My Friend Venturi

I promised a long time ago to do a portrait of him, the first one doesnt look like him, but I like the painting itself. the character behind. The second one is minimalist but efficient, the neck gesture and the mustach is all i needed. The hand add a groove. Bob Marley was singing all along.

One regret i have, I should have done the hair wet in wet, to soften the light on the top of the head. the cut feel very abrupt. I fought the urge to go back in, thank god. It would have been a terrible mess.

Zhao Li's Back

I thought we lost her forever when she went back to china, I didn't expect her to come back at all. But when Xu Hui told me she was in town, and all of a sudden the model I had booked for yesterday cancelled at last minute, I knew who to call. And there she was, with a new haircut. She posed gracefully, as usual.

Loosing Mojo

I don't know what to think of my latest attempts. Even Xu Hui couldn't wake my senses. I'm loosing a freshness i had some time ago. At that  particular time, I didn't thought of having any freshness at all. Today looking back at my earlier work, is like a kick in the teeth. It's truly hurt to see stuff that you did but cannot do anymore. I expected a progression. Where am I going with all this. Maybe I should recenter on why I started it all in the beginning. The will to do a Graphic Novel, is the root of my affliction. I will be a restless soul until I fulfill my obsession. End of 2006... this is when it began. I still haven't done that graphic novel. 3 years, in the process of  learning, experimenting with watercolors. I think it's time to do it before I get disgusted. I'm getting super skilled at finding excuses to not start it; Not tonight, too tired, got this new video game, wanna watch a movie and so on and so on... the list is long you wouldn't believe it. But in the end I'm only cheating myself...

Back with the living

For today's life drawing Alexis came back. I was afraid... very afraid. Mainly because i've never been able to draw her before. But i stayed confident... meaning without any expectations. I kept it simple, kept it light. Focused on the drawing, and watercolor layed at lighting speed. Otherwise I mingle with details and hit my head with endless conundrums. Unexpectedly, before my eyes, she became a muse.

Drawing the deads

I found a new activity that i'll try to do at least twice a month. Body Worlds exposition is currently available in Singapore,  from October to March 2010. This is my chance to make some anatomy studies, the way old masters did. Looking at the real stuff. I was a bit uncomfortable when i was thinking about it, having real dead person in front of you can only remind you your own fate. But the opportunity is too great to miss. One day i'll be dead anyway, there is no point hiding from this fact. I took my aquabee sketchbook 11 by 14, 3 waterbrush, one with a diluted ink, some pencils. When i got there, first thing I realized, It's actually not gross at all. The bodies look like sculptures, with a meat texture. Unimpressed I started sketching. They starred at me starring at them, whispering... "One day... it'll be you".

In Darkness with Lee Jia Ling

An interesting session we had yesterday, we turned off all the lights, and kept a small spot on the model. The entire room was plunged in darkness, it was a bit hard to see the paper, pencil mark & washes. But being able to observe the light on the volume was priceless. It was effortless, I was even able to outline them. It's usually difficult to interpret the range of values on a model's body and then simplify it in your mind  before painting it. I am willing to try this again using another spot of light, meaning having 1 spot on each side. It was the second time with Lee Jia. I used my butcher's tray, with Blue Cerulean , Red Cadmium & Raw Sienna or Cadmium yellow light. Paper is Super Deluxe Aquabee 93 lb.

Peer Metze

Ah Foong in 2 Washes

Life Drawing again, I was getting bored few weeks ago during these sessions, caught up in my way of doing things, repeating the same mistakes over and over. So this time i decided to apply what I tried last week, complete a painting with only 2 washes, and dark accent in the end. It went ok... I did a lot of mistakes, often confused in what should be 1st wash and must be 2nd wash. These poses were 25 minutes, so I had very little time to paint because of the drying time. I used a butcher tray (I'm really starting to love this), with a limited palette of Indigo, Burnt Sienna and Raw Sienna. And yes she kept smiling.

Long time, no see

I havent paint in a while, I wanted to, but I'm very good at finding cheap excuses to not too. Yesterday I was in VivoCity at Page One, and I got a book i had in my amazon wishlist for a while. Trevor Chamberlain, A personal View, Light and Atmosphere in Watercolour. I sat in my studio and started reading it at night, then some more in the morning, at 1:oopm the urge to paint was unbearable. Seduce by such simplicity i've found my challenge. To paint outdoor, using only 2 washes + descriptives brushstrokes. And to focus only on lights & Shadows. This is the result after 45min. which most was spent thinking hard about thoses 2 washes before actually doing it. In my mind Mr. Chamberlain sat next to me, explaining how he would tackle down my subject. I couldnt see where i was going only when start putting the shadows. My fav part is the lower right. I think I really capture the plumbing sunlight. I use a butcher tray palette, so colors ran and mix freely. Cobalt Blue, Raw & Burnt Sienna, Cadmium yellow. The paper is Saunders Waterford Series 140lb Rough.

Ah Foong

New Tool

I won this lovely vintage fountain pen on Ebay, made in Japan in 1937. The nib is supposed to be uber flexible. Can't wait to try it out.

TMNT: Re-Shelled

Here is a concept I did for the XLA title TMNT: Re-Shelled. On the right side is the in-game screenshot.

Dr Sketchy Singapore Session 06

Saturday is Shisha Day!

I took a cab to arab street, sat at Usman Restaurant on the sidewalk. Order 1 double apple shisha and a mint tea. The game was on, I unfold my palette, and started sketching. I used a Maruman Soho 301 paper. Very light but can get a decent wash. Force you to avoid reworking too much.

Xu Hui, Again.

Audran & Jin

That was the name of our booth at the Singapore Toy Game & Comic Convention . Thanks to everyone who came down there to support us, it was very cool to see you all. We had a lot of fun. It was very exciting to paint on the spot. After seeing some of pieces that I did there, i'm starting to think of illustrating a children book.