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Studies done during the first few weeks of Noah Bradley’s Art Camp. Still really behind on things cause I was surfing in Bali till the 2nd week, feel like I’ve learnt a lot through the practice tho. Will be continuing this practice on a weekly basis cause I find it really helpful.

The color studies really did a number on my brain. No color picking allowed! As I was painting I’d be thinking to myself, “More red? Less saturated.. no.. maybe it’s the hue that’s off….” Probably 15 min each on average.

The composition studies are focused on breaking down the master paintings into their basic shapes. I was a little too focused on value rather than composition when I first started, but sticking to a 4 value black and white palette and 10 – 15 min for each helped me to not over render things.

I’ve had an amazing journey this past 4 years working at LucasArts Singapore. It’s really funny how things go.. In my first year it was really a trial by fire. Many different projects, pipelines to learn and quite a bit of variety in art styles. In my second year when I wished to improve my drawing skills more, I got assigned to a project involving 2D Animation.. In my third year I wished to work on next gen game art, and I got to go to San Francisco and work on Star Wars 1313..

And in my 4th year, my resolution was to “Make More Art”… Then LucasArts was shutdown. It was quite a shock.. but quite a big opportunity there as well.. So I’ve taken my break, gone surfing in Bali.. Now I’m back and it’s time to jump back into the thick of things.

I’ll be investing the time I’ve been given to make myself the best artist I can be. I’m enrolled in Noah Bradley’s Art Camp, fixing the very obvious gaps in my 2D skills is something I’ve been wanting to do for the longest time.. was just too busy to get it done.. So this course is really great in that there’s a ton of studies for me to do, classmates to bounce ideas off, and the motivation in seeing the amazing stuff everyone’s doing. Not sure what the future will bring, but I’m really excited right now. More updates to come! (Along with a site revamp, there’s a bunch of stuff I wanna improve..)

I’ve been going full steam with my watercolors ever since the Chinatown sketchwalk with Urban Sketchers (Thanks for the photo Tia!). I had an extreme sense of deju vu upon entering Minju and Jeff’s living room after the sketchwalk when I realised it was the former Casual Poets cafe! Was sad to hear it had closed down as it was such a cosy little space, but it was just perfect as this couple’s home.

Anyways, I’m finally posting up a selection from my first almost fully watercolor sketchbook! More to come! I’m doing quick sketches and practicing rendering skin tones on the bus/train these days, it’s really tough mixing accurate colors but I’m having lots of fun trying! Please click on the images to view them at full size.

It’s that time of year again! I picked up a surprisingly nice haul of books in the last one, including Russian propaganda posters, Picasso & Drawing the Head & Hands by Andrew Loomis. This is even better than the Library Sale cause you free up space by passing on old books that you don’t read anymore..

Recycle your books at the Book Exchange! Drop off your used books* at any Public Library from 2 to 15 April, 11.00am to 8.00pm and get a coupon for every book** accepted. Present your coupon at the Book Exchange for a one-for-one exchange of books.

Event details

Date: Saturday, 16 April 2011

Time: 8.30am to 6.00pm

Venue: The Plaza, National Library Building, 100 Victoria Street

*We accept adults’ and children’s fiction and non-fiction books (eg. cookbooks, travel guides and romance novels) in the four official languages. We also accept used library books bought from previous Library Book Sales. Used books for exchange should be in relatively good physical condition. Textbooks, magazines and audio-visual materials are not accepted.

**Each person can exchange up to a maximum of 50 used books. For enquiries, please call NLB Helpdesk at 6332 3255 or email: helpdesk@nlb.gov.sg.

Note: NLB reserves the right to change the terms and conditions without prior notice

That’s my haul from the Library Book Sale two weekends ago. More cool stuff than last year, even though I went down after lunch that day.

It’s a good mix of technique, artist centric and theory (not to mention a few plain eye candy books). Sculpture, Form & Philosophy is a book I’ve borrowed from the library before and wished that I had a copy of my own. Ian Norbury’s wood scultures are insanely good. Each one not only has an interesting pose and texture, they each have a story to tell. His technical skill with wood makes his sculptures really look alive. Nick Bantock’s book Artful Dodger is great in how he relates his artistic journey, from early days in art college, painting book covers for a living and finally writing and illustrating his own books (and pop-up books as well!). The Digital Domain book is also something I’ve been meaning to get. I have William’s sharp eyes and generous spirit to thank for that one. Patience & Fortitude was an apt find, considering it deals with libraries and the obsession of book collecting.

For the comics, The World’s Greatest Super-Heroes is one of my favourites. It’s the book that Alex Ross and Paul Dini did after the success of Kingdom Come. I grabbed the book off a heavily loaded cart on a hunch, didn’t even really take a good look at the cover. It was like last year when I saw a portion of a cartoon face obscured amongst other books, dug it up and realised I was holding on to a Princess Mononoke artbook. Gorgeous fully painted art from cover to cover, the stories are pretty interesting too (getting Superman to solve world hunger isn’t as easy as it sounds). The Dark Knight Returns was a great find.

Honestly, both times I’ve been to the sale it’s exceeded my expectations by giving me both what I wanted as well as cool stuff I didn’t know I needed! Add to that the price of $54 for the lot, and you’ve got an annual event that can’t be missed. Looking forward to the next one (and also planning more shelving..)