DOCTOR WHO: The Time of the Doctor

The other week, I was given an opportunity to write a guest article about the Eleventh Doctor. I wrote for my friend George's blog "Behold the Geek" and you can read my article here. I might write a new article for NO REAL PLOT! but for now, I'm writing about "The Time of the Doctor," Doctor Who's 2013 Christmas special and Eleventh Doctor's final episode.

The video starts off with a narrated back story about a planet and a town called Christmas where a strange signal rang out and attracted creatures and beings from all over the galaxy. Soon, the Doctor receives a phone call that reunites him with Clara and they learn from a cyberman's detached head that the strange signal is coming from Gallifrey. The Doctor goes to investigate and encounters almost all his old enemies as well as familiar dangers that prophesied his end on Trenzalore.

DISNEY: Frozen (2013)

From the first moment the heavenly chorus sang and I watched as crisp ice crystals dance on the screen to form the title logo of Disney's Frozen, I felt the film was going to be magical. When I watched it a second time, it was even better. It wasn't so much that I have a bias for powerful vocals and dazzling animations (I do, actually) but I just felt that Frozen was going to be very, very good. I didn't know it was going to be so much more.

DOCTOR WHO: The Eleventh Doctor's Sonic

I pinched this entry from the previous one about the Tenth Doctor's sonic screwdriver. Reason? The post was getting too long and I felt there could be more to say about Tenth's Doctor's gadget replicas. This is Eleventh Doctor's sonic screwdriver, which I bought from Amazon. It's slightly bigger than Tenth's and has more features, basically the claw head that opens as it did in the series.

DOCTOR WHO: 50th Anniversary

Finally, I got to writing about this convention...or should I say, THE convention last celebrating the 50 YEAR ANNIVERSARY of the popular BBC series Doctor Who. I had an absolutely lovely time, not just at the convention but touring around London and parts of Europe. But I'm here to blog about the convention; the tour is yet in another post (mostly because I haven't scanned in drawings yet.)

DOCTOR WHO: The Tenth Doctor's Sonic

Hold a moment, we'll liven up this blog with a feature on sonic screwdrivers. That's right. Because sonics are cool. Well, I have three of the gadgets: two of the 10th Doctor's and one of 11th's. But today, I'm writing about 10th's sonic since it has has two versions. One is the plain blue LED one and the other has the purple UV bulb with other end that doubles as a pen. I'll be starting with the UV sonic, since that's what I bought first from Amazon.

DOCTOR WHO: Doctor Who Adventures #333 & #334

Hello everyone, I just returned from my trip to London for the Doctor Who 50th Anniversary. It was loads of fun and the best convention I've ever attended! I have hundreds of pictures to sort and several travel sketches to scan, I don't know where to start. But since this blog has been dormant for a while, I'll post something. I'll blog about the convention in my next post! Stay tuned but click the link to read my reviews of the two Doctor Who Adventures magazines.

Best of Anime 2013 Convention

Hello everyone! Here are some pics from my visit to the Best of Anime 2013 convention I went to last September 14 at the SMX Convention Center in the Philippines. They had great quality cosplayers that time so it was a really fun photowalk for me. More pictures after the break an over at the NO REAL PLOT Facebook page.

NENDOROID: Saber 10th Anniversary Edition

I have a new miniature plastic friend! This time it's Nendoroid #250: Saber 10th Anniversary Edition by Good Smile Company. I bought her at a decent price a few weeks ago from a fellow collector, who moved on to another collection. This makes Saber 10th my 2nd Saber Nendoroid since one of my best friends gave me the #121 Super Movable Edition last Christmas. Which leads me to say that Saber 10th is actually the original Super Movable edition but with a more shinier, more awesome, metallic armor.

ARTBOOK: Last Exile: Fam the Silver Wing - Aerial Log

I finally got a copy of the Aerial Log for Last Exile: Fam the Silver Wing. Aerial Log is their fancy title for "artbook." I should've pre-ordered this book last March because sadly! Amazon JP gave out free posters of the cover photo then! OHWELL.

The artbook entices you with its beautiful dust jacket as illustrated by the show's concept artist, Range/Renji Murata. The jacket shows off a cute collage of the main characters. Just the good guys, actually and they look gorgeous. Range does a terrific job drawing the cast each with their own unique expressions and gestures. (NOTE: the limited poster offered during the initial release is a bigger version of the jacket. I can imagine how lovely their adorable faces would've looked like hanging on my wall.)

COMICS: Flight, Volume 8

cover art by Kazu Kibuishi

Hey gang! (gang?? Who still says 'gang' nowadays?) Today we're reviewing Flight, Volume 8. The last in the series of a comic anthology, edited by Kazu Kibuishi (Amulet), featuring many brilliant upcoming artists. Volume 8 came out two years ago in 2011. I'm writing about it now because the second Explorer series (Flight's successor, also compiled by Kazu) is coming out next month and I wanted to do a feature on Flight before Explorer. Besides, there aren't so many reviews about Flight on the internet even though it's has a great variety of art styles and different genres of stories.

NENDOROID: Shinguji Sakura and Koubu

Hello everyone! I'm back with news. I'd like to welcome you to the new version of "No Real Plot" where we will write more reviews about art and art books, comics, figures and collectibles, the occasional food and fashion, places we visit and other wonderful things we see.

I've felt that as a sketchblog, NO REAL PLOT! has become really stale (mostly because I don't have any artwork to post) so I decided to liven things up a bit by blogging about other art-related things. I thought of creating a new blog for my artwork but decided to keep this as well, because I really do love the title, "NO REAL PLOT!" If you can remember, I took the title from a tagline concept for my comic concept back in 2009. The comic is still unfinished but I am working on it, promise. I'm just selfish and paranoid too shy to post previews and ideas. Anyway, I'm excited to see how this new blogging feature turns out. Please do stay, dear readers and subscribers, because I will continue to post artwork. Thank you for those who have stuck with me all this time. I hope you enjoy the new direction NO REAL PLOT! is heading.

As always, feel free to post your thoughts about this news and any other comments you might have about the blog. Thank you very much! Now, onto the REAL article.

We're starting the new phase of the blog with a feature of Nendoroid 235 - Shinguji Sakura and Koubu set made by the Good Smile Company. I actually bought this last year from a local online store, Onegai Oniichan Hobby Shop, and just decided to start blogging with her because well, she's pretty and she's my first Nendoroid figurine. The first thing I can say about her is: she's sooooo PINK!

The Lego and the Bees

Hey, who killed the bees??

I'm supposed to be drawing and painting....buuuuut sometimes, I can't help but make pictures like this. Anyway, photoshoots like these help stimulate my creative juices and makes me feel better! Who doesn't have fun playing and doing something different?

These scenes were initially inspired by the number of dead bees I've been finding around my house late summer... It was really strange since I've never seen bees dying around before. I felt kinda sad that they're dead for no obvious reason (unless it's global warming and I heard bees aren't good friends with temperature changes..) but I always found them in pairs so it's safe to say a bee didn't die alone..hahahaha

Don't travel alone.

My current obsession and lack of new Doctor Who episodes led me to create these scenes. I based the setting on some Series 4 episodes and the subtle random trivia in the series about the bees disappearing. The mini photo shoot was fun and the models didn't complain one bit. Now, there isn't anything else spectacular about these photos, I just wanted to tell a story and try out some photo-editing techniques I found (and forgot by the time you read this)

More, hi-res photos will be posted over at Flick account http://www.flickr.com/norealplot

Hello Japan

Hello friends! No new artwork yet, since most of my projects are on a non-disclosure contract which is really really sad. Anyway, I'm working on some personal illustrations which I will get around to posting.

Anyway! Here's some photo journal from me. Sometime last March I went to Japan. It's a dream come true because I've always wanted to visit that beautiful country. Although the timing was awkward (after winter, so not quite snowy; but before spring, so not quite alive) my stay there was very very nice.

First I went to the Matsumoto for my sister's violin convention. First off, the Suzuki convention was fun. There were violins and flutes, cellos and pianos, and students from all over the world. It was a very exciting experience and it inspired me to pick up my flute and roll my fingers over the piano again.

Now, on to Matsumoto! Matsumoto is a lovely province with its samurai castle-like houses and pretty cherry blossom trees everywhere. We stayed in the town of Matsumoto itself, where the Matsumoto Castle resides. We were able to tour that castle and some parts of the city because we, as convention participants get free public rides for some reason.

The people in Japan are kind and courteous. Even with a language barrier, most of them will try to help you anyway they can. Thankfully, I know a little Japanese (from my anime days) and it was interesting to be able to try out what little I knew.

Another thing I liked about Japan is the clean, clean air. You can walk some miles from your hotel to wherever and not worry about getting smog in your lungs. The environment is clean and pretty, which makes walking all the more delightful. The only hindrance might be the weather, which is comfortable at 9-Celsius during the daytime. At night it can drop as low as 6-Celsius freeze, and I mean really teeth-chattering, finger-numbing freeze. Still, it was a good experience.

What else can I say? The food is delicious; I tried everything possible from ramen to sushi to authentic street takoyaki. It definitely is a lovely place. I want to go back someday.

Cats in Love

Not exactly a late Valentine's pic.. But my cat has been wandering far from the house lately and I think it's because he finally found a mate or something. There was a female orange cat he was rubbing noses with and I thought they looked cute together so I decided to draw something up for the month.

Hope you like it! 

HELLO 2013

Wow, look at that. It's February already tomorrow. Time really does fly and I feel like it's slipping through so quickly.. I just finished a project for a video game company. I made their backgrounds but I'm not allowed to post the art online or talk about it publicly yet. It's a shame because I was really proud of what I've done. I developed a working pattern and went through forced self-training so I learned all these new skills that I can apply to future artworks.

Right now, I'm relaxing and dabbling with painting again. Since The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey came out last December, I'm itching to draw the dwarves. While that's not done, here are pictures from my New Year's party taken from my new Canon 1100D DSLR! I was soooo happy when my dad got me one. I haven't figured out all the controls yet, though.

lookit dem pretty fireworks

 

I've spammed you with fireworks. I was so ecstatic because I couldn't do capture those well with my old digicam. I still love my digicam though. I have too many hobbies. Anyway, a belated Happy New Year wish for you, dear reader! May you have a blessed one.