Highs and Lows

Finally! I've finished the ten illustrations to be included in the conceptual book! I don't like them all, in fact, I hated some of the ones I did. Right now, I just couldn't care enough to change anything. Though the illustrations are done, this is only the first part. There's still the framing and the textual content of the whole book. Here, I will show you the highs and lows of my illustrations this time around.




This here is from the "Bottleneck". Among all of Andersen's work, this story is not as well known. After reading it though, I find it interesting how all things can come back full circle. Of all the pieces I did, this is my favourite for its colour.

Just by looking at the colours, can you tell which story this is from? "Snow Queen", though has never been my favourite, is always portrayed as this majestic cool character in my mind. I don't think I have successfully captured the majestic quality, but I think I did make her look cool.

This is what happened to the drowned "Little Mermaid" after I fished her out of the sea, slapped her awake and then threw her back in. It doesn't look great but at least I have stopped groaning looking at it.

Lastly, "The Little Matchgirl".

I have nothing to say. Someone please kill me. (ARRGH!)

p.s: I have no idea what happened to the colours you see here. Might have something to do with the format in which I saved it. Anyways, am too lazy to do anything about them now.

Semi-naked Fat Old Man

This is a vast improvement over the drowning mermaid. I like the fact that I manage to avoid the parchment background and instead applied a patterned background. This is the first time that I had fun drawing and colouring a fat old man.

Can you guess which story of H. C. Andersen's that this illustration is based upon? (pretty obvious, no?)

Do or Die

Talked to a friend today about how hard it was in her architecture course. There was so much pressure there that you either emerged the loser or winner by the end of the day. It's a do or die situation. Other than that, one simply gave up. As for her, it was a special case. She needn't force herself too much to achieve great grades. She just needed to finsh up her years here and return home. Her mother would be able to arrange jobs for her. It was her reasoning for not forcing herself. If not, she would have gone crazy.

This was what assignments do to you. You would be so busy trying to complete everything that you thought of the shortest possible way to your goal. This left no room for experimentation or bold unprecendented decisions. In the end, you enjoyed nothing of the whole process. In other words, you simply didn't learn anything new other than what you already knew.

Feature 001: Jimmy Pickering

I have many blogs before this. The longest lasting one was the one I had in Friendster. The rest didn't last for more than two or three posts. I hope this one will be different (it already is considering that I am blogging back-to-back here) for I am taking this down a different direction.

Besides blogging only on the mundane happenings of my life, I'd also like this blog to be a recording of my growth as a designer. If my interest persists, I will feature some interesting graphic finds I discover here.

Without further ado, I'd like to share with you my discovery of an ultra-cool artist: Jimmy Pickering!!

I found him in MPH, One Utama. I was doing research for my book in the children's corner. I was trying to look at the illustrations there to get an idea on what I was supposed to do. After some time browsing, a cover of a story book captured my attention. It was a children's book written and illustrated by Jimmy Pickering. On the first look, his style is very similar to the works of Tim Burton.

Looking through his portfolio, I find myself falling in love with his colours. They are all so bright and vibrant. His subjects are all spooky but there is a cheeriness in the colours he applied. It is strange, I know, but I find myself seeking inspiration from his works to illustrate H. C. Andersen's stories.

Below is an artwork of his, titled "Deadman". If you're interested in seeing more of his works, do click on the link I have on the left side under "Fav Design Sites".

The Drowning of the Mermaid

This is an illustration of "Little Mermaid" that I did. Pitiful, isn't it? The drawing itself is okay but I can puke over the colours. The colours got banned from the lecturer. It looked dead. Dull. Drowned. Sheesh....

Week 3

I started off my semester on the wrong foot. My mistake? Having nothing to do. Therefore too much time to think. Of inconsequential stuff. I guess I sort of tipped off a couple of friends and had them worry over me for nothing, really.


Life on campus is picking up. First impressions on lecturers are being altered week by week. All in all, I am very happy over the selection of lecturers that I am having this semester. The loss of one incredible graphic design lecturer from sem 3 has being made up by four really good ones this sem. They are lecturers from Design Heritage, Photography, Computer Graphics and Graphic Design/ Typography.


This is how things happened. You might think you have lost something really good but your lost is made up by the gain of something else. With things like this happening, it makes getting through a bad day easier. For something depressing that happened, you must know that something uplifting is near. One will just have to wait the bad season out.


Assignments are being thrown at us in droves. As of now, they are all still manageable but deadlines are back-to-back.


I am suffering a lack of inspiration. The ideas that I have and the style that I am following are all things that I have done before. I am trying to verve into a different direction but thinking is always easier than executing.

Evelyn said I am having artist's block. Really? I have tonnes of ideas, just as of now, lacking the technical ability to realize them.

These are things and the troubles on my plate so far:

1. Conceptual book We have to design a book from scratch. The subject I have chosen is a biography on Hans Christian Andersen. I opted to illustrate some of his famous stories such as Little Mermaid, Princess on the Pea and the Steadfast Tin Soldier, to name a few. The trouble is I have no idea of the direction that I am going into. Unlike before, I always have a concept first. I don't now. I do not want to do the same thing over again like what I did for my CD packaging. Actually, I already have an idea forming in my mind. But the concept is a bit too big to swallow now. Sigh... hopefully I will find a way out *fingers crossed*

2. Typographic Post Card This project is integrated with the conceptual book. This means I will have to make postcards that promote the book. I love typography but it has never been my forte. I have an idea approved by the lectuerer but I am not sure I like it enough to carry it through.

3. Character Design This has to be fully done in Illustrator. It has to have a concept and a story. By far, this is one assignment I am looking forward to doing. This is maybe due to the fact that I have yet to start on it. Therefore the possibilities are endless, unlike the former two.

So much work, so much time, pitifully little enthusiasm. That's me.

Lessons On The Road

She was my joy and frustration for the past few days. Before, I didn't like her very much. She knew it, I knew it. But there was once when I had a really bad day and staying in the room all alone only contributed to more self-pitying thoughts. I opened my room's door and walked out to where she was doing her assignments. At that time, I thought, bad company is better than my own company. It resulted in me putting my troubles aside and listening to her chatting away. It was rather heart-lightening. The past few days, just the two of us, was actually kind of (I can't believe I am actually saying this) enjoyable.

Anyway, my funny little friend went on the whole routine of acquiring a car again. There is one thing I can't fault her but rather find it admiring is that she has a very single-minded pursuit in a matter. The moment she set her mind on something, she will go all out to get it, no matter the circumstances or the amount of money involved. Being a foreigner in this country, she actually managed to find ways to get things she wanted. Ways that I have not thought of to pursue.

Anyway, she managed to rent a VIVA from a Chinese. These are some of the things I have learnt while driving her car on KL roads.

U-turns are so very precious. Not knowing the way to go, I will sometimes doubt my own judgement. God knows the road signs in KL are a mess. One sign will point Cyberjaya in this way and futher down the road, the way to Cyberjaya will disappear from a sign at a cross road. That is why, whenever there is a wrong turn, one can always count on a U-turn just under the overhead bridge. This is something I didn't learn to appreciate driving in Penang.

If only life is like that. But there are no U-turns in life. Taking a U-turn meaning erasing all mistakes and start again from the beginning. It means mistakes are forgotten and we are free to choose another path. One can always take another path in life after making mistakes, but that is not a U-turn. There is no erasing mistakes and start back at square one. You just carry on from where you did wrong, but no turning back. You just keep moving forward.

This is something everyone must have encountered during driving. A dead end. The road is wide and open. You don't know the way so you continued driving blindly, thinking you are merely going in a circle. But then you came to a dead end. The wide road that you think will lead you out is actually a dead end. There are no dead ends in life. Even if there are, you don't allow it to be. Take it instead to be an obstacle that you can move around. Don't let a dead end stop you. There is no such thing.

There is always more than one way to a place. Just like how there is always more than one solution to a problem (take photoshop, for example). That is why when someone wanted to go a different way than yours, just let them be. Don't get frustrated, you might actually learn from them instead. You'll think you know the way better than anyone. Don't be surprise at how fast the teacher will instead turn back to a student.

This happens to me all the time. I will look at normal things that happened everyday and see how it relates to becoming a better person. I even have a comparison between life and putting condensed milk into Milo!

*peace!*



u turn following

A Brand New Day in A Dulled Dream

What began as an ordinary day in a new semester ended perfectly well on three good notes. But before going to the good parts, let me begin with the dull ones.

Today is the beginning of a new semester, as mentioned, so I must be excited to be going to school. Instead of being filled with excitement, I was only filled with dread. It didn't help much when I had a good look at the timetable. There was nothing there to be excited about. Simply all a continuation from the last semester but none of the lecturers names sounded promising. If every one of them were like some certain laid back lecturers from last semester, I don't see myself having the fire to work on my work.

I have been telling myself that lecturers are merely beings to guide me along the way and it is not practical to be relying on them a hundred percent. This is university, not secondary school. But now, I have a new outlook on this. Still, I do not need lecturers who submerge themselves fully in teaching us, but it will be awesome to get someone with real experience and knowledge to share. I don't need fresh grads who have little experience more than myself teaching me what they think they know.

I am looking at this a little bit more pessimistic than I would have liked. It is still too early to be lamenting about the coming days. Let me get through this introduction week and then I will see.

I got my results today. Not as fantastically good as I would have liked. I have slipped in my CGPA, but it is still within acceptable bounds. To increase it by a mere 0.02, I would have to score 4.00 next semester. I need this to reach my ultimate goal. All I have to do is score a minimum A- in all my subjects. I did slacked by the end of last semester, but I promise to buck up and do more than my best.

I was enjoying the smooth internet connection I had today. Totally love my formatted computer and new keyboard.

As for the three highnotes at the end of this dull day, they are simply chatting again with an old friend, listened to a chraming relationship that finally has found its own answer and lastly, managing a post.

This is nothing much. But it is at least a start.