Self Portrait

After thinking for a while, I finally decided to do this. It's not easy but I thought it'd be a good exercise.
I looked surprised, because that's the expression I had when my bestfriend decided to do a Google Hangout with me, with his newborn baby girl, and they are 10,000 miles away. It was the first time I felt so connected to his family and home again. I can't wait to go back next year and play with this little girl.He snapped a picture of me and his girl, and it quickly became our little 'thing' :) I may looked surprised, but that warm fuzzy feeling which I felt inside the whole time, can still be felt every time I think about it.

(Pencil+Marker on Moleskine Sketchbook 5.5x3.5")

Here I'd like to congratulate my bestfriend, his wife, and the little baby girl. I am so happy for you guys words can't describe.

Thank you all for visiting and for your comments.

Sanjay and Revathi

So 3 months later, I am back again :) Actually I've been around but I just didn't have anything to post really. Work has been hectic of course, especially when things are not quite routine yet, but hopefully it will get there soon.
I mentioned that the last post was a little preview to this one, and it was more of a practice to this one. Revathi has been a great family friend, and a wonderful host. We went to the same college back in Malaysia, and she's the best friend of one of my really good friends. I am sure glad to have her to guide me around Houston to places to eat where I should go when I do crave for a taste of Malaysia. So I would like to thank her for just that, and I did promise that I would draw her 'something'.

Final : Strathmore Bristol Vellum (9"x12")

 Initial sketch

 Working on the left.

Working on the right, and some details.

I gave it to her and Sanjay today, and I think they like it. It's probably not worth a lot, but at least it's something you can't get at Wal-Mart right? :)

It's my mom's 63rd birthday today, I think I am going to call her and chat a little. Again, thank you all for your time and comments, and I hope you enjoy the process, as always, happy drawing!

KaQin Turning 4

I had been sketching KaRyn, my baby niece who's turning 1 soon, and I almost forgot that I have not been doing the same for my older niece KaQin.
She's turning 4 in a month time, and I could totally see how much she grew since the last time I drew her 2.5 years ago. This is how she looks now:-

(Moleskine Sketchbook 3.5x5.5")

And these are the sketches of her I did of her 2.5 years ago. Time sure flies and kids grow so fast!

Thank you everyone for your time and comments. I do not have time to reply all comments, but when I do find the time, I'll get back to them.

Athena

One of our neighbors has 2 dogs, one of them is Athena and she's 15 months old(and she's about 90lbs now!) She's such a darling baby dog, and pretty much afraid of all loud noises. In mornings when I am not working or when I am working nights, I'd usually see her in her kennel not far from our little backyard whenever I am lucky. I know that I am not capable of owning a dog right now as I won't have time for it, but I regard all the neighbors' nice dogs my dog-friends.

Athena's owner Anna is having a birthday celebration this weekend and my wife and I are both invited although I won't be able to make it as I work nights. I couldn't think of a good present from Walmart, or PetSmart, so I thought I'll just resort to what I used to do back when I was in school... drawing as gift. So this is another one that will be given away tomorrow. Happy Birthday Anna!

(Accent Opaque Digital by International Papers 8.5 x 11" )

Thank you all so much for your comments on the previous posts. A little different from Bosco's sketch, this is not done on Moleskine page as it's being given away. The paper choice wasn't too good as it was too smooth and meant more more laser printing. I am sure ink or markers on this type of paper would work so much better than graphite.
(Update: The owner almost cried receiving the portrait of her little puppy. Too bad I wasn't there to witness it, but I am deeply gratified)

Plants Vs. Zombies

I have to admit, I love video games. I wish I have more times playing them, but they do occupy a lot of time, almost like watching movies and very often requires a lot more concentration and good hand-eye co-ordination.
I was at first a little skeptical about this Plants Vs. Zombies game(available in all game consoles, computers, and smartphones) that it's just a simple game with simple designs, simple musics, simple structures, simple objectives, and simple graphics, made by perhaps people with simple minds. And boy was I so wrong =) It is the simplicity of the game that helped me to remember why I like video games in the first place, to have fun and forget about stress in life for just a moment of course.
I've probably spent more than 50 hours playing this game since I got it, defending my home against brain craving zombies using my plants, and I can't remember not laughing or giggling everytime I play it. It's the same feeling I get when I watch cartoons(and yes I love cartoons too, and I think the cartoonists are the most creative people in the world because they make people laugh).
So all I am saying is that, people behind Plants Vs. Zombies are not simple minded at all, but really creative and fun people. Perhaps that's why Electronic Arts (or EA, video game giant company) plans to acquire Popcap(the company behind Plants Vs. Zombies, and games like Bejewelled) for the rumored amount of USD1.3 billion, pretty impressive right?

5x8" Large Moleskine sketchbook

Thank you all so much for your comments. I felt sorry for my Moleskine sketchbook as I've neglected it for a while now(again). It's hard to be consistent nowadays with the 12-hour shift job, and the packing to move by the end of the month. Yes we're moving AGAIN =) but hopefully for the last time in at least 2-3 years. Appreciate all the wishes, and I shall be posting again when I have the time to do so right after settling down.

Final : Family

Being absent for such a long period of time again, and finally having my real 7-days off from work(and needing to pack to move to another apartment by the end of the month), suddenly I got the call from the publisher to finish all artwork of the ones I drew earlier on Concept Lines, Concept : Family, and Concept : Cover art posts. Not to mention I got another call from work to ask if I could work on Monday and Tuesday which would ruin my plans days off, so I kindly rejected.

I had to re-draw all of those that I've sketched in concept form, and onto bigger scale, but with a little less details, no colors :( and due to time constraint I had decided to go a little towards Manga style, and it's funny how I usually draw people in cartoon style when I draw without reference anyway.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Actual hours  on art : Approx. 12-13 hours.
Day and time started : July 9th, 10am
Day and time finished : July 10th, 9pm
Other activities within the period: Eat, naps, playing Call of Duty Black Ops and Plant vs. Zombies, Korean movies on Netflix, shower, sleep etc.

Thank you all for reading and appreciate all the comments =)

Concept : Cover art

It's been some busy weeks for me, I wasn't able to just sit down and draw at all. Long gone the free hours during my night shift. Things just wouldn't stop popping up at work(and was even engulfed in a life threatening scenario as well! Don't worry, I wasn't hurt in that event) and constantly require my attention as an employee. Day shift is even more hectic, and the sad thing is that, it's not going to get any better. -_-
That aside, I am just happy that I was able to get back in touch with my publisher. The concept drawings of family which I did earlier this year is still valid(I am surprised!), and there are still things needed to be worked. They stressed on the blacklines of the cover page, and they gave me the general idea of how the author wanted it, so here's my take on it.

 (The sketch of the concept in ink, pencils and office highlighters)

(Blackline version in ink, to be approved)

I am not sure if they will accept it so we'll see.
Thank you all so much for your comments. I really appreciate all of them and your time. I will try my best to spend more time drawing. My moleskine is once again being ignored due to other more significant responsibilities....sigh.

Black Eyed Peas

Yes the band =) They really churned out a lot of funky and catchy tunes throughout the years, and one of the latest I often heard over the radio is called "Just can't get enough" so I went on Youtube to look at the video, loved it! You can watch it here.
So here's a sketch I did just a few days before(because I knew I was going to be really busy at work for 7 days non-stop, and I was right), and it's based on the music video of course.

(Moleskine sketchbook 5x8")

Thank you all so much for dropping by and leaving comments. You guys are always so kind and encouraging and a lot of times when I am really tired or stressed(not often) from work, I always keep in my mind that at least I have this, life is good(yeah I guess LG is right ^^)

No Digging

One of my co-workers shared a little conversation he had with his daughter(guess how old she is ^^) and I just love how the little minds work sometimes. I would smile and giggle everytime I thought about it, so I had to get it out. Here's how the story goes basically

(True story inspired by Avery Martin)

We had a good laugh, I hope you guys do too. And trust me when I say that those "No Digging" signs will never look the same again.
Thank you all again for your comments and encouragements. I really appreciate them! =)

Portrait of Alex

Not this is not me. She's a daughter of one of my co-workers and I just found out later that her name's Alex too. I was asked to do a portrait of her and I thought I'd like to use it as to test the print quality of a local print shop. I will find it out today hopefully and see how it turns out.

(Update: Finally I've made my first portrait sale today, I am totally excited! So is my co-worker. He did say there will be more to come, I can't wait ^^)

 (9x11" Strathmore Bristol Vellum 300lb, Graphite and a bit of ink)

 (The initial stage before I worked on her hair, which was really time consuming)

I apologize for the absence of my posts lately. It's been a really hectic time for me and I do wish that things could get easier. But perhaps from now onwards I'll have a little time and space to do more artwork.

Thank you all so much for your comments. =)

Random

It's been longer than a month since my last post. No I hadn't been drawing, yes I had been studying hard and working on my tasks at work to get 'qualified'. Hopefully I'll have more time to draw more in the future, but I've already pre-decided that I am going to draw everyday when I retire...perhaps in 30 years time...hahahaha.
Here's something that I drew on my Moleskine sketchbook randomly off the images I googled. I used pretty much everything I have on my pencil case, pencils, graphic pens, colored inks, and color pencils. I am liking those grey inks ^^

Lost

I let our cat Oni out last night at 11pm because he wanted to, he never came back. It's been 24 hours now, and all I could think about is if he's okay, has he got water and food? Chances of him going deep into the woods is pretty high, and I don't think his survival rate is that high since he's been a house cat almost all the time. My wife and I are both very depressed at present time, and we're preparing for the worst, that he's not coming back.
No matter where you are Oni, know that we will always love you, and that you have a home here. You can come home anytime you wish, our hands are always opened for you.

Thank you all for your comments and wishes. I won't be hearing anything from Texas within this couple of weeks although the interview was good, the sad news aside I actually might have a chance to work in Mississippi still. I will keep you guys updated.

Cat's Eye

I am sorry for not posting last week. It had been a hectic week helping out my friend Iceman with his projects and datelines, but it was all fun =) there despite being depressed due to being rejected for the position I applied in Mississippi. I really had a lot of hopes there, but at least I was the top 3 of all candidates applying for the similar position.
I won't have a lot of time this week as well, as I'll be heading to Texas tomorrow for an interview near Waco on Thursday. It'll be an interesting 7+hour scenic drive with my wife, and we'll be back by the end of the week.
So here's a quick one which I did on my Moleskine. I am not sure what I was doing, I just wanted to draw a cat's eye(I'm always looking into my cat's eyes to see if I could find Lord Sauron there ^^) and I think they are pretty, and of course I got carried away with the colors again.

Thank you all for your comments on Hayley. I really appreciate them all, and I'll try to keep my blog theme alive... a drawing a week, and make it at least 54 a year.