The Year is almost out,.. Xmerz has come and gone, I have yet to:

• own a house
• be obscenely rich
• discover a decent internet service provider.. (wimax where art thou?)
• convince someone to name their firstborn after me
• go on vacation

I now have the entire 2009 to work on that. For the things that HAVE happened this year…

• My grandparents recently celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary recently. That’s like really amazing.
• My buddy Ah Na, just got married to his long-time love, Jo. Congratulations! Name your kid after me!
• A whole bunch of friends have tied the knot or at least comitted themselves to tying the knot
• Changed my job. I’m now in Cyberjaya
• played Fallout 3

In case I’m not around and someone wanders onto the site,… I wish you a very HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Nanyang Edu Fair 2008

Having just wrapped up our booth at the Nanyang Education Fair 2008, I’m back at office and it feels like the weekend. =_=. It was heckuva tiring but it was worth it. Over at the fair, I and Gianne were supposed to do demonstrations with an industry concept artist. His work reminded me of how much further I’ve got to go before even reaching the first rest-stop.

He left a few pointers which really made sense so here’s a quicksketch session to put what he showed me to practice. I realize a big difference with watching an online tutorial and being told in person is, I usually don’t grasp what the online tutorial shows me. At times, after watching and assuming I’ve figured out the concept behind the technique, I revert back to my old ways after awhile.

Here I’m trying to put what I learned from the concept artist together with my usual style. I guess I can’t do it fully his way so I’ll just have to improvise.

Demon Monkey-God

I also learned the difference between Concept Art and Production Art, where Concept Art has to be fast and used to explore ideas and variations. Production Art however is a more finished work of art for the production team to work from. I guess the next step after that would be the Promotional Art, where its just gotta look good to sell.

Of course this is just my opinion.

Also congratulations to two of my students for winning consolation prizes in the above 18 category of the Gimli Character Concept Competition. Good job!

Will not be able to attend the Lucasfilm Animation Singapore’s Educator’s Symposium on the 12th of December as some goof-ball policy has moved our graduation dates further up to the 13th. This has caused an incredible amount of inconvenience but hey, if it weren’t inconvenient, it wouldn’t be here.

Character #1 in a series of Super-Villains. Scorch was a rather generic name but he felt so right with it. Based on his name, I am pretty sure you’ve guessed who or what this feller can do. Right-arm flame thrower and armored in a high-tech combat shell, Scorch also has the ability to fly.

Robs banks on weekends.

Occasionally I like to plan my ‘awesome’ apartment.. eventhough I would prefer landed property, the idea of living off the ground appeals to me as a young urban professional. (from ‘Kiasu’). I’m not sure if this has rubbed off on me from my father since he LOVES planning and drawing lay-outs for the house. Little does anyone know that he once dreamed of being an architect.

Well I have never dreamt of being an architect but I do like rearranging my room.

A study-room that is cosy as well as utilitarian. I just had to have that couch with the reading lamp.

Initial sketch…