Finals are over and I'm in the midst of massively cleaning the household with Robert since the place has deteriorated into the epitome of 'student life in finals'. I have lots of things to post up, including pictures etc. That and I'm rushing props for my cosplay plans for Fanime.

Today I came across this video which I feel is really helpful to help people understand the difference in culture from both of the gaming giants of the world, America and Japan. It highlights the reasons as to why FPS and TPS are dominant in America and what fundamentally influences each nation's gaming story telling/style.

IMO its very interesting information even for people who aren't pursuing a career in gaming. 

THE MYTH OF THE GUN




On other matters, I'm super glad finals is over and I need to start working out how much people owe me for stuff they've bought. Anyone who originally asked me to help you get stuff, please inform me so I don't miss out on it. Thank you : D

Tell me what you guys think of the video too!

I sometimes feel as an artist, that whether it be in school or out of school, at times we don't share our sources of inspiration or the things that move us though we may never come to express ourselves in said medium. I've been very fortunate to have had people in my life who are willing to share with me their inspirations : ) In that sense that's perhaps why I've come to like Twitter so. It seems that its a way most of us choose to share such things.

I've recently been watching many short and gorgeous animations from Gobelins and aniBoom. Here are some of my favourites and I hope you enjoy them too : D I know they're pretty popular with most people so if you've seen it before, hopefully you'll enjoy watching it again : )


Garuda - Self explanatory I think.


Trois Petit Prois - I don't pretend to know French but this animation is a somewhat conceptual piece talking about the aftermath of World War I that were left unresolved which eventually led to a 'patching up' of Europe which eventually led to World War II as the underlying problems were not dealt with.


The Revolution

Pandore - A comical rendition of Pandora's Box

 

Apres la Pluie - A conceptual animation about a kid playing after the rain. Kind of reminds me of a trippy Tekkonkinkrit.

Sometimes The Star - A song from the Australian band 'Adelaide'. The animation is about a lost girl's journey through a surreal landscape yearning to make a connection with the people and places which seem so different yet so familiar. I can really connect to this piece because the feeling I get to it is akin to the feeling when I came overseas to study. At times I still do feel it too. I daresay I still feel it even when I go back home to Malaysia.

The only animation not from Aniboom nor Gobelins on my list here but I hope you enjoy it. The song is beautiful too.
 

I hope you all enjoyed that : D Please do share with me your inspirations as well be it art or videos <3

 

I'm aiming to post an LJ post at least once a week! I feel a little disconnected with my LJ friends >_<

So as many of you know, I recently moved to a new place in San Francisco. As a short life update, I now live in a nice 2 bedroom apartment with my one year boyfriend, Robert : )

We got a great deal on the place and we live at the foot of Nob Hill. Just so you know, this hill will burn anyone's leg fat. I can guarantee that. The slope I live on is a good 40 degrees so wearing heels out of the house is like being a masochist. I'll update with more pictures soon of the new place, but for now! 

ART POST!

I was supposed to post up Arizona pictures but moving kind of threw me off with my work so I've been massively swamped. I realized I've never put these up either.

Preview of many oil paintings, works I did while on my Arizona trip (a sexy Ducati bike) and the first digital WIP people have seen from me in awhile. The WIP is for axtar 's story called "Kite-Flying". Read it HERE, its awesome!

 

( The smell of paint and oils mixed with the feel of my brush pens )

A little more of a random life update, I've actually found the Monster Hunter Pugi plush toys and I'm a little torn between the two. People on my LJ list *hinthint futomimii , sapphire_1010 *, help me pick between the two. Pictures are below.

 

 

SQUEEEEEEEE aren't they ADORABLE. TAT I'm just a teensy winsy bit more partial to the blue one but I really don't know! *sobs*

HELP ME OUT HERE GUYS TAT BUYING BOTH IS NOT AN ANSWER!

P.S. I watched and finished Puella Magi Madoka Magica and I love it to bits <3 Someone fangirl with me please.

So I've been sick the past week. Actually I've been coming down with something for awhile now but since I spent the weekend nursing my boyfriend's high fever, I think it rubbed off on me a little. The world was a little kinder to me since my Monday class got canceled so I managed to scrap time to finish my Tuesday's homework in time. I came down with the fever on Tuesday during class. Its a little better now but urgh, the headache is killing me.

So here's an art post before I go to crash on my bed.





( Fashion Illustrations and Bruce Timm studies )


Things I've learnt from the past few weeks.

- I draw still very comic book like. I need to simplify more but I'm getting the hang of it, I think.
- My line quality sucks balls but omg it looks worse when I scan it =-=;
- I actually find emulating styles of people who design for superhero cartoons albeit annoying. Mostly because of the men. They take the whole 'masked' crusader thing a little too far. There are SO many men wearing masks that its almost impossible to find references of a male character's face WITHOUT the mask. And even if I copy it line for line, my teacher will still say it doesn't really look like the style which I half believee is because we barely ever see them without the mask >_>; That or all the men look the same under the mask +_+;
- Being an illustrator doing 'animation' type linework is hard. For one thing, in illustration, I love to do the 'lost and found' line quality which is something HIGHLY disdained in animation work. Lets just say I'm working with balancing the conflict.
- I think I'm making progress. I wonder how stuff I design on my own after Week 6 will be.


It was supposed to snow tomorrow but judging from the unexpected amount of sunlight we've been getting today, I'd say that rumor's been shot down for good. While I'm a little disappointed, some part of me is happy that I won't have to put up with it being extra cold while trying to get better >_>;

Btw Malaysian/ Singapore peeps, is the Borders in the your country closing down as well? I know while I was in the UK a year and a half ago the company had gone bust and they're finally shutting down the ones all around San Francisco as well. I'm curious to know how its affecting the branches in Asia.

Ok technically they're not sketches. Long story short, I have an assignment every week from Character Design for Animation class where i have to emulate a style of particular artists per week. Emulating it from real life reference that is. Last week I did Phil Borassa's style (he's famous for his designs for Justice League and Young Justice) and I seriously got bored of drawing the super pretty models from the stock photos.

So, I chose to draw pictures of my friends instead O3O

Victims of the week are

watercrown , ultra_butterfly , _kazeki_ , yuncyn , kitmun  and kanasaii . All are some of my favourite girls in the world <3

Male victims are

shoji_tokairin ,Andrew Mar, Robert Chew, Quincy Boyd, Leo Dasso and maxsterism . Like wise amongst my list of favourite men <3

This weeks style is an emulation of Cheeks artistic style. I must admit its hard because its not so much the simplifying of features, just that he has such a cutesy style even for burly characters that I don't really know what expression or put on who. His shape language isn't very consistent either. This is of course added to my lack of experience and everything else in the world, thus resulting in me struggling with it >_>;

Be mindful of my terrible pencil work.


( Animated Friends >3< )


But yes, this was fun. I have to do this every week for about half a semester so if anyone wants to volunteer pictures fo you faces in interesting expressions for me to play with, please do so : D No guarantees that I'll use them but it'd be fun nonetheless XD

Willing victims, please sign up : D

I'll post about like next time. Been so busy OTL.

So guys, apparently Thundercats is getting a new animation series as opposed to a movie adaptation.

The new image just surfaced. The official one that is.



AND SUDDENLY THERE WAS A BISHOUNEN LOLOLOL.

You have encountered a wild bishounen. /lame

While I was vaguely worried for the series, the list of producers handling the show give me some hope. Among their previous productions, Avatar the Last Airbender, Ben 10 and Teen Titans is amongst them so I have a little courage.

In the mean time, please tell me I'm not the only one who chortled when I saw this image XD

Ganked this meme from dmjewelle .

YOU
1. Name:
2. Birthday:
3. Where you live:
4. What makes you happy:
5. Currently listening/the last thing you listened to:
6. Do you read my journal?
7. If yes, what makes it especially good or bad?:
8. An interesting fact about you:
9. Are you in love/do you have a crush at the moment?:
10. Favourite place to spend time:
11. Favourite lyric:
12. A memory you'd like to share (nice, funny, embarrassing, special, whatever!):
13. How did we meet here?
14. LOL: Have I, since you've known me, ever corrupted you into any kind of music/person/show/fandom? If so, what was it?

RECOMMEND
1. A film:
2. A book:
3. A band, a song, or album:
4. A TV show:

PLUS
1. One thing you like about me:
2. Two things you like about yourself:
3. Look at my friends-list and tell what you like about one of our mutual friends:
4. Put this in your journal! (if you so choose to do so)


Its a good way for me to catch up with the people on LJ : D Please do comment : 3

I've been on and off the computer ever since I got back. In all reality, I've yet to open my own laptop that I lugged back from the U.S. just because I've been in and out of the house so many times that I don't really see the point of doing so without just resorting to my brother's computer.

No, the million and one tabs I have open in my own firefox is not daunting me. No I am not doubting Malaysian connection. Just a little. Maybe. Urm, yeah.

So this meme has been running around livejournal and I thought its a pretty easy way to get around to summarizing my 2010?

1. What did you do in 2010 that you'd never done before?
GO TO THE UNITED STATES. See San Francisco with my own eyes and live in it. Deal with handling and grasping a thesis and struggling with roommate issues (quite unlike the one I had in the UK). Lots of personal stuff happened which I should only elaborate in the privacy of a severely closed conversation.

2. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
Honestly I don't usually make new year's resolutions because it feels like I won't be able to keep them or I'd feel really upset when things don't go as planned. I'm gonna try it out this year though.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Nope, but I know quite a few who are going to this year.

4. Did anyone close to you die?
Not this year, thankfully.

5. What countries did you visit?
USA. Singapore....Malaysia?

6. What would you like to have in 2011 that you lacked in 2010?
More travel, some actual time for cosplay. I didn't realize I've actually quite literally been on a year long hiatus from cosplay for now : X MORE DRIVE TO DRAW LOTS o3O

7. What date from 2010 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
February 2010. Got together with my current boyfriend and he's great : ) Made a whole bunch of friends in a new country which has smoothed the transition of coping with San Francisco.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Getting praise from industry people? Improving in art just a little? Broadening my perspective on a whole I guess. I don't think I've made any major achievements that can be weighed. I feel like I've made a lot of emotional progress in comparison to the previous years.

9. What was your biggest failure?
Moments of freaking out when alone and completely distressed. I wish I wouldn't do it at all. If anything, I'm glad it only happened at dire moments. Other than that, over thinking certain things during the dead of nights or the quiet of rainy mornings.

10.Did you suffer illness or injury?
Not in the first half of the year but in the Fall semester I injured my wrist and twisted my ankle twice. I'm still suffering a little from the latter but I'm getting properly treated for it (finally).

11. What was the best thing you bought?
Can't say. I don't think I've bought anything greatly significant to my life. I bought lots of clothes and items for amazing sale prices though!

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
Robert for being there when I needed him too, of course. Lynn for putting up with me when I had my moments and needed to rant. yuncyn  for humoring me, and she had to humor me A LOT.ciaee  as well. My family for supporting me even if at times I don't understand how/why they do it. Friends like futomimii  and sapphire_1010 who are doing their best in the industry back home. Friends like yuncyn ,maxsterism  and axtar who graduated and are doing their best in their jobs whereever they are. I think lots of people this year merit celebration regardless whether it applies directly to me or not.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
Quite a few people, on varying degrees of situations of course. Mostly personal though. I'm trying my best to put it behind me.

14.Where did most of your money go?
Accomodation, food, art materials, clothes, female necessities. Mostly in that order.

15.What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Movie releases and days without school and work that I could spend quietly with my boyfriend. Coming home (though it was a mix of excitement and dread). I don't think I was overly excited about anything this year asides from game releases and stuff.

16.What song will always remind you of 2010?
Friends - Stephanie

17.Compared to this time last year, are you:
I. happier or sadder? : Happier. I have a clearer goal of where and what it is I want to do with my life and I'm working towards it.
ii. thinner or fatter?: Fatter. Getting rid of it slowly. Need to do more consistent workouts when my body is completely healed.
iii. richer or poorer?: Poorer. I don't have a consistent income right now and a lot of my money goes to art supplies and what not. I plan to delve into investments though.

18.What do you wish you'd done more of?
Draw and tried harder. To some extent, cosplay.

19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Procrastinating at times.

20. How did you be spent Christmas?
Had dinner with the relatives in Seremban. My cousins have grown : D

21. What LJ users did you meet [in person] for the first time?
wredwrat  and fouenpassant 

22. Did you fall in love in 2010?
Yeap : ) Unexpectedly but its worked out for the best I feel : )

23. How many one-night stands?
None. Not my thing.

24. What was your favorite TV program?
I have no access to TV shows in the U.S. but I pick up anime episodes and tv series at random. I picked up the Pride and Prejudice one with Colin Firth and Jennifer Elfe. Loved that to death. I liked a lot of anime that I wasn't expecting to like but I don't think that's part of the question.

25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
Hate is a harsh word, so no. Dislike perhaps. Hate, nope not really.

26. What was the best book you read?
Juliet Marrilier's Bridei Chronicles and Seer of Sevenwaters. Asides from that, The Art Spirit by Robert Henri. Artists should really give it a read. Its honestly a great book which is semi inspirational. 

27. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Pandora the radio station. Gorgeous music to work with in the background. Sad that its indie so most of the stuff there is hard to find or unobtainable through legal and illegal means.

28.What did you want and get?
To study art the way I thought I'd be able to. It isn't entirely what I imagined it would be but its a fantastic experience, one I understand is a privilege not many can afford.

29.What did you want and not get?
To get a job on the sidelines but its hard to do. To cosplay while doing all this? to travel a little.

30.What was your favorite film of this year?
Tangled, How to Train Your Dragon, Toy Story 3, Inception, Black Swan

31.What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
23 years old last year. I spent it doing work on my collaboration with the fashion photographer T_T; My friends did drop by for a bit and spent some time with me as did Robert : )

32.What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
lots and lots of money? ok jokes aside, being able to travel back and forth whenever I wanted.

33.How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2010?
Different. I've been experimenting a lot. Not sticking to just one thing. I'm more daring with the things I do to my hair too now. Not super daring, but I'm getting there?

34.What kept you sane?
Myself. Specific friends. Family. My boyfriend.

35.Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
I rarely fancy celebrities.

36.What political issue stirred you the most?
A few I won't really name here. I became more aware of international political issues too.

37.Who did you miss?
A lot of people. Mostly people I didn't see since I was on the other side of the world. Namely close friends and family.

38.Who was the best new person you met?
Asides from my boyfriend. Quincy I think. I feel like being friends with him has opened up my mind to a whole lot of things in the world.

39.Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2010:
Corny as it sounds, believing in yourself and your goals/morals while keeping your mind open to different opinions and ways of life/thinking is perhaps the best way to learn. Taking some risks to experience new things at times is most rewarding.

40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:

angela - My Story

Another new world
A mirage before me as I close my eyes

Saying goodbye to the tedious days
I have endless possibilities awaiting

Now I embrace my desires and hopes
Forever willing
Regardless of defeat or a lonely heart
To face the future
Never giving up my dreams

Just a deep desire of
the strength of a never swaying HEART

Because someone knows that my weakness
Is the strong pride that rests within my chest

I stared straight into the truth
It stirs me up
The ray of light that illuminates the darkness
I will continue on tomorrow
For the sake of MY STORY, it has not yet ended

How many restless nights have passed
Born with the significance of many thoughts
The answer has yet to come forth in the face of the morning

Saying goodbye to the tedious days
I have endless possibilities awaiting

Now I embrace my desires and hopes
Forever willing
Regardless of defeat or a lonely heart
To face the future
Never giving up my dreams

This video is plain gorgeous. Gorgeous animation, gorgeous direction. I love everything said and unsaid in this entire video.



Perhaps it speaks to me in more ways than a woman and a man's relationship does. To me, this encompasses all relationships and people as a whole. Or perhaps, it speaks to me specifically because I am in my current mindset.

Regardless, go forth to Ryan Woodward's site to see his entire compilation. If you love animation and all things beautiful, do watch this video :)

Finals are over and I'm heading back home tomorrow. I don't know how to express the feeling of anticipation and dread that I'm feeling about it. Amusing, is it not? That I would feel such opposing emotions to something which should be a happy thing all round. I think somewhere along the lines, lack of closure or lack of something has made the words harder and harder to express as time went by.

Its been about a year since I've been in San Francisco. Save for 10 days I spent back in my home region, I've not stepped back home for any other period of time. A lot has happened, a lot has changed in me. A lot of painful things I've spoken to only select people about, though of course I was also surrounded by happiness in many ways. I hope in the times that come, I'll have closure on the things that tug at my heart strings still.

I do feel like a fool for holding on to these emotions at times. To me it was worth it, but I'm beginning to think that if the sentiment is not shared, should I reassess its value?

If anything I'll be glad to see those who are family and the friends who have shown their care. Its been awhile since I've enjoyed the comforts of home. It'd be great to be able to check up on my physical condition too considering the amount of injury I've had in the past semester : )

I was planning on doing a birthday post along with this one but this one became so image heavy already so I think I'll separate it.

A few months ago, I was approached during Pizzafolio (its an event where students of all majors share their portfolios so we see people we NEVER usually see at any given time) by extremely talented photographer YiFei Gu. She pitched to me an ambitious and what we believe to be something quite different from most editorial photographs. She asked me to collaborate with her on a fashion editorial set with the theme of Thumbelina. She and her fantastic team would provide the model, styling, etc; while I would provide the imagery for the background.

In short, a collaboration of illustration and fashion photography.

Suffice to say, I jumped at the chance to work with such dedicated and talented people who had a very interesting vision. This is the fruits of our efforts. The post will comprise of the illustrations I did and the final edit which was handled by YiFei. The final edit was done to her liking and understanding of fashion editorial spreads.

The project consists of four 1 page spreads and two 2 page spreads.

For those of you who are not familiar with the general story of Thumbelina, here's a link to one of the versions that are pretty well known. CLICK HERE.

I helped out during the photoshoot session as well as to gain inspiration for the background which would accompany each image set. It was a fantastic experience as I managed to meet the rest of YiFei's team. They help her in most of her other projects as well.

Team Introductions :

Photographer: Yifei Gu
Hair Stylist : Karlson Fan
Model : Bethany Pifer
Art: Jia-Ling Pan
Styling: Annabelle Fan
Makeup Artist : Christina Chen

There will be progress gifs after each image to show my process all the way to the final edit. Enjoy!



( Fairytales oh Fairytales )


Gosh those gif images took forever to make.

I did all these, value studies to final, in 5 days. The next time I do this, remind me to plan it out a little better. This time though, it couldn't be helped.

It was a great experience, stressing as it was due to the tight deadline and the sheer size of these works.

I'm proud to say these are the first Adobe Photoshop artworks I have done in a good few years. Anyone who knows me well will know my great disdain for painting in Photoshop since I'm an avid Corel Painter user. I do use Photoshop a lot, just not for the process of painting.

The sheer size I needed to work at was too heavy for Painter so I turned back to using it at the last minute. Struggling with a program I wasn't too familiar with for colouring was rather stressful but thanks to Andrew and Robert who advised at the beginning stages and gave me input throughout. I think I did quite alright overall.

YiFei put this project together with hopes of publishing a compilation of her editorial works! We're aiming for Spring Show (I think). I don't know if she will be selling the books here in San Francisco (she might sell it online or in China infact), or if she'll be selling them if at all but I will keep everyone posted if anyone is interested! Please do check out her works. She's a truly inspiring photographer!

I hope you guys enjoyed it *v*

Its nearly 4 a.m. here, dear God. I'm going to bed now <3 Please do tell me what you guys think <3