'Last Known Surroundings' with Cosplay Magazine India

 #artist Anantha Krishna Kasavaraju aka Last Known Surroundings with Cosplay Magazine India

#cosplaymagazineindia

===========

Unveiling Ekko's Firelight: From Character Research to Cosplay Creation!

 

Cosplayer Roshan Gupta - "10 sleepless nights later - Finished crafting 'Ekko's Firelight 🦉 Version 1 (Vi, geddit?)' from Arcane show on Netflix ! 😁✨

Thanks to the mask pattern & youtube walk-through by @monolith_costumes, that helped, in understanding his process to crafting. You can find it on his Etsy store! I spent more than 40hrs alone on crafting, priming & trying the cell shading effect while painting to make it as screen accurate as possible! Have captured it in timelapse stories on my insta highlights! Go cheggit! 😬

I took screenshots of Ekko' s Firelight character design from all possible angles (more than 300+ images captured from @arcaneshow and it was reallyyyyy time intensive, so I spent 3 days entirely dedicated to character research, along with reading his origin story and gazing through the Ekko concept artworks by @kse332 from LoL official artbook & @jingoss's recent splash art of Arcane Ekko, which is extremely important for me to get into the character, understand their nuances & quirks, hence the early start @4am in the day 2 weeks, to get extra hours and a head start to work on my Ekko cosplay) and watched his part tons of times, to get as many barely clear screenshots as reference, to make my version as screen accurate as possible.

Still not extremely happy with it, but, it's the best, I could do in 10 days. I rushed when it came to sewing and sewed the brown apron & huge ass green coat in one night, hahacries ;_; It wasn't easy, I failed few times, but did better the second time. I used freehand technique, compared to using pre-made patterns like I did for the red hoodie, which was my first sewing project, for my Miguel from Coco movie, 2 years back! :') I definitely did level up my sewing skills, self-taught, during my second project, and I'm happy with the results for now. Still, have a long way to go as a male seamster! So, gotta improve on my technique now, so I'm planning to consume countless hours of sewing videos from youtube & twitch! 😁

I made the Sword / Key Prop and Pocketwatch in 2 days. The whole process of making a character come to life that moved me, Ekko - The Boy Savior from @arcaneshow in this case, is something I wanted to share, with my cosplay / art, so have invested in ring light / lateral camera stand, to capture and record all my #WorkInProgress art process in the form of timelapse videos that took numerous hours of efforts!

Hope, you liked it, as I've put my heart bnd soul into it! Would appreciate your support in the form of comments / shares / engagement! :') 💜

P. S. This was the basic version of Ekko Firelight V1 Cosplay. I'm working on upgrading it, add more props including my fav prop i.e. humongous hoverboard with LEDs (*gasps, will be my first time working with lighting*), with a better paintjob on the props and fabric attire, re-sewing the green coat, brown apron & pants & improving the overall finesse as I've 2 more weeks to make it better!

Indoor photoshoot & edits by @lokesh_learns! "

=======

Environment-Landscape Art

 

Artist Richard Lay - "Hey Guys, just practicing some landscape art. I'm trying to integrate a bit of perspective into my environments."

Boat with wheels artwork

 

Artist George Brad - "A boat with wheels for todays daily."

Painting by Artist George Brad

Experiments with colors, designs by #artist George Brad

Digital Art Overlay Practice

#artist Kelsie Sager 

"Practicing with Overlay, Add, and other techniques and brushes."

Painting Process

Digital painting process by #artist Emrullah Çıta‎
#freelancetalents #art

Kathputli Short Film Poster

Promo poster #1 upcoming short film: Kathputli #shortfilm by Freelance Talents
#AnkitaTripathi #MeenaYashpal #mohitness #freelancetalents#kathputlishortfilm #mohit_trendster #freelance_talents

#FanArt Aurora (Child of Light)

Jose Enverga Dalisay V‎

 Aurora (CHILD OF LIGHT), My fanart of the unique RPG by ubisoft, and I actually enjoyed painting this because of the hair. I hate symmetry though, so I hope this works. C&C are welcome!

Novel: The Dog Stars (Peter Heller)

Published - 2013, Language - English, Paperback, Pages - 416

ISBN13: 9780755392629

Hig, bereaved and traumatised after global disaster, has three things to live for - his dog Jasper, his aggressive but helpful neighbour, and his Cessna aeroplane. He's just about surviving, so long as he only takes his beloved plane for short journeys, and saves his remaining fuel. But, just once, he picks up a message from another pilot, and eventually the temptation to find out who else is still alive becomes irresistible. So he takes his plane over the horizon, knowing that he won't have enough fuel to get back. What follows is scarier and more life-affirming than he could have imagined. And his story, THE DOG STARS, is a book unlike any you have ever read. 

Text Overdose World Record :p

1 tiny panel and like hundreds of words...when you are on a tight budget. Later couple of characters were pulled alive from the rubble of the apocalyptic text monologue.

Comic - 3 Run ka Sauda

Freelance Talents (Digital Art)

*) - Artist Luca Bancone - "Daily Sketch, I'm thinking about studing more this character with a series of illustration of her journey...."

============

Artist Misha Sung - "Just finished this, and I'm very happy about it, but would still love to know if there's any room for improvement?"

=============

Yohan Haash - "Today's insomnia painting , focus on composition, mood and depth ... tried to keep my brushstrokes loose and to simplify major shapes.."

‪#‎art‬ ‪#‎freelancetalents‬ ‪#‎freelance_talents‬ ‪#‎featured‬

Skin (April Lindner)

April Lindner (Author), Robert A. Fink (Introduction)

Haven’t we all been told how beauty is thin as truth? And don’t we believe and disbelieve this “lie we’d carve and starve for. / We’d suck it till the juice ran down our arms”? Skin compels us, repels us. Beauty may be only skin deep, a fine covering—sensuous, at times translucent, almost transparent, and yet so obdurate. Skin insulates, guarding its vital organs just beneath this surface that teases us to peek, to try to penetrate. We call this desire by many names, the best of which is love. April Lindner’s sensuously orchestrated collection of poems conveys the beauty and truth of love, how we know it to be paradoxical, obsessive, fearful, rapacious, holy.—Robert FinkFontanelHere’s the ravine, a stretch of skinspanning the breach like a footbridge.Canvas-thin, it trembles with the bloodthat runs beneath. Something less tangiblecourses there too, a whitewater flumeof images: the stretching housecat;car keys that sing and catch light;floorboards knotted with dark, animal eyes;the window with its shifting square of sky.All things equal, each thing startling,and everything unmediated by the mind’shabitual grapple with whyand so what. You frown at a fadedwallpaper pineapple, and the membraneflutters harder. I’m carefulwhen I comb your sparse brown hair.When I sing your name I borrow a liltI’d never use in speech. The wordsdon’t matter; I’m saying drink me while you can,like milk. Let me be flesh and flannel,hands that loosen your tangled blanket.Know me by scent before you learn my name,before doorknobs turn into doorknobs,before the gates knit shut. 

Type: Poetry collection, Hardcover, 88 pages

Published:  March 15th 2002 by Texas Tech University Press (first published March 2002)

Original Title: Skin (The Walt Mcdonald First-Book Poetry Series)

ISBN: 0896724840 (ISBN13: 9780896724846)

Edition Language: English

Freelance Talents Spotlight # 18 - Akin Adekile

Akin Adekile - 3d artist, Illustrator and Concept Artist, Los Angeles, United States of America.

https://www.facebook.com/AkinAdekile

https://www.artstation.com/artist/akin_adekile

Featured - Frozen to Life: A Personal Mortality Experiment

 Book Info

How far would you go to avoid death?

Frozen to Life is the true account of the author’s extraordinary answer to this question: If he cannot escape the constraints of a 'natural' lifespan, he will, upon his death, have his severed head preserved in a vat of liquid nitrogen in the Arizona desert.

This book illuminates the astonishing science behind his decision, and the transformative power of the patternist thinking that carried him to it. From the initial confusion and isolation of his upbringing on the Scottish islands of Benbecula and Skye comes a curious inkling that collides with dominant religious dogmas and alters relationships: What am I? What is a 'self'? Must selves die?

Neuroscience - including the latest theories about the way mind emerges from the architecture of the brain - interweaves with philosophy, Buddhism, and personal testimony to create a fascinating and emotionally-charged insight into the psyche of a 'cryonaut' in waiting.

Written with empathy, searing insight, and dark humour Frozen to Life is both cutting edge and bleeding heart: a postmodern experiment in falling in love with life while preparing for death, in ways we can change ourselves radically without losing our treasured humanity, and in coming to understand that neither life nor death is what we think it is.

"I don’t think I’ve read a better or more poetic exploration of what it means to be. Or indeed not to be, or only potentially to be."

–STEVE GRAND, roboticist and creator of the Creatures artificial life simulation

--------------------------

                                                    Author - D.J. MacLennan

Paperback, 400 pages

Published August 31st 2015 by Anatta Books

Creating Monsters (Novel Review)

Intro

A psychedelic adventure set in a city on the verge of disaster.

In modern Philadelphia, where a deep economic depression has left the city near collapse and most of its inhabitants in gruesome poverty, Mitchell Gray, a twenty-year-old graduate student in a beleaguered university physics department, spends most of his time playing piano and touring the city’s worst slums in stolen cars. He is a technical virtuoso whose scientific ideas challenge the foundations of his field but he lives in hiding from one of the world's most powerful billionaires, a man obsessed with the quiet Mitchell and determined to capitalize on his strange inventions.

When Mitchell falls in love with an older woman, the wife of a wealthy pharmaceutical executive, their relationship inspires him with a mad plan use his creations to change the world. With the help of a brilliant and neurotic chemistry student named Charlie Nolan and technology so advanced that it resembles magic, Mitchell devises horrifying yet harmless schemes and supernatural hoaxes, causing an uproar in the city.

His nights as a modern day robin hood also raise the alarm of some of the real monsters in Philadelphia, including a mysterious child murderer rumored to possess supernatural powers, known only as "The Demon." Christopher Rankin's debut novel is a haunting story of love, friendship and survival in a world of revolution. 

------------

Review

A very dark, enigmatic story that explores the familiar themes of despair, anger, and revenge, Creating Monsters is a book that is hard to put down. If you had the intelligence and ability to exact revenge, would you? The main character is thoughtful and insightful, but allowed himself and his talents to be manipulated in ways he didn't approve. Along the way to revenge, monsters are created all around him: some by his doing, some by circumstance. In the end, when he steps back to view the whole picture, what has he really accomplished? 

The storytelling is exquisite. Word choices and ease of phrasing lull the reader into this dream-like world. The haze over the city is a great metaphor for the lack of clarity most of us have for what is happening around us. At times, imagery reminded me of the dark Batman movies. 

There are other common themes in this book: vigilantism, love, losing one's parents, young scientists in a lab... Many readers can enjoy this story because of their interests in similar genres.

The biggest problem I had with the book was the editing. Many issues of missing punctuation, missing words, incorrect pronouns, homonyms used, spelling errors were throughout the entire book. Normally, this would be quite upsetting to me. However, I enjoyed the story so much, I jumped right over the problems. This may not be the case for all readers. For this book to be great, it needs a thorough editing job. For now, it is very good.

If you are a reader who enjoys dark stories, who likes to read about characters exacting revenge, you enjoy comic book characters who create a new powerful persona to seek justice, or you enjoy futuristic fantasy, please check out this book. It's the author's debut novel, and I'm excited to read more from him! 

Rating - 4/5

Real Virtue (GR Review)

Author - Katy Lee

Published - April 2012 #Goodreads_Review

In a virtual reality game where she can fly, someone’s aiming to take her down.

Mel Mesini is a New York City restaurateur and an avid, virtual reality world traveler. But her successful life—both online and in reality—takes a swerve the night her father is seriously injured in a hit-and-run. To make matters worse, Officer Jeremy Stiles, the man who had once cut her deep with his harsh, rejecting words, is heading the investigation.

When Jeremy realizes Mel is the actual target, his plan is to protect her—whether she wants him to or not. What he wants is answers, especially about this online game she plays. Is it a harmless pastime as she says? Or is she using it to cover something up? As a faceless predator destroys the things that matter to her, Jeremy knows he’s running out of time before she loses the one thing that matters most—her real life.

Amazon link: http://tinyurl.com/cjtxzg5
BN link: http://tinyurl.com/bnjg5k5 

----------------------------

Real Virtue is an engrossing story of a Mel, young woman who flees her past to recreate herself in a whole new image. The world she has made for herself—and thinks she controls—begins to unravel when her father is injured in a hit-and-run accident and Mel returns to the home she left many years before. Mel is forced to confront reality and fantasy on many levels: her own involvement with a video game, the mystery surrounding the attempts on her life, her mother’s schizophrenia, and the qualities of the man who once rejected her and is now trying to save her. This thriller kept me guessing until the end and was satisfying on many levels. The character of Mel I found to be very difficult to connect to because she basically lived in her own worlds where she saw negativity in every situation, even the most innocent. Jeremy on the other hand took everything so personally, as if he failed, and would preach about God and religion. I am not a terribly religious person so it was a little overwhelming to hear all of his speeches about his path and purpose. The progression of Mel’s understanding of the relationship she once fled from, contrasted with the world she created for herself was as intriguing as the stalker-mystery parts of the book. Real Virtue is a great read.

यह यथार्थ है

शिवाले की चोटी से लेके

मस्जिद के ज़ीनो तक बहता

क्या ब्राह्मण, क्या सईद

सबको निर्झर लोहित करता

व्यर्थ हुआ है जो, जीवन पदार्थ है

यह यथार्थ है ||

यक्षप्रश्न की दुविधाओ से भी विकट

जीवनचक्र की सुविधाओं से लुभाता

सतयुग के ब्रह्मपुरूषो को

कलयुग मे असहिष्णु बनाता

ऐसे बिना कर्म के फल को पाकर

हे पार्थ आज तू हुआ कृतार्थ है

यह यथार्थ है ||

रामद्वारा जाना जघन्य अपराध

और द्वारे रहीम जो बांटे प्रसाद है

नीतिशास्त्र को कलुषित करता

कैसा तेरा यह शास्त्रार्थ है ?

यह यथार्थ है ||

धर्मार्थ धर्मान्ध किया समस्त जग

ऐसे पैगम्बरों के समक्ष खुद खुदा असार्थ है|

युग और पथिक सब खप हैं गये

ज्ञानचक्षु ना खुले फिर भी

मानवता, स्वयं, परम के हेतु

धर्माग्नि मांगे आज तेरा पुरुषार्थ है |

यह यथार्थ है ||

Indian Comics Fandom Awards 2014 Final Tally

Indian Comics Fandom Awards 2014 Winners

*) - Best Blogger – Prashant Priyadarshi

*) - Best Cartoonist – Dheeraj ‘Dkboss’ Kumar

*) - Best Colorist – Ajay Thapa

*) - Best Reviewer – Neel Eeshu

*) - Best Comics Collector – Arun Prasad

*) - Best Fanfiction Writer – Karan Virk

*) - Best Fan Artist – Tadam Gyadu

Silver Positions (Runner-ups) – Indian Comics Fandom Awards 2014

*) - Blogger – Deven Pandey

*) - Cartoonist – Vineed Vijayan Ritchie

*) - Colorist – Jyoti Singh

*) - Reviewer – Mukesh Gupta

*) - Comics Collector – Abhinav Dutta

*) - Fanfiction Writer – Avijit Misra (Avi)

*) - Fan Artist – Amit Albert

Bronze Positions (Rank # 3) – Indian Comics Fandom Awards 2014

*) - Blogger – Anupam Agarwal 

*) - Cartoonist – Soumendra Majumder 

*) - Colorist – Mangesh Suryawanshi

*) - Reviewer – Rahul Kochar

*) - Comics Collector – Mehfooz Ali

*) - Fanfiction Writer – Frank Knot (Rahul Kumar)

*) - Fan Artist – Navneet Singh & Harish Atharv Thakur [Tie]

Indian Comics Fandom - Hall of Fame 2014

*) - Sanjay Singh
*) - Dheeraj Dkboss Kumar
*) - Mayank Sharma
*) - Arjun Mediratta 

Nominations by from dozens of popular active-defunct communities, groups and discussion  boards dedicated to Indian Comics. Annual Awards (first poll event - 2012),  this year (2014) Total 262 nominations in 8 categories. 2013 winners of a category not included in the same category this year.

P.S. Don't forget to follow these Champions, Runner-ups and all other nominated awesome talents & checkout their profiles on various websites. Couple of Non-Poll categories results later this year.

#IndianComicsFandom #FreelanceTalents #ICFAwards

एक डॉक्टर की मौत (1991) फिल्म समीक्षा - मोहित शर्मा (ज़हन)

एक सच्ची घटना पर आधारित फिल्म। यह ईमानदार प्रयास प्रकाश डालता है भारतीय सरकारी प्रणाली और उसके मुलाज़िमों पर ना सिर्फ सुस्त, कामचोर, घूसखोर होते है बल्कि किसी सच्चे, मेहनती इंसान को भी आगे बढ़ता नहीं देखना चाहते चाहे इसमें दूसरो का भला ही क्यों ना छिपा हो। असल घटना तो  लम्बी और दर्दनाक थी इसलिए इस रूपांतरण में कुछ बातें बदली गयी पर फिर भी फिल्म का संदेश साफ़ मिला। 

कहानी एक डॉक्टर-वैज्ञानिक की है जो वर्षो तक कुष्ट रोग पर अनुसंधान करता है, अपनी निजी ज़िन्दगी और करियर को दांव पर लगा कर। इस धुन में सवार वो अपने करीबियों, खासकर  अपनी पत्नी को बहुत तकलीफ पहुँचाता है पर वो उसका साथ निभाते है। डॉक्टर की मेहनत में कोई कमी नहीं थी पर काम का अगला कदम यानी व्यवस्था और उसके भ्रष्ट लोगो पर निर्भरता। इसमें दुखी डॉक्टर अपेक्षित व्यवहार नहीं करता और कई किताबी ज्ञान  रखने वाले नाम के महकमे वालो को नाराज़ कर बैठता है। इस बीच डैमेज कंट्रोल और काउन्सलिंग की कोशिशें होती है, करीबी समझाते है पर सब बेकार। तो इस अदने डॉक्टर-वैज्ञानिक और सिस्टम के बीच किसकी जीत हुयी, इसके लिये फिल्म देखिये। 

फिल्म का प्लाट तो बेहतरीन और अलग है ही पटकथा में तपन सिन्हा द्वारा की गयी मेहनत, रिसर्च साफ़ झलकती है। वैज्ञानिक भाषा, एक्सप्लेनेशन, बैकड्रॉप कमाल के है। थोड़ी कमी बस बजट में दिखी जो समानांतर सिनेमा में आम बात है। अभिनय के मामले में फिल्म के मुख्य किरदार पंकज कपूर डॉक्टर रॉय के किरदार में घुल गये है, उनकी कोई सीमा ही नहीं लगती और दर्शक के मन में अलग-अलग दृश्यों में वो किरदार अनुरूप क्या कर देंगे देखने की जिज्ञासा रहती है, ऐसा बहुत कम कलाकारों के साथ होता है। डॉक्टर रॉय की पत्नी की निरंतर शांत  व्यथा तत्कालीन सिनेमा में शबाना आज़मी के अलावा शायद ही कोई निभा पाता। युवा पत्रकार बने इरफ़ान खान ने सीमित संवादों और दृश्यों के बावजूद भी दिल जीत लिया। विजयेंद्र घाटके के किरदार का उचित प्रयोग नहीं किया गया जैसा इस उम्दा अभिनेता के साथ अक्सर होता आया है। अब इनकी उम्र की वजह से इनका करियर भी सेमी-रिटायरमेंट में चला गया है, हालाँकि इनकी बेटी सागरिका घाटके अब बॉलीवुड में सक्रीय है। । दीपा साही को अपने मसाला किरदारों से अलग पर सीमित रोल मिला।  

भारतीय परिवेश के इस पेचीदा विषय को समझाते हुए लिखी गयी पटकथा कुछ जगह मौलिक बात से हटती और टूटती सी लगती है जो स्वाभाविक बात है  पर विषय की गहराई और मार्मिकता कम नहीं होती। फिल्म का ट्रीटमेंट आपको दूरदर्शन के स्वर्णिम युग की याद भी दिलवायेगा, इस फिल्म को मै 8/10 रेटिंग दूंगा। 

421 Brand Beedi Grade - A (Rating 8/10)