Video Editing Problems

I was having so much trouble editing the video of Guru Arjun Dev ji. The video had recorded at speeds almost twice as fast as the audio so it required a lot of editing to sync up the audio with the video.

Anyway, the project file had become corrupt and parts of the video would go missing after I would export the full video. I exported it anyway and tried to patch up the missing bits. It didn't work.

Today I was messing with it and ended up splitting up the large project into smaller files and that solved all these problems!

I don't know why I didn't think of this before!

 Prince of Patiala

Weekly Sketch #12: Patialvi Baba

I was going through older work and was inspired by a few images I had published, Khalistani Warrior and this random dude. Remember that guy? From 2009

So in the same spirit and theme I present this week's sketch. It started off as a simple line drawing. I went back and shaded it in and was satisfied. It was a great addition to my sketchbook. Something that was both familiar and novel. But my whole sketchbook was all black and white pencil drawings. I decided to pull out my watercolours and coloured him in. Hesistant as first, I put down a few shades on his left leg (the other left). I figured if I mess up it will look less bad. But it turned out well overall. I am happy with it.

Click on the image to check out the full thing at Deviantart.

How do you kill that thing with a sword, seriously?

I had been spending some time playing video games. I had been taking breaks in between painting of Hari Singh Nalwa and replayed Prince of Persia... so this was inevitable... just like when I took breaks in between painting Guru Nanak and ended up with this.
I always wondered what would happen to a character if he/she was a Sikh. How might they develop? So I thought to myself, what if Prince of Persia was a Sikh? But with any character, I don't just end it there, I mean I don't just picture Prince with a turban and beard. What I picture is unique to me. Even though it is based on an existing character. It's not exactly that character if you know what I mean. The representation in my mind is what I see in that character. They say that there is a style inherent in everything, and that an artist merely seeks to capture this style onto the canvas. It is said that Renoir, a French Artist, stared out into the open sea, just gazing deeply into its waves. However, what came about on his canvas was not the sea... click here to see that painting (Viewers discretion is advised)
So I got to work, and did some concept art for the character. 'Patialvi Yuvraj' has this ethereal arm, a sort of celestial, magical arm that he receives once he is loses his own, in battle. It connects him to this other dimension from which the "material" of the new arm comes from. So not only can he travel between our dimension and this other dimension, his arm itself provides him with many skills and tools that he uses on his adventures... So although, the Patialvi Prince was inspired by the Persian one, he is somewhat of a different character... And although, the current name "Prince of Patiala" is a sort of an amusing, satirical name, the character definitely isn't. His story, personality and powers - available only to me currently - often revolve around in a fine mist in my mind. They are there as small floating water droplets that must be collected to get a glass of water because I am very thirsty right now. I will have a glass or two after I publish this post.
Aside from everything - this kind of thing simply gives me inspiration for my art. It gives me more reasons to draw. It gives me more to draw. It may not be novel but it stimulates my artistic juices. It grows within me. It (will) eventually lead me to create completely novel characters, inspired more deeply from Sikh religion, culture and aesthetics. Sikh religion, culture and aesthetics themselves have yet to bloom from the strife, disinterest and fanaticism that cloud them...

In this particular piece, I was studying anatomy when I drew the Prince. I took that anatomy and attempted to distort it with the Jinn. Ya I know Prince is running away. He's running away only to find platforms (in an arena?) to climb, walls to run, metallic hole things (that have been strategically placed there by the developers) to stick his dagger in ... he can make a dagger out of his ethereal hand, let's go with that... continuing on, poles to swing and columns to leap to, to finally get on top of the dude (Press X/ Swing Wiimote at the right moment) latch on with the weapon, climb up to the skull and grab his eyelid (God of War style) and spill the contents of the eyes in the arena. He will try and grab you, you gotta Press X/ Swing Wiimote again right when he does so... ... screw this here's the painting.

I'm back! Yipee!

This is probably the longest leave from my blog. Well, I didn't post for two reasons. One, I didn't know what to talk about lol, and two, I was concentrated on my exams. Yep! you heard it right. I was focused! No painting, no wasting time googling random things. It was just me and my books.
haha, no that's a lie, actually. I did fool around, I did paint here and there but not much, which is a big improvement, considering last semester...
http://sikhiart.blogspot.com/2008_11_01_archive.html

Anyways, I'm back and running. I haven't began my work on Sikh History just yet. Right now, I am just painting anything that comes to mind.

Blue Jaye - my take on GWDill's character
Nihang Singh - the sketch but coloured in... for no apparent reason...
Demon King - Miri Piri: The Blades of the Guru

I had been working on Battle of Chamkaur and Mai Bhago over the school year. If you've been to www.sikhiart.com then you've seen the updated Battle of Chamkaur. I will soon be posting an update on Mai Bhago.

That's all for now, my summer break has begun so now I will have all the time I need, to paint. Keep an eye on the blog, I am going to be posting more frequently.

Miri Piri - The Blades of the Guru

Well, I had mentioned that I was planning a comic called Miri Piri. A fantasy world devastated by all sorts of corruption and "evil" where two Sikhs are born. They literally join forces and take on the main antagonist. I don't want to reveal too much yet. We are still working on the story but the main framework has been laid out. Miri Piri were the swords of Guru Hargobind Sahib ji, the sixth guru of the Sikhs and the story revolves around obtaining his long lost swords to save the world.

I had been thinking about Miri Piri for a few years now. I wanted to team up with writers and artists who are willing to put some effort to turn this fantasy world into reality. A while back I had an old friend join my team which intially consisted of me and my sister. And just recently I had another fella offering his services. I will introduce them with another update, later on.

Currently, I am looking for someone who can work with me to create the images in the comic. I am looking for someone with an artistic ability. I don't really care about what style you draw in, as long as you have a clear understanding of the human figure and are able to lay down environments including forts, mountains and many other kinds of terrains and architecture. Other than that you must keep in touch with the team and be able to spend some time each week on the project.

Here is a Sikh Shield Warrior and a Sikh Swordsmaster concept. These were developed quite a while ago. The shield warrior has been up on my Deviantart gallery for ages.

I think now would also be good time to post the Khalistani Warrior concept I had been reworking. I think the red armour looks totally awesome! I gave him a saif (two handed sword) instead of that small military pickaxe. overall, I must say I did a good job. Its still a WIP but I doubt I'll work on it any further, any time soon. Here's how the original looked like.

Other Projects

I pushed aside some projects to make time for painting Sikh history and because I get bored from working on one thing for two long. Here are two WIPs from my fictional fantasy world called Miri Piri. it's something I have been dreaming about ever since I played Warcraft 3 and World of Warcraft. Note: These are NOT real! I just had to say that because I have had this guy... let's just say he got pissed off at Khalistani Warrior (scroll down the comments to see).

Anyway, I have to say Khalistani Warrior turned out to be one of my most famous pieces judging by the views it got. It was the first painting I did when I got my tablet. Before that I painted with a mouse and it was a huge pain in the... ... hand. My Sarbloh Warriors concept/game art was done completely with mouse. That was how I really got into this digital painting business.

Well, without further delay here is another Khalistani Warrior WIP:

So Khalistan consists of this huge castle surrounded by a few villages, in the middle in Dead Lands and west of the Himalayan mountain ranges. It is north of the Southern Dynasty.

Some background storyline I am working on:
"One night, when the Sikhs are celebrating Vaisakhi, the Southern Dynasty with their hordes of infantry, elephants, monkey warriors and Mountain Giants, attack the castle. The Southern Dynasty who was once their closest ally had chose to betray them and besiege their castle. They took over Khalistan, after putting up a small fight with the Sikhs, who had fled north in an attempt to save whatever that was left of their kind. They were met with the Dragons, who were being hunted down by the Undead and the Western Alliance.
The Dragons and Khalistanis joined forces and took back the great Dragon city of Dormgore...
He is now a warrior of the race known as the Dragon Riders."

Talking about Dragon Riders, here is a Dragon Rider WIP:

BTW his sword is the Khanda symbol, with Waheguru (wonderful teacher AKA God) imprinted in it.
Currently, I am working on a comic based on Miri Piri. Depending on how things go, my plan is to release the first issue by the end of August this year but I doubt I'll finish the issue by then since there are currently only two people working on it, including myself. I have pictured it being turned into a game as well, but we'll see how things go.