the environment is cold, humid and wet that just about any mosses grow in every inch and corner of the foliage there. There's this chilly and ominous feel when I was there but it was so cool that I didn't foresee any possible danger from the place. Of course, since it's high up on a mountain, one wrong step and it's hell of a way tumbling downhill.

I took this photo in the middle of the forest. At the entrance, there were stairs and wooden steps constructed to guide tourists into the forest. Halfway through, however, the journey becomes more arduous as travelers need to rely on their own strength to walk and climb. As you can see, the roots just extend haphazardly. For thrill seekers like me, this is a must-go-to place when you're in Cameron.

Besides that, when you all the way up on a mountain, you get to take a cool panoramic shot like the one below, overlooking the extensive hills and valleys of Pahang.

Just to conclude, I didn't do much on the last day since me and Cy almost traveled to every nooks and crannies of the highland. Sometimes, it's just nice to rest in a cafe and enjoy the other person's company (esp, if it's someone close to you). 

Chilling in Cameron - Part 1

With the Raya holidays around the corner and me getting some days off from work, I was obviously not going to spend my days at home suffocating under the city heat and haze. Fast forward, I am currently in Cameron Highlands, enjoying a cup of tea and the cooling atmosphere of mountain air. I need to cleanse all the hustle and bustle stress I endure in the city.

Cameron Highlands, in short, is a series of valleys connected in one long stretch, covering the states of Pahang accessible via Perak. There are several districts here and one of them is Tanah Rata, my current location. So far, I have spent two days here and I'm glad that there are few more days left to go. In this two-day period, I have relished the sights of butterflies, the myriad colours of flowers and the picturesque view of a tea plantation that stretches from valley to another.

In the name of photography, I would like to share my experience with a few out of many photos that I have taken:

 

Le Rose

Malaysia's National Butterfly: Raja Brooke

A pot of Pitcher Plants

A panoramic view of a tea plantation

Lastly, this would not be a LEGO blog without at least one picture of a LEGO minifigure. Here's Cyren buzzing around in a bee suit. Yes, he is my companion for this trip (I wasn't gonna go alone).

So, I gotta get back to enjoy the rest of my trip. I will update soon with more of Cameron adventure. Stay tuned!

Opportunities

It didn't occur to me that I have not post this yet as it was one of the highlights of my life (this year anyway). In recent time, my LEGO photos were featured in an education magazine called Doctorjob's course now! - Art, Design & Mass Comm June 2014 issue. Yay!

I mentioned previously (and briefly) that one of my friends interviewed me regarding my interest in LEGO photography. Not to brag but she intrigued by this hobby of mine. Since this is the first time that someone approached me to interview for a magazine, you couldn't believe the surprise and excitement I felt when I was notified. Now, I don't yearn for fame and fortune but it is nice to receive a little recognition from others.

Before I carried on, I would like to share some details regarding this magazine. As I said, it is an education magazine. In my knowledge, the magazine is separated into arts and science with my photos featured in the former. Additionally, the magazine also highlights job opportunities, career pathways, universities and etc. Thus, its target audience comprises of high school students as well as SPM leavers and to a certain extent, college students.

Coming back to my photos, I shared some of my insights on what high school leavers should focus on in life via LEGO photography. See, the way I see it is that we are often told to focus on the ideal goals, achievements and dreams that others impose on us. Rarely, do we actually practice the things we would like to do (abide by doing something useful and not detrimental like drugs or killing others). Indeed, all we ever do these days are academic-related or money-oriented. We 'MUST' go to a top this and that. Eventually, we blindly follow this fad without understanding if it's something that we really want. So, we follow this cycle and most of us ended up depressed or lost in life. 

Given this opportunity to share some of my opinions of what one should do after high school, I was overjoyed that not only will my photos be published but I get to encourage others to chase their dreams, not others'. For example, if you have the resources, backpack or learn a new skill like making arts and crafts. You might end up liking it and develop a profession out of it. For the rest who does not have the privilege to enjoy the luxury of life, fighting for your dream may prove to be a tad arduous but you can use this time to recollect yourself. Try to find out that what is it you want in life and how do you pursue it while make a living out of it. There is always a way and you just have to find it. Now, I'm not saying that college/university is bad. Higher education is a good opportunity as well for one to explore and learn about not just life but themselves. I'm merely saying opportunities are everywhere and any experience is a good experience if you treat it that way.

So, ya, I am glad that I can share my LEGO photos. I want to show people that with the right mindset and proper utilization of the resources that you have, even a simple brick toy may lead you somewhere. Of course, thank you doctorjob for featuring and my friend, Joanna, who interviewed me. *smiley* *smiley*

Constraint Creatively

When I first started my LEGO photography and later, continued onward with my blog, I have to admit that there were days when I encountered a 'creative block'. Similar to a writer's block, this term (which I just created) illustrated a halt on one's creativity. I simply didn't know what else to shoot or what else to write about.

Some days, I tried my best to stage the most creative scene to photograph and sometimes, it worked. Most of the time though, it ended up becoming something horrid. For instance, this Christmas special that I shot last year:

It's supposed to be the face of a snowman, comprising of mini pictures of hats and snowmen. Initially, I thought it was creative but after a few comments from Cyren, I knew it was not one of my best photos. Additionally, I had a few to match this atrocity to which you can find somewhere in my distant past Instagram.

My point here is that sometimes, when you try to be 'too creative', you end up with something the exact opposite. Maybe there are some points for creativity but the picture would be downright sore for the eyes. When facing these 'creative blocks', we force ourselves to invent or conjure something unique even though we are cognitively suitable for the task for that time being.

The thing about creativity is that it should not be forced upon. It should be inspired and struck one's mind when it is ready. Then, you might unexpectedly create one of the most interesting piece ever. As mentioned above, I had experienced 'creative block' and I tried to force myself to be creative during such moments. These photos usually consist of the least likes on my Instagram and it was for good reason.

The reason behind me forcing myself was because I blindly participated in the #lego365 challenge whereby one has to shoot a LEGO photo per day. It was fun at first but eventually, it became a chore and I ended up hating LEGO photography. Good thing was I realized it soon and I dropped myself from the challenge. After a few weeks, my interest in LEGO photography rekindled.

In short, creativity should be evoked through inspiration and personal pacing. That's what makes it creative in the first place. When it is forced, it becomes stagnant over time and you might lose interest in whatever it is that you are doing. In Psychology, we relate this to intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. The former can be defined as whether you are motivated by personal interest while the latter is defined as motivation through external means like money.

So be intrinsically motivated and build something creative. Don't be constrained by your own bricks.

Correcting Photographing

I will feature something different for this post and that is my behind-the-scenes editing all my photos. The thing about photography is that what comes out in the photos is not all that, plainly speaking, truthful. It takes some adjustment of angles and lighting as well as eliminating certain props in the background to make it look 'perfect'.

Back in Year 2 of my university life, I have this class called Cognition and Perception. In short, we learned how our cognitive processes are carried out which influence our perception and vice versa. Our perception is a funny little bugger as it can trick us into 'perceiving' the wrong image (under certain settings of course).

Ok, enough jabbering. Here's a photo I took yesterday.

As you can see, Superman here looks like he's actually flying off to the sky and mind you, there's no photoshopping going on here.

Now, let's look behind the scenes and see what's really going on and how I made it looked as the figure is really flying.

There's a LEGO pole stuck to one of his leghole. See, this is how I take photographs that involve figures levitating above the ground. Sometimes, such attempt is difficult and some accomplices might be needed to take a really nice shot.

Now, I know this feels like cheating but that's what going on with most photography. The real full image is not always what it seems to be. It requires a good cropping skills or taking from a certain angle to hide the unwanted props. This has more to do with psychology than you think because by shielding certain items from a picture, it could totally change our perception of the image. For instance, the first photo of this post really does look like Superman figure is actually flying.

Thus, next time if you want to take a nice photographs but you have ugly props lying around, just position your minifigures so that when you shoot later on, you can crop out the unwanted bits. Of course, the angles help you out as well to hide the props.

With that, I bid you adieu. 

LegoBrickLife on FB

With my photos accumulating, sooner or later it becomes really hard to keep track of all my photos. I have a dream of making them a scrapbook one day (the nice pics anyway). Plus, I want some publicity (guilty is charged).

Hence, I created this Fan Page on Facebook called, as you may well know - Legobricklife
Link: https://www.facebook.com/Legobricklife

Image is as followed (for now):

As of now, I have only posted a few of my large collection (as my Instagram followers may know). Do check it out when you have time and like it to see more of my pictures :)

New Year's Reflections

Hi Everyone!

Just like that, a year is gone and a new one begins soon. I am quite surprised at how 2013 just went by so swiftly. Indeed, I still remember starting this blog and my travel around Sarawak earlier this year. Now, it's less than 24 hours to New Year's Day 2014. Honestly, there is not expectation or anticipation of what the next year would be like for me because I'm going off for my internship at the start of January. It's not that I have never worked before but back then, it's all part time jobs. My internship would lead me to the actual 9 to 5 working life which frankly, I have no idea what's going to happen.

Will I fail miserably?

Will I make great strides?

I have absolutely no idea because this is something I have never done before.

Throughout my life, it's always books, studying and exam. University was no exception. I guess I'm so used to the routine that once I step out of it, I will be overwhelmed by a degree of uncertainty. It will be a new routine to get used to and I'm not sure if I like it. Nonetheless, no one really knows their future and you just have to take a leap of faith...and hopefully, you land in a pile of soft marshmallow full of sweetness. Anyhow, that's my personal feelings towards the new year. No excitement. No sadness. Just utter uncertainty. Just want to let that out for some reliefs.

Moving on, it is the tradition of every New Year for everyone to make resolutions of their life that they hope would happen in the next year. I'm no exceptions but problem with me is that I never actually finish the list I made for my resolutions (and assuming a lot of people too, don't lie!). I realized it's always the same pattern. I would become thrilled and anxious to make a list of something and then I would be so eager to complete it. For the first few months, it kinda worked. Subsequently, my resolutions slowly fell into the pits of subconscious oblivion and never to be heard from again until half a year later when my guilt brought me back to it for not trying to finish what I started.  Well, I say, no more to that! This year, instead of making another list of things that I would like to complete in the following year, I'm making a list of what I have done in this year. In other words, the highlights of my life of 2013. The future is always bleak and erratic and that is why it is almost futile to try to keep things in order because you don't know what will happen. Therefore, rather than trying to control my future, I'm going to reminisce the good things of what I have done in 2013. Cyren taught me this philosophy and it keeps me from worrying too much about the future.

List of Achievements

1) Travelling

While I mostly traveled around local destinations, I was glad that I managed to visit certain places that I had been meaning to go to. If you refer back to my earlier posts, I was in Sarawak, showing Cyren around my turf. We went to the major cities of Sarawak - Kuching, Sibu, Bintulu and Miri - with the last one being my first time there. For two weeks, we did all the sight seeing we could do and the trekking we could survive (it was tough walking in the forests). Not trying to sound cliche but I was really happy that I could do those things with Cy.

The other two major places that I traveled to was A) Fraser Hills, a resort-like forest sanctuary where the wildlife (mostly bugs) thrives and occasionally sings loud bug-kararoke, soothing to some ears. An interesting activity that I did (with Cy of course) was that we set up a makeshift spotlight to attract all sorts of insects. Also, night time in the forest was AWESOME!  ;and B) Penang, which is my second time there but my first time was memorable in the wrong way. Anyway, a group of friends on a road trip while staying in a high-end condo, which overlooks the ocean, was seriously a moment worth remembering. There were also certain places that I never thought I would go to but we had the best guide ever. Click this to see one of the sunset beach photo I took: Sunset 

2) University and Academics

As I mentioned above, 2013 is the last year of my university life. While there were certainly ups and downs, not to mention friendly fires, dramas, hurri-phoon-quake, I definitely wouldn't trade it for anything. Yes, I actually grew fed up with assignments and journal readings but it was one of my life goals to finish a university degree and I'm glad that it's psychology, a subject that I never knew existed until I came to Sunway University. Of course, along the way, I met new people to whom I can actually call best buddies. Ironically, one of the best moments was studying late night in the uni-foyer cramping every bit of information from notes and textbooks during exam month. The laughs and annoyance we experience for this course was hilarious.

Another highlight of my university life was this final year thesis that I have to write up. My chosen is sex and religion to which I'm currently wrapping up. Because of this thesis, I was awarded in a conference for having one of the best presentation. It may sound pompous of me but I'm really proud of it but it's not something I would do again.

Though I can't call myself a psychologist after this course, I could call myself smarter and more experienced than before. Not to mention happier.

3) Instagram

Some of you may know that I'm pretty big on Instagram (just look at the right side of my blog). It's not necessarily the best thing that happened this year but it worth remembering in my list of achievement. I started Instagram sometime in April or May (thanks to Cy...again XD). From then on, I was hooked and I even tried out the #lego360 whereby you have to take one LEGO picture a day. I failed miserably on that as I became sicked of LEGO photos after a while. So, I stopped the challenge but I continued on with my LEGO photos with less restraint after that. As of now, I have a total of 300 followers and here are my most liked photos for this year, ranging from 60+ to 76. It started with what I would like to call, Think Lovely Thoughts (the pic with flowers); then Friday the 13th; next, 3; one of my Halloween specials and lastly, Dark Knight. People are morbid...lolz~

4) LEGO models

With LEGO pictures come LEGO models. I have to admit that I'm not as skilled as some of the LEGO builders out there (their personal models make mine looks like a kindergarten art project). I did try my best to build an original model and I believe these two are my personal best.

This is Ivy's Lair. 

Inspired by Tomb Raider, I built this plane crash scene.

5) Relationship

I'm talking about romantic relationship. This year marked another milestone for us and I can't believe we survived this long. We both get on each other's nerves but what counts is that at the end of the whole fiasco, we make peace with each other. There are times when the journey gets too rocky for both of us to bear but once you get past that, it's smooth sailing again.

I believe that no relationship is perfect, even friendship for that matter. However, I do believe that even with all those shxx that two people go through, as long as the pair can forgive each other and drop their ego, any obstacles can be overcome. That is why my last highlight and most memorable one was being able to spend time with this guy,

and still love him regardless of how bumpy the road was.

That was my review of 2013. So, now, are you ready for 2014? If you're not sure, don't worry, all is well. Just don't think much of it and all those nagging problems will eventually stop being a nuisance. Reflect on what is good in the past year and maintain it by doing whatever it is that you do best.

Have a Happy New Year everyone! And welcome 2014!!

(PS. I totally missed out several other important highlights. I was Indiana Jones for Halloween; I got my first tattoo just few weeks ago; I went to a mental institution as part of a class trip; and I had been showing my brother around a side of KL that he has never seen before. Surprisingly, the last event was enjoyable).

300 Followers!!!

Well, it's Instagram. No here. I would be overjoyed if that many people actually take their time to read my blog. Anyhow, I hit the three hundred mark a few days ago on the photo-sharing site. For every hundred milestone, I will post a picture of something indicating it. Took a few months to reach that mark but nonetheless, I reached it. And to celebrate that, I invited the Gotham City Sirens to help me out.

You can't really see the number 300 unless you move further away. So, that's one more achievement to be included as one of the highlights of 2013 for me.

And speaking of 2013, the year is almost over. So, do whatever that it is you intend to do this year and we shall all celebrate the year comes 31st December.

Hometown

So, I'm currently bumming around my hometown, Sibu (a small town in the middle of Sarawak) for my holiday. It's kinda sad that I'm stuck here and not travelling the world -_-

Anyhow, I had decided to take some photos around my hometown cuz that's how bored I am. Seriously, been doing nothing except staring at screens the whole day at home (including computer and tv screens).

Here we have the tallest building in the state of Sarawak named Wisma Sanyan. Honestly, the outer design looks more magnificent than the interior. The building is separated into a shopping mall for the lower 4 floors whereas the rest are offices. Nonetheless, it is the first thing that you would notice when you look out from the plane if you ever stopped by in Sibu.

This picture overlooks a part of Sibu with some added effect. I was eating in a restaurant in Wisma Sanyan when I noticed the nice effect created by the lights in the restaurant on the window panels. After some editing, it looks as though the sky is filled with giant orange lanterns.

This panoramic view of downtown Sibu offers a sense of history as these buildings were here since the first settlement. Though they were painted over due to colour fading, the structures were retained and this kinda make the town a living museum. Everything is vintage and it's a great place for photography.

Last but obviously not least, a selfie of my LEGO self in front of the Wisma Sanyan :D

My Apocalyptic Artwork - Death: Everything Dies

Holy cow, this post is long overdue. I just finished my exam (so, YAY!) but my apartment's Internet is down again (boooo!). Anyhow, this post will be the conclusion to my Apocalyptic Project, featuring none other than Death himself, or herself, or...whatever.

Name: Death
Colour: Black
Goal: Reap the souls of all those who die (as simple as that)

Description:
The Horseman Death - the last and final of all 4 horsemen. The thing with Death is that everything dies or moves on eventually. Perhaps, even God himself would one day move on (I learned this from Supernatural). Death is the most fundamental aspect of all things alive. It is the final road that one partakes since birth and what lies beyond is still a mystery. Maybe there is nothing more than that and life just stops. On the other hand, some would like to believe after death, a soul's journey continues on either going to paradise (Heaven) or life merely starts over (reincarnation). Whatever lies beyond, Death will always be there to take you to it.

Additionally, Death isn't exactly a malevolence entity nor it's a benevolence one. It's main job is to clean up once a soul's journey ends. It is non-judgmental because nobody cheats death. Even if you do, you would wind up in its hands sooner or later. The thing about Death that makes it creepy is the mystery that surrounds it. As I mentioned in the first paragraph, no one knows what happens after Death. The unknown gives us the creep simply because we humans do not like suspense. We want to know what goes on after that but this question may never be answered.

Now, to me, Death is the big brother of all the Horsemen. While the first 3 had their fun causing mayhem, Death would be the one cleaning up the mess. Think about it. After the 3 finished their goals, there's bound to be...death. People die and Death would be there to reap their souls. Whether it actually uses a scythe to do so, it's really unknown.

Hence, for my artwork, I pictured Death as the typical entity in a black shroud with no or little facial expression while carrying a giant scythe. I added the skulls because that all there are left when the souls are claimed. There are two extra skulls I included on top of Death. They act as the master's personal watch dog - that is to detect any souls left behind. Souls that are not reaped would turn into a confused and violent ghost as typically seen in media. So their job is pretty essential.

With that, I end this post. For those who want to see more, I recently made the 7 deadly sins. I might feature them here in the blog but that depends on the level of sloth in me. Check out my Instagram for more info. And as always, cheers~

My Apocalyptic Artwork - Famine: Deprivation

Name: Famine
Colour: Grey
Goals: Depriving food and water sources; Reducing subsistence; Drain life energies; Intensifying hunger

Description:

We, humans, are all greedy beings. For those who more privileged than others, we often order more than we can chew and consequently, dump the leftovers. We always want more and more, never having enough. It is only in the face of shortage, that's when we realize we need to be frugal in terms of food because food is a basic survival item that we all require. People of lower economic status know this as their daily routines involve finding adequate amount of food just to live another day.

The Horseman Famine usually collaborates with his two brothers, Pestilence and War. It is often the actions of the first two that lead to Famine. Otherwise, Famine usually hides behind the curtains, observing the play and make his entrance after the first two acts. Think about it, Pestilence leaves people ill with the inability to work. Consequently, no one tends the fields or work for cash. Similarly, War destroys practically everything along its path, burning down food supplies or draining them by feeding the soldiers. After finishing their tasks, Famine finally makes an appearance to clear out the surviving people, like a crow plucking the leftovers of a carcass.

In my take of the Horseman, Famine is depicted as an old rotting man with long grey hair and weathered suit. It is encased in a bone shelter which only opens when he is ready to strike. Famine literally drains all life around it. Vegetation wilts and people instantly became skeletons. It has a crow as a pet who feeds off the leftovers when Famine has enough of the nutrients he absorbs from his surroundings. After the crow is done, he moves on to the next location.

Unlike War, those who suffers under Famine experience slow death. Imagine someone lock you in a room and deprive you of food. In general, humans can survive at most 7 days without food provided that there's water. So, it's a really slow death and unbearable one, much like Pestilence. Your hunger will overwhelm you rendering hallucinations and delusions. Hunger is a powerful drive that is essential in life because it propels us to find food. When you have both hunger and shortage of food, it's no wonder that hunger can drive people crazy and desperate.

Deprivation

My Apocalyptic Artwork - War: Fiery Destroyer

Name: War
Colour: Red/Orange
Goals: Uprising societies or countries; Creating mayhem; Inciting conflicts; Endorsing bloodshed; Tapping into the aggressive side of human nature

Description:
From the goals themselves, you can already surmise that War is seriously out to incite fights among people. While Pestilence was discreet in terms his modus operandi, War on the other hand couldn't care less about subtlety. Like all the mythical or biblical depiction of a deity of war, they are usually very blatant about matters because it's just so easy to create chaos. All you have to do is to punch someone in the face for no reason and the next thing you will know you be throwing punches here and there.

In the picture above, I illustrated War in its typical manner and form. Here, it has a fiery face (which was a pumpkin from the Batman series btw), two massive weapon on each hand, a red cape and a very stout body (which I borrow from the Bionicles series). As you can see, typical masculine, in your face kind of person. Everything is either in red or crimson or orange because typically, these colour has been associated with blood or anger. The fire in the background was an additional effect I used to portray the fiery of things - how we often feel fire in our head whenever we are pissed off. The dead body and limb illustrate just how things can easily get out of hand when you are angry.

Historically, War is a common event many people in the world are familiar with. In spite of massive war such as WW2, there are numerous other "great battles" found in folklore and legends. So, if you think about it, War has been integrated into our society since almost forever. From minor scuffle to verbal bickering, it's these little things that eventually contribute to a great fight, be it directly or indirectly (e.g., Cold War).

Similar to Pestilence, War often deprived those who participated in it and those who stayed away from it. Nothing good at all comes from war. Even on the winning side, the nation or whatever may be a victor but if they compare the losses or the destruction both sides have created, everyone still losses in the end. Properties are damaged; people do not have proper medical healthcare (which leads to disease); there is a shortage of food because properties are destroyed (which leads to famine) and eventually, people dies. All these Horsemen are interrelated. I will explain this in my final post of the project.

That is why War, from my perspective, is depicted as a flaming fury because like fire, when it is out of control, it burns everything down. It's a Fiery Destroyer.

What Lies Ahead

I was pondering about life in the dark which led me to this. Some of us wants to know what's our future will be like - whether we will successful or whether we will be happy with a significant other. Fortunately (pun intended), fortune teller minifigure here can help you with that. However, she will ask, "is it all worth knowing?"

Sometimes, knowing your impending future traps you in this inevitable route. It limits your dream and potential because you already know what's gonna happen. While Fortune Teller minifig will always be here, life is better to be lived in the present.

So, don't worry, just live your life.

My Apocalyptic Artwork - Pestilence: Deadly Silence

Horseman: Pestilence
Colour: Green
Goal: Spreading diseases; leaving infectious good and slime around; zapping others with highly toxic chemicals

Description:

My take on sickly here involved tentacles-like limbs with a tube hooking it up to a hose at the bottom of the head. First thing first, my Pestilence is a radioactive head floating in a jar filled with liquid green goo. It contains all the viruses and diseases that nature has even created and it is increasing as viruses evolve. It is from here that the Horseman channels the goo via a tube to a hose to which it expels this putrid and infectious goo onto unsuspecting passerby - similar to how people catch diseases unknowingly.

Cyren told me that its features are very robotic and extraterrestrial which I don't disagree. It's robotic in a sense that all the equipment in a hospital (where sick people go) are robotic or something that one would seldom see. As for the alien part, aliens are foreign, just like how viruses are foreign to the human body.

Furthermore, another reason I went for this design is that it is similar to the shape of a virus. If you are to look at a virus under a microscope, they have tentacles which they use to attach to a cell before injecting their DNA into the cell. The difference is that I added laser beams to two tentacles for coolness effect.

With regards to the bible version of Pestilence  human societies are always plagued with diseases but some are worse than others (e.g., smallpox, the Black Death). Major plagues often resulted in a colossal number of deaths, just look at the Black Death for instance. That is why when the world is to come to an end, an epidemic is enough to wipe us all out and it is done so with a tiny microscopic agent which kinda bring a fearful thought to a person. It is the same idea as to how a zombie apocalypse can quickly turn into a widespread mayhem in a short period of time. Viruses are seriously deadly.

Because of this, Pestilence can be a formidable foe to fight if you can even fight it to begin with. Think about it. One barely knows that he or she is infected unless one shows symptoms of an infection. Sometimes by then, it is too late because the virus has already overwhelmed most bodily cells. The HIV is a good example of this. Depending on the individual, the symptoms may not even manifest sometimes up to a year or two. So, one would be blissfully unaware and continue their daily routines which involve other people and indirectly infecting them at the same time. Gradually, it spreads and everyone eventually will be infected.

While Pestilence may not enjoy the glory shared by its peers, it is considered as a powerful entity. It's subtle and unnoticeable. By the time when you do notice it, it may be too late.

Deadly Silence

My Apocalyptic Artwork

Those of you who follow my Instagram would know that I recently just posted my take on the 4 Horsemen of Apocalypse - LEGO style. For those of you who don't, do click the the follow me button on the right side of this blog plzzzz~~~

Anyway, so this is a pretty epic photography task I did with the Horsemen. I really had to think through what I want to depict with the Horsemen; how I'm going to approach them in terms of designs; what props I need to use to complement the photos etc etc. I had the idea since the night before but I had to go through all my LEGO to visualize how they all going to turn out. After more than an hour earlier today, I finally pulled it off and not to brag but I'm really proud of my work.

For those who are unfamiliar with Christianity stories, the 4 Horsemen are supposedly the 4 entities of destruction that will come upon the world during Armageddon. There is no particular sequence as to who come first. So generally, there's Pestilence, War, Famine and Death. Well, everything ends in death so Death will always be the last to arrive. Also, they are supposedly depicted as riding horses - hence, the name Horsemen - but I have decided to be a bit creative for my pictures. The TV series Supernatural did it their style, so I'm inclined to go wild on mine.

Here's a sneak preview on them. The orders are stated above.

While I won't talk about all 4 in one post, they will be featured consequently each day starting with  Pestilence. I have also devised a backstory for each of them and I will talk about their prominent features as well as the props I used on each picture.

So, stay tuned tomorrow for my description on the first Horseman.

Science vs Magic

Sorry folks, I don't have the energy or enthusiasm to write anything for now. Uni exhausted all my life force so Imma just leave you all with this Picture of the Day.

Ironman vs Loki; Science vs Magic

And the winner is...gosh, this is a no-brainer - Loki. Honestly, good doesn't always triumph and given the fact that the power of magic allows a person to bend reality, I would say science would be beaten to a pulp. Anyhow, cheerios~

Atlantean VS Amazonian

In 2011, DC Comics released a story arc involving all the major DC characters that would change the DC universe...again. Known as the Flashpoint, Flash's nemesis - a.k.a. The Reverse-Flash - disrupted the DC timeline, rendering a huge modification in DC history. One of the changes as a result of the time-traveling was the rivalry between the Atlanteans and Amazonians. Obviously, this threw Aquaman and Wonder Woman into a heated battle causing mayhem and thousands of death.

I have to admit, I'm not entirely sure of Aquaman and Wonder Woman's Greek history together before the Flashpoint event. However, the two races were known for their aggressiveness and pride of their people. That's why when these two races were to argue, a war on a massive scale was bound to occur. Recalling back, this was one of the moments I remembered from the comic book event. So, while I was fumbling with my LEGO pieces together (thinking of what to create for my next LEGOART), I instantly thought of this, when I saw my Wonder Woman and Aquaman minifigures. Although the battle scene could have been created on a larger scale, alas, I had my limits. So, this was what I had concocted and honestly, I really love the scene. There are some LEGO photos of mine which I believe could have been adjusted for a better shot but this isn't one of them.

So, if you were caught in the battle, which side would you choose? The King of an ancient civilization or a warrior society that values honour?

Croc With His Croc

Nothing much to say today. Just randomness. A croc with his croc. Awesome!

Skull and Movie

Enchanting yet petrifying, this skull altar derives from the Indiana Jones, 7199 Temple of Doom set. However, this isn't exactly how it is depicted in the set as I did some modification with the moss on top of the skull as well as the two protruding decor.

I added a little effect on the image to give it that ominous ambiance. I used the same app as the one I did with my previous Catwoman picture. It's called Snapseed and I highly recommend it for those who want to do some serious editing with their pictures.


In other LEGO news, they just released a trailer to the first major LEGO movie produced by Warner Bros. Hearing that name, it's kinda obvious that they would feature some of Warner Bros prized characters a.k.a the three elite members of Justice League. Nevertheless, other characters from LEGO brand are included too such as almost everyone from the Minifigure Series, some retro minifigures and etc. Check out the link below to see the trailer for yourself.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=lPnY2NjSjrg

Catty Heist

"That sparkle caught my eyes the moment I noticed it. The way it stood there gleaming, tempting me to grasp it with my paws just so I can feel its edges as I gently caressed it. Yet, fate divided us with that glass window and the high-tech security system. But no matter, a cat has its agility and grace to elude any traps and pounced on anyone else who dared to stop the car burglar. I should hurry before the bat arrived and foiled my heist yet again."

And that is what I pictured Catwoman would say if I'm writing a comic strip for this picture of the day. I admit I still need to brush up on structuring my sentences as well as using a more precise vocab but I'm getting. Anyhow, Meow~