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Friday, April 01, 2005

Musing about Art...



boy_with_hat_full
Does that look good or what? Hahaha!

Everytime one learns something new, one starts from scratch.

Well, certainly that is the case when it comes to art and software anyway. :p

When I first started drawing, my tools were basically a pack of coloured magic markers, and the front covers of my favourite comic books. [Don't ask me why] Later on, my grandfather, who worked at SPH then, decided to steer my vandalism in a more legal direction, by providing me packs of blank paper from the printers. Packs of A4 and A5 blank paper, gummed together, and me trusty pencils and magic markers. And I drew tons of comics on those papers. Oh, the start of my love with comics.

Don't ever ask to see them, btw. All those paper got thrown away by my parents a long, long, long time ago, and the art was so bad, you'd be lucky to differentiate Snoopy from Charlie Brown.

Later on, in Primary school, I discovered that textbook paper was the perfect medium for drawings and relieving classroom boredom. My tools became my school stationery, and my paper became my textbooks. Much to the exasperation of my parents whenever they happened to look through my textbooks.

In Secondary school, I discovered a new model: The Manga and the Comic Book. Both entirely diverse forms of art, one from the far east of Japan, the other from the far west of America. Suddenly, comics ceased to be the purely slapstick characters of Snoopy and Garfield. They had plot, they haddepth, they had realism, and OMG, they had COLOUR. [At least for the American ones, anyway]

Now, comics weren't just 3 panels in a newspaper and purely for humourous purposes. A plot could be strung along with the otherwise-disparate panels, and string the reader along as merrily as one of my Enid Blyton books. Slowly I started to realise,what a unique blend of art and literature I held in my hands.

My art also became influenced by these sources. My characters became more human. [or rather, they started to look more human] They had shading and depth. They were inked.

But they lacked one thing: They were not original.

Because I was especially apt at copying the art I saw in my comics, but drawing a character of my own from scratch was something that took me a long, long time to master.

I hung up my sketchbook in JC, overwhelmed by the new dual-sex environment, and the crowds of new and unfamiliar faces. Academics also took over most of my time, as did my CCAs.

I got through my As. And duly went to uni.

And my senses got exploded again. I learned about a new, exciting and VERY powerful tool called Photoshop.

And the rest of the history, I think most of you guys know. :p

What made me think, though, was how everytime I start to learn something new, like a new style, or a new tool, I really had to start from scratch all over again, like I was the little kid with my magic markers again. [actually I still play with markers, but they're Copic markers, and far, far above those cheap ones I started out with. :p So it's kinda a full circle]

When I first started, I drew what I thought was right. When I started reading comics, I realised what I was doing wrong, and I had to relearn everything I knew about drawing humans. [Perspective? What the hell's that??] In Uni, I signed up for a manga class that once again, refined my ideas on how to draw, and made me start from the basics again.

Then when I learned about Photoshop, I had to master everything from scratch too. Layers, channels, masks, hue, saturation, colour, contrast, edit, cut, copy, paste, brush, airbrush, clone stamp, marquee and more recently, pen.

Everytime I thought I had done all that could be learned, I found out there was something I missed. And I had to relearn all over again.

From Photoshop, to Freehand. And then another language: Paths, pens, eraser, points, anchors, strokes, fills.

And I realised that drawing with the mouse, is an entirely new language from drawing with the pen. By now, drawing humans with pen and paper were no longer a problem for me. The knowledge came instinctively to my fingers, as natural as how my fingers know which key to type to let the words come out on this blog.

And then............. I found out that freehand was different. So I had to start with basics again. Copying other people's works, drawing guidelines on the document to tell me which way to stroke my line. I became a beginner again. [damn.]

What a long, long journey I walked.... only to start out again when I first begun. *sigh*

Maybe art is just one of those things where you can't carry forward all the knowledge. Where everytime you start to learn a new medium, your hands and fingers have to learn a new language. It's like how you learn to ride the bike, and then you learn the motorcycle, and then you realise that while you can use some of the things you had, there are much more things you have to learn all over again, like the basics of balance.

Wonder why I'm so philosophical about this today? Well, I recently finished the above piece, where I FINALLY got the *slightest* hang about drawing faces in Freehand. And then, looking at all the trashed pieces on my hard drive, the thought came to me.

I was like a little girl again, doodling with my magic markers on packs of paper.

Thursday, March 31, 2005

Shit Happens!



Damn, this was just too good to pass up.... From mrbrown.......

[Please do not read if you are highly sensitive about religion and all.........]

How shit happens according to various world religions



Taoism: Shit happens

Hare krishna: Shit happens Rama Rama Ding Ding

Hinduism: This shit has happened before

Islam: That shit happens is the will of Allah

Zen: What is the sound of shit happening?

Existentialism: Shit doesn't happen; shit is

Buddhism: When shit happens, is it really shit?

Confucianism: Confucius say, "Shit happens"

7th day Adventist: Shit happens on Saturdays

Protestantism: Shit won't happen if I work harder

Protestantism: If shit happens, it happens to someone else

Catholicism: If shit happens, you deserved it [I like this one]

Jehovah's Witnesses: Knock, knock, "Shit happens"

Jehovah's Witnesses: No shit happens until Armaggedon

Unitarian: What is this shit?

Mormon: Shit happens again & again & again

Judaism: Oy vey! Why does this shit always happen to us?

Pentacostalism: Praise the shit!

Atheism: There is no shit!

New Age: Shit happens and it happens to smell good

Rastafarianism: Let's smoke this shit [I like the last 2 too... ]
It used to be the case that if anyone made a joke about dying, the next response would be, "Hey, don't forget to mention me in your will/Please will your comics/money/CDs/etc to me before you die."

Now, the reply seems to be, "Hey, if you're intending to die, could you arrange for my death at the same time? Thanks!"

Speaks about the sad state of our 20something lives. And this is supposed to be our prime??

Anyway, quick quip from tuition yesterday:

Student: "Mr Yap couldn't come in for the science test yesterday."

Me: "Why not?"

Student: "Cos he had to go to NUS to practice his reserve."

Me: "........................."

Ok, you all can probably guess what it is the teacher did exactly.... :p

Wednesday, March 30, 2005

On the way to tuition, it just had to rain........... shine! kitanai! argh!!!! so yea, the scene in the 2nd panel really did happen to me........ :S

And yet, the rain itself served as an inspiration for the first GTS colour strip. :p

[incidentally, GTT refers to me, ya? Great Tuition Teacher... :p ]

So here's the difference between a teacher in a classroom, and a travelling tuition teacher...

gts_n_gtt

Am I an Adult?



Suddenly a lotta tags... hold on.......

Kairos: :9 hehehe... and I'm reluctant to take on full-time positions now, because of tuition commitments and possible-impending-donno-if-gahmen-wants-me NIE. Freelance work, however, is always welcome...... :D

In a way, this NIE thing is pretty irritating. I don't know whether I should seek out other forms of work because I might get this teaching gig. Ya, I do have that much confidence that I didn't totally screw up the interview. [Someone I know actually got told to his face that he should've become a priest. *wide-eyed*] So I might actually have a 50-50 chance of getting it. And I might take it up.

But then what if I should get other offers?

Gods, the spinning signpost is just spinning faster and faster....

And then there's the other side of me that says, why should I listen to my parents so much, and follow the norm so much? What's wrong with kicking back and striking one's own path, so long as it not be immoral or cause hurt to other innocent beings? Why do I have to keep listening to other people about how I should live my life?

If I be happy now, why do anything to change it?

But will I be like this forever?

What if something should happen to blast me out of this comfortable armchair in the future?

ARGH!!!!! I DONNO WANNA THINK ABOUT MY FUTURE ANYMORE!!! LET SOME CAR HIT ME DOWN IN THE ROAD, I DON'T CARE!!!

Goldfish: That cigar remark...... is jus too er......... not looking at havanas the same way again... :p but many congrats on your scholarship!

My fren here has gotten a scholarship to study what she loves in another country. My one thought to that is HTF DO I GET MESELF ONE OF THOSE?????

And oh yea, congrats again. :p

But on her blog, she wonders about how very un-adult it seems, to not be crunching numbers for a living, but still, at 23, be studying again, back in school again.

It's as if making a living, or doing something business-y has become a rite of passage of adulthood for most people. In the States, or Europe, it's the ability to move out of your parents' home. [Impractical, and almost impossible here for most people because of high property prices] In Asia, or rather Singapore, it's the ability to earn money, and contribute to the family coffers.

How much cultures differ huh? On one hand, the ability to strike out your path. On the other hand, the ability to contribute responsibly to the family.

Thus, in Asia, to still be studying, to still be in school, one is considered a student. A child, an adolescent, who has not experienced the 'real world', or in their thinking, the 'working world'.

Thus, are we children? Or adults? Biology states that we are adults. Society sees us as children.

What do we have to go through to be fully considered an adult? Some adults, with their HDB flat, car, 2 kids and various bill payments to be made, are childish and immature beyond belief, and yet they consider themselves adults, on the basis that they have done things, eg have kids, that younger people are not able to do.

And yet, their mindless pursuit of education, or material needs, does that not show their immaturity? Or their close-minded and uneducated criticism of all around them, of all they do not understand, or which does not fit into their narrow-minded view of the world, does that not show a level of immaturity as well?

Some kids, due to societal or familial circumstances, are wise beyond their years. They have seen and experienced things that no child their age has ever, or should ever have to experience. They have had to go through hardships and torments unfelt by most adults. They have had to grow up harder than most adults.

And before they know it, they are old. They are old beyond their years, the withered eyes of tired old age looking out from a body fresh and young with youth.

So is there ever a true state of maturity that we can reach? Something that's beyond the surface description that society has ascribed to it? An undescribable quality that will define the person regardless of the circumstances, or the cloth he drapes himself in?

Even if he be dressed in awful clothing, even if he has no job, even if he has the most disgusting habits and is not afraid to show them, can this person display an aura of maturity around him, surprise you with his wisdom and insight, such that one will look at this hobo and think, "This, then, is truly an ADULT."

So if maturity is truly a state that is undefined by societal standards, maybe it's time we all started thinking about what it truly means to be a mature adult. And whether we can all aspire to reach that elusive state.

note: the author of this blog, despite having graduated from NUSSUX, has yet to find a corporate job, is hardly interested in doing so, and is leading a bohemian lifestyle of low tuition income while messing around with blogs, graphic software and comics, and downloading anime. Whether you want to consider her an 'adult' is another thing for discussion altogether. This is partly as a thought for goldfish. ;)

Sunday, March 27, 2005

The Sexy Blogger Campaign



This is real funny... a campaign started by mrbrown and mister miyagi for bloggers to post up pictures of themselves sticking their tongues has become something of a game amongst singaporean bloggers.

So it all started with this picture of Xiaxue:

Xiaxue the Sexy blogger

Which got mentioned by Tony Pierce. Now I don't know who Tony Pierce is, and why's he so famous, but mrbrown and mister miyagi saw it, and came up with the following photos:

mrbrown the Not So Sexy Blogger

And

mister miyagi another Not So Sexy Blogger

Admittedly, I'd rather look at the Xiaxue one for an extended period of time......

So the whole thing took on a life of its own, and other bloggers started sending in their own sexyblogger pics, and now, I joined the fun.

Aki the Artifically created Sexy Blogger

If you're keen on looking at the rest of the sexy bloggers in Singapore, [god knows why] or at looking at the tongues of some of Singapore's best bloggers, or seeing how many crazy people took up the craze, [like me, unfortunately] go to this flickr link. If you have a flickr account and wanna add your own photo to the lot, upload the photo and tag it with 'sexyblogger'.

[Personally I think mine's the best of the lot. Especially since it's been Freehanded.... Hahaha... ]

And then, LocalBrand Boss caught onto the fact that Xiaxue was wearing a Localbrand tee in that by-now-infamous photo, and he went gaga at the exposure that his brand was getting. Now, anyone who walks into a shop selling LocalBrand tees and does that sexyblogger thing, with the tongue sticking out, will apparently get 20% off LocalBrand tee shirts. Check out the promotion at their website.

It may seem silly, but from a marketing point of view, the brand exposure is fantastic. He's got Xiaxue endorsing his shirts, and he's hopped onto a blogging trend started by mrbrown. So basically, he didn't come up with a cent, nor wrack any brainpower, nor beg other famous bloggers for the exposure. All that marketing, and he didn't have to lift a fingernail. Damn. How often does one get a chance like that?
Many thanks to Krynnder for the link. My new Bittorrent client is now [hopefully] happily downloading Eps 1 and 2 of Gundam Seed Destiny. :D Ah, back to the days of P2P software... And for the interminable wait for your downloads... :(

Also notice the little search box at the side and bottom. Supposedly it's supposed to act as a search engine for my blog, but er, a bit screwed. Need to figure it out somemore... hmmm... But you can search for content for other blogs on it.

I came across The Great Credit Card Prank just tonight. For those of us who have credit cards, [admittedly, that is few] you might wanna take a look. It's a pretty interesting insight into just how secure the credit card industries are......