誕生日おめでとう、嵐の釣り人。

I only exist because this day happened.

Thank you, to the most wonderful Dad and Mum in the universe – you’ve dedicated your lives to walking this path together which many have considered giving up all too easily in the face of better things of that moment, choosing to believe, instead, in a future when circumstances were then bleak. You showed me what love was all about; no words would convey it better. Growing up in this family was the best present I could ever receive, if I deserved any at all.

Now, I know you are reaping the seeds you’ve been sowing for the 25 long years – let me wish you even more:

Robust health,
fulfillment,
and days overflowing with love, joy and peace
to last you a lifetime.

Happy Blessed Anniversary <3

Midori’s personality shone like the sun in contrast with the melancholic Naoko. She has the cutest analogies, don’t you think? Even though I don’t necessarily agree with it.

Watanabe: What’s true love for you?

Midori: For example, I tell you “I want tartlet with strawberries”. You drop everything, run, buy it, then run back, breathing heavily and give it to me. And then I’ll say “I don’t want it anymore”. And you’ll throw that damn tartalet through the window. That, that’s what I call true love.

Watanabe: To me, it doesn’t seem like it has anything to do with real love.

Midori: It does! I want for this person to answer me “I get it, Midori, sorry, my fault I’m a total ass, a blockhead a dog without feelings. I’m going to bring you something else. What do you want? Chocolate mousse? Or maybe cheesecake?”

Watanabe: And then?

Midori: Then I will love him.

Nokia Black Box
Launch Event: 16 June, 6.30pm – 10pm
Open To Public: 17-19 June, 10am – 10pm
@ 30 Maxwell Road

A project that took an entire year to materialise, Nokia Black Box is “An experiment. An Experience. An exhibition featuring works of the industry’s top talents.”, housed in an old building a short distance away from the Red Dot Museum. The entire building, interiors, right down to the door frames and window panes were coated in black to match the theme.

Pre-event. While some of them helped out extensively with the conceptualisation, promotional materials, overseeing of the ongoing construction works and an endless list to make this event possible, I got the opportunity to decorate the stairway together with Leng – we are all awed by her amazing and spontaneous flow of abstract shapes and forms to form a mural that spans for about 5m wide. Talking to her certainly inspires me :D

Took us the entire Wednesday (as a result having to sniff in huge amounts of chalk) to complete, but for a change I more than gladly welcomed, it’s blissful to be out of my office seat, my eyes off the computer screen doing some hands on work. We didn’t use as much chalk as they thought we would, though. Some rather random scribbles of mine here..

Everyone also contributed to filling in empty areas along this stairway meant as a space for visitors to doodle and scribble their thoughts, make their marks, etc.

Launch event was held on Thursday featuring DJ Ko-Flow to kick-start the evening.

An installation by illustrator Kuanth.

I got the group (except Charissa, awwww) to attend the event as well! :)

(image courtesy of G.)

Installation by Kinetic – Pann Lim, Gian Jonathan, Clay Kwok and Linus (see bottom pic for the proper setup).

What better to use as a subject than the charming Ninomiya Kazunari in a Gantz suit? The announcement about him preparing to star in a live action movie emerged last year was how I found out about the long-running manga series and subsequently got hooked onto volume after volume. The prospect of dying and being revived the moment after through an intelligence system that transports them as data so as to battle against aliens is so surreal it makes you want to follow the protagonists Kurono Kei and Masaru Kato to find out how in the world they are going to have to fight to survive this.

Part 1 of Gantz opened in the cinemas ONLY this month, four months after Japan, which is a real long wait for those who didn’t want to spoil the film by downloading. I watched it on two nights in a row with two different groups and it was funny hearing their opinions and reactions. For a such an elaborate world, it was a lot plot to cram in a two-hour action movie hence characters and missions were cut, simplified to a level which I find was okay. What blew me away was the seamless CG integrated with the pretty amazing action sequences from the cast, and THE GANTZ SUIT DAMMIT.

Kurono Kei version くろのけいバージョン ♡

Here’s the Ninomiya Kazunari version 二宮和也バージョン ♡ where I totally have an obligation to draw him in his famed black-rimmed glasses. 黒縁メガネ. At his hottest, you know, like omg.

Cosplay? Very much like it haha. Anyway, for the same reason I was just spazzing about, I prefer the second version :D

How do I begin? Well, -

I own everything in this illustration except for the face, haha. There’s my new hairstyle, new dress, and the Zenit-E – a Russian made camera – which I found while wandering like a lost child in the quaint antique shop at the corner of the street in Prague. Not exactly new, in fact it’s the opposite, but I can say that film shall be something new for me to explore and unravel.

And I wonder why is it that this piece was a breeze when the other WIP on a emotive portrait of Sho from TQS, even with some major references, I’ve been retouching for the umpteenth time has never worked itself out. So I concluded, looking at some old artwork, that it might be easier to conjure up some random face than imagining a particular one and willing my drawing to turn out exactly like it. Probably since it isn’t a direct copy of a certain reference image (like observational sketching), I tend to keep comparing whatever I have, but doing so only leaves me unsatisfied because it’s so hard to hit the mark. The blame goes to none other than my inadequate knowledge of anatomy, lighting, perspective and stuff.

Just for the record, there are five(5) WIP files sitting on my desktop which I think I will never finish. Not in the next quarter most likely.

Anyhow, details -

The long weekend is almost over and I stole some time off to draw, despite the nagging reminder that I should have been doing work just so it would alleviate, if anything much, the load I foresee in the coming week. Weeks and months have flurried by without much of a break in between; there’s not really enough time to go by anymore, but thankfully money has never been of any issue, haha.

Due to the current situation, for the whole of this month I didn’t go out (weekends too) which means being able to cut what’s normal of my monthly expenditure by maybe 70%, but weirdly enough, I managed to save quite a considerable amount, yet I CAB TO WORK EVERYDAY WTF. Don’t know how it ended up this way since a month and a half ago. This is. Downright. Decadence.

You know, I ought to put an end to it. Ugh.

Because I watched it this week.

Black Swan put me on the edge of my seat for the entire duration of the film and plunged me further into its darkness as I followed the character arc. Here’s my impression of Natalie Portman as Nina from what I could remember, whom I think did a most wonderfully convincing job in not just her acting but the ballet scenes as well. She portrayed a perfect embodiment of innocence and, thereafter, evil that manifested from within.

While still reeling from the intensity, with the theme of Swan Lake resonating in my head, I had set this down on canvas the moment I got home and laid hands on my tablet. If you do notice, I’ve been into this raw, unruly drawing style lately, skipping the lineart to delve straight into filling out forms and shapes probably because I enjoy being undecided, changing things along the way.

I kind of like how it turns out, so I was thinking I might continue illustrating in this style for a while.