The Chimerical Castle (Image Heavy)

I guess now is a good time to finally share these books which i'd been keeping for some time.

Welcome to the dark side of children's book illustrations.

Yep I found these books on a supermarket shelf opposite those of kids' coloring books. Totally puzzled me why they were there in the first place cos they seem a lil to freaky for kids. Well maybe kids these days are more sadistic *shrugs*.

I'm loving the illustrations and doll images. Plus, they were cheap too (bought both books at a total cost of about S$10). If you take a look down at Basheer Bookstore at Bras Basah Complex, illustration books costs more like ridiculously wayyy more.

Anyway, here are some page scans from both books:

This is the illustrator, one of the pioneers of such style in China.

Found some of these pics by googling a URL link given in the books. Did it some time ago so i forgot his name :x But the link's dead anyway but i will update his name when i rediscover it.

Got my roomie to translate some of the Chinese poetry in there and turns out they are somewhat sad and dark. One image shows a pair of free hanging legs probably a doll hung on a tree among other mysterious ones which i didn't scan in.

One thing's definitely missing in his illustrations.... BLOOD. There's no blood.

Oh yeah i forgot they are just dolls.

I've been tasting blood in my mouth almost everyday for the past three days after a surgery. Kinda getting used to the stitches on my gums and inner cheek and it's quite an experience to have the right side of my tongue numb for a day. My lower lip on the right still haven't gotten back all its feeling. Gives a tingle-ish sensationwhen touched. Lolz.

Ok that ends my rant for the day. Have a great weekend everyone!

Read more...

Doll-like Cubism

Today's sketch/doodle.

Perfection... is not simply fixing what's broken, it's way beyond that, infinitely.

Perfection is not = happiness.

Perfection does not exist in this world because we're only humans.

Perfection is only a word to describe an achievable standard.

Perfectionists are the most anal people on earth (gee... sounds like me).

Perfection is prejudiced towards defects.

Perfection is not why life is worth living for.

My rant ends here for tonight.

Feel free to add on.

Read more...

"In A Grove" Illustrations

Attempted to depict his death in a beautiful graceful manner as though he's fallen into a deep slumber so that he can forget the tragedy and betrayal that happened. Eternally resting in peace.

The woodcutter is the one who discovered the body in the grove though the account he gave is questionable since he is suspected of stealing the dagger or murder weapon.

The story is from a novel,"In A Grove," by Akutagawa Ryunusuke. Below is the plot summary.

The story opens with the account of a woodcutter who has found a man's body in the woods. The woodcutter reports that man died of a single sword slash to the chest, and that the trampled leaves around the body showed there had been a violent struggle, but otherwise lacked any significant evidence as to what actually happened. There were no weapons nearby, and no horses- only a single piece of rope, a comb and a lot of blood.

The next account is delivered by a traveling Buddhist priest. He says that he met the man, who was accompanied by a woman on horseback, on the road, around noon the day before the murder. The man was carrying a sword, a bow and a black quiver. All of these, along with the woman's horse, a tall, short-maned palomino, were missing when the woodcutter discovered the body.

The next person to testify is a homen (a released prisoner working under contract to the police, similar to a bounty hunter). He has captured an infamous criminal named Tajomaru. Tajomaru was injured when thrown from a horse (a tall, short-maned palomino), and he is carrying a bow and a black quiver, which do not belong to his usual arsenal. This proves, he says, that Tajomaru was the perpetrator. Tajomaru was not carrying the dead man's sword, however.

The next testimony is from an old woman, who identifies herself as the mother of the missing girl. Her daughter is a beautiful, strong-willed 19-year-old named Masago, married to Kanazawa no Takehiro- a 26-year-old samurai from Wakasa. Her daughter, she says, has never been with a man other than Takehiro. She begs the police to find her daughter.

Next, Tajomaru confesses. He says that he met them on the road in the forest, and upon first seeing Masago, decided that was going to rape her. In order to rape Masago unhindered, he separated the couple, luring Takehiro into the woods with the promise of buried treasure. He then stuffed his mouth full of leaves, tied him to a tree and fetched Masago. When Masago saw her husband tied to the tree, she pulled a dagger from her bosom and tried to stab Tajomaru, but he knocked the knife out of her hand, and he had his way with her. Originally, he had no intention of killing the man, he claims, but after the rape, she begged him to either kill her husband or kill himself- she could not live if two men knew her shame. She would leave with the last man standing. Tajomaru did not wish to kill the Takehiro in a cowardly manner, so he untied him and they had a swordfight. During the duel, Masago fled. Tajomaru dispatched the man and took the man's sword, bow, and quiver, as well as the woman's horse. He says that he sold the sword before he was captured by the bounty hunter.

The second-to-last account is that of Masago. According to her, after the rape, Tajomaru fled, and her husband, still tied to the tree, looked at her with great disdain. She was ashamed that she had been raped, and no longer wished to live, but she wanted him to die with her. He agreed, or so she believed- he couldn't actually say anything because his mouth was still stuffed full of leaves and she plunged her dagger into his chest. She then cut the rope that bound Takehiro, and ran into the forest, whereupon she attempted to commit suicide numerous times, she said, but her spirit was too strong to die. Of all of the accounts of the crime, the woman's is arguably the least believable, and in great discordance with the other two. At the end of her confession, she weeps.

The final account comes from Takehiro's ghost, as delivered through a spirit medium. The ghost says that after the rape, Tajomaru persuaded Masago to leave her husband and become his own wife, which she agreed to do under one condition: He would have to kill Takehiro. Tajomaru became enraged at the suggestion, kicked her to the ground, and asked Takehiro if he should kill the dishonorable woman. Hearing this, Masago fled into the forest. Tajomaru then cut Takehiro's bonds and ran away. Takehiro grabbed Masago's fallen dagger and plunged it into his chest. Shortly before he died, he sensed someone creep up to him and steal the dagger from his chest. Throughout, it is obvious that he is furious at his wife.

Via here [also has links to additional readings and interesting info].

Read more...

Delicate Valentine's Day & Love Pop-Up Cards + 8 yrs Anniversary

Recently bought some lovely pop up cards! They have intricate designs which are only possible to be cut out vis lazer-cutting and put together by hand.

Photographed these cards outdoors early in the morning and edited them to have a soft romantic feel.

How it opens up:

The front of the cards:

I'll probably visit the booth again sometime next week since my sis wants one too.

Yesterday was my 8 years Anniversary... which coincides with his mother's birthday as well. Nevertheless here was what i wore yesterday:

We've been together since we're like 14 or 15... Hoping to see more great years ahead =)

Read more...

Philippine Neo-Realist Masterworks Gallery @ SAM

Fernando Amorsolo (1892-1972)

Portrait of Fernando Zobel as a Teenager, 1945

Oil on wood

39 x 30.5 cm

Ateneo Art Gallery Collection

This is one of the very first few paintings i saw at the museum that day at the Singapore Arts Museum. Was very drawn towards how realistic it looks and how it seems to capture the emotion and character of the person. Even the style of the subject like his hairstyle and clothes can be identified with that particular era.

It's definitely better to look at all these paintings in real life and experience it face to face. How the light falls on the painting illuminating the texture and brushstrokes can really be seen and examined closely. It's really captivating.

Other portraits by Fernando Amorsolo.

In the Eye of Modernity: Philippine Neo-Realist Masterworks from the Ateneo Art Gallery

Hernando R. Ocampo (1911-78)

53-G (Beefsteak)

1953

Oil on canvas

Ateneo Art Gallery Collection

Yup the title is beefsteak. Quirky isn't it?

How "Neo-Realists" artist came about.

Another painting by Hernando R. Ocampo.

Highly textured impasto.

Top:Hernando R. Ocampo

Isda at Mangga (Fish and Mango)

1952

Oil on canvasboard

33.5 x 43 cm

Bottom:Manuel Rodriguez, St. (b,1917)

Still Life with Melon and Papaya

1950

Encaustic on paper mounted on board

29.5 x 37 cm

Another painting by Manuel Rodriguez.

Looks like the cranes and poles of building being constructed.

Jose Joya (1931-95)

Granadean Arabesque

1958

Oil on canvas

118 x 305 cm

"Joya was a leading exponent of Abstract Expressionism in the Philippines. Unlike Jackson Pollock's improvisatory approach to drip painting which translated the nervous syncopated energy of jazz, Joya added texture through thick swipes of impasto and gobs of paint riddled with gravel, rendering a broader, more sweeping gestural style."

Initially it looks like one of those abstract paintings with very expressive brushstrokes which is hard to decipher. However, I found an interpretation of the artwork which is that the colors are "inspired by the colors of summer in Granada, a region in Spain where the artist has visited while studying in Madrid" and Arabesque relating to the "Arabic ornamental design that consists of flowing lines".

After walking through the whole collection i could feel like there is a sense of wanting to break away from the academic way of doing paintings like those by Fernando Amorsolo as seen by the movement away from realism towards more expressive styles (e.g. Hernando R. Ocampo, Manuel Rodriguez, etc). This is probably to break away from their colonized past by the Spanish rule.

These are just a few artworks from the "In the Eye of Modernity: Philippine Neo-Realist Masterworks from the Ateneo Art Gallery".

Will probably update on the other galleries the next time i have the mojo to do so :)

Read more...

"The notion of limitless knowledge is more illusory than real..."

Peeking at you =)

Visited the Singapore Art Museum today and saw the "Thrice Upon a Time: A Century of Story in the Art of the Philippines", "In the Eye of Modernity: Philippine Neo-Realist Masterworks from the Ateneo Art Gallery" exhibits and also some contemporary Asian artworks at 8Q. Took a lot of pics and will share some of them here. There was this portrait that I totally fell in love with.

Gonna read up on Philippine history tomorrow I guess... Kinda late now and i gotta get some snooze.... -.-

Read more...

Scrapped 2010 Calendar Design

Jan-Apr 2010 Calendar Version 1

This is the first idea that i had... a bottom up progression of the dates whereby there will be 'tabs' which can be pushed up/down along the dates as markers. Decided not to use this design cos I just don't find it special although i spent some time designing it.

I wanted a vintage theme like for example, the first symbol for the month of january represents Mary Poppins, 2nd one is Wizard of Oz (her magical shoes), etc, etc... but oh well, it doesn't seem to turn out as strong as i'd like it to.

A very different design is in progress undergoing production =)

And yes wani u r considered as one of my *ahems* diamonds. Lol.

I'm not gonna reveal the final calendar here just yet.... until i send it out that is.

Read more...

Self Portrait in Pencil and Ink: Purple Hair

If I were a superhero, I'd have long flowing purple hair.

Another thing i like about the notebook is that it has curved edges as u can see in the first pic.

Decided to do a sketch of myself as the first drawing in the book... which solidly marks it as my property, my territory... rawr!

Reference image:

A pic taken recently which looks decent.

If you didn't know, I'm back to solid black hair. Couldn't wait for it to grow out all black so i dyed it and i'm happy with how it turns out.

It's been years since i had black hair and i've been getting compliments after the change from those who actually noticed =)

Another reason to truly accept what's naturally been given to me by God and accepting myself. I think i won't go back to dyes anymore... i hope!

Having brown/blond hair has been fun but it gets tacky with the maintenance and damage.

And speaking of the drawbacks of having light colored hair, i had an encounter with someone who was VERY judgmental hinting that i wanna be caucasian or something especially since i used to wear colored contacts as well. Well he just didn't know fashion i guess.

Although it was probably just a passing remark, i wonder if others view me the same way.

However, this is not even a consideration for dying my hair black, it's just that i learnt from his obtuseness not to judge others like how he's shallowly judged me...

Cos being misunderstood, that's one of the most frustrating things that can happen.

I think for 2010, i'd like to keep those friends who has stuck with me through all these years close. I think this time i've come to realise where my real diamonds are at.

Read more...

My New Notebook from Cat Socrates

Top left pic: Front cover;

Top right pic: Back cover;

Bottom pic: Inside pages

I like the the pages inside have a brown shade almost like a brown paper bag color giving it an 'aged' look.

Already have some ideas on maximising its pages... filling them with drawings of course.

Read more...

Current Work-In-Progress: Pencil Sketch, Dandelion

Full view:

Sketched using 5B pencil on my sketchbook. Was going for a more doll like look hence the large eyes =) And if you know me well you'll know that i'm a fan of hats! Love the vintage looking ones especially. Made the dress real simple to give it a contrast to the more structured hat. And also corkscrew curls for her hair to match.

It's much lighter in real life, had to increase the contrast in photoshop to make it more obvious after scanning it in.

And omg hands are so difficult to draw! Had to keep erasing it several times and finally went to look for reference images of REAL hands holding a dandelion. And most of them with the perfect gesture for my drawing are cropped off. So I had to estimate how the rest of the parts looked like.

You can tell a lot about a person from their drawings... for example their strokes. I'm still working on achieving smooth long strokes which will i will hopefully achieve with practice. Right now if you enlarge the drawings... you can see that they are uneven, feathery, and short in some areas... which means that i'm still not confident in drawing (esp. the hands, the hands!).

Alright.. I'm intending to watercolor it... still have a fear of spoiling it cos I'm not using a watercolor paper and so many things could spoil it like bleeding or warping of the paper when its wet..

Well at least I've already have a soft copy of the original sketch if it turned out to be a miserable fail~

...

On a different note...

My first 'wish' for 2010 came true. I had typed a personal message on my messenger saying "can't school start a-wee-bit later?" thinking that lessons will begin on 4 Jan. And guess what... on 4 Jan i woke up at 5am so that my dad can drop me off at my dorm since it's on his way to work. Reached dorm real early about 7.30am so i took a nap and got up later on for my 9am lesson. Reached school at 9.15am (late) and opened the door to an empty classroom. Started smsing some of my classmates and found out that the semester starts next week.

That was probably the only time that i was embarrassed and happy at the same time.

Lastly, I'd like to wish everyone a wonderful year ahead =)

Read more...