Laens Studio: Creative Space

Come on over to WORDPRESS!!

2010-01-23T03:36:00.004+11:00

Hey Guys! I've moved blog...

Check it out! I've finished the portrait of David Tennant/The Tenth Doctor.

I will be also posting my updates there from now on. Sorry to drag you guys with me... but I think Wordpress has heaps more features. And I'm hoping to integrate it into my website as soon as I figure out how to do that...

Meet you on the other side! =D

Squee! Finally broke into Darker Projects! >__<

2009-12-30T20:52:00.004+11:00

I'm so happy right now, I could randomly blog!!! So I am.

This year, I've been a bit more active (and open) about doing voice acting as a hobby. In fact, I've been so active, I actually got a gig doing voice over for a TV commercial advert back in September! It was soooo fun to do, I'm seriously considering going professional. But slowly... steadily. And drawing will always come first.

Anyway, that's not the big news (although it's probably bigger news than what I'm about to announce... I don't think anyone out there would really care about this news but whatever.) So... I've been cast in a Darker Projects production! (Big whoop! 8D) haha... well, it's a production house I've been itching to break into ever since I listened to The Falcon Banner. I've been cast in their upcoming Doctor Who episodes (starring David Ault and M Sieiro Garcia) as not one, but two roles! One of the roles being the one I wanted the most! (When I was recording my auditions I imagined it was kind of like playing River Tam from Firefly.) XD So... should be fun!

Hahaha this will be my 4th and 5th Doctor Who roles. Here are the first two. The third role is still in production.

Doctor Who: Legends of a Time Lord - Episode 3 The Black Peter

(Giant Gnome Productions) I play Margarete

Doctor Who Season 2: Episode 11 - New World Order

Doctor Who Season 2: Episode 12 - The Seven Percent

(Brokensea Productions) I play Cally

Lego Kid!

2009-12-30T02:31:00.004+11:00

I went to the Olafur Elaisson exhibition today at the MCA. It was definitely one of the more memorable exhibitions I've been to in a long time! His ideas are so simple yet so very profound... and I just loved the way I could interact with his works of art.

'Room for one colour' (1997) was the first work my friends and I saw – and as far as I'm concerned, the most memorable for me. It was just so unusual walking into a room and turning analogous (light being orange, shadows/darks being purple). My friends and I amused ourselves looking into each other's purple mouths. It was probably one of the strangest visual sensations I've felt in my life.

Anyway, not to ramble on too much, there were quite a few things I liked in there... I just wish there was more to it.

One of the other works that was memorable was 'The cubic structural evolution project' (2004) which was essentially... a mountain of white lego on a table where visitors can make their own lego piece. A lot of gorgeous lego pieces were displayed against the walls of the room... pieces that must have taken people hours (and years of practice.) Now, there's no photography allowed in the exhibition so unfortunately I don't have any documentation of what my friends came up with (I destroyed my lego attempt because I thought it was ugly). So here's a random drawing I did... as crap as I am at building lego, it brought out my inner child.

It's the doctor! =D (WIP)

2009-12-29T05:27:00.003+11:00

So I decided to do The (10th) Doctor... well, the Christmas Specials came out recently (haven't seen them yet) so I thought it was a good occasion to do this.

Work in Progress... to be completed. And ARGH I can hear birds chirping outside... I knew I should go to bed but I couldn't stop painting.

This is actually my second attempt. My first attempt was with the grid method and... that didn't work out (I got bored and it looked like crap. XD) So I tried again by eye and I think this is closer...

I just know I'm going to cry when I watch the specials...T^T

Avatar ... I have mixed feelings. (Spoiler Alert)

2009-12-29T01:20:00.022+11:00

I watched Avatar (3D) today – finally after everyone else around me has been raving about it. I tried my best not to get my expectations up too much before the film. As everyone said, it was spectacular. Visually beautiful and I love the ideas with all the creatures in the forest and the tiny little details that went into everything. It is definitely something everyone needs to see... BUT...

It's just a little heart breaking to see such a visually rich and beautiful film be let down by it's core - the story.

I walked into the cinema knowing I'd be incredibly skeptical about the story (thank you Cynthia Whitcomb, I will consequently henceforth always judge a movie by it's screenplay... haha). It's like Avatar had all the right ingredients for the perfect film – just the wrong flavours were accentuated.

OK, let's do away with the metaphors...

I thought the story would have been better if Grace was the main character. She understood the Na'vi the most and was the one who originally sought out for a way for both humans and Na'vi to live peacefully together. It's like she was the history of the human invasion of Pandora - a whole other tale that we could only build from a little detective work – the book she wrote about creating Avatars, the photos she had on her fridge of the Na'vi missionary school she must have worked with a long time ago... etc. So what I don't get is why some jarhead got most of the screen time and she got, what, 20 minutes? I felt like her story was more important but it was practically buried.

Cynthia Whitcomb has a whole chapter in her book Writing Your Screenplay about character evolution. (I highly recommend anyone interested in understanding stories to read this book). She talks about character transformations between five stages of being: 1. for yourself, 2. for your partner, 3. for your family, 4. for your community, 5. for humanity and how rare "complete transformations" (characters evolving from level one to five) are but how much we love to tell (and retell) these stories. (For example, Dickens' A Christmas Carol or Frank Capra's It's A Wonderful Life.) Grace went through all these stages. She started off caring only for her scientific mission (level one) but soon opens up and accepts Jake as part of her team (level three - okay, she skips two). We learn later through the photos Jake sees on the fridge that she once worked with the Na'vi in their villages and (somehow... I must have missed it) joined Jake and became a part of the Na'vi community (level four). Then she dies for her belief in finding a more peaceful resolution between the two races (level five). I thought to myself, "is that it?" Surely, she deserved more than that? Sure Jake had it all too, but it was Grace's passion that drove her. Jake was just doing his job (then doing it for the chick.) And Grace made the ultimate sacrifice... Jake falls a little short on that. He gets to live in a brand spanking new blue body.

The film would have worked just as well if Jake and Grace's character were meshed together. So Jake, instead of being an ex-soldier was a scientist who had studied and tried to understand the Na'vi all his life. Then his twin brother dies... so he takes his place. Then he almost dies because he runs out of air... but the Na'vi save him by moving him into his Avatar body. Ta da! (one less character to model/rig/texture/motion capture and actor to pay.)

In terms of conclusions, I liked the ending of District 9 better. Wikus chose to hang on to the hope of one day becoming human again but at the same time, fought for the weak. Whereas Jake practically discards his humanity in the end and the rest of the humans are sent home, tails tucked. Essentially there's no hope for human beings to ever evolve beyond the primal instinct of invade and conquer. So we have to become something other than human to be good? Jake (the human protagonist – and therefore our main human representative) had a choice and he chose to be one of them. I guess perhaps it's a lot of gamer's dreams - to become their avatar which is "hotter than reality by far." Well, I guess Jake will be able to move around better in his new body... not to mention breathe the air. We humans suck.

Oh well. Who cares, right? It's an epic and gorgeous film.

On the plus side, I'm looking forward to seeing how this will affect the film industry. Crossing my fingers that this means more jobs for creative types.

A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do

2009-12-26T22:57:00.008+11:00

Ok... wrong movie. XD

Nathan Fillion - Malcom Reynolds from Firefly/Serenity. (AKA Captain Hammer in Dr Horrible's Sing Along Blog).

I know... it STILL doesn't look like him. Blah, I'm really bad at this. =_=;;

I will try the grid method for my next one. Which I am going to start right now! 8D

Question is... should I do Jessica from True Blood... or The 10th Doctor first.... hmmmmm... ^^;

guh... T-T

2009-12-26T04:20:00.003+11:00

This one's more detailed... and is taking a while... but dammit doesn't look like him. If someone guesses who this is, you'll make me a happy person.

But I plan to work it more with fresh eyes. This is a work-in-progress. Guh.

Looking at the Codex painting in my previous post.. ugh... I could have done so much better. >.> I rushed it way too much... being too impatient to move on. My WIP was heaps better. I might do another one later because Felicia Day rules. But still got lots more people I want to paint first!

Final Codex... and the rest of the ballerinas

2009-12-21T23:48:00.002+11:00

I proclaim this finished because I want to move on.. even though I don't think it looks like Felicia Day. >.> Guh.. I really need to learn how to draw portraits properly.

Didn't get the book illustration job. But I don't feel bad about it, I just feel like it's not meant for me and I got something bigger coming. Anyway, here's the other ballerinas. Unfortunately I did something silly and accidentally cropped one of my PSD files while the layer with ballerina #4 was invisible... so I had only her right leg and a bit of her arm left. ^^;;;; But lucky it was only a sketch.

Anyway, this means I got a couple more illustrations in my portfolio and I can go back to concentrating on my goal: aim for more realistic-style paintings, get better at life drawing so I can get a gig on a feature film! >8D Fight on!

Codex preview

2009-12-19T01:28:00.002+11:00

Argh... I couldn't wait until I finished this. So I'm posting a WIP. Here's my next subject... hopefully will finish this early next week and move on to a Firefly character. =) (Aren't I such a Joss Whedon show nerd?)

I still think it doesn't look like Felicia Day... so this might take a bit of tinkering.

Moar Ballerinas...

2009-12-17T20:09:00.001+11:00

Well, just one.

Another reject. Well... this wasn't rejected by the clients - I don't think I'll send it to them. I thought it was too anime-ish for the style they were looking for, compared to the other two I managed to do today. So I coloured it in my lazy-colouring rushed style and posted it here. =3

Drawing Ballerinas...

2009-12-17T18:59:00.004+11:00

I'm doing a sort of test for a book illustration job. Been pumping out some illustrations of ballerinas. This one was a reject and I really wanted to post something on my blog so here it is. =D

Admittedly this one was rushed. I'm hoping there's something right in one of the 3 I worked today. DX

R18+ 4 games - help Australia say "yes!"

2009-12-15T19:34:00.002+11:00

You may or may not be well aware of this but Australia doesn't offer a rating of R18+ for video games. However the Australian Government is finally giving us a chance to voice our opinion on the matter and if it's something you feel strongly about as an adult gamer, I encourage you to download the submission template on the right hand box of this URL:

http://www.ag.gov.au/gamesclassification

fill it in and send it through. It doesn't take very long!

Here's a letter written by my friend, Darren Wells of Hyper Magazine, which outlines the issue as it stands, and what people can do to get their views heard.

--------------------

Two out of three people in Australia play videogames. (1)

The average age of Australian gamers is 30 years. (2)

However, as far as our Government is concerned, they’re never older than 15.

That’s because, unlike movies and books, Australia’s classification system doesn’t offer an R18+ rating for videogames. This means that if a game is rated beyond MA15+, it is forbidden from entering the country.

This year alone, Australia’s lack of a rating for mature adults has seen a number of games either barred from sale, or heavily edited so they no longer resemble their original form. In addition, the current system has had a long history of what some perceive to be double standards, where content approved in one game will be refused classification in another.

In its current form, the classification system is preventing adults from enjoying the games they would be entitled to play in many other countries throughout the world. Indeed, Australia remains the only developed nation that does not offer an R18+ for videogames.

This is not from lack of desire. Over 91% of Australians believe an R18+ rating should be introduced for videogames (2) – not only to match the standards applied to film and magazines, but to match those applied by the rest of the world. However, in order for this to happen, all of Australia’s Attorney-Generals need to agree on the matter unanimously.

South Australia’s Attorney-General, Michael Atkinson, has long been vocally opposed to an R18+ rating for videogames, and is the only Attorney General to adopt this stance. In his view, restricting games which would receive a rating of R18+ is for the greater good of the country. As he states:

“It certainly does restrict choice to a small degree, but that is the price of keeping this material from children and vulnerable adults. In my view, the small sacrifice is worth it...” (3)

The CEO of the Interactive Games and Entertainment Association (IGEA), Ron Curry, says of Atkinson’s sole opposition to the rating:

“It doesn’t seem democratic that a single attorney general should be able to dictate what the vast Australian population can interact with.

[...]

The government trusts us to be adults with films, but they only want us to be children with games.” (4)

Meanwhile, many other Attorney-Generals support the idea of an R18+ rating for games (5), including Victoria’s Rob Hulls, who states:

"It seems inconsistent that in Australia adults are allowed to view adult-only films which have been classified R18+ by the Classification Board, but not computer games with equivalent high-level content." (6)

For too long Australian gamers have been out of step with the rest of the world. But now, finally, the Australian Government is ready to listen to your views on the subject.

As it writes on its website, “Submissions are being sought on whether the Australian National Classification Scheme should include an R 18+ classification category for computer games.” And that’s where you come in.

Go to this website (http://www.ag.gov.au/gamesclassification) and download the submission template. There you’ll find a small number of statements, each with a scale ranging from “Strongly Agree” to “Strongly Disagree”. Simply mark your desired response – and write a brief comment at the end, if you wish – and send it to any of the following addresses:

Email: classificationreview@ag.gov.au

Fax: 02 6141 3488

Post: Classification Review

Attorney-General’s Department

3 -5 National Circuit

BARTON ACT 2600

Submissions close February 28, 2010.

As an adult gamer, I urge you to please consider the above information, submit your decision, and to copy-and-paste this e-mail to anyone you think should know about it – gamers and non-gamers alike. It is my hope that, together, we can help Australia’s classification system for videogames take its first true step into adulthood.

To close from a final statement from IGEA CEO Ron Curry:

"Such censorship would not be acceptable in television, at the cinema or in print, so why apply it unfairly to another entertainment medium?" (7)

(1) http://www.news.com.au/technology/most-of-us-are-gamers-new-figures-show/story-e6frfro0-1225713891208

(2) http://www.igea.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/IA9-Interactive-Australia-2009-Full-Report.pdf

(3) http://www.gamepolitics.com/2009/01/27/australian-pol-explains-why-he039s-blocking-r18-rating

(4) http://www.gamepolitics.com/2009/12/10/atkinson-violent-games-you-don%E2%80%99t-need-impale-people

(5) http://au.gamespot.com/news/6204160.html?sid=6204160

(6) http://www.news.com.au/technology/authorities-split-over-video-game-ratings/story-e6frfro0-1225780285690

(7) http://www.news.com.au/games-censorship-slammed-by-report/story-0-1111117867569

Dr Horrible

2009-12-06T01:37:00.008+11:00

Yay! =D Hehehe I love this musical.

He's looking more heroic in this one than he's supposed to... lol. Oh well...

Must do this more. MUCH MOAR... but I have like 2 other things to do, on top of some freelance work. Hah.

I don't think I'll finish the Dexter one below. I wanna try and pump these out under the hour in hopes of getting BETTER and FASTER at it. So I'll be doing much more portraits. We'll see how this goes.

BTW, I changed my signature. We got Erky Perky Season 3 posters at work and passing it around to the handful of us that were called back in to work on another project to sign the poster ... and I thought my old signature looked retarded compared to the signatures of the other guys I worked with. (They are so elegant and artsy!) So I changed mine. Mwahahah. Will have to wait till 2012 for the permanent change though. (Cuz I'll get a new credit card by then.)

Dexter Morgan WIP

2009-11-30T00:15:00.002+11:00

Today I freaked out when I turned on my cintiq and couldn't get it to detect my pen. I asked my dad, he had a quick look and said I hadn't plugged in the USB. (I plugged in some other USB.) LOL bimbo moment. In my defense, there's way too many cables around me!!

Anyway, I love this show. Hahahah.... This is a work in progress, I intend to refine it. =D But I like how it's looking so far.

As for my storyboarding, gosh it's coming along so slow... I have one more scene left to make backgrounds for each frame (ugh...) and then I can start doing the characters. It's the BIGGEST scene though... hopefully I can knock it over in a day's worth of work. But I'm working for the next 3 days so it probably won't be done until Friday. Nuuuuu...

Better head to bed!

I gave up on colour...

2009-11-18T22:34:00.004+11:00

Whoo! I did a bit of work today! =D And yesterday!

I've decided that it might speed things up a bit if I went through my EP storyboard that I'm tidying up and laid out the backgrounds... then went in and tidied up the characters. I got 5 scenes done (a grand total of 4 yesterday!) and so I have about 6 more to go. Hopefully will finish the backgrounds this week! =D

Meanwhile, figuring out how to work storyboard pro... is coming along well. I really really like the drawing tools. But there are quite a few cons like not being able to change layer opacity and not being able to have two projects open at once... and a bunch of other things. So every time I get frustrated with it... I go into photoshop and paint some.

It is with mixed feelings of joy and sadness that I share this black and white digital sketch with you.

Joy because I'm glad I finally have something I've actually signed and declared FINISHED. Sad because it's Eliza Dushku and the reason why I'm doing it is because one of my favourite TV shows, Dollhouse was cancelled due to ratings not being good enough. >:( (bring it out here earlier - like THE SAME TIME as the USA air dates - not one season behind - and I'll watch it on TV dammit!)

ANYWAY... If you've known me for a while, you know that I like... NEVER do fan stuff. I don't think this is really a fan thing either... I've just been grabbing photos of some celebrities and trying to paint them to practice. But I guess Eliza Dushku is one of my faves - I totally loved Tru Calling (and that was cancelled too dammit) and loved Dollhouse. Ba humbug.

As you can see, I gave up on colouring for now... concentrating on values first and getting the features right so my paintings actually LOOK like who it's supposed to... then hopefully I'll be able to pick up colour later and do some of that.

I've also been going to life drawing. Here are the best sketches of this week and last week. I think I'm getting too comfortable with the brush pen. But I suuuuuuckkkk at pencil. Need to learn how to use pencil properly.

Much needed creative ego boost.

2009-11-03T00:38:00.003+11:00

I'm currently learning Storyboard Pro and it's a bit off putting because it's so different to Adobe and I just can't find my way around very easily...

It makes me feel lost and technologically inept. So I closed the program for the day and went and did something more familiar to boost my ego again... I painted in photoshop.

Ok so this is like half a face... but hey, the skin tones are looking alright. 8D Now I just gotta... finish it >_> Well, at least every time I get fidgety and frustrated with learning SBP I'll be working on this for constant ego boosting. 8D

Aru's back in action! =D

2009-11-02T00:56:00.004+11:00

Started drawing... hopefully getting into full swing this week!

Finally have something blog worthy. Had a craving to paint something... looked for a photo of Keira Knightly and painted this from reference. Kinda stoked it soooort of looks like her (I'm really bad at drawing real people... haha. Hence why I tend to prefer drawing original characters.) But still I have a long ways to go. Hopefully will do a lot more so I'll get really good at it! =)

This was a quick paint... took about 80 mins or so. Mainly because I don't have the patience to do anything in more detail.. unless I was paid for it. ;)

The Making of Erky Perky

2009-10-14T13:27:00.005+11:00

I've had a lot on my plate last few months... job and personal life. I'm looking forward to get back into more creative stuff now that things have started to settle down.

No new work for this post from me... well, nothing worth showing ya. ^^ BUT! I do have an awesome video to share from the Erky Perky website:

The Making of Erky Perky

"A Day in the Life of an Animator"

with lead animator, Duncan Ransom

Click on the stack of movie reels, a hand will pop out saying "choose a video." Choose the first one.

I'm randomly in there for like a split second towards the end, drawing on the cintiq. HAHA.

Anyhow, hope to post here again real soon!

Ama Mami: Comic/Story Idea

2009-05-02T04:50:00.004+10:00

This always happens to me. I get incredibly swamped with work and then big and juicy ideas start avalanching in.

I'm most motivated to create my own work whenever I'm way too busy to do it!

Anyhow, I'm trying to write out all these ideas that are just popping out of nowhere. Ama Mami is one of them...

SYNOPSIS
Ama is a self-assured individual who lives a satisfactory, ordinary life until she comes face to face with her Doppelgänger, "Mami."

Ama finds her twin, incidentally a trans-dimensional adventuress to be far more extroverted, confident, smart, talented and charming than Ama could ever dream to be. Fighting off her self-complex, Ama is determined to find out exactly why Mami has slipped into this dimension. The reason, Ama instinctively deduces is bad news for her universe.

Anyhow, I'm taking a cue from Robyn Paterson and not going to start doing the artwork for this until I've written the whole thing. I've been wanting to get back into writing - it's possible I might turn this into an audio theatre with just some artwork to go with it. Not sure. I guess it depends on how big the story gets.

I better get some sleep. =P

Just Keep Swimming

2009-05-01T22:35:00.004+10:00

I seem to have a nack for jumping in the deep end of things and barely swimming my way out!

I had no idea that applying to work as a designer on Erky Perky meant I'd be a lead designer - until I actually started working there. I realised I'd be one of the 'big girls' and be on my own. :O Once I figured out procedures, it wasn't too hard. I love going to work and love the fact that people find it strange that I always look forward to work.

Now I'm doing a storyboard of an episode and I find myself in a new deep pool. Not starting as a junior position as you normally would... lol. I'm storyboarding a whole episode! I guess I couldn't say I'm on my own... I've got a great experienced director teaching me - Cameron Chittock and I've leaped milestones. Again, I've been really lucky. But these 13 minutes that I'm story-boarding are the longest 13 minutes of my life!

Anyhow, I've been busy so I hadn't gone to life drawing for 3 weeks... finally people at work talked me into going. >__< haha. This model kept sitting down for the longer poses. This normally doesn't bother me because normally I'm at the front. But we were a bit late and they moved us down stairs and there was this dude with a massive afro covering her feet... grr.

Here's a digital sketch of something I did yesterday in about 2 hours. I guess I started feeling frustrated at not making anything that was not work-related... It's Squire Esther from Twin Stars - and a present for the show producer, Rob in congratulating him for having Twin Stars aired on radio through the Sonic Society. If it goes well and they air the whole first season I'd theoretically be making my radio debut! XD

It's not finished - I had to go to bed - and I've still got to finish my storyboards so I'll have to finish this some other time.

And to answer the cliff hanging question in my last post... it was green tea caramels... gosh these are so juicy.

I'll try to make these monthly posts at least from now on. =)

And So...

2009-03-11T22:59:00.004+11:00

Forgive me blogger for I have not kept you up to date.

I'm 3 months into my job at Erky Perky doing designs. Almost finished, just a handful of episodes left to go. What else can I say? I love it! And it's kinda sad it's almost over. =( But in saying so, I've got more work lined up for me - I'm doing a storyboard for one of the episodes! Squeee!! XDDD Also doing designs for David Webster's secret project. Hmm... I don't know how secret it is, therefore I can only say this much: It's a secret.

Shame I can't post any work up here... I'm pretty proud at the jump in quality of my work... and just my over all capability to actually paint. About a year ago I hadn't the faintest clue how to paint in photoshop. Thanks to Bobby Chiu's course I can! =DDD

I've been going to life drawing with a few of the animators. The numbers keep dwindling every week as everyone gets busier and busier though! I HAVE to go because I'm the one inviting everyone. lol. It's been a good motivator and it's actually an important part of my job anyway so I don't mind making the effort every week. I've gone 5 times now!

Here's a few drawings. I'll post more in my next update.

And finally... can you guess what juicy treat finally motivated me to update my blog??

Find out in the next EXCITING update! Whenever that is!

Bye Ehushu~

2008-12-28T07:23:00.004+11:00

I'm taking advantage of the holidays to clean up my room.

GOOD BYE EHUSHU....

yes... in that coca cola package about to go to the recycling bin is approximately 95% of all the animation frames and extra drawings I did for ehushu. Gone. Bai bai...

For those of you devastated, think of it as me making space for new future projects. =) Which is essentially what I was doing. Not that I foresee any new animated projects yet. No, don't get too excited.

And ok, so I'm lacking new work. I actually took a proper holiday and did NOTHING. Absolutely NOTHING. The reason why I did this was because I was scared of being burnt out. I did not draw a thing for a whole week. Unfortunately, I found myself loosing motivation to draw and it was hard to get back... but I found my inspiration again so I'm looking forward to getting back into drawing.

This is a very very very very very and did I mention VERY rough digital sketch (done on my brand new cintiq ^^) for EOW101. It's really crap, the deadline is monday which frankly I don't think I'll make it but well... here is the start of it.

Now, I have to stay awake for another two hours so... uhm... I'm gonna try tidy up a bit or something. Yeah...

Sketchcrawl 21 Sydney: Sat 10-01-09

2008-12-22T02:24:00.005+11:00

Hey, I'll be there. It'd be great to catch up and stuff if you can come along too! And if you're not in Sydney... Find out if your town is hosting one. =) And there's nothing to say that you can't organise it for your town if no one has yet!

Sorry for the lack of updates. =( Been soooo so so busy. Argh!

Schoolism.com: WK8 Colour Sketch

2008-11-30T21:44:00.004+11:00

Just managed to squeeze in one more blog entry for November 08!

Here's my Schoolism assignment I did for Week 8 "Colour sketching"

For this Lesson, we're supposed to just block in a colour scheme and lighting. I may have gone a tini-wini bit overboard with the background. But that's because I spent so much time trying to figure out the composition, I just couldn't help adding more detail.

So this isn't a finished painting since we actually finish it for next week's assignment. I'll link a larger version to this blog if it's any good. If it's crap, like my last few assignments, it ain't goin on here. XP

Let Me See Your Package: My Work Featured!

2008-11-27T19:24:00.007+11:00

Hi Guys!

Two pieces of exciting news.

First of all, my 2006 portfolio package has been featured on:

Let Me See Your Package

Many thanks to the writer, Chris Bauer as well as James Hill for finding my work and contacting me.

The other news that I've been trying to save up until I had a few new drawings worthy of posting (but alas, I've had absolutely no time) was that on Monday, I'm starting full time at Ambience Entertainment / OmniLab to work on Erky Perky as a props designer for Season 3! =D Actually I've started working from home so technically I have been working for them for a bit over a week now. Many MANY thanks to my awesome friend, Vivienne To for giving me the heads up for this opportunity and forwarding my portfolio to the right people. >_< .

I'm finishing up at Mad Cow Pictures tomorrow where I've been helping out with some Flash work for a few animation shorts for a Kid's educational show. I don't know if I can release the name yet so I won't. But I will mention Denzil Maher who's the main animator for the project whom I've been leeching animation/flash/drawing techinques from. Thanks for putting up with me Denzil!

It's been a tough couple of weeks having so much on my plate... working all day, going home then working some more then... if I'm lucky, finding pockets of time to do my painting assignment for Bobby Chiu's online painting course (Finishing in less than a fortnight!) and a bit of online amateur voice acting.

I love the fact that a month ago I was worried I wouldn't get a job in the industry and now I'm worried I can't keep up with all the jobs I have. XD It's been an incredible November and I really appreciate the good fortune that's come my way. But I am looking forward to a calmer December with a routine 9-5 job and a LOT of free time in the evenings and weekends.

The Law of Attraction strikes again...

2008-11-20T01:55:00.006+11:00

...and I somehow end up with 2 jobs in the animation industry. More details later. Aw, a little suspense won't kill ya. ;) I'm supposed to be sleeping now but I really felt the urge to update since my last drawing posted wasn't all too impressive. Not that these are any better... pff, they're just sketches. *sigh*

All I'll say is that... I have NO time to do my IDP. T____T *cries* If I'm not working, I'm recuperating. DX

*calmly reminds herself that all things must pass*

It's OK... once I get these lines recorded for episode 2 of this radioplay I've been cast in, do some serious much-needed shopping, finish up at the current full time job, settle in with the new job in december, finish my online painting course AND get back into a routine that will allow me to exercise I will be a much much calmer person...

Here are some designs of a character for a new short story comic idea... inspired by a story my mum told me about her neighbour when she was a little girl. More on that later... if I ever get around to it. XP

News. Post edited. Evil Purged.

2008-11-06T23:07:00.006+11:00

I got a job at an animation studio! ^^. The same one I did the test for, but not the same show. It's only a couple of weeks but it's a start and it's doing TRADITIONAL animation! Well... in the end it gets translated into flash but I start off animating traditionally. =D

I've also got REALLY BIG news with something starting in December (no sorry folks, nothing to do with Agharti) but I don't want to spill the beans before it's confirmed so... keep a look out for future posts! =)

Sunny the Sunspot Toaster

2008-11-04T10:10:00.004+11:00

I was doing a study of the toaster in mum's kitchen ... then started to get bored with sketching and so I made a character with it.

His name is Sunny, the Sunspot Toaster. I can't decide whether he's a puppy's soul trapped in a toaster or an alien manufactured toaster, or if he came to life as a result of a strange electrical storm that occurred on the eve of Friday the 13th.

Little Blue Toaster

2008-11-03T05:32:00.004+11:00

The theme this week for my IDP by the way is home appliances and furniture.

Coloured with conte. Conte is fun! Except that feeling you get when you rub your conte-covered hands together... *shrudders* it feels like velvet. And I'm not a fan of velvet.

There's heaps of things I'd like to fix with his side view. For one thing he's American and his front-view counterpart is Australian. and he's not as cute...

I go sleep now.... =) Actually eat breakfast, then sleep.

100 for November

2008-11-02T00:21:00.004+11:00

Haaawwwrrrr.... TAT

I just finished drawing 100 figures. I've been drawing all day. Okay so I'm not posting all 100, you'll just have to take my word for it that I did draw 100. It's because most of them were pretty hideous. These ones were the only ones that turned out okay, partly because I'm using Loomis' 'mannikin' frame, and partly because I've shrunk them down a lot.

I did figures in all different ways. Here's one a bit more detailed. No it's not Ray. Here is the original photo reference.

I pretty much was working off nude model photos on Deviant Art. There's so many there! Yaaaay... enough for me to keep this up for 6 months. MUHUhAHAHAHAHahaaaaa.... >A<

Intensive Drawing Program...

2008-10-29T04:12:00.005+11:00

I just finished going through all the blogs linked to the Imaginism Studios blog. Gosh there's A LOT of talent out there. And I'd give a couple of years of my life just to be as good as them.

So I've devised a really intensive drawing program for myself just to really improve over the next few months. Let's just hope I can stick to it! I start this Saturday, November 1st.

Meanwhile I might actually get my 4th painting assignment out of the way so I have the weekend to really concentrate on all the tasks I've outlined for myself to do. Which involves drawing 100 figures and more. TAT;;;

Schoolism.com: Painting with Textures

2008-10-28T01:38:00.005+11:00

I'm currently doing the online course, "Digital Painting with Bobby Chiu" at Schoolism.com. So far it's been a challenging but very very helpful course which has taught me heaps - and we're only up to week 3!

There's 9 weeks of the course, and an assignment every week which Bobby sends a video critique.

This is probably the first assignment of mine that I thought was looking OK... Bobby sent a rough sketch of the monster, shows us how to paint it step by step using textures and... we have to do the same, starting with his sketch and a couple of textures he sent.

It's such a useful technique! I will definitely be using this one! =D

I'm looking forward to future classes. Vivi was the one who pointed me to schoolism. I started with Stephen Silver's course earlier on in the year and now I'm doing Bobby's. I'm definitely enjoying it! =) And I recommend both classes to anybody who feels the need for that little extra bit of training from experts from the industry! Learning HEAPS of things which uni didn't teach us (AND SHOULD HAVE!!!) >:(

The Monk and the Emo

2008-10-23T23:40:00.004+11:00

This drawing has nothing to do with what I'm going to write about. Most of the stuff I've been doing all week I can't post because...

*drum roll*

I'm doing a test for an animation show! 8DDD

I sent in my resume and portfolio to a studio on monday - got a call an hour later and they were interested! I went in the next morning, showed my portfolio, did an interview (which wasn't as intimidating as nervous as I was) and they gave me a test to do.

The test was to take the storyboards and redraw the character in it's pose more accurately to it's design. The managing director is an ex-disney animation director - and it's so great just watching him draw and learning from him. I didn't think jobs like this existed where I could implement my traditional animation skills - but what I'm doing right now is almost just like creating key frames to an animation! (The final animation will be done in Flash but doing these poses will make the animator's jobs a lot easier). IT'S REALLY FUN! TAT;

The director said he was interested in sending what I've done to the client - I just have to work on making them look more presentable (cleaning them up without being too tight about my pencil work). I have no idea if I'll do it right. T__T But I'll try. DX

They said my timing for sending my portfolio was spot on. I think I've got Stephen Silver, Vivienne To, Matt Huynh, Carolyn Gan, Marc Wasik and the law of attraction to thank for that (to push me to keep updating my portfolio, approach studios and give me advice/feedback) . And of course my parents for being so patient in me not being in a rush to find a job and also to Ray Huang who supported me. Also people who've been visiting my blog and consistently commenting (Cyrus, Chibi, Fi) it motivates me to update my blog and keep drawing new things. Love to all you guys!

Traditional Animation Materials (Aussie student's perspective)

2008-10-19T16:41:00.013+11:00

I didn't cover animation materials in the Campbelltown Workshop and I thought this might be handy for those interested practicing traditional animation in Australia.

I'm doing this because 2D animation is an awesome thing and I think more people here should do it or get back into it. Like myself as well as these awesome girls from College of Fine Arts:

Rachel Chua
Lesley Vamos
Jennifer Wong

Anyway, the bad news:

YES it is almost impossible to find some of the handy traditional art materials within Australia.

The good news is that it IS possible to obtain them within this world. Above is a photo of my set up which is proof of this claim. And the good news is that there ARE people who do this stuff around here... we just don't really know each other!

First of all, animation paper. You can use any type of paper really as long as you are comfortable with it. Cartridge paper is OK - a bit thick but as long as you have a lightbox it will do. If you want real 12 inch field animation paper then YES if you live in Sydney there is 1 place I know where to get it. And that is:

Artlink Art Supplies, Brookvale
Shop 503 Pittwater Rd Brookvale NSW 2100
ph: (02) 9939 7633
(btw, their shop on Chard Rd is a warehouse. You will want to go to the Pittwater Rd shop.)

For about AU$30 a ream (500 sheets). (I'm estimating because I'm sure the price has gone up since I last went there). You might want to call them before you head there to make sure they still have stock.

It is NOT punched, unfortunately. That's where the next part comes in:

Animation Disc
Round hole pegbars
1/4" ROUND HOLE PAPER PUNCH (NOT ACME)

I got all from lightfootltd.com. Two pieces of bad news are:

- they don't sell the cheap version of the round hole paper punch anymore (which was about AU$100). I am currently enquiring about it for you guys. ;)
- they are overseas suppliers so expect the shipping to be very expensive. (Like... probably twice the price of your product. The total cost, including shipping for my hole punch was about AU$320.) Solution: find a few people who are interested in buying from the site and split the shipping cost.

*edit* I just received a reply - the round hole punch is no longer being made by the manufacturer but Lightfoot will be stocking a new 3-hole punch. It will be more expensive than what I have since it's more heavy duty but it won't be as crazy expensive as the ones currently on their website. It should be on their website later this year.

You might notice that I chose to use the round hole and not acme. OK, for my first project (Ehushu) I did buy acme peg bars because I was stubborn and wanted to use "professional animation material." The problem is finding a hole punch. I was lucky enough to have a contact at COFA who had access to a local animation studio which had an acme hole punch and he kindly punched a reem of paper for me. Acme hole punches can range between US$600-$900. That doesn't include shipping.

The following year, the same contact bought his own round hole punch. He leant it to me and I managed to punch a ream. But when I ran out of paper, I decided to buy my own round hole punch. I can tell you, I really didn't see much difference between acme and round hole. Like I said, it does the job and with software programs, yes you can do any tiny little adjustments.

The animation disc is a cheap student version of the real thing but it will do the job. Ideally of course you will want to have a table to fit it in. The wooden table I have in that image was made for me kindly by one of my tutors at College of Fine Arts, UNSW. If you are really really really keen on getting an animation table done up for you to fit your animation disc, let me know and I'll do my best to get in touch with him.

As I said, it's not a full professional animation table but it will do the job.

And finally, you will need a light to go under that animation table. The tutor who made the desk up for me can hook you up with some fluorescent lights... but sometimes they get hot and cause the disc plastic to expand, making it hard to turn it in the table. What I can recommend is that you get a lightbox... A3 size from Eckersleys. The one in Sydney city sold them. Call your nearest Eckersleys and see if they can order it in. Off the top of my head, it was about $300 for A3 size.

That does about it for all the materials which are hard to find. This post only covers where to get materials, not how I import animation sequences in to the computer... I'll have to save that for another post. And I probably won't post it until I get more people asking me.

And if you know of any other places to get animation materials, please let me know! aruATaltheaaseocheDOTcom

Peace OUTSIDE!

We're in demand! 8D

2008-10-17T00:08:00.004+11:00

OK so the cat sketch has nothing to do with this topic. I just thought I'd stick it here so this post had a picture.

Anyway, Wendy from Campbelltown passed on my contact to their neighbouring library, Camden and now it looks like Fiona and I will be doing another two workshops for teens in January! Whoohoo!

Anyway, that's the big news for the week. I usually write too much in my blogs so I'll keep this short.

SIMIv2.0 - The New and Kinda-Temporary Site

2008-10-16T23:19:00.006+11:00

I have been working on a new temporary layout to my website.

The idea of doing a small update was to provide links to where all my artwork is. As those of you who follow me might know I put things everywhere. Well... I have decided to slowly try and organise myself so one day I will have a central hub where you can easily find my work.

The idea is to make a site sort of like a blog. So yes, I will be moving this blog as soon as my new permanent site has been designed and coded. I will also have mini sections for my past projects such as Ehushu, Agharti and comic projects as well. I also decided to finally admit that coding is not my strength so I am getting someone else to do the coding part.

Meanwhile, I guess you could have a little looksie as to what I've been up to the last few days! (I'll tell you now, it's not much.)

Tribute to my lost favourite sharpener...

2008-10-12T15:44:00.004+11:00

It's so incredibly hard to find a really really good sharpener that won't snap your leads when you have to sharpen your pencils.

This sharpener I had was an excellent trooper. I believe I lost a good friend when I left my pencil case on the ferry to Manly beach.

Fi and I were planning on a good beach trip on Saturday to relax after the workshop. But we were weary of the supposed thunderstorm which the weather report said would come crashing down in the afternoon. So we brought our sketch books and drawing material incase we arrived in the city and discovered we had to do an indoor activity instead.

Of course, the storm never happened. So we ferried to Manly beach. On the way, I got excited when I saw so many sails on the water - I think there was some sort of race happening - or that everyone thought it was just a ridiculously fine day to sail. So naturally, I took out my pencil case and sketchbook and started sketching madly. I also did so on the way back.

When I got home I searched for my small black pencil case. It was no where to be found.

I can only assume that I must have left it on one of the number of occasions I took out my book and started sketching. I had a few good things in there - some pencils, mechanical pencils an eraser and 2 pantone tria markers. But nothing else as irreplaceable as my good sharpener. And that saddens me.

Anyway.. here are the sails. (click to enlarge)

Oh good sharpener... please find a new and worthwhile master that treats you well...

Manga Extravaganza 2008 - Aftermath

2008-10-12T12:35:00.009+11:00

Greetings to whomever visits my blog! (Hi Cyrus!)

Today is a nice, warm Sunday. Fiona, who stayed over my place for the last 3 nights has taken a 3 hour train trip home to a lovely town North West from Sydney called Scone. It was a great few days, starting with last-minute preparations for the workshops on Friday in Laens Studio (aka the room next to my bedroom) ...

... and ending with awesome day at Manly Beach on Saturday.

Incase you're wondering, the event we did the workshops for is called "Manga Extravaganza 2008" which is still running until December 1 with some great prizes to be won! So if you're 18 and under, here's your chance to win!

Before I go on, a big shout out heart-filled THANKS to Wendy and the staff at Campbelltown Council for all their help in organising this event and inviting Fiona and I to do a workshop. As first-time teachers we both really enjoyed it and also hope the students got a lot out of it. And also a BIG THANK YOU to Matt Huynh who passed my contact on to Wendy!

Also a big thanks to Ray who leant us his laptop for the day.

Fi and I did 2 workshops, one for character design, one for comics as I mentioned before. There was so much we could teach these kids and 2.5 hours per workshop was probably for their young minds, just like hitting a cabbage with a frying pan. Hard, quick and the impact hopefully leaving some long-lasting impressions. We had activities for each workshop - the first one designing a character, the second, thumbnailing a page or two of a comic from a given script.

There were two lovely young kids read out the script for the comic activity. We were absolutely floored with their performance. The boy was probably around 9-11 and the girl looked about 12-13 and they did splendidly... they could be actors! I think being able to act helps you to illustrate character scenes in comics really well so really, good on them!

Without further ado, here is some eye candy from the workshop.

Here's the actual drawing of Henry, the icecream-loving-15-year-old-with-an-afro character that I did in the workshop. As I mentioned, it was drawn on A2 paper so as a disclaimer a> I did my best to make the images appear good after taking a photo of them because I couldn't be bothered scanning it in and b> I can't draw well in large format so if it looks shonky, it's because of that and also there wasn't a lot of time to do it. XD

I did 3 passes of him, the first one I unfortunately crumpled up and chucked in the bin without thinking twice about posting it up so... sorry... Ideally I would have wanted the final pass a lot more detailed but as I said, there wasn't much time so it still looked somewhat sketchy. Please note the "Love Icecream" tshirt.

Here's the activity example for the comic workshop. I started off drawing on an overhead projector transparency a tiny thumbnail. It probably looks like a bunch of scribbles to you.

Fantabulous Fi has this uncanny ability to look at my scribbles and turn them in to awesome comic sequences... which she did in class.

Of course, I added the text and speech bubbles just this morning.

And to end this post, here are some of the tools I work with. I'm posting this here incase any of the students were interested in buying some tools and wanted to try and remember what I used...

The three main places I go shopping are:
Akadot (international)
Kinokuniya (Sydney)
Eckersleys (Sydney and Parramatta)

Any questions about these tools, feel free to contact me! aruATaltheaaseocheDOTcom

Teaching Manga

2008-10-10T19:26:00.004+11:00

My friend Fiona just came back from a whole day of teaching manga to a really awesome bunch of teens!

We taught a character design workshop and a comics workshop. I might go into more details later....

For now, here's a quick drawing I did of a character we as a class designed... a 15-year-old boy called Henry with an afro and affinity for ice cream (he's holding an ice cream scoop... sorry, I did this in a rush!) who finds that one day all the icecream in the world is gone so he freezes himself for 1000 years in hopes of finding icecream in the future - but wakes up to find there still isn't icecream.

This isn't the actual drawing I did in class... I got home and felt the need to finally update my blog. This is just a quick sketch in biro and marker. The drawing I did in class is on an A2 sheet which will... take longer to scan in. OTZ

Might post more in a couple of hours!! For now... a lovely dinner serving of STEAK.

Reversal of Fortune

2008-10-01T15:07:00.006+10:00

I've been busy with the last few days of my freelance job. So no drawings again, but a new audio theatre piece by Robyn Paterson which I was cast in as Lady Ashe.

TWIN STARS EPISODE SIX: REVERSAL OF FORTUNE

Visit KUNGFUACTIONTHEATRE.COM for more awesome stuff!

Share and Enjoy! 8D <- too much Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

The Four Flowers of Shandong

2008-09-24T23:06:00.003+10:00

No art today. (Well, there is but it's work. XP) So I'll post this.

Little Gou and the Four Flowers of Shandong

Written by Fiona Thraille
Produced by Robyn Paterson

And... uhm... me as Blossom. =3

Iron Heidi

2008-09-23T17:32:00.009+10:00

I know it'd be considered cheating to post up an old artwork without posting new sketches but all I've done today is work related and since I have signed a privacy contract, I'm sure I'm not allowed to distribute the work online. So alas... here's an old original piece.

Henrietta Jekyll is a character I designed for the online course, Character Design by Silver. It's a very good course and I'd recommend it to anyone who is interested in art, particularly people who like designing characters.

Henrietta is the main protagonist of this story-idea I came up with, loosely based on Jekyll and Hyde. The story is called "Iron Heidi."

Henrietta is an 8-year-old, spoilt, rich brat who idolises the super heroes of her city. Her one wish is to be admired and respected just like them but in fact, she is feared and disliked in her local school. One day an alien crash lands through her observatory roof. After negotiating compensation for the damage, the alien offers her a secret formula that would grant her super-hero powers and last for a year with one dose.
"When someone needs your help, you will transform into a super-hero," said the alien, "When you have saved them, you will change back into your normal self."
She accepts the trial potion and the alien says that he will be back in a year's time to see if she likes the product. Excited about her dream finally coming true, she takes the formula. But is it really her dream-come-true - or a terrible year-long nightmare...?

Animal Sketches in marker.

2008-09-22T10:59:00.002+10:00

I woke up this morning and decided to draw a sheep's head.

And a ball.

If I had a beagle, I'd call it Marvin

2008-09-21T18:32:00.001+10:00

As in ... Marvin the paranoid android from Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

I just finished listening to the radio show version... and golly it was bloody awesome.

One thing I like to do while inking or drawing or colouring is listen to audio theatre or audio books. At some point in my life I decided that I was bored with listening to music and so discovered a whole new world of audio theatre. And man, is it heaps more practical.

It makes mundane things like inking very fun. If I feel like listening to a bit of adventure, I listen to fiction. If I feel like learning a language, I listen to my "how to speak Mandarin" CDs I bought. If I feel like learning something new, I listen to non-fiction.

It's something I recommend as an alternative to music. The problem with me and music is - I tend to sing along with it so I don't end up doing much work.

Anyway, I'm submitting my portfolio again to an animation studio... so naturally, I'm doing some last-minute new work for it. I'm almost done - I can't believe how much work I've done in the last month or so. O___o;;

Confessions of a Harrods Noob.

2008-09-20T14:12:00.001+10:00

My time at Global Book Publishing was certainly a very memorable one. If not for the experience of working in the publishing industry but for all the cakes and goodies and freebies that any warm and friendly workplace would incidentally, voluntarily provide.

One such instance of this generosity occurred some time in May when the managing director returned from the UK and brought with her a whole box of none-other than Harrods chocolates for everyone else to share. Of course, I who have only ever been exposed everyday chocolate had never heard of something as quite exquisite and high class as Harrod's chocolates. The closest I have been to expensive chocolate is probably Ferrero Rocher, which I think goes fantastic with a can of Coca Cola. Throw me a cheap piece of chocolate and I'll willingly gobble it up - I wouldn't discriminate, despite my uncanny ability to differentiate between tap, boiled and filtered water.

I did try my very very best not to pig out... and failed miserably, probably eating more than twice my share. It was only very much later that I found out how expensive those chocolates were... So expensive that certain pieces had a flake of gold on it. "So that's what it was..." I felt like such a commoner, as I thought that normally, people would wear gold, not eat it.

And now that I have divulged my dirty secrets onto this blog, I will end on a final note that birds are in fact quite fun to draw, especially if they look like furry balls of feather.

Sofie and Stephen Silver

2008-09-16T13:47:00.000+10:00

Stephen Silver's blog is a blog that I have bookmarked and I visit very often. He helps me keep inspired.

He does regular podcasts that are very inspiring. It makes me feel bad that I'm not doing anything to push forward that very instant. Then it makes me feel like doing something. And almost always, I do it - whether it's something I've been putting off or whether it's a new drawing - I just do it.

Ok, from now on I'm going to treat this blog like a sketch book - so I will be posting here a lot more often. My Deviant Art page will only contain the best of my works. Hehehe... well, I guess we'll see how long this lasts.

Here is a character, Sofie which I drew for a quick response to one of the conceptart.org daily sketch themes ""A gothic woman with living hair."

Fandom

2008-08-19T00:22:00.000+10:00

I'm a fan of many things but there's just a line that I don't cross. What's beyond that line - sometimes, I have trouble understanding why people do certain things for the sake of fandom.

Not that fandom is a bad thing. I've done things like cosplay before (didn't really love it) and a long time ago I used to do fan arts. Never quite understood why people do fan subbing... (doing it because you are such a fan of it you want others to enjoy it.) I personally wouldn't do something that requires so much of my time without getting paid for it unless it was my own original work. It's against the law to make money out of creating things for the sake of fandom... that's why I don't invest a lot of time in it.

For the first time in years I've made a finished fan art. *shock* *horror* *the world is going to end* That is if you can call it a fan art...? I painted this thinking about people and the things they do for the sake of fandom. I'm merely making an observation about fandom. Plushies are another thing I've never really understood... They're very cute but... useless. Yet fans of all ages - kids and teens and even adults look like they're having so much fun. Yes, the world of fandom, is quite a colourful one.

Lake Ruby

2008-08-06T23:48:00.000+10:00

Awww... isn't it romantic? *lurch*

I tried to paint a cloud city and this is what I get. ;OTZ Painted this in 30-40 mins because I was impatient...

La di da... digital painting

2008-07-21T03:17:00.000+10:00

I didn't know I could paint... O___o?

Lol.. jks... this is probably one of the more successful attempts I've done out of 6 or so this year...

Finished it in 2 hours... but I don't think it's finished. I might even colour it too.

I won't overcommit ever again...

2008-06-22T11:20:00.000+10:00

Ok.. here's what's been happening.

I'm currently finishing up at Global Books Publishing as a Junior Designer. I have been working there full time since March and it's been great learning all this stuff. Plus I got to work on 5 amazing reference books... I get to have my name on these books. XD Yay!! I know that's probably not such a big deal but it is still exciting since it's the first time my work will be officially published. Well... by "my work" I mean - I did graphics for a few of the books - "Edible" is probably the best example. You get to see my little icons on almost every page. BWAHHAHAHAHha.... 8D (well.. in the top right had corner and occasional quotes box.)

It occurred to me the other day how fortunate I was to get this job. I have a friend who studied B Design who is currently looking for exactly the type of job I've been working at over the passed 3 months. The irony is, I'm not even a design student. I guess it's really all in the timing. Publishers usually like to bring out their books in Sept-Oct in time for Christmas, the best time to apply is around February, which is exactly what I did (although not knowing this at the time.) At that time I really wanted a job that would move me out of retail work, help me build my portfolio and experience and of course, earn me some regular $ching. It didn't matter that it wasn't exactly "Digital Media-esque." Most of my portfolio up until that point had Design stuff in it (thanks to Eminence.) I think this job has ensured me that I won't ever need to work retail again... I'll always have this experience behind me and I can move on to other jobs design-orientated.

The problem is, I have realised that desk-top publishing/packaging/print/web design isn't what I want to do.

I did an online course called Character Design by Silver from March-June. It's was a 9 week course taught by Stephen Silver and it was absolutely FANTASTIC. It has really - if I could use the term - revolutionised my style. I no longer have to say, "I can only draw anime" because I have finally moved on! Here is my character Henrietta Jekyll which I developed over several weeks.

Anyway, I've been doing that in my spare time up until the first week of June.

Next was Heirs to Honora, which was a 5-page pilot project that Fiona Darwin and I developed for a comics campfire project held by Sam Clayton. It was absolutely incredibly fun! What I learned from it was that I can never do a comic project in the traditional western method (where one person does the writing and one person does the art... etc.) Unless, of course I get paid for it - which is a different thing since that's classified as commercial. For personal projects, I need to be involved with the story, storyboard and character development. At the same time I also want to work on the finished product. I need to work with someone like Fiona who can also do both things like I can. From now on, I'll be more picky with these kinds of things.

Heirs to Honora was Fiona's idea. It started off as a back story, which had many gaps. It was at just the right stage for which I would have wanted to step in. She had a vague idea of the characters and the plot. We spent nights giving these characters names, personalities... etc. We then decided she would do the character design while I'd do the storyboard of the first 5 pages. And so we did and at the same time we helped each other out. I'd give her ideas for costumes and features, she'd give me comments on layouts ... etc. Then when we finally got the storyboard done, we decided that she'd do panels that were close-ups and character orientated - I would do the panels of long shots and backgrounds. There were more character shots but less detail. On the other hand there was more detail to the long shots but only 5 panels. Here is one of them.

Anyhow, I finally completed my 5 panels in May... very much passed the deadline because of all my overcommitting.... but anyway, done was done and we were both very happy with it. =) We are waiting for the campfire to launch it's website. At the same time, we submitted it to Generations but I'm not sure if it'll make it in since it's not a complete story. It probably won't. Oh well.

As you might know I'm also a committee member of SMASH! although I have to admit... with all the things going on, I haven't had much time to commit to it. Anyhow, I do what i can... and this is one of the things I did, along with trying to help organise Art Events and stuff in the pockets of spare time I can find.

And lastly, I have just started on another major project with Subversive Games. I don't think I can say much at this point about the project so I won't. What I will mention is that the project I worked with them early last year, Fuso Truck Empire , won the award for Best Corporate or Business-to-Business at the 14th AIMIA awards. I did the drawings and character designs, Melissa Mai did the awesome colouring and Jason Chow was our outstanding Art Director.

And finally - no wait, did I say that already?? hahaha... I've been doing a tiny bit of voice acting... I have been following the productions of Robyn Patterson at Kung Fu Action Theatre and I will be in the next episode of Little Gou series - it's called "Little Gou and the Four Flowers of Shandong," playing Blossom - which will be released possibly in July-August. I have also been cast as a character in Twin Stars episode 6. =3

Oh and of course, I am mentoring 2 students (possibly 3 soon...) in their animation projects.

And so summarises my busy busy life... There were 2 projects which I committed to earlier on in the year and that was with Liz Argall and my friend Kaitlyn Nguyen ... I don't think I'll be able to do those projects anymore. TAT Alas... I overcommitted and I promise I won't ever do it again.

WANTED: Volunteers. (SMASH! 2008)

2008-05-04T13:11:00.000+10:00

WANTED: VOLUNTEERS

The SYDNEY MANGA AND ANIME SHOW (SMASH!) is looking for fun, enthusiastic and highly motivated individuals to assist throughout SMASH! 2008 on August 2nd. There are many sections to choose from and we need help in all of them!

+ Video Games-related (Gaming comps, free play etc)
+ Art-related (Artists Circle, Art Comp etc)
+ Cosplay-related (Cosplay comp, Cosplay games etc)
+ Technical/Audio-Visual-related (Camera work, Sound & Lighting etc)
+ Event/Stage-related (Stage activites, Trivia, Backstage etc)
+ Ticketing-related (Pre-reg, Sales, Doors etc)
+ General assistance
+ Other areas

Tell your friends about us too!

Applications Due: Midnight, July 12th, 2008.

Why Volunteer?

+ As a volunteer you are entitled to free entry to SMASH! 2008
+ SMASH! offers a training program so that NO PRIOR EXPERIENCE IS REQUIRED.
+ Lunch and drinks are provided.
+ You will gain experience, which can help you in the workforce.
+ You will be presented a certificate for volunteering for your resume.
+ You will meet and work with a handful of enthusiastic and dedicated anime fans, artists and talents.
+ We are searching for several volunteers so you will definitely be given some free time to enjoy the convention yourself.

Interested?

Sign up as a volunteer by sending an email to volunteers@smash.org.au with the following details:

Full Name:
Nickname: (dA, forum and/or personal)
Date of birth:
Sex:
Address:
Contact Number: (please write the best number we can use to contact you)
E-mail:
Choice of section: (Choose from the list above. List as much as you want in order of preference.)
Previous experience: (previous work experience or other work related experience you may have)
Skills: (any special skills you may have, e.g good speaking skills, languages, etc.)
Special Needs: (Details on anything about your condition that needs to be taken into consideration e.g. food allergies, vegetarian. etc)

Conditions

Please read the Volunteers Code of Conduct

You must be at least 15 years old by the 2nd of August, 2008.

As a volunteer you agree to:

+ show up to training days
+ Arrive promptly at SMASH! on August 2nd.
+ Be prepared to listen to instructions from your team leaders and the HR co-ordinator.

Am I being to hasty...?

2008-03-24T13:57:00.000+11:00

I applied for a junior animator position at Flying Bark... quite a while ago. Got a reply from them around mid-March inviting me for an "animation assessment" - from which they would determine whether or not I was suitable for their team.

Problem was I only checked my mail on Friday night. ^^;;; And the assessment would have been due today. Either way I probably wouldn't have gone for the offer because I already have a new job - which I'm also very happy with.

I was very happy that THE Flying Bark (former Yoram-Gross) were interested in my work... and very sad at the same time since I couldn't follow through with it. XD But it encourages me to know that I have potential. ><;

If I had not accepted the current contract job I'm doing - I would have been able to do this. Then again, there was no guarantee that I'd actually qualify. I guess I was looking for something solid more sooner. Why? Well... ah yes. I remember. I was trying to get out of some freelance job I didn't want to do. Once I had a full time job, I had a good reason to reject it. XD

Ah well, next time.......

Oh My Gosh!

2008-03-14T20:27:00.001+11:00

I totally forgot to mention the Generations project I'm supposed to be working with Kaitlyn Nguyen on. @_@ So that's THREE comic projects. SAM, MITSU, TRES, TROIS... @__@

We've got the idea down pat - it's about a girl named Florence (Flo) Abendroth who's dead twin, Eva, follows certain people around and they die after 3 days.

And.. yeah, that's it. I think. Oh and SMASH stuff continues of course. #_# gah!

Well oh well...

2008-03-14T20:06:00.000+11:00

I've been busy keeping another blog about exercising somewhere in the wide virtual universe.. so I've neglected this one. And the Agharti blog. And Agharti.

Ok, that's not really an excuse.

What's happened since I've last posted? Well, I got a full time job at a book publishing company in Lane Cove. It's a contract (3-4 months) as a Junior Designer assisting the Art Director on 5 upcoming book projects as well as other potential projects which are going to be showcased in London! (Although I didn't really do much. Lol...)

I'm mainly taking care of the menial tasks - which means helping the Art Director with proofing all the designs. So that's photocopying, printing, writing memos to printers, fixing layouts... etc. But I'm learning heaps! It's pretty interesting. =) Nice books too. I also do get to do a bit of vector drawing which is great. =D

In my spare time I've started 2 comic projects. I'm working on one with Fiona Darwin at the moment. It's due April 5! So it's kind of urgent... We're working on one of Fiona's developing projects - it's a fantasy/adventure. We need to submit 5 pages to this Comic Development Faction project... anyway, more details later when they launch their website.

The other one is titled "The Long Road" which was written by a lady name Elizabeth Argall. She's pretty well known in the "Australian Comic Scene." It's a really good script... gotta try and finish 10 pages by June. Unfortunately I've sorta pushed it aside for now until this Comics Faction project is over. >< But I want to get to it! Just that the main character is a dwarf. I did start trying to draw her but found I couldn't. T_T so ... I'm hoping the character design course will push my drawing skills.

So on March 25 I'll be starting a character design course... which I'm kinda looking forward to and dreading at the same time. I'll be effing busy.... really really busy. T_T and I'm already busy now.

So where's Agharti in all this? ... ah.... unfortunately it's on hold until the second half of this year when my contract job, character design course and two comic projects are finally out of the way. @_@ Man... why am I so busy all of a sudden....? ><; lol.

BTW, I ended up passing the video game sound track job onto someone else - a really good designer I know at SMASH!. I'm so glad that's off my hands. XD I'm just soo sooo busy....

Writers Guild of America Strike

2008-01-28T22:28:00.000+11:00

A funny thing just occurred to me about this strike - although I'm pretty sure someone else has realised this too.

International *cough*Australian*cough* television producers could really benefit from this strike. I mean at the rate it's going, American TV (I'm guessing) is probably dropping rates from either crappy TV scripts or endless re-runs.

If I was a big-shot in Australian TV industry, I'd see this as a golden opportunity to sell something to the Americans. I would need to think of something fresh and new, of course. None of this reality television bullshit that Australians are still obsessed with. "That was like sooo pre-September 11" (Rolls eyes).

For decades we've been buying these shows from Americans. The last thing we probably sold to the Americans was Steve Irwin (OK, so I might have to check my sources). We've got the talent - and we could possibly gather the resources. We just don't have the culture for it.

Mediocrityville

2008-01-28T15:02:00.000+11:00

I'm confused. I really don't know what I want to do now-a-days.

I mean, I still really love animation but I keep finding other areas or even doing other things that make me loose my focus on animation.

I've been doing a bit of amateur voice acting, which takes up a lot of my spare time these days. I'm hoping it's just another phase I'll soon get sick of. In fact, I think I'm already starting to get over it. It's really fun though.

Then there's these freelance jobs I got that.... sorta suddenly came all at once in January. One simple logo/business card that should be finished soon. Then another one that sounds really really neat. I can't talk about it much - all I'll say that it's to do with the first video game sound track for a Western game franchise. (You know, like a Metal Gear Solid sound track or something... except MGS is a Japanese game so no, that's not the game)

I've been doing a bit of research on games cuz to tell you the truth, I'm not much of a gamer myself. I came across the World of Warcraft wallpapers. Damn the art is so gorgeous! I keep thinking, see, if I did that kinda stuff I think I'd really enjoy it. That's the kind of work a close friend of mine does. Problem is I don't really get to do a lot of that stuff... I don't really have anything in my portfolio that shows I can do it.

I got more experience in design/layout and I'm not too shabby at it. The problem is I don't really enjoy it. I'm liking it less and less and finding it hard to actually sit down and draw up something in vector. I keep applying to vector-drawing related jobs because it's the only thing around that I have a portfolio for.

And then there's animation which I've totally taken a break from. I've left Agharti as is and applied to Melbourne Film Festival. I feel kinda bad leaving it like that but I'm having trouble motivating myself to go back to it now that it's all over and I haven't touched it in ages. Plus I'm out of animation paper. ><

Now that I've quit my retail job, I've put myself under a bit more pressure to find a full time job in the industry. I feel really stuck and I don't know what to do. It's like I've moved from the country to the city with a bunch of carrots to sell but what I really want to sell is turnips even if I don't have any. I've got so much free time but no real direction.

I should apply to jobs but I'm afraid of getting stuck in the wrong one......... argh! Maybe I'm just making excuses for being lazy.

Project: Inthri (Voice Acting)

2008-01-20T16:28:00.000+11:00

Here's a shoot'em up flash game project by Rhete.

Project: Inthri

It was posted on VAA in December 2007 and I first tried out for the character "Seven." Rhete then emailed me back saying he wanted me to try out for the other characters and I did. I got cast for two of them - Trinoka and XS. It was... a pleasant surprise. =D

It was fun to do and I'd do it again if I find the time. It's a great game! (Very smooth game play.) Just.. no pause button so be prepared to sit for a whole hour without a break. XD

I almost finished the whole thing twice - once with Ether and once with FX. (I didn't finish the extra stage...) But I played it on easy. I couldn't pass stage 4 on normal. ><;

The Tarot Cards Yet Again

2007-12-06T01:56:00.001+11:00

I went to another reading last weekend. This time it wasn't the same guy - I was kind of disappointed but then I thought it wouldn't hurt to try someone else since... you know, I'm pretty new to this stuff.

She was a bit... like a typical median - kinda into the whole aura and spiritual levels thing, unlike Ryan (the one who did my last two readings). Ryan seemed more down to earth and straight forward which was what I liked about him. This lady kept saying I think too much and I was being analytical about everything - that all my energy was focused in my head and the spiritual pressure was bearing down on the crown of her head. ~~Excuse me while I roll my eyes.~~ I guess I don't really buy into that stuff that easily... but I wouldn't say she was a bad reader. She seemed to know how to interpret the Tarot well.

My main worry was that because of the choices I made, that the world card would have disappeared. That I missed the opportunity to my so called "international success." I was kinda relieved when it appeared once again in this reading. She said one thing that I'm willing to put my money on - "the cards never lie."

The peculiar things that she said were:

- I will be presented with two choices. And it's got to do a lot with relationships but there is business involved. (*blink o_O;*)
- In the next 12 months I won't be finishing my education. I will be continuing some sort of training/learning for at least 12 months. It might be that I'm doing some sort of training which will lead towards a job... or something. Anyway, point being my studies won't finish this year. ;OTZ
- I will be heading towards a new direction; harnessing the skills I have already acquired to a new area (of discipline I suppose...?)
- This new discipline/job will ... make me travel. A LOT. (I sorta knew I'd be traveling a lot in my life because my palms have HEAPS of travel lines.)
- In the next 12 months, I'll meet and become creatively involve with a lot of people. (Well... that's starting to come true already actually - since I joined the SMASH! Committee)
- No broken relationships forseen... in fact... the potential for an engagement in the next 5-6 years... (hmm.. yeah, that sounds like it's going according to plan. =D)

I'm really worried about this "new direction." I mean, what other career than one in animation would I want to pursue? My ultimate dream is to be the creator (or co-creator) of several incredible animation projects like Avatar and Studio Ghibli films. Like Hayao Miyazaki I'd be involved in the project on a hands-on level - taking care of lots of jobs like story, character design, concepts, storyboards and animation. Preferably with a partner - we'd dream of epic adventures in beautiful, extraordinary fantasy worlds together. That's my pure awesome dream.

Hmm, OK, I admit, I have deliberated about going into film. Exactly what role, I'm not sure. I've also thought about going into screen writing or storyboarding. I want to learn Mandarin because I think China will play a very important role (in all areas) in the next few decades. I also want to go into just a bit of acting (mainly to improve my animation skills.)

What to do?? I'm too tired to think. ><; I should "retire for the night" anyway. Gotta head to uni tomorrow to do my supervision shift for CoFA Annual. =P

Ying and Yang

2007-11-08T04:59:00.000+11:00

Many successful animation projects are usually the brain child of a partnership. For example, Michael DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko (Avatar the Last Airbender), Trey Parker and Matt Stone (South Park) and even Walt Disney had Ub Iwerks as a partner for Steamboat Willie and all the early Mickey Mouse shorts. If I've learned anything this year, it's that brilliant work usually takes more than one mind. It is the conversations throughout the processes that allows for better output.

I've recently been thinking about approaching some studios and pitching an idea for an animated tv series or film. I'm looking into cel animation (not flash, not 3D.) It would be "the Next Avatar" but of course a lot different. It might look a bit anime but also starting to break away from the influence.

I think it would be better if I had a partner. At university I have met a lot of talented people but at the moment there hasn't been much interest in such a collaboration in my circle. I'm hoping to find this person some time in the next two years when I start working in the industry.

1. It would have to be someone I could work with easily (I find I work best with Virgo, Cancer, Pisces, Capricorns... and strangely Aries (probably because my mom is an Aries). I know it sounds weird relying on star signs but so far it's been true.)
2. shares an equal passion towards traditional animation and believes in bringing it back to the West
3. loves anime but wants to break away from it
4. loves (or at least respects) Avatar the Last Airbender and wants to achieve something like it
5. is good at writing stories and/or drawing/animating/designing
6. is organised
7. down-to-earth
8. sets goals and steadily achieves them
9. has a great sense of humour
10. can work with many different genres
11. is honest
12. is hard working - can understand that the workplace is for work and not procrastinating on sites like Facebook
13. is open-minded
14. wants to work with different genres of animation other than satire and children's animation
15. is environmentally conscious
16. is an extrovert and very vocal
17. is very energetic, even eccentric at times - it might drive me insane
18. isn't afraid of being ambitious
19. respects the work of Hayao Miyazaki
20. loves musicals and thinks they should be brought back to animation
21. is my age (born in 1986) or within 2-4 years older or younger.

This sounds like a job advertisement. Lol.

So why am I writing this down? A few years back when I broke up with my first boyfriend, I wrote a list sort of like the one above outlining 20 criteria of "my perfect guy." About 6 months later I met my current boyfriend, Ray who filled 19 out of the 20 criteria. The only criteria he fell short on was "he has to be a cello player so I can play violin with him." XD So I'm writing 21 criteria points this time and hopefully I'll find someone who fills up 20 of them.

I guess we'll see if I meet this person. =)