ANMPEK.com

Project: Celebrate a Fun-Filled Christmas with Mr. Men and Little Miss (Christmas 2011 decor design at Downtown East)

2011-12-12T17:06:00.012+08:00

Is fun doing Mr. Men and Little Miss characters for this year Christmas decor design project for Downtown East:

Little black shoes

2010-12-02T12:19:00.003+08:00

I simply adore these 2 pairs of little black shoes :)

Unearthed - Opening of the Portfolio Show for Young Designers 2010

2010-10-29T21:35:00.010+08:00

Yesterday, I went to the opening of Portfolio Show for Young Designers 2010. It is located at Raffles City. There, I saw lots of cool masterpieces by students from various art institutions, universities and polytechnics. It is good and an eye-opening to go down and see how the young comes out with innovative and inspiring works.

Guest-of-Honour, Acting Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts

Speaker: Chris Lee , Creative Director of Asylum

Spearker: Elim Chew, Founder of 77th Street

Purple!

2010-10-02T11:14:00.001+08:00

Celest and Lyris - Birthday Celebration

2010-09-11T15:45:00.002+08:00

A lesson that you can learn from Li Ka Shing

2010-08-04T21:07:00.008+08:00

One morning Li Ka Shing was trying to get his car key from his pocket and accidentally dropped a two-dollar coin, it rolled to beneath the car. If the car was moved, the coin would fall into the drain. Li Ka Shing squattered down to get the coin back, not wanting to lose it. The guard saw him doing that come up to ask him, "Mr Li, what are you doing? You need any help?" Li Ka Shing told the guard that he has dropped a coin. The guard then gave him some help. The coin was picked up and Li ka Shing got two dollars back and he gave the guard one hundred dollars.

Why did Li ka Shing, the richest man of East Asian with an estimated wealth of US$16 billion, want to get back a two-dollar coin?

Li Ka Shing said, "If I had not picked up the coin, when the car moved, the coin would drop into the drain and would be lost forever. But I got it back and gave the guard one hundred dollars, which would not be lost because he would make use of it."

In a word, money may be spent but never squandered.

How to be a successful designer?

2010-07-22T20:23:00.005+08:00

We can learn from Li Ka Shing!

In a youtube video, Li Ka Shing says:

"Knowledge does not guarantee a life of riches, But it does open up more opportunities,
and recognising opportunities is really the best that you can expect."

He also mentioned that in order to be successful, one has to be:
(1) Hardworking
(2) Frugal
(3) Steadfast
(4) Willing to learn
(5) Building a creditable name

Learning to see

2010-07-08T19:13:00.002+08:00

Every designer, animator, artist or photographer, must learn to see. You might ask? I AM NOT BLIND! I CAN SEE! ok, you can see, yes, but do you really SEE every element, and their relationships with one another? or even move one step further, to analyse them? Everyday, we live our life with our eyes half open. We see but we do not take in all the information we see and seldom we analyse them and store them in our memory. As a designer, animator, artist or photographer, we need to be sensitive to colours, shapes, sizes, perspectives, every element's relationship with one another and even how the element behaves, moves and interacts.

New links added to my Inspiration and Tutorial Links

2010-06-27T16:54:00.003+08:00

I have added a few links to my Inspiration and Tutorial Links, they are mainly photography websites that inspired me: they are Jenny Sun, Jim Liaw and Lightedpixels. Out of the three, I feel Jenny Sun photographs really capture my attention, not sure why, I feel very comfortable looking at her photographs. She is really a great photographer. I believe there are three important factors that you can engage people when they are looking at your photographs, they are the right moments you have captured people's emotion, right lighting, and right composition. Somehow I can see all these three in Jenny Sun's works.

How to brand yourself?

2010-06-20T23:37:00.005+08:00

One of my students asked me how to brand herself for her design portfolio website? She not sure how to brand herself? What style she should design?

I told her there are 3 questions she needs to ponder and truly answer herself:
(1) What she wants to do in design...her passion to work as...? web designer, graphic designer or animator?
(2) What is her interest, other than design?
(3) How can you combine your passion (question 1) and interest (question 2) to provide design service to others?

The Pixar Touch (The Making of a Company)

2010-06-12T23:46:00.003+08:00

I have just bought this book titled The Pixar Touch (The Making of a Company) recently.

Today, I started flipping through the pages and found an interesting quote by John Lasseter about what is character animation... "it's not the eyes, but the glance - not the lips, but the smile."

We must give the character a life!
Wake the character up from his or her sleep!

What are elements?

2010-05-29T11:13:00.004+08:00

As we know design elements in design context are:
(1) Dot
(2) Line
(3) Texture
(4) Shape
(5) Colour
(6) Value (Tone)

Here, I will explain how we can combine the six design elements to the Five Life Elements which are Metal, Fire, Water, Earth and Wood. The Five Life Elements are natural energy exists in the environment. We can make use of these natural forces to achieve harmonious in our life: living and working pleasingly and comfortably.

We always say we should balance our life. We should blend in and follow the natural flow of the environment, and not to disrupt it. But, how we going to do that? We can integrate these readily available natural forces from our environment into our life, into our design! This is where the Art of designing comes in, the Art of judging what is good and what is bad for us, the Art of applying those good into our design and avoid those bad from our design. Like what we would do for a mathematic question that need to be solved. We know there are alot of formulas, but we must know which formula to apply and how to apply. It is the same ideology for design. In design, we are posed with problems, we know there are design principles, guidelines and even some standards that we need to apply to our context. To take a step further, we should not neglect to apply the concept of Five Life Elements to our design, to not only solve our problem but also turn our problem into something beneficial to us - and this is called the Art of designing.

New anmpek logo and blog interface

2010-05-02T14:16:00.003+08:00

This is the day anmpek new logo and blog interface are first shown to all my business partners, clients and supporters.

My company website (anmpek.com) is still under development. It is estimated to be onlined on June 2010.

Ideas keep coming!

2010-01-28T00:18:00.002+08:00

Lately, many ideas keep coming and knocking on my head. Too much ideas are no good, as idea comes and goes. You need to jot them down before they vanish into the air.

I'm going to change my anmpek.com logo. :)

Project: Art Embassy Website

2010-01-23T12:29:00.008+08:00

Client: NAFA International Pte Ltd
This project was completed in year 2009
View Art Embassy website at http://www.artembassy.asia/

Project: Suntec City pushcart designs

2010-01-21T21:53:00.003+08:00

Client: Adcity Pte Ltd

Project: Suntec City kid pushcart designs

2010-01-21T21:48:00.003+08:00

Client: Adcity Pte Ltd

Project: Liva Life ice cream packaging

2010-01-21T21:42:00.003+08:00

Client: Liva Life Pte Ltd

Project: Barney promotion toy 3d illustration for event on "Barney Musical Castle"

2010-01-21T21:35:00.003+08:00

Client: Quebec Leisure International Pte Ltd

Project: Hello Kitty illustrations on Vespa and Piaggio bike and helmet for Downtown East event

2010-01-20T17:23:00.005+08:00

Client: Quebec Leisure International Pte Ltd

Project: Badtz-Maru illustrations on Vespa bike and helmet for Downtown East event

2010-01-20T17:17:00.004+08:00

Client: Quebec Leisure International Pte Ltd

Fat Cell 3D Character for A Slimming Pills Magazine Advertisement

2010-01-20T16:26:00.005+08:00

Sunshine Plaza 3D Visualization

2010-01-20T16:06:00.003+08:00

Window Display Concept and Design for Esprit at Meritus Mandarin

2010-01-20T15:49:00.004+08:00

The old Meritus Mandarin! Is history now!

Project: Keypost brochures, packaging, flyers, point-of-sale for Hyundai and Kaba

2010-01-18T23:21:00.001+08:00

Client: Keypost (International) Pte Ltd

Interesting Structure: Henderson Waves Bridge

2010-01-15T20:52:00.005+08:00

It looks like big waves!

Some cool websites for 3d and 2d artists

2009-12-12T10:30:00.003+08:00

2D Artist Magazine:
You can download a lite version of the magazine here!
http://www.2dartistmag.com/

Animation Mentor.com:
You get to view some of the students' animation clips
http://www.animationmentor.com/

I will be adding them to my "Inspiration and Tutorial Link" soon.

trying out Maya mel scripting

2009-12-08T16:36:00.003+08:00

Below is one of my tryout in mel scripting:

Project: "Celebrate Singapore Festival 2005 - Carnival @ Marina" poster

2009-11-29T23:15:00.001+08:00

Client: Jate Events Pte Ltd

Project: "Celebrate Singapore Festival 2005 - Carnival @ Marina" brochure

2009-11-28T23:18:00.001+08:00

Client: Jate Events Pte Ltd

Project: NPC educational brochures (english and chinese version)

2009-11-28T23:10:00.001+08:00

Client: Inflexion Pte Ltd

Project: NPC-REAAD magazine advertisement

2009-11-27T23:07:00.001+08:00

Client: Inflexion Pte Ltd

Project: Inflexion brochure

2009-11-26T23:04:00.001+08:00

Client: Inflexion Pte Ltd

Project: NTUC FairPrice banner for "Celebrate Singapore Festival 2005 - Carnival @ Marina"

2009-11-23T22:44:00.001+08:00

Client: NTUC FairPrice

Project: "Integrated Utility Solution for Resort World Sentosa" - Presentation cover

2009-11-21T22:37:00.001+08:00

Client: Power Seraya

Project: Creative Talent Kids brochure, flyer, standees, bookmarks, business card and membership card designs

2009-11-21T22:32:00.001+08:00

Client: Creative Talent Kids Pte Ltd

quick character sketches for Old Odd Tales

2009-10-29T23:10:00.007+08:00

I drew some quick character sketches for Old Odd Tales while I was in one of my night classes. Too many bits and bytes divert my mind away from the lecture and only drawing can bring me back to reality...

Project: "Kidz Connection 05" newspaper advertisement

2009-10-22T22:23:00.001+08:00

Client: Unusual Design & Communications Pte Ltd

Project: "Celebrate Singapore Festival 2005 - Carnival @ Marina" food voucher

2009-10-21T22:58:00.001+08:00

Client: Singapore Tourism Board

Project: China Insurance exhibition banner designs

2009-10-21T22:20:00.001+08:00

Client: China Insurance Co. (Singapore) Pte Ltd

Project: China Eastern Airlines exhibition banner design

2009-10-21T22:17:00.001+08:00

Client: China Eastern Airlines Corp Ltd

Project: CSC Oil Transportation exhibition banner design

2009-10-21T22:12:00.001+08:00

Client: CSC Oil Transportation (S) Pte Ltd

Project: Downtown East hoarding designs

2009-10-21T22:01:00.001+08:00

Client: Quebec Leisure International Pte Ltd

Dream Projects

2009-10-17T14:05:00.003+08:00

Is it coincidence?

Currently, all year 1 students are doing their mini project titled DREAM and I am also doing a DREAM project.

I remembered telling someone about three or four years back that everyone should have a dream or goal. Without dream, our life will be so unmeaningful and boring. Hopefully now that person have a dream or goal to achieve or accomplish.

Steam Bun 3D Animation

2009-10-09T20:13:00.002+08:00

I saw one of my friend posted the Steam Bun 3D Animation in Facebook, I think is interesting and would like to share with you all...

Steam Bun's Dragon Fist 龙拳

Chinese steam bun vs Japanese Sushi

CG Overdrive 2009 cert

2009-09-18T10:23:00.003+08:00

I just got my cert with Feng Zhu an Tony Kieme signatures on it. :)

BaiMaYi: Changes to her crown

2009-09-06T12:54:00.005+08:00

I amended Queen ant's crown. Previous one looks abit plain, does not really bring out that she is a Queen.

BaiMaYi: Queen ant

2009-09-05T16:42:00.005+08:00

Queen ant head completed.

Artistic talent in kids

2009-09-03T20:51:00.006+08:00

See how serious the kids are when they are colouring.

Think Like Da Vinci

2009-08-23T14:19:00.003+08:00

I just bought this book titled "Think Like Da Vinci" yesterday. The author, Michael J. Gelb, shares with us how to think like Leonardo Da Vinci using 7 easy steps to boost our everyday genius and mastering:
- Whole Brain Thinking
- Improved Brain Power
- Creative Problem Solving
- Accelerated Learning
- Sharpened Senses

I think is a good book for anyone who wants to improve your aptitude in business or career, and I especially recommend to artists and designers.

I like a quote in this book:
"I wish to work miracles..." - Leonardo Da Vinci

New stuffs added!

2009-07-05T12:35:00.003+08:00

I have added in a new section for all my inspiring images that I took or I have found.
You can click on the new navigation button to go to my image album. :)

I also have added in new links under "Inspration and Tutorial Links".
One of them that I need to mention is Trendwatching.com. I always love to look out for new market ideas and this site really give me what I want. Designers should also look out what market wants and from there design and cater for the crowds.

Discoveries on my journey on TreeTop Walk

2009-06-28T18:30:00.004+08:00

I happen to come across this signage, I think is quite interesting.

One point perspective!

In the middle of the bridge, I saw this bird feeding its babies. I love the outcome (colour, texture and composition) of this photo.

5 Days Hong Kong ShenZhen Trip

2009-06-24T20:17:00.004+08:00

Finally, I got the chance to take a break from work. I went to Hong Kong and ShenZhen for 5 days. I gain a lot from this oversea trip: new concept ideas, advertising ideas, animation ideas and of cos their architecture designs, theme park designs and what type of fashion are in for them. I took a lot of photos. Hope these photos can bring sparks of inspiration to you :)

What I learnt from Feng Zhu and Tony Kieme, CG Overdrive 2009

2009-06-18T11:15:00.006+08:00

I went to 2D Professional Track 2 Days seminar which was on 16 and 17 June. This seminar content is on the pre-production work for films and games: the concept art and digital painting. The speakers are Feng Zhu and Tony Kieme. Both of them show us some of their cool and amazing works they have done like Transformers, etc. They have also talked about how the big boys like EA, Industrial Light+Magic, and top directors like George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, James Cameron and Michael bay works.

I think is really worth going to this seminar as I learnt alot from them, especially Feng Zhu.

After showing us his works, he demonstrates how he do cool digital painting in just 30mins! and he also show us how he do the HARD CORE industry concepts - is all perspective lines.

Some of the useful stuff he mentioned during the seminar:

(1) For inspiration and referencing, look at real world pictures, not other artists' or designers' work, as normally you will take the style of that artist or designer. Two useful photo reference sources he used are: www.corbis.com and www.airliners.net.

(2) When doing digital painting for a composition, always rotate around and flip horizontally your artwork to make sure is balance and perspective is accurate.

(3) When rendering for reflective surface, for example car, make sure you know how reflection works and how different materials and textures reflect light.

(4) Even you do character design, for example, robot, you can apply real world knowledge into the design so that is workable (if really need to build up) and believable.

(5) Is good to go down bookstores or library to look for photo referencing and inspiration. If affordable is good to buy the books. Feng Zhu has lots of books, and this is where he got most of his ideas from.

(6) Eyeballs = Cash. This is how google earns their money. Do graphic book or novel, as you will get eyeballs, in other words, people got to know you.

(7) Feng Zhu said that 3D concept artist is very HOT now and future. That person must be good and fast modeler. (maybe I can, haha)

(8) Do not use tablet to draw first, start off with cheap pencil and paper. Buy a big but cheap table, so that you can anchor your elbow on the table to draw long straight lines.

(9) Practice 5 months on drawing straight lines, another 5 months on drawing circles...

Before end of the seminar, he advised us to (1) work hard, and he means really work VERY HARD, he explained that there is really no secret, just spend time on your drawing: how many hours you spend on it, you will see you have improved by how much - is just that simple. (2) Try to expand your network as most of his friends or even classmates end up are his clients, and (3) mix with people that will give your friendly competition so that you will continuous upgrade and push yourself for the better.

Sculpting Character Using Polymer Clay

2009-05-20T20:13:00.006+08:00

I sculpted one of my character, Kong, from Old Odd Tales using Scupley polymer clay. I have spent about 2 work days to come out with the composition concept as well as clay sculpting Kong. I will try to paint Kong after he is BAKED.

Your character is alive!

2009-05-20T17:20:00.004+08:00

I come across a quote by Friz Freleng when browsing Draw the Looney Tunes book, I find it very useful to those who are designing characters. Here it goes:

"I thought of Bugs myself as a character that existed. I never thought of him as a drawing. I always feel that Bugs Bunny lives somewhere, and I'm just making a drawing of him."

Create your character with a name, personality, background and her relationship with the environment she lives in and other characters she comes across, before you even think of drawing her.

Popularity of Photoshop

2009-05-02T12:03:00.004+08:00

"... I wish that I could Photoshop on our bad memories
Because the flashbacks, oh the flashbacks won't leave me alone ..."

The graphic software is so popular that the name of the software is used in the lyrics of Utada Hikaru's latest english song ("Come Back to Me"). Not surprisingly, we all also know what the word meant in her song.

As time goes by, I think more graphic software names will be used too, like, Illustrator, After Effects, 3ds Max, Maya, Z brush etc.

How to score well for design?

2009-04-25T12:18:00.003+08:00

A student asked me, "How to score well for design?"

I replied,
"Most important, you must love design. How to score well? To speak the truth, I never think of that, I just want to WOW people with my work. If you can wow others, most likely you are able to score well."

What to major in? Know what you want.

2009-04-24T23:29:00.004+08:00

When studying in design course (it also applies to other types of course), you will come to a point that you have to decide what to major in. It would be a dilemma for some students. Some of them even blindly follow their classmates or friends.

I remember one student asked me which major he should go for.
Instead of answering his question, I replied him back with more questions. I asked him what is your goal or dream in your life? What is your priority in life? I find out that many students do not know or have not think about the first question. Some even say they have no goal in life. I asked them another question (I like asking question. Haha.), what you would see yourself in 5 years time? 10 years time?

Is your goal or dream to produce a 3D film? or produce game? or In 5 years time, you want to work in top advertising international company or top animation studio? or be your own boss? Setup your own design company? You should start asking yourself this question.

Another question to ask yourself is what is your priority in life? Earning more money is more important or a career that might not earn much but is what you like or enjoy doing?

If you know how to answer all the above questions, you will know what to major in. Even if you choose a major that not many of your classmates have chosen or your classmates pester you to join them in another major, you will not follow them because you know what you want.

You should start setting your own goal and dream now.

A Touching CG + Live Action Short

2009-04-17T09:16:00.004+08:00

I love the concept of the short and the message that it conveys to the viewers. The technique of blending the CG and live action is good, but I feel it still can improve. Overall, it is a very good short.

World Builder from Bruce Branit on Vimeo.

Pixar sketches

2009-04-13T13:50:00.003+08:00

Blue Sky Disney on BLOGSPOT too. :)

Take a look at Pixar sketches:
http://blueskydisney.blogspot.com/2009/03/pixar-in-pen-pencil-paper.html

Like what they said:
"Even though Pixar is known as a computer animation company, the original computer animation company actually, the truth is they start out every production just like an old fashioned hand-drawn film. Everything from characters to sets all begin as a sketch that goes from pencil to pen on paper before it ever gets animated..."

Alot of people or even design and media students thought that doing 3D animation does not require to do much sketching. They are wrong. Before you do a 3D model or character, you need to sketch out character first, then draw its front, side and back profile onto a character model sheet. Before you do animation, you need to plan and draw the animation sequences into storyboard. Sketching is considered to be the first stage of 3D animation production workflow.

BaiMaYi

2009-04-11T16:02:00.004+08:00

This character was designed about 3 years ago, especially just for myself. Some of my friends like to call me "Bai Ma Yi", which means white ant. They call me that is because my name Anm sound like ANT! and my surname is Bai (white). After I designed the character, I planned to do a project for it, but somehow I stopped doing it. Now, I decide to continue with the project. Hope I can finish it by this year.

Project: "Army Family Day 2005" food voucher

2009-03-21T22:54:00.001+08:00

Client: Singapore Armed Forces (SAF)

Rob Coleman's talk at TischAsia New York University

2009-01-24T10:28:00.010+08:00

Rob Coleman, a two time Oscar nominated independent Animator Director with over 22 years of production experience, is here in Singapore. He gave talk on "Acting and Animation: Bringing Digital Characters to Life" at TischAsia New York University yesterday evening.

A little more on Rob Coleman's background: Rob was at Industrial Light & Magic for 12 years from 1993 to 2005, where he was Animator Director on the Star Wars prequels - The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith.

A lot of animators, artists, educators and students attended the talk. When my students and I reached there, there were no seats left, so we got to stand throughout the talk. Standing at the talk is not too bad though, as I can take nice pictures of him while he was giving his talk. Here are the pictures:

(1) "Animators are actors"
(2) "I would not want something that are realistic, but something that are believable" That something he is refering to, of course, is animation.

An interesting discovery about the fight scene in Attack of the Clones. Rob Coleman told us that he got his inspiration for the fight scene from a Hong Kong movie, Swordsman 2 东方不败.

He shared the tricks of the trade:
- Timing of animation
- Moving Holds (Moving holds are slight and slow changes in pose over a number of frames. They are mostly used to keep a character alive slightly when the pose is supposed to stop. Moving holds help to avoid any completely still body motion that always looks dead in 3D and also serve as a nice soothing contrast to the relatively fast movment before it.)
- Reference
- The computer is a bad assistant (Don't get lazy)
- Add in the "dirt"
- Automation and Simulation (They are your friends)

He also highlighted the points to take note to become a better digital artist:
- Study the world around you.
- What is important in this shot, sequence?
- Understanding your role on the film and your contibutions.
- Being true to the film you are making, whether it be photo real or stylized.

Be believable!

Project: "Baywatch Chill Out & Bar" poster for "Celebrate Singapore Festival 2005 - Carnival @ Marina"

2009-01-21T22:28:00.001+08:00

Client: Jate Events Pte Ltd

Artworks done by wood printmaking method

2008-12-28T14:59:00.005+08:00

I was doing my annual house cleaning just now and I found 2 of my artworks done by wood printmaking method during my study in NAFA. Though it is a long and tedious method, I enjoyed it.

I had a great satisfaction when the artworks are completed, especially the "Turtles Gathering". Why? The "Turtles Gathering" artwork is done in 6 stages. Why 6 stages? Guess? Each colour is counted as one stage. In the artwork, there are yellow, yellow green, green, blue, red and black, a total of 6 colours (white is not considered as we no need to paint the white area).

I have to first plan out what colour I want for each area of the artwork. After I know what colour I want for each area, I first carved out lighter colour (which is white) area on the wood block. Then I applied the yellow paint onto the wood block. After that, I placed an A4 drawing paper on top of the painted wood block and press the paper onto the wood block using concave area of wooden spoon. This is tedious. I have to use a lot of strength in order for the paint to be traced nicely to the drawing paper. And, I have to repeat the pressing for 8 A4 drawing papers!!!! This is because if the graphics are not properly in line after later pressings, the artwork is considered spoilt. "We have to play safe and press 8 drawing papers, then later choose the nicest one among the eight of them", my lecturer sternly told me.

After the first pressing, the 8 drawing papers have to dry for 2 or 3 days. While waiting for the yellow paint on the 8 drawing papers to dry, I carved out those yellow colour areas of same wood block for the next darker colour, which is yellow green. After that, I applied yellow green paint onto the wood block. The process is repeated for each colour and it is from ligher to darker colour. The final stage will be carving out those blue colour areas of the same wood block for the darkest colour, which is black, and press again and then let them dry again. This is time consuming and real tedious too. I got arm muscles after doing this artwork. 6 stages x 8 drawing papers = 48 times of pressing. I got to press 48 times, that is why I got arm muscles after that. Now, I feel like carving wood again. :)

Title: Turtles Gathering

Title: Desert Fantasy

Village boy of oboriginal resettlement in Cameron Highlands

2008-12-22T13:15:00.005+08:00

This boy was wandering around the village, playing with himself. He stare at my camera when I took a picture of him. He has a kind of unfriendly expression, however, I love this picture. I desaturated the colours of this picture using Photoshop to create an oldness feeling in it.

This picture was taken at the oboriginal resettlement village of Cameron Highlands.

Learning Zbrush lately

2008-11-30T12:27:00.002+08:00

I'm learning Zbrush lately and happen to come across a cool Zbrush online community site.

To all zbrushers out there, check this out:
http://www.zbrushcentral.com/zbc/index.php

You can also go to youtube. There's ton of tutorial video clips on Zbrush. :)

This one is on sculpting a character hair, face and shoulder.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oaN-CxrP4Uw&feature=related

GARAK

2008-11-30T11:26:00.005+08:00

Some of my sketches and storyboard for my unisim final project.

Garak’s background:
Garak is a new-born hero who unites all the good characters together and fights against the evil ones. Though Garak is a baby, he is the only one who possesses special amour and weapon to give him great power to battle the villains. He will have to call upon his amour suite when he needs it. A roar of “Garr~” and he gears himself up and ready to fight.

GARAK and GAMA can be friends. Who is GAMA? See my previous post. Haha~!

GAMA - Proposed mascot for Games Asia Convention 2009

2008-11-30T11:17:00.006+08:00

This is my unisim assignment.

A boy and a dog

2008-11-27T11:11:00.001+08:00

My unisim sketching project.

From Pencils To Pixels

2008-11-15T11:36:00.002+08:00

Yes, I just bought a book "Animation From Pencils To Pixels" by Roy Disney...

It is an inspiration and comprehensive book. If you like 2D or 3D animation, I would like to introduce to you. :)

“Drawers of Memory”

2008-09-03T23:21:00.004+08:00

Today, I received an email from Mr Dan Twyman, Senior Art Consultant of Salvador Dali Society. Mr Dan Twyman has sent me the above drawing and told me that The “Drawers of Memory” is based on a well known drawing “City of Drawers”. Thanks Mr Dan Twyman for the information.

You can find out more about Salvandor Dali and his masterpieces at http://www.salvadordaliexperts.com/.

My 4th idol is Salvador Dali

2008-09-01T10:30:00.005+08:00

Yes, my 4th idol is the Spanish Catalan surreslist painter, Salvandor Dali. I am totally amazed by his striking and bizarre surrealist work.

Below is one of my favourite Salvandor Dali's masterpiece:

Nice colour and composition photograph

2008-08-31T23:51:00.007+08:00

My friend without any decent training of photography is able to take a nice colour and composition photograph. Somehow I believe that artistic talent is in-built in us and we just need training to bring that talent to the max.

You must know how to sketch, not how to draw

2008-08-08T14:57:00.004+08:00

Sketching is the fundamental process of creating anything: games, movies, products or even a painting. Sketching is the idea creation. It is about scribbling down notes or fast sketching of some interesting things you come across or even appear in your dream. Master the technique of sketching and you will have a strong foundation of creating anything. Drawing is only important to fine artists, but even before they start to draw or paint their canvas, they will also sketch their idea and composition too. Have you seen Michelangelo's and Leonardo da Vinci's famous sketches?

Sketch everyday if you can. Is a good exercise for your eyes, hands and brains.

"I should recommend . . . keeping . . . a smallmemorandum-book in the breast-pocket, with itswell-cut sheathed pencil, ready for notes on passing opportunities: but never being without this."John Ruskin, The Elements of Drawing, 1857

The beauty of nature

2008-07-20T12:03:00.004+08:00

We should get out of our house of bricks and venture into the nature world. This is where you can get your inspiration from.

Singapore Toy & Comic Convention

2008-06-30T12:41:00.001+08:00

The first-ever Singapore Toy & Comic Convention (27 to 29 june 2008) held in Singapore~!

It was held in Suntec Singapore International Convention and Exhibition Centre. It showcases toys (general and designer), comics, animation, gaming, design, licensing and Cosplay.

Famous toy designers like tokidoki and Devil Robots are there too. Cool~!

CG Overdrive 2008

2008-06-17T23:59:00.000+08:00

CG Overdrive 2008 was held in Singapore Expo Hall 9.

A number of CG big boys like Lucasfilm, Ubisoft, Double Negative, Big communications, Infinite Frameworks and Lights & shadows were exhibiting their work and recruiting new talents.

Below is some of the CG Overdrive exhibition shots I took:

Ironman sketch using Wacom Bamboo tablet

2008-05-20T14:35:00.004+08:00

My first try on Wacom Bamboo tablet.

Below are game models that I have just created in Maya

2008-04-11T11:51:00.009+08:00

One cute little baseball boy and one gargoyle look-alike monster....

My third idol: Giuseppe Arcimboldo

2008-03-29T22:20:00.005+08:00

My third idol is the talented artist, Giuseppe Arcimboldo. He was born in the year 1527 and died in the year 1593 in Milan.

Click the link below to view his masterpieces :
http://www.artcyclopedia.com/artists/arcimboldo_giuseppe.html

Below is an article I wrote about Giuseppe Arcimboldo.

Giuseppe Arcimboldo's symbolic Pictures

What is it that makes Arcimboldo's pictures so unique? Arcimboldo was famous for his symbolic pictures: A head in profile consisting of a thousand flowers is called "Spring", another head made up of all kinds of fruit is called "Summer", "Water" is the title of his painting in which all the marine creatures seem to have congregated in complete chaos. Then there is "Earth", a head which consists of over forty different animals. A portrait made up of books is "The Librarian". There are many other composition of this kind. They are always rendered accurately with regard to detail as well as delicate colours. Some of his pictures are quite confusing, but interesting. One particular painting, for instance, includes a pot full of different kinds of vegetables, but when one looks at it upside down, it turns into the figure of a market gardener.

Arcimboldo's first pictures were painted in the traditional style of the Renaissance in 1549, at the age of 22. However, there was a decisive turning point in his art after he went to Prague in 1562. He started to draw protraits with abundance of allegorical and symbolical allusions, or what we called it as anti-naturalist abstraction. Each of his portraits comprised the following elements and stated that: Spring is represented by flowers, Autumn - represented by autumn fruits, the Jurist is represented by meat and roast fish, the Emperor Rodolphe II is represented by plants all the year round (fruit, flowers and wonderful vegetables) and evokes the four seasons in perfect harmony, etc.

I believe that the change in Arcimboldo's style was influenced by the following:

(1) Cultural environment
Every artist develops under the influence at the cultural environment in which he lives. As Arcimboldo was born during the transition period between the Renaissance and Mannerism, traces of both movements can be found in his art.

(2) Physical environment
Arcimboldo's immediate environment at the Emperor's Court and Art and Wonder Chambers (with the numerous rare species and collector's items) must have influenced him quite considerably.

(3) Advices from the Emperor
Furthermore, I think Arcimboldo was also influenced directly "from above", that he received advice and suggestions from the Emperor to draw "Imperial paintings". These paintings were meant to glorify the Emperor himself. The Hapsburg rulers like to present Arcimboldo's pictures as gifts to various relatives and dignitaries, so that his art served partly - or even mainly - as a "advertisement" for the polices of the House of Hapsburg.

Arcimboldo believes that world consists of elements, and whoever rules over the elements will control the world. The seasons that he drew symbolized the eternal order of nature as well as the idea that Hapsburg will reign forever. Thus, the heads of the seasons and of the elements stand for the eternal rule of the House of Hapsburg.

Political significance of these pictures is further emphasized by the large number of Hapsburg symbols, such as the peacock and the eagle as part of "Air". The element Fire is symbolized by the chain of the Golden Fleece - a Hapsburg symbol. It also contains a number of military references, for example, guns and cannons which served the purpose of emphasizing the great military power of the Hapsburg rulers. Earth is another picture which is full of Hapsburg symbols, such as the lion's hide of Hercules and the skin of a ram.

Arcimboldo paints his series of "Seasons" in 1563, and the four "Elements" in 1566. The various "Elements" and "Seasons" are all in profile and seem to be facing one another: Winter and Water, Spring and Air, Summer and Fire, Autumn and Earth. Arcimboldo believes that there is a special relationship between them: Summer is hot and dry, like Fire. Winter is cold and wet, like Winter. Air and Spring are both hot and wet, and Autumn and the Earth are cold and dry.

Each series also contains a certain symmetry: Two heads are always looking to the left and two to the right.

Arcimboldo also painted interesting visual puns which can be turned upside down. They are "The vegetable gardener" and "The Cook". In the picture of "The Cook", it shows a rather rough-looking chap, but when one looks at it more closely, it turns out to be composed of chunks of fried meat. When the picture is upside down, the helmet turns into a meat dish, with a slice of lemon lying on the edge and piles of fried meat in the middle.

"Vertumus" was one of the most famous Arcimboldo's painting. It is a head-and-shoulder portrait of the Emperor, showing him in the form of Vertumus, the ancient Roman God of vegetation and transformation. Rudolph consists entirely of magnificent fruits, flowers and vegetables representing the four seasons. Plants and produce of the whole year have been gathered together "in perfect harmony", to glorify the Emperor who rules over them like the God Vertumus. This picture is the crowning achievement among all the paintings that Arcimboldo made for the glory of Rudolph or the other Hapsburg rulers.

In conclusion, Arcimboldo was an extremely talented artist. His enormous talent and inventive spirit in art evoked the admiration of his contemporaries in general and the great people pf his time.

As with other renaissance artists, Arcimboldo was not content simply with the imitation of nature in his art. He surpassed this to produce an anti-naturalist abstraction. Fantasy took over and the psyche and emotions combined to establish new ideas over and above the objective perception of the subject. The "mosaics" of his portraits provided the perfect backdrop illustrating the diversity and cohesive needs of the Empire.

Whether Arcimboldo had a natural tendency towards an illusionist and symbolic style of painting or whether he had received instructions from the Emperor, who wanted to glorify himself - it is certainly true to say that he took a completely new path during his time in Prague, that he stubbornly persisting in creating a style of his own which had never been seen before and was so unique that he is still famous for it today.

My artwork: Reconstruction

2008-03-16T13:42:00.001+08:00

Another idol of mine: Eric Jordon, the advanced guy

2008-03-16T12:50:00.003+08:00

Eric Jordon, I like to call him the advanced guy. Why? It is because it is his design and technology website - http://www.2advanced.com/ that makes him so famous.

He is one and only guy that can makes me say "WOW" non-stop after looking at his work. His interactive, motion graphic and 3d for the Internet is really superb. Beside as the President & Chief Creative Officer of 2advanced Studios, he is also a DJ and producer. You can listen to his masterpieces at his official audio blog at http://www.neverrain.com/.

He makes me inspire new ways of presentating my creativity and push my limit of design skills to a higher level.

I hope it will inspire you too. :)

Who are my idols?

2008-02-20T12:30:00.008+08:00

I have 4 idols who i really admire them. Who are they? They are not from Singapore idols or American idols. Neither are they singers nor actors. They are artists and designers. Two of them are artists and two of them are designers. I shall mention one first. The other three I shall mention in my later postings.

One of my idol is David Carson. David Carson is one of the world's most distinctive typography and graphic designer. I got to know him when I first bought Ray Gun magazine. He was the art director for Ray Gun magazine. How he experiements and breaks all the rules of typograhy, makes me start to take notice of him. I started to search for his past artworks. The more I know more about him and his artworks, the more I admire his uniqueness and experimental approach towards design. I am totally addicted to Ray Gun magazines! Though I have to admit some of the texts in the magazine are illegible, but it is the visual impact of those chuck of illegible texts that created his own unique style! I keep wondering to myself that shall we break all the design rules?

Here are some Ray Gun magazine pages:

Image taken from: http://www.grito.com.br/notas/nota0105.asp

Limited to your "database"?

2008-02-15T13:44:00.004+08:00

Artists and designers tend to draw or design what they know and what we are comfortable in. However, we should try to build on our "database" to make us more versatile and flexible, giving us a broader range of stuff to draw or design from. How? Travel, slow down your busy pace and experience life, see different environments, pay attention to different ways people put things together, how people walk, eat, sleep, talk and relax. In short, observe everything in details, analysing what you see. For example, rather than simply noticing a person is walking slowly, study the person to understand why he walk in this manner. Is he tired? Or is he sad? Or is he carrying heavy things that make him slow down his walking pace?

Top 10 Lies told to Naive Artists and Designers

2008-02-14T13:16:00.001+08:00

I saw this post in sgclub.com forum. I think is very useful to all artists and designers out there especially those fresh graduates from design schools. To tell the truth, even, I myself had experienced some of it before when I started to do my first few freelance projects and new to the design industry.

Top 10 Lies told to Naive Artists and Designers
- by Mark W. Lewis

1 "Do this one cheap (or free) and we'll make it up on the next one."
No reputable business person would first give away their work and time or merchandise on the hope of making it up later. Can you imagine what a plumber would say if you said "come in, provide and install the sink for free and next time we'll make it up when we need a sink." You would be laughed at! Also the likelyhood is that if something important came along, they wouldn't use you.

2 "We never pay a cent until we see the final product."
This is a croc, unless the person is leaving the door open to cheat you out of your pay. Virtually every profession requres a deposit or incremental payment during anything but the smallest project. Once you have a working relationship, you may work out another arrangement with a client. But a new client should not ask you to go beyond an initial meeting and, perhaps some preliminary sketches without pay on the job!

3 "Do this for us and you'll get great exposure! The jobs will just pour in!"
Baloney. Tell a plumber "Install this sink and my friend will see and you'll get lots of business!" Our plumber friend would say "You mean even if I do a good job I have to give my work away to get noticed? Then it isn't worth the notice." Also the guy would likely brag to everyone he knows about how this would normally cost (X) dollars, but brilliant businessman that he is he got if for free! If anyone calls, they'll expect the same or better deal.

4 On looking at sketches or concepts: "Well, we aren't sure if we want to use you yet, but leave your material here so I can talk to my partner/investor/wife/clergy."
You can be sure that 15 minutes after you leave he will be on the phone to other designers, now with concepts in hand, asking for price quotes. When you call back you will be informed that your prices were too high and Joe Blow Design/Illustration will be doing the job. Why shouldn't they be cheaper? You just gave them hours of free consulting work! Until you have a deal, LEAVE NOTHING CREATIVE at the clients office.

5 "Well, the job isn't CANCELLED, just delayed. Keep the account open and we'll continue in a month or two."
Ummm, probably not. If something is hot, then not, it could be dead. It would be a mistake to *not* bill for work performed at this point and then let the chips fall where they may! Call in two months and someone else may be in that job. And guess what? They don't know you at all.....

6 "Contract? We don't need no stinking contact! Aren't we friends?"
Yes, we are, until something goes wrong or is misunderstood, then you are the jerk in the suit and I am that idiot designer, then the contract is essential. That is, unless one doesn't care about being paid. Any reputable business uses paperwork to define relationships and you should too.

7 "Send me a bill after the work goes to press."
Why wait for an irrelevant deadline to send an invoice? You stand behind your work, right? You are honest, right? Why would you feel bound to this deadline? Once you deliver the work and it is accepted, BILL IT. This point may just be a delaying tactic so the job goes through the printer prior to any question of your being paid. If the guy waits for the job to be printed, and you do changes as necessary, then he can stiff you and not take a chance that he'll have to pay someone else for changes.

8 "The last guy did it for XXX dollars."
That is irrelevant. If the last guy was so good they wouldn't be talking to you, now would they? And what that guy charged means nothing to you, really. People who charge too little for their time go out of business (or self-destruct financially, or change occupations) and then someone else has to step in. Set a fair price and stick to it.

9 "Our budget is XXX dollars, firm."
Amazing, isn't it? This guy goes out to buy a car, and what, knows exactly what he is going to spend before even looking or researching? Not likely. A certain amount of work costs a certain amount of money. If they have less money (and you *can*) do less work and still take the job. But make sure they understand that you are doing less work if you take less money that you originally estimated. Give fewer comps, simplify, let them go elsewhere for services (like films) etc.

10 "We are having financial problems. Give us the work, we'll make some money and we'll pay you. Simple."
Yeah, except when the money comes, you can expect that you will be pretty low on the list to be paid. If someone reaches the point where they admit that the company is in trouble, then they are probably much worse off than they are admitting to. Even then, are you a bank? Are you qualified to check out their financials? If the company is strapped to the point where credit is a problem through credit agencies, banks etc. what business would you have extending credit to them. You have exactly ZERO pull once they have the work. Noble intentions or not, this is probably a losing bet. But if you are going to roll the dice, AT LEAST you should be getting additional money for waiting. The bank gets interest and so should you. That is probably why the person is approaching you; to get six months worth of free interest instead of paying bank rates for credit and then paying you with that money. Don't give away money.

Now, this list wasn't meant to make anyone crazy or paranoid, but is designed to inject some reality into the fantasy.

You are GOING to be dealing with people who are unlike yourself. Their motivations are their own and their attitudes are probably different than yours. There are going to be demands, problems, issues and all the hassles that go with practically ANY work/job/money situation. Too many times I see the sad example of someone walking in to a situation with noble intentions and then getting royally screwed, because what they see as an opportunity and a labor of love, the other party sees as something else entirely, not at all romantic or idealized, but raw and simple.

How can you deal with this stuff and still do good creative work? Good question. THIS is why an education is important. You learn, out of the line of fire, how to deal with the art at it's own level and also how to deal with the crap that surrounds it. You may have tough teachers and think that it can't be worse, but wait until a business person has a hundred grand riding on your art! Then you will know what "demanding" means. You will then thank all those tough teachers for building up the calluses that enable you to enjoy the job rather than just feeling like it is all a big waste of time!

In the end, working commercially, being a terrific artist is about 25% of the task. If that is the only part of the task that you are interested in, do yourself a favor. Don't turn "pro."

Eeek! Urban Designer Toy

2008-02-02T11:44:00.001+08:00

My NAFA school works on 3D characters

2008-01-27T11:38:00.001+08:00

Project: Doris Tang Business card

2008-01-20T16:42:00.001+08:00

Client: Doris Tang

Project: A-Star Food Court business card

2008-01-20T16:37:00.002+08:00

Client: A-Star Food Court Pte Ltd

My Nafa design media project: Series Poster for Laptop

2008-01-20T16:19:00.001+08:00

Project: Tropical Christmas 2006 décor design at Downtown East

2008-01-19T22:42:00.001+08:00

Client: Quebec Leisure International Pte Ltd

Project: "Barney Musical Castle" décor design at Downtown East

2008-01-19T21:52:00.001+08:00

Client: Quebec Leisure International Pte Ltd

Project: "Celebrate Singapore Festival 2005" - Outdoor décor design

2008-01-19T21:29:00.002+08:00

Client: Jate Events Pte Ltd

Project: Sesame Street – “Out of This World” décor design at Downtown East

2008-01-19T21:24:00.001+08:00

Client: Quebec Leisure International Pte Ltd

Project: Robertson Walk directional, directory and advertising signage designs

2008-01-19T21:17:00.001+08:00

Client: Fraser Centrepoint Malls

Project: Suntec City mall and office signage designs

2008-01-19T21:14:00.001+08:00

Client: Adcity Pte Ltd

Project: Suntec City Mall Christmas 2004 décor design

2008-01-19T21:11:00.001+08:00

Project: SIA Engineering Company exhibition booth in Asian Aerospace 2006

2008-01-19T20:43:00.002+08:00

Client: SIA Engineering Company Ltd