88. Waters - Second Technique 1.3 Finale

 

And this is the finally as I tried to add in some waves of a more dominant nature sort of a lapping effect ...

87. Waters - Second Technique 1.2

 

In this scene, I am smoothing out the lines but am undecided on what the final should be ... this I quite like as it shows almost like after rain when the droplets have just ceased and the little vibration lines are finally disappearing ... as their energy is spent

86. Waters - Second Technique 1.1

 

Here I am trying to test out new ways of doing waters instead of the same old ... so you can see that I have some of the initial lines from my original style ... and then smoothing out ...

85. Alien Life Form 1.7

 

And here it is the finale so to speak ... I think different sets of nips would have made this miles better ... and a courage to black out certain things too ... well, this is first real effort with inks so let's see future works, eh?

84. Alien Life Form 1.6 ...

 

I actually liked how the eyes (an unexpected addition during ink stage) are coming along and the little feely whatever growing out of a few segments of the creature but the mouth for me is still a failure. At this point as I am creating this post on 30 Jan 2016 although backdating it, I have since found that to make the work looks better, I should have gotten ink pens of different sizes instead of doing all this on a 0.2

83. Alien Life Form 1.5

 

I thought to use ink to correct the center of the creature's mouth but NOPE still crap!

82. Alien Life Form 1.4

 

Off and on, I have always wondered about inking. I see it most especially in comics but I know that I am of the impatient type. However, in this instance, I decided to take a risk and again, as you can see, the nostrils were terrible but the eyes and the little filaments seemed to work a treat

81. Alien Life Form 1.3

 

And here it is when finished ... more or less ... although there is the bits that I mentioned in the previous post where the shortcomings are obvious, on the whole, I actually liked it and if need be, I can re-do this and correct all the weaknesses to make this a winning entry - sorry ego speaking there!

80. Alien Life Form 1.2

[I am posting this on 10th Jan 2016 - not sure why I didn't post earlier as all edited and ready]

 

At this point, I still wasn't sure what I was going for. Hence you can see the clumsiness as evidenced by the nostrils and the depth of the jam. The eyes are also a test. Thus the pupils are uncoordinated and not "evil" looking

79. Alien Life Form 1.1

I just finished this last night ... so here goes ... this particular round I even tried inking and while a lot of the elements I managed to get across ... I do see a lot of errors ... which I will highlight towards the end ...

78. Dragon 1.2 Final

 

See what I mean? Weak on the legs and the uneven twist of the body ... if I can work up the energy, I will have to try again some day ...

 

77. Dragon 1.1

 

After that tree, it took me a few days to re-think something and I always wanted to draw creatures so here goes ... however, I noticed I am always rushing to finish ... and thus what I started and what I ended are usually far different

76. Tree of Life 4.4 Finale

 

And here it is ... the final version all done in mechanical pencil lead 0.3 to 0.5 depending on what I had on hand ... hehehe ... no inks ... hope you all like it ... someone told me I should start signing off and dating my works ... so I have

75. Tree of Life 4.3

 

At this point, I was wondering where I went wrong because my tree looks kind of fat hahaha naturally we know trees are like the folds in our clothes and can wend any which way but somehow for me ... I tend to over-think these ... and I think ended up making finish product worse ... I guess this shows a lack of confidence in my own skills still

74. Tree of Life 4.2

The reason I took a while to finish this piece is that I am still unable to relax my grip whenever I do pencil work ... so my fingers feel numb within like a handful of minutes and my arm and back a bit tired and sore when 30 mins or so have swum by ... hence the need for frequent breaks to finish anything ...

73. Tree of Life 4.1

After several weeks of doing nothing artwise, and using a busy day at the so-called office as an excuse I got around to buying a sketchbook I like (yes I am that sort of person) and decided to try one more time going all out to do another piece in my Tree of Life series ... so here it is a work in progress this time using pencil ...

72. Monaco and I

This one is a surprise. Normally we received a ton of junkmail telling us about exhibit all over the world and they asked you for money and what-not. But for some reason, after a long while, I actually read this one and found out that it is a real event, not a scam. So they selected Tree of Life #1 and one of the dot-dot paintings and I mailed it to them

Even that was a nightmare as the courier company sent it to Morocco instead of Monaco. A lot of unnecessary tension, I tell you! Hah!

Anyway, as I have never been to France, I decided to fork out the price for my own ticket and went there. Not a bad event but not as glamourous as I would have expected

71. Tree of Life 3.1 Finale

Well, well, well ... it has been many months since I have posted and I do have legitimate reasons ... firstly it's not because I didn't do much art ... well I didn't do much that's true and I had a dry spell from Aug to Oct .. but anyway over the next few days ... I am going to update everyone ... so here is the third in my series Tree of Life #3 ... this piece is more inspired from my days in 2001 Vietnam ... where I was doing the backpacker route up to Nha Trang passing by Muine

70. Tree of Life 2.4 finale ... #tree, #treeoflife

 

This is it ... and basically what I did here is to make it less jarring as I felt that the last post/ stage had too much of an edge ... and I wanted the colours to tell the tale more than the structures within the colours ... and hence this round of colours ... where if you enlarge you can see the tree on the right and the masses of trunks within and across ... hope you all like it!

69. Tree of Life 2.3 ... #abstractart

 

Trying to add some body to the work ... and trying to decide if that is the sun at sunrise or sunset ... or oddly enough after finishing and stopping and taking this photo ... it seems as if the backdrop has become a woods instead of just different layers of colour effect

68. Tree of Life 2.2 ... #abstractart ...

 

What you started with is never what you can end it on eh? I was trying to give it a 2D foundation of sorts and with the only hint of the tree meant to be a sliver on the right edge of frame

67. Tree of Life 2.1 ... #abstractart

 

For this piece, I am unsure how to go about it except that I definitely wanted a colour scheme that is so against my own normal sensibilities and so I thought something strong and vibrant like the flames of the Phoenix ... not flame of the forest ...

66. Tree of Life 1.3 Finale

 

And here it is our final version ... which is a bit of a surprise as I learnt that crappy brushes do have an impact as I struggled to get the branches done right ... ahh well ... time to go shopping!

65. Poetry = L

Later she said
Later and later and later
   when, eh?

Last night in togetherness
Last night was it your last time?
   You wondered, right?

Lester she called
Less you go away now
   I will be gone

Lester he waited
Lester wanted to chance it
   Lester later all alone
 
And lonely ...

64. Tree of Life 1.2

 

After three coatings of blue ... now I layered in the tree and at this point I am not too sure what the tree should be ...

63. Poetry = K

Knowledge
   A commodity we so crave
   A commodity many will willingly strive for
   A commodity not many will work to acquire?

Knowhow
   You want it
   They have it
   What will you do to possess it?

Keen
   Is how we should be
   Is how we should behave
   Is how we truly are

[Okay I admit this is quite lame but I haven't written in a while and this is done in minutes between commercials of the Avengers on TV hehehe]

62. Tree of Life 1.1

After a much long while of sketching artwork that I cannot post here, finally, we found our groove. So here's something new that didn't quite come out as per original planning but still, okay I think

61. Poetry = J

Jest
   all you want
Joke
   if it suits you

Justice
   must prevail
Justice
   for one and for all

60. 2.9 Sea creatures?

 

Okay .. I was thinking squid and octopus ... then wanted it to be like those sci-fi ships ... and one too many ideas later ... this is the result ... I actually quite like it and I think some colours done right would enhance this

59. Poetry = I

I
   is there every a more self-centered alphabet?
I
   always turning inward full of self-reflections
I
   very determined, very aggressive, very demanding

is I

I
  dreams beyond ending, night after night
I
   is the factor behind every achievement
I
   is the root cause behind every failure

such is I

I
   am complete by myself
I
   love to be surrounded by family and friends
I
   stand always alone when the time comes

this is I

58. 2.8: Sea creatures?

 

I actually liked this one ... an aging sting ray ... and I used the tail as an expression of age (wrongly of course) ... and if you notice from the signature ... another plane ride, another sketch ... hehehe

57. Poetry = H

Here we gather
   together
Here we stand
   united all alone
Here we give
   freely
Here we spin
   into everywhere

Hope soars
   as hopelessness is abandoned
   left behind

Hearts delight
   as loneliness is banished
   into the closet

but

How fleeting it all is
   this happiness
How thin the veneer
   of happiness
How ... how ... how ...

56. 7: Sea Creature

 

Another shell ... more like Shell petroleum? Hehehe!

55. Poetry: G

Grinning
   the child runs forward

Growing up
   is a false dream
   is nothing but an illusion

Grim
   is the heart of a parent

Groaning
   we silently do
   as everything fades

Going away
   all things must

Gone
   is the only truth
   is the only reality

54. 6: Sea Creatures

 

Here's another type of sea "creature" or at least I think it is a creature and not a plant

53. Poetry = F

Fly
   flying ... takes strength

Float
   floating ... eases through

Free
   freedom ... within as always

o FLIGHT ... wondrous imagination

o FLIGHT ... beyond barriers

o FLIGHT ... envelope us all

52. 5: Sea Creature

 

After that downer, I decided to push onward and ... while not good ... at least starts to look decent again ... I don't quite like the red colour pencil bits though .. it doesn't exactly enhance the look, eh?

51. Poetry = E

Each day passes by unabated ...
   We try our best to derailed it ...
   But it continues its journey ...
   Onward, onward ho ...
   To where, no one knows ...

Every evening comes a glorious sunset,
   We sit, make camp and pray ...
   But no rain comes and no prey ...
   Onward, onward again?
   To where we wonder is journey's end

Eventually all walks must end,
   We stopped, stared and dared to hope ...
   But of what use is hopes in this world?
   Onward, onward no more
   To the end when we are here

50. 4 = sea shells

 

 

 

This is a miss for me ... as I couldn't quite get the shape I want with those additional lines ... and then I messed around with some colour pencils to give it that sheen

49. Poetry: D

Do not take a left turn
   Do take the right turn

Do not stop at all
   Do take a break if you are tired

Do not hang around
   Do go down the road

Do not mess with them
   Do mess around with him

Do not jump inside
   Do jump on the lawn

Do not climb up that tree
   Do climb the monkey bars

Do not eat all that food
   Do have another bite

Do not breath in that air
   Do breath in this fresh mountain breeze

Do not cut it down
   Do chop it apart

"The Do Nots and the Dos"

48. 3: Sea Creature

 

For some reason I actually like this piece a lot ... hehehe ...

47. Poetry = C

Canny is what you are
Cunning is what he is
Caring?

Lost ... we are lost ...

Cruelty she propagates
Carelessness is served up
Caring?

Gone ... we know not where ...

Cowering are the little ones
Cesspool is their homes
Caring?

Sorry ... we do not understand ...

Cussing is the new cool
Culling is the new "in-thing"
Caring?

Fuck ... who gives a damn?!?!?!

46. 2 = Cuttlefish

 

Well when my word artwork in vol 1 is finished, I hunted back this book and continued so you can see that it is done in Apr 2015. It is now May as I am posting this and though I stopped for a while, I had another good run a few days ago ... still a lot to go and honestly I like this a whole lot even though the time taken is probably more than 10 minutes but less than 30 minutes ... thanks for reading!

45. Poetry = B

Ah me, ah my! Poetry time again ... shall I follow the structure from A? Hmm ...

Believe,
   it is what it is ...

Believe,
   it causes the hearts to quicken ...
   and the tempers to flare!

Believe,
   it can build the world up ...
   and causes destruction just as if not worse!

Believe,
   ephemeral and invisible ...
   elusive yet fiercely protected

Believe,
   to be held tightly in one's breast ...
   to be protected at all costs?

Or perhaps we Believe
   that Believe should be set free
   to be true to Belief's own self

44. 1 = Crab ...

 

Well I decided not to take a break in the posting and just keep at it as well ... and here is what I officially label as my Book 2 ... this first sketch is from Jan 2015 ... so this is actually even before Book 1 ... but somehow after this I stopped using this book and started the other book and hence that's why I called this volume 2 ...

43. Poetry = A?

A looooooooong time ago when I was a kid and later on in university and my early working years, I actually have a passion for words and even dared have them printed in both the Malaysian News Straits Times as well as some USA fanzines and also my Australian University papers and magazines

Naturally like all things, I gave it up as the years went by and settled for a life of "averageness" ... but now I am wondering if practise does make me better and if so ... will you, dear patient reader, allow me to spout some free form verses as I have to admit I have forgotten the general rules on verse ...

Please allow me to indulge ...

So let's start with A ...

Always it starts somewhere
Always it starts some when
And perhaps with someone or two ...

Although the journey has commenced ...
As two may make it to the final greens ...
As long as the two are focused ...

And the stars shine on them ...
And the moon guides them ...
And the sun ...

Hmm weak eh? I have no idea what it means except that I wanted it to start with A in every single row ... hehehe! Weak justification, I know and after that first 3 lines, it seemed that in my mind's eye, I see a journey with 2 people to destinations unknown ... hmm ... some thing to think about, aye?

42. W = Wish

A splash of water shoots my wishes into the sky ... final sketch in this book ... and all done in March 2015 ... am pleased to find that if I push I can actually finish something even though the quality is uneven but for me the main point is actually finishing as well as the fact that each page is done in minutes with nothing about 5 minutes ... shall we take a break for a day or two before the next posting?

41. V = Vale

V + Ale ... ahahahah ... I actually liked this a lot ... one more to go and then this sketch book hit its final page ... my first time in YEARS ... I actually finished something, eh? Whoopee!

40. U = Up

Another piece from Mar 2015 and in case you think I am a fan of that cartoon, UP, think again. I didn't finish it on DVD and found the fat kid annoying. I know it was a hit movie and maybe some day I will actually watched it. So I am not sure if this was inspired from the movie logo or not although some of my friends say so ...

39. T = Time

 

Well here is another posting from the alphabet series and you will be seeing more of this until we finished. The reason is because for the painting, I am still doing another of those dotted-circular stuff for a client and that is progressing but slowly as I am trying to figure out how to match his favourite colours with his "life" ... so in the meantime please ensure T = Time ... and as you can see when I keep on sketching even if like for 2 minutes a piece it looks better ... well at least to me ... so practise does indeed improve one's skills hehehe!

38. S = Super

 

And finally, this is a good return to form, right? I actually liked this a lot myself more than the past few as it shows I actually think it through and willing to spend time to do it hahaha!

37. Pointillism - Finale 2

 

And this is truly the grand finale ... the photo negative ... hope you enjoyed this particular series! Thanks for reading!

36. R= Roar

Sorry it is so faint but I did use a pencil and as this one is quite large ... I didn't want my lines to become too squiggly ... so was very light ... anyway it's supposed to be the word roar coming out of a megaphone

35. Pointillism - Finale 1

 

 

And here it is the final piece for the client ... apologies that it looked so pale ... as I took this shot with a flash ... and it kind of washed out the colours  ... why I called it 1 is because there is a photo negative of this to accompany this painting

34. Q = Quest

 

And here I am ... messing around with colour pencils ... so the focus is on the tools rather than the design

33. Pointillism (4)

 

Here you can see that it is getting densed, almost no breathing space, so to speak, eh? It's almost there. If you zoom in, there are white blotches outside the circle. That's thanks to my sloppiness of not realizing that there were paint on my hand and accidentally brushed the canvas. So I used white to close it off. Hehehe!

32. P = PLU

 

So after pushing on and deciding I should stop trying to do it within a minute or less (hahaha), I managed to do this. While it is not special but at least it is something that has a bit more details/ effort and looks more pleasing to the eye, eh? PLU = People Like Us ... and for some reason also means gays/ homosexuals/ lesbians etc ... not sure why though

31. Pointillism (3)

See what we mean by inspiration? This particular stage is getting more alive as the colours become more vibrant ... the client's favourite colour is orange and yellow and I went out and bought more yellows as the ones I have somehow didn't seem quite right ... quite vibrant enough ...

30. O = One

 

Third one in a row that I didn't like ... at this point, I was so tempted to give it all up ... wondering if I have run out of ideas and merely pushing myself to go through or what ... or perhaps I am just rushing ... not even giving time to think about shapes ... but then I read this article .. that says if one wants to be a professional do not just make up stuff like waiting for inspiration ... one needs to keep working at it ... and so I decided to actually finish the book!

29. Pointillism (2)

As you can see, the dots are becoming more and more dense and as I worked on this, a sense of where the overall colour scheme should flow becomes more clearly to me ... somehow this always happens as the colours themselves actually seem to speak to me!

28. N = New

This one is even worse than the previous ... the volumes it is screaming about amateurish eh? Hahaha! Well ... in all seriousness here I am testing out magic markers or magic ink pens ... another tools I haven't used in years since high school

27. Pointillism (1) - NEW

 

Earlier on when I first re-started painting and sketching and what-not, I was researching and looking at all the artists that inspired me and one such was the style of pointillism. How the artist uses dots of colour to create awesome scenes of people and places and I was wondering if I were to give free rein to my love of colours and shapes, what I can do ... way back then (maybe 2 years ago?) I did it really small ... like maybe 2 inches in diameter ... and the few who saw it loved it ... so I decided to do it for real this time ... the above canvas size is 12 x 12 ...