Illustration Friday - Song

A song changes how you feel
A song brings back memories of places, people, and even smells
A song triggers the unexpected
From the deep recesses of the mind

Illustration Friday - Simple

Flame

I think this is a result of watching too much Japanese anime ... I'm at the final ten episodes of the 'Bleach' series. Looks quite hell-ish, doesn't it?

Illustration Friday - Chair

It's nice to get lost in a book
While sitting in your favorite chair.

Valen Tin Man

My aquarium used to look like this ...

Feeling nostalgic about how healthy my aquarium once looked, now it's just a mess.

Illustration Friday - Glamor

I could've used last week's post for this week, it was almost as if I had foresight :-) Anyway, here's a quick one: Glamoretta, the most glamorous superhero around (at least she thinks so), with a diamond-studded insignia no less.

Illustration Friday - Cats

I started off with a simple idea - Puss in Boots, for this week's topic. Then I thought I'd make it a Glamor Puss wearing Prada. But it still looked kind of plain, so I decided to give Puss a name and make her a catty magazine's covergirl. I think MEOW has all the basic ingredients to make it, there's Sex (some cats really need tips on those awful catcalls), there's Violence (wreak havoc with killer claws!), there're dog Jokes (101 of them) and there's even juicy Gossip. I think it'll sell like hot ... fish!

Welcome to Constantown!

Digging out some old stuff done many years ago ... this is a series of interface for a children's educational website. They were done in Director, pixel by pixel, it was the only way I knew how to draw on the computer then.

More old stuff ...

More old stuff I digged out from long, long ago! I want to post these as a record for myself in case I lose them in time to come.

Character sketches for a comic series depicting a family ... that was stopped before it barely started, as usual.

This dates all the way back to my uni days! Something done for a hostel publication. I remember 'No More Lonely Nite' was the theme for a pasar-malam (night bazaar) organised by the student body in the hostel I was staying in. There were stalls selling food, award ceremonies, free movie screenings, people throwing water-bombs at one another (not sure how this became part of a night bazaar), all at a time when people from some faculty were having their exams. It was quite crazy.

Illustration Friday - E is for ...

E is for ... a blotched Experiment.

Having seen many great-looking illustrations done solely with acrylic, I thought I'd get some to 'play' with too. Since acrylic dries faster than watercolor (which I'm an absolute disaster with), I thought it may be easier to work with. But ... the result speaks for itself. I simply have no technique, I wield the brush as if it's a colored pencil, and have no idea what to do with all the unevenness and blotches, as well as how much water to mix the paint with.

It is Exasperating.

I'm thinking of signing up for a watercolour class ... but I have zero interest in painting landscapes (which is probably what watercolour classes do most of the time, I reckon). Advice, anyone?

Oh, the big boy in the image is an attempt to copy an illo done by the late Stephen Cartwright, whose work I just discovered from a colleague who's a big fan of his. It is from the story 'The Lonely Giant'. You may not see the resemblance because mine is a joke in comparison!

Illustration Friday - Sea

If only I could paint, I would do a great big painting of turquoise hues for this week's topic... but I can't. So, here's my alternate take, a 'sea' of people, something I have to negotiate everyday on the streets, on public transport, in the mall, etc. The relentless tide of people can get more than a little oppressive sometimes.

Oblivion

It's pretty amazing how we can be so oblivious of our own flaws, and so quick to spot those of others ...

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 ...