Illustration Friday - Flavor

You may be vanilla
You may be chocolate
You may be caramel
You may even be neapolitan
No matter what flavor you are
Happy new year to you!

Illustration Friday - Holiday

With the year-end holidays, we're also close to bidding 2005 farewell and usher in a new year. May the new year bring all (or at least some) that you wish for. Happy Holidays, folks!

Illustration Friday - Imagine

Illustration Friday - Surprise

Flik the vampire watches in surprise as the sun warms his palms
No sizzling, no tingling, and definitely no instantaneous disintegration
Should have known the vampire movies are nothing but
A bunch of bullsh** ...
A little sunshine ain't gonna harm nobody
Not even vampires

Illustration Friday - Blue

Here's a girl, I'll call her Ruth
Who she is, I have no clue
But there's one thing I know is true
Is that she always look so blue

My new toys!

Bought myself these figurines from Tim Burton's 'Nightmare Before Christmas' and the new range from 'Corpse Bride'. They are pretty well-made with good detailing, and all made in China (as is everything else these days).

Illustration Friday - Small

It is a misery
To be the smallest in class

The smallest is always made to sit in the front row
So as to get a clear and unobstructed view of the blackboard
Or rather, so that the teacher can get a clear and unobstructed view of YOU

Even if you arrive extra-early on the first day of school
To ‘reserve’ a much-coveted seat in the second-last row
(Research shows the second-last row tends to be the blind-spot for teachers)
But alas, when the teacher arrives
You will, without fail, be summoned to sit in the front row

Let me tell you the hazards of sitting in the dreaded front row …

You have no place to hide
There is little opportunity to doze off undetected
You need to look perpetually attentive
And nod your head with thoughtful diligence to avoid being called to answer questions

In the days of blackboard and chalk
You will have inhaled enough chalk dust to coat your lungs many times over
No wonder I looked slightly dazed in those class photos
Must have been high on chalk

Besides getting up-close and personal with the teacher’s wrath or unwanted affections
Your face lies in the same latitude with the biggest ass in class
Hence the need to brace the dangers of a bio-chemical gas attack
(Good luck if the teacher loves curry or has a gas-inducing diet)
That’s not all, you also need to duck from spittle
And have a piece of tissue on hand to keep your table dry

Oh, what a misery it is
To be the smallest in class

Illustration Friday - Free

I wasn't intending to do such a girly piece ... but it just turned out that way after the colours went in ... and all those flowers sure helped too. Does it look like a tampon advertisement to you? Not my (initial) intention, cross my heart.

Blocked ...

I think I'm suffering from a doodler block ... What to draw? What to draw?

Illustration Friday - Strength

Had to overcome the lethargy of not having participated in IF for a few weeks ... so I did a pencil sketch as a warm-up exercise. Here's a straight-forward interpretation of this week's theme! Is she scary or what!?

Picture Postcards from New Zealand

Photo sharing! Here are some of the shots taken during my South Island vacation ...

Back from the Clouds

I'm back from my (very short) 16-day vacation to South Island, New Zealand, the Land of Clouds. It's been a good break and I've tried a good many crazy things like jumping off a plane and swinging into a canyon. I've also gone upclose with beautiful snow-capped mountains, glacier lakes and moss-covered beech forests ... and hopefully taken some pictures that do justice to the awesome beauty of wide open spaces.

Tagged!

I've been tagged by Toyebot to post 20 random about myself, so here goes!

1. I can't paint with brushes and paint.
2. I enjoy toilet humor, the kind you get in "There's Something About Mary".
3. I think Hayao Miyazaki and Tim Burton make the best animated movies.
4. I am a fan of Japanese food, anime, gadgets and household items -- they're neat.
5. I am somewhat a neat freak.
6. I am too skinny or my metabolism rate is too high.
7. I procrastinate a lot.
8. I hate to wait.
9. I can't stand it when my hair grows long enough to touch my ears.
10. I have the hand-eye coordination of a worm -- can't play ball games.
11. I like to wear shades of grey, blue, black and white.
12. I have lots of clothes but nothing to wear.
13. I am glad I don't have to wear a tie to work.
14. I have a driver's license but can't drive.
15. I can sit around all day without uttering a word.
16. Techno music gives me a splitting headache.
17. I love trees, especially those of gigantic proportions.
18. I love Apple's stuff, wish I own all the mouth-watering gadgets.
19. I love gelato, chocolates and cake, but I cough a lot if I eat too much sugary stuff.
20. I have never seen a snowflake (packed snow, yes, but not a snow flake).

Well, the rule is to pass the tag along... so I'm tagging Rowantree, Alison and Edric, if you guys haven't been tagged yet! Have fun!

Illustration Friday - Cold

In the biting cold and falling snow
Cowers a little match girl
Whose heart is filled with woe
Hungry and shivering with cold
She wishes some matches she has sold
To warm her hands numb with cold
She strikes a match to see it glow

A Rhapsody of Roots 根之联想

This is my first post in Chinese. The picture was originally drawn for Illustration Friday's topic, 'Roots', a few weeks ago. I wanted to use roots as a metaphor for how people can't be judged from the surface, but didn't quite know how to put across what I was thinking in words. I'll try to translate my Mandarin blab here ...


A Rhapsody of Roots

Should people be trees, the soul shall be roots ...
Neglect not the roots that lie beneath the visible

Roots that probe deep ...
Tell of a solid foundation?
Or an indication of narrow-mindedness?

Roots that spread wide ...
Show a willingness to accomodate all?
Or simply a being too shallow to boot?

The same grain feeds a hundred different peoples
The same soil nurtures a hundred different roots
Have you attended to your roots lately?


Footnote: Eh, I hope it's not too corny :cp

Illustration Friday - Lost

I thought I'd try something different this week, using just my drawing pens to complete my sketch. The result doesn't look very satisfactory, and it sure wears out my ink a lot faster than usual.

Another 'Gorillaz' Attempt ...

Here's my second attempt at Gorillaz-styled characters, I hope it's an improvement from the previous!

Illustration Friday - Float

Lucy is a firm believer in being fully prepared for life's unforeseen calamities ...

'Gorillaz' Self-Portrait ... Urgh

Motorola is promoting its new iTunes phone ROKR with a character design contest (http://sg.motorola.com/music/gorillaz/). I'm a great admirer of the 'Gorillaz' style but simply lack the vibe to create something so cool. Nevertheless, I decided to give it a try by first drawing a self-portrait ala Gorillaz. Resulting in this ...

Sigh, I think it looks more 'Stripperella' than 'Gorillaz' ... got to try a lot harder.

Treat or trick!

Alright, I know it's a tad early ... but I can't resist! The Asian ghosts want to go treat-or-trick-ing too! Happy Halloween (way in advance) :-)

Illustration Friday - Fresh

When i think 'fresh', I think 'fresh milk'.
When I think 'milk', I think 'cows'.
I always feel cows are unfortunate animals cursed with the ridiculous udder and having to endure being milked. For all it suffers, methinks it wouldn't hurt for cows to have some kind of attitude!

Little Red Riding Hood

Illustration Friday - Escape

I dun wanna go potty!
I dun wanna poop any!
Yes i mean it, mommy!
Just stay away from meeeee!!!

Heh heh, based on a true account of my colleague's toddler girl. She really did escape from a session with the potty, with her poop marking her escape path. I thought it's so cute and funny, though my colleague didn't seem to think so (quite obviously so, I wasn't the one who had to pick up the mess of turd).

With every problem, there is a solution... introducing the state-of-the-art potty - I call it the iPoop! Will the gadgets help overcome potty-phobia?

Illustration Friday - Depth

Deep in the depths
The guru holds his breath
His thoughts his faith
His will his strength
He seeks the truth
That lies beneath
Down in the depths

Illustration Friday - Roots

I was stumped by this week's topic ... sketched a couple of trees with roots aplenty but they just didn't seem right. So I took a break and went to the kitchen to hunt for some chomp. And there it was, inspiration in the form of a piece of ginger. It looked like a figure with limbs and quite full of action. With root vegetables in mind, here's my take for this week - the rock band THE ROOTZ! Rock on!

Soccer Fever

No apparent reason for this ... had the urge to draw an elephant kicking a ball.

Illustration Friday - Dreams

Strangely, I seem to be getting lighter
I take a deep breath
And find my feet lifted off the ground
With my toes, I give myself a little push from earth
The next thing I know ... I'm way up in the air
Gravity no longer applies on me

Like a fish in water, I glide in the open space
Changing directions; twisting and turning; doing multiple backflips
It's all within my control
I'm a bird
I'm Superman
I'm the Monkey God
Riding with the clouds
With the breeze on my face

Where do I go now?
How far will I dare to go?
What if I suddenly lose it and fall?
Oh, who cares ...
For once I'll cease worrying
And enjoy the utter happiness
Of dreaming a flying dream

Lizard Dude

Just something I sketched for fun ... added the reddish background to give a bit of depth.

Illustration Friday - Reflection

I like this week's topic "Reflection", a number of ideas flashed through my mind. So for this week's Illustration Friday, I'll be extra-productive and do 2 drawings... I'm rarely so hardworking, y'know.

Reflecting in a corner with a sore bottom can bring about mixed emotions...

It's a nasty habit, but nose-picking can be oh-so-pleasurable :8p (8 for the big nostrils!).

Illustration Friday - Wisdom

After getting 'caught' redhanded for not posting an original idea for this week's topic (Thanks Kathy and Carla, I need nudges like this to keep me drawing and thinking :-)), I cracked my head over what I can do for 'Wisdom', and nothing much surfaced... So I decided to draw from my most recent mishap. I just had a minor surgical procedure done on my rear end (shan't go into details in case it grosses anyone out), which is an unkind reminder of the importance of eating right. So here's what I have... The Wisdom of a High-fibre Diet! It's a pretty horrible piece of crap, another attempt on my colour pencils that have not seen daylight for quite a while already. Looking at the state of this piece, I think it's wise to keep the pencils in storage. Darn, I can't paint (even with colour pencils!).

I traced this from Norman Rockwell's "Doctor and Doll" some time ago, in a bid to practice shading using a mechanical pencil with 2B lead. Didn't do a good job with the lighting and the facial expressions (which are really hard to duplicate), but it was fun filling in the details. The expression on the doctor's face is really the essence of the piece, and I feel it's quite apt for this week's topic "Wisdom".

Happy Birthday, Singapore!

It's Singapore's 40th National Day today. More importantly, it's a public holiday, yay!

Monday...

Another typical trip on the train home on a typical Monday... little girl in her PE (Physical Education) attire; highly-strung lady thinking of all the chores to do back home; power-suited lady going at it on her sleek top-of-the-range mobile phone; and me just feeling kinda dazed...