The Realms: Goblin

Goblin character from the Realms. His small frame and bookish looks belie a warrior's heart and a poet's soul. Sadly, the world he lives in has few places for such creatures. To survive,he fake his own death and masquerades as maître d’ or (when occasion calls for it) a bouncer for the inn. His armour is made out of a mishmash of buckets and bowls found in the storeroom of the inn. He is a recycler not a waster.

Studies: Cheetah

This study was based on a National Geographic photograph I found online. I was learning about cats and how to paint fur.

Illustration: Valkyrie

This one just started from a sketch. However it took a life of its own and evolved to a full illustration. Was going for a portrait of a female fantasy character. Haven't decide whether she is a human or an elf yet though.

Illustration: Red Witch

This one started as a sort of pose and anatomy study but I added a cloak and some fire and BLAM!.. She became the Red Witch..! :) At the back of my head I was probably thinking of the 'Queen of Blood' from the Hellboy comic series.

Studies: Celebrities

Studies based on celebrities. The first one is the beautiful Emily Blunt. I went for a slightly more illustrative, comic style for her. The one below is Rihanna. I enjoyed painting the leather vest and its folds. :)

Studies: Clouds

Some simple studies. The goal here was to learn about the different shapes, edges, density, volumes as well as colours of clouds. Reference pictures were stock photos taken off the internet.

Character Design: Creatures of the Forest

Children character design project that was basically hybrids of different animals. Peach is a gentle, shy creature that is a cross between a rabbit, camel and butterfly while distant, aloof Emerald is a cross between fish, turtle and moth. Peach has tentacles that glows different colours according to its mood. Emerald has wing/fins things that resembles a water dragon's head to scare off hostile creatures. Her real eyes are the smaller ones below.
Initial ideas and inspiration was provided by Rey. Her blog can be found here: http://reysrealm.blogspot.com/

Studies: TV Series

Studies from the TV series, Spartacus Vengeance and Once Upon a Time. Some scenes in Spartacus has lighting, colours as well as staging compositions that really resemble classical paintings; whereas Once Upon a Time plays with more vibrant, saturated and almost gaudy colours when it goes into its fairy tale mode. Both plays along the strength of their genres.

Characters Design: Drommere

Drommere is a project started by some of my students. The idea was about a boy that imagined all these weird characters and drew them to life. I was really into their project so I tried my hand at designing some possible characters for their story. They are in the production phrase at present time. I hope to see their complete reel soon! :)
Chatter is a squirrel dinosaur that lost his nut and holds on to a cushion for a substitute. He is a nervous creature (hence his name) so stay clear of its teeth! Scrooge of the Skies is a crazy, happy-go-lucky sort of guy that wants to fly. He uses the flaps at his sides to glide in the air but isn't great at it. Grrf is an angry character made out of the ink blots stains of drawings. The boy mistook him to be an empty area and drew mushrooms, flowers, ropes and a smiley face on him. No wonder he is so grouchy.

Collaboration: Casey and Friends

Collaboration work with Erina Lim. Her blog can be found here: http://reysrealm.blogspot.com/. Casey is a spunky little girl with all these animal friends. She is pretty messy so even her bugged-eyed pet of a bird could make a nest out of her hair! I had a having a smile on my face when I was painting them.

Character Design: The Butcher

Remembering by my architecture days of esquisse competitions, I was inspired to conduct a full day (8 - 9 hrs) character design session with my students. This was what I came out with: The Butcher, a son's nightmare version of his abusive, dead father. I had fun designing this creature. I hope my class did too. :)

Interpretations: Artsammich

This is a reinterpretation of one of the works of an artist I really like, Sam Nielson (nicknamed Artsammich). The original can be seen here: http://artsammich.deviantart.com/art/Wog-wog-wog-159839035. I was just really tickled by the expression on the frog's face and wanted him to look like he was generating enough electricity to make its eyes glow like light bulbs.

Studies: Life Drawing

Figure Drawing exercises from photographs. For the topmost picture, I cannot find a link at present. It was taken from a photographer nicknamed 'Photoport'. For the picture at the bottom, here is a link to the original: http://hapismile.deviantart.com/gallery/#/dpscef. The top pictures took me about an hour half while the bottom took me an hour. Hope I can speed up with my next attempt and be looser with the unimportant details.

Illustration: Angel of Death

Sketches for a commissioned project for a character named the Angel of Death. The idea was to depict the duality of her part angelic and part demonic nature. However the project didn't proceed on. :( However, I enjoyed designing her. Done in ballpoint pen.

Studies: The Hurt Locker

2 hrs study done from a screenshot of the movie, the Hurt Locker. Was really intrigued by the lighting and colour of this scene. Not to mention its a great movie!

Spider Sisters

A commission artwork for a pitch presentation of a dark fantasy movie. This one was kind of a reinterpretation of the spider sisters from Journey to the West. Here is a link to the filmmaker's page: http://www.myspace.com/dorothyfoo

Elven Steel Illustrations: Calin

Illustration done for a personal high fantasy project of mine, Elven Steel. This is Calin, Shadorina and world traveler. I was inspired by Steve McCurry 'Afghan girl' photo for this piece, also drawing influence from a more Middle Eastern feel.

Process: Kessa

A simple breakdown on the workflow of this illustration. I started with a simple pen sketch of the idea I had in mind before taking it digital. In Photoshop, I added details and subtle details to enhance the picture. Then, I added in the flat colours without any rendering involved. Finally, I added volume, texture and lighting to complete the illustration.

 Below is a close-up on some of the details in the illustration.

Elven Steel Illustrations: Kessa

Illustration done for a personal high fantasy project of mine, Elven Steel. This is Kessa, thief and assassin. Her face was a little inspired by Virginia Baker (played by Catherine Zeta Jones) from the movie Entrapment. Process and a close-up on the details can be found here: Process: Kessa

Elven Steel Illustrations: Shurana

Illustration done for a personal high fantasy project of mine, Elven Steel. This is Shurana, mercenary and half-elven warrior.I was going for a semi comic feel.

Project X: The Sewers

Concept for the environment of Fagin's Children. The idea is a sewer garden made out of the clutter of gears and other discarded machines and junk.The deformed children tend to it and life shyly blossoms in a deary, desolate place. The top is the finished illustration while the bottom was the initial line sketch. I kind of overdid the illustration and lost the area of focus while trying to concentrate on the clutter and details. But it was a fun drawing to do. Done with ballpoint pen.

Project X: Fagin Children

Sketches for Project X, a Steampunk game concept. These are sketches of Fagin's Children, deformed doll-like children who are cruelly exploited by Fagin. Like toys, these orphaned street children have their limbs amputated and replaced with mechanical parts in order to serve better as slave soldiers.

Project X: Jack the Ripper

Sketched idea of Jack the Ripper for Project X. He is flamboyant, outrageous and maniacal. Surgical tools are implanted into him as mechanical limbs of sorts. Done in ballpoint pen.

Studies: Forest Mill

Simple study of a mill in the forest. Done as an example for a class assignment I gave my students.

Junkyard House

Decided to put a couple of old stuff up as a kind of archive for myself. School assignment done a while back in 2008. My teacher was Roy Wilson an old Disney artist and animator who told lots of interesting stories about his life. These are sketches of a scrap house done for a couple of animal characters. Ballpoint and blue pencil.