Favourite Calendar Ideas: Super Unique & Creative!

It's time to look towards 2010! Just one more day!


Today I was looking for meaningful gift ideas and thought that a calendar would be great to give someone at this time to jump-start their 2010. So i did some research and came across several incredibly creative calendars.


My favourite finds:

1.


Calendar & Flowerpot by NOTHING dESIGN GROUP.
It doubles up as a flowerpot where real flowers can be slot into it. Especially love the butterfly detail. And it has such a clean and simple look!

2.
Ink Calendar by Oscar Diaz.
There is a different ink color bottle for each month based on the perception of the weather like a "color temperature scale". The ink will reveal a number daily when absorbed. I think it's highly meaningful that this artistic calendar literally shows the passing of time.

3.
Printable Cube Calendar by MilkBun.
Simply print, cut, glue & fold! Other cute designs such as bear, monkey, toki =) So adorable. The dates are meant for 2009 so you'll have to edit it a bit. These creatures will add some fun to any desktop.

4. A list of other cool calendar designs here such as a bubble wrap dates, matchstick calendars, shredder calendar, etc.

As to what I'll be making for some of my friends, I'm really drawn to the first design as it seems really doable. But I'll most probably add something like a post-it pad so that they can write stuff on it just to make it a lil' more functional and useful ;)

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Blue Girl Watercolor & Ink: Progression

I didn't manage to scan the final piece so I just photographed it instead and tried to edit the colors but it looks patchier than the original.



Below shows the stages of working.

Click to Biggify =)


I decided to leave her hair 'half-done' cos while i was filling it in halfway, i took a step back and looked at it, thinking that it appears interesting that way with some ink lines visibly left. Lol... so that's it.


If I were to work at it I think I'll never stop.

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Updated Links

A few more webbies added to my 'Favorite Links' list today <3





Sometimes I'll post inspiring images cos they are such beautiful eye-candies.

I'm at home these days and my scanner is left in my dorm room in school. So when i get a chance, I'll upload a recent artwork of mine =)

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'Living Tableau' My Last Presentation/Exhibition for the Semester

My semester had officially ended on the 8 of November which was also the exhibition day for my Anthropomorphism and Behaviors in Machines module (such a mouthful and intimidating sounding module i know =x).

So this is a poster of my work:

Printed on A2 size with mounting.

And a video showing my work and some of the others on display.



What 'Living Tableau' is about?

It's based on an interactive storybook I've made earlier in my foundation year titled "A Marionette Story of Annie and Greg"... you can read about it somewhere in my past entries.

I wanted it to come alive on its own so I chose a page which has a scene with one of the most complicated mechanisms from the book and turn it into a movable picture in a frame by rigging it to a servo motor. The scene is about a boy who is using Greg, the marionette to somehow taunt or play with a cat.

I added a LED light to the lamp and made the door swing open as well so viewers can peep through the 'other side' of the room setting. I must say it's quite a challenge and i was fixing it to the last minute before the presentation since the connections went haywire due to the shaking and rough handling during transportation from home. Thank God it worked! And I'm happy with how it turned out especially looking at how people were anticipating the door to swing open and their reactions after that.

I especially love the last work in the video as well... reminds me of a glass animal enclosure like those in the zoo.

Some of the other works:

'Eating Child' -Dominic

'Locomotor Mortis'- Sufyan & Junyi

'Progression' - Parimala

'Jellyfish' - Zhong Hong

Lastly a tip for those who wanna do printing in Singapore...

The best service and reasonably priced print shop I've been to is Gt Copy & Print Services.
(Address is 35 Selegie Road #01-26 Parklane Shopping Mall Singapore 188307, Tel 63361983 or 63339097. Website http://www.gtnprint.bravehost.com .) Plus, they have student discount!

I'm sharing this cos I've had a terrible experience trying to rush a client work before and Gt was my savior. Point to note: Bras Basah Complex might be one place where it has a cluster of print shops and art supplies but don't be fooled by thinking that since this is the case the shops will be competitive and offer gd quality/prices. I've been there asking around but NONE of them could offer something reasonable for their price. So I had to rush down to Dhoby Ghaut to go to Gt Print.

And how good could it get? They reprinted all 10 copies of the brochures i needed cos they were misaligned, AND, they used a proper glossy brochure paper as well... with no additional costs! I was recommended by a friend to a shop and now I'm recommending it to others =)

Btw this tiny green backpack is my current fav bag I got from Thailand for about SGD 10. Too cute haha.

I'd also like to thank those who had recently commented on my posts or 'follow' my blog. I really appreciate them and i visit your blogs too just that I haven't cultivated the habit of commenting back or replying. Lol! But thks anyways =)

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Development of Poladroids Pictures!

Above: I made a Poladroid of a kawaii image i found today of Popteen magazine model Nana Suzuki.

I think i havent't posted pics of myself in ages because i dun have a reason to... Well now i do!

Poladroid is a cool application which turns your JPEG images into genuine looking polaroid effects. So you don't have to painstakingly to try and edit your normal pics using Photoshop by changing the contrast, brightness, saturation, yada yada yada... which in the end might not turn out looking like a polaroid in the end (trust me i've seen failed attempts by bloggers =p ).

Anyway check out the 3 sets of pictures below in the midst of processing. Yup the fascinating part of it is that u can actually save it while it's 'developing' and slowly see the image seeping through.

First set:
Me goofing around with my keychain taken by my MacBook's webcam.



Above: Not the final image but i like the effect here... just nice.

Second set:

Kinda emo-ing with my webcam. I usually find a coin when I'm having a bad day.



Above: Final development.

Last set: Me with pinky hair. I did try to shake the pics as it said that it'll make it develop faster. I think it works.





I think it does have a nice genuine vintage feel.

The application can definitely be explored further with other pics to give it an artistic feel.

Makes it so easy doesn't it?

Link to the free download: http://www.poladroid.net.

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Completed Art- Orchid Watercolor Painting and Ink on Paper


Finished painting them and the purple shade seems to make the flowers pop out more which is great.

Close ups:




I started drawing these days as an escape from certain pressing matters such as school (procrastinating) and also when I was feeling blue. And I can't stop myself since.

What's funny is I have lots and lots of images in my head and things i wanna illustrate. I hope that with time i can put them out there in the way i want them to turn out.

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Today's Art- Watercolor Painting & Ink Sketches


Junior

Watercolor and ink on paper
A5 size

I spent the day trying to put to paper an image I had in my mind when I just woke up this morning. A thought or probably a dream. It's a little boy... who will mean a lot to me. The weather was chilly like it was about to rain thus the mood. And his back is faced towards us deliberately because I wouldn't know how his face will look like. The important thing is... I don't want him to be lonely.

Orchids on a Table
Ink sketch on paper

I'll probably add some subtle watercolor to the flowers. It's drawn in my bf's lovely home.

Sidenote: Black is in! Gonna stop bleaching my hair and let it grow out. It's because I could feel it growing out silky and dark which feels so much nicer to the touch as compared to damaged lighter colored hair.

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Watercolor Art Portrait of a Mysterious Youtuber

Pencil sketch on paper.


Pencil, watercolor on paper.
150 mm x 210 mm.
(C) Sarah ZA

Ten points for whoever can guess who this is =)

This is sketched then painted from a still image in one of her recent videos with her most popular video reaching a million hits.

Hints:
  1. She's a pro in hair tutorials
  2. Japanese
  3. Seldom shows her face thus 'mysterious'
I liked how she looked so sophisticated and classic at that moment and i could get a glimpse of how her face looks like and i wanted to capture that particular look.

Despite being pretty, I think that she's focused on sharing her hair styling skills rather than self-promoting since her identity is relatively kept secret by not showing her face.


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Interactive Media Project- Liquid Motion


CD Cover Design: Liquid Motion is the title of our Interactive Media Project based on the Reactable and also by using the Processing sketch. The simple 'liquid' type is designed by me.

Some images of our work:

Markers used to trigger a change in color flow when it is detected by a webcam. We made markers in 7 different colors as well as markers to trigger a pause in the program and another to change the direction of flow.

The computer screen (left) and a larger projected image (background). The projecting screen is propped up on an easel for a 'painterly' and artistic set up. Like an art painting in motion ;)


The images formed will change indefinitely as the lines flow around like lava. Sometimes it will resemble a geographic typography with the lines looking like contours of hills and terrains.


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Paper Art and Others


Paper cutting by Bovey Lee



Silver foil on blue paper – by Marian Bantjes . (Love her site! <3)




Paper and wire sculpture by Polly Verity

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Japanese Mythology- Amaterasu Omikami




Utagawa Kunisada (1786-1865). Amaterasu Emerges from the Light.

Amaterasu Omikami is the sun goddess in Japanese tales and legends. She was born to two of the youngest and fairest gods of the High Plains of Heaven- Izanagi and Izanami.

They were filled with joy to have a beautiful daughter whose skin gleamed and shone with splendid lustre such that wherever she went, she filled the darkest air with "light and brilliance."-from the book of Japanese Tales and Legends by Helen & William McAlpine.

Amaterasu had two siblings: a Moon god whose light was described as "mellow and pale" named Tsukiyomi; and also the storm deity named Susanoo.

One day in a drunken rampage, Susanoo...

"...trampled Amaterasu Omikami's rice fields, filled all of her irrigation ditches and threw excrement into her palace and her shrines. The Omikami asked her brother to stop but he ignored her and even went so far as to throw the corpse of a skinned horse at her hand-maidens who were weaving at the time. The women were killed by the splintered wood from the looms piercing their bodies (in the Kojiki i.e. The Records of Ancient Matters it was their reproductive organs that were pierced)." -via wikipedia.com.

Upset and angered by his actions, she shut herself in a cave.

Without light from Amaterasu, all of Earth's rice and crops began to wither and die in darkness.

Other Kami (gods) devised a plan to lure her out.

They prepared and set up a large mirror outside her cave across the entrance and began making lots of noise...

" ...Ame-no-Uzume, the voluptuous goddess of merriment turned over a wash-tub and began a sensual dance, tapping the beat on the tub. She exposed her breasts and lifted her skirts as she danced. All of the gods made a great noise of yelling and cheering and laughing. Amaterasu peeked out to see what the noise was about. She asked the nearest god what was going on and he replied that there was a new goddess. When Amaterasu asked where she was, he pointed to the mirror.

The Omikami had never seen herself before and when she caught her reflection, she stared at the radiance of her own form. She was so surprised she said "omo-shiroi", which means both "white face", which the Omikami had, and "fascinating". When she was out of the way, Tajikara-O shut the rock behind her. Having lured her out of the cave, the gods convinced her to go back into the Celestial Plain and all lif
e began to grow again and become strong in her light."-via wikipedia.com.

In order to protect herself from future rampages by Susanoo, Amaterasu constantly armed herself with a bow and quiver by her side.

The Japanese imperial family is believed to be the decendents of Amaterasu and Shintoism (translated:way of Gods) is the indigenous religion in Japan.

Image credit to Bigberto via Flickr.


Above: The Ise Shrine, erected 1st century C.E., Mie Prefecture, Japan, ritually rebuilt of cypress wood some 60 times since, last rebuilt in 1993.

The Ise Shrine is dedicated to Amaterasu and is known as the shrine of the imperial family and nation.

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Make Up For A Friend

First time doing make up on her for a short filming:




2nd time for her job interview:

Lend her my ribbon hair bun and styled her hair to look more professional:


I really had fun doing makeup for her. Well she's actually my ex-roomie back in Uni Year 1 and we're kinda close. Seeing her happy makes me happy too =)

My favorite part of the look has to be the baby pink lips. And I the love overall softness and femininity- well blended eye-liner, shadows and natural brows.

Shooting a nice portrait is a great way to capture all these memories.

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