BLAG

More pics I made for shirt designs and illustrations for The Varsity, UofT's newspaper.


T shirt designs for the McMaster Weightlifting Club. The caption on this one is "No curls, no girls"

"No pecs? No Sex!"

Probably going to offend a few people with this one: "Save the plants, eat meat"

http://thevarsity.ca/2012/01/23/genetic-conflicts-a-family-affair/

http://thevarsity.ca/2012/01/30/23785/

Sketch Dump

Figured I was due for one of these. Note the blob monster who is in a tux and desires love… it makes me laugh XD.

I'll post drawings later

So i failed that attempt at making a comic. Really time consuming, and only a partially decent idea. I'll revisit it one day though. My friend came to me with a project proposal I'm pretty pumped about...still nervous about trying to draw a full comic, but its something I really want to have accomplished. The challenge is whats going to make it worth while. More on that once I finally start on initial sketches.

Lately, I've been catching up on movie watching and book reading. Obviously, I've always loved movies, but lately I've been gradually learning to appreciate them as an art form rather than just entertainment. I'm gonna mention what I loved most about the ones I've seen.

BTW, heavy spoilers up ahead.

The Machinist: One of the most intense and suspenseful movies I've ever seen. Also very intelligently written. I wish I had seen this a few years earlier, before seeing movies like Inception and Shutter Island. Being "over-exposed" to the plot twist/mind-fuck movies dull down the appreciation for others in the genre. I think my favourite thing about this movie is that the climax (aka mind-fuck) isn't actually twisted, dark or sick. It is quite tragic, but not in an overly unpleasant way. What made people assume that the climax was going to be disturbing was the build up. Every odd moment of the movie wasn't there simply to disturb the audience, but was used to show how the protagonist was slowly losing his mind. The horror movie-esque way the sticky notes popped up, and Christian Bale's disturbingly skinny body made the character seem like a mentally broken down murderer, but that wasn't the case. The greatest method of delivering this idea home was the rotting food in the freezer. I loved how the protagonist completely ignores the dripping blood until the very end, and the audience (or me in any case) was thinking "THIS SHIT IS FUCKED UP, HE'S GOT A CHOPPED UP BODY IN THAT FREEZER AND HE DOESN'T EVEN REALIZE IT. FUCK!" the whole time, until that freezer door is opened. So many awesome WTF moments that keep you guessing until the end.

American Psycho: It wasn't as impressive as the hype I kept hearing about it before watching it. I felt like it was one of those stories better told as a book. (I know based off the novel and I definitely intend to read it one day). Nevertheless, I still enjoyed it. The satirical parody of the yuppie culture was obvious from the start, and the most enjoyable aspect of the film was the juxtaposition of different actions into one event. My favourite being when he discusses Huey Lewis to Paul Allen as the CD is playing  the moment before he kills him. The small moments where he would say something aggressively violent and the listeners wouldn't notice made me chuckle a few times too. A great movie if you like watching people gradually losing their minds.

Neon Genesis Evangelion: HOLY FUCK. I'm not going to write an analysis or anything because their are so many already, and their are so many different ways to look at it. All I want to mention is that I'm glad they made a movie ending, it definitely helps you appreciate the TV ending a little bit better. I spent a good 10 min muttering "wtf?wtf?wtfbbq?" while trying to comprehend what just happened. My cousin mentioned a popular interpretation of the series is that the main protagonist is simply fantasizing the whole thing until he is ready to cope with reality. It seems like too simple of an explanation to me, I prefer thinking that the whole thing was real. It fits with the whole theme of a mentally depressed, lonely and cowardly character trying to get by in a world that throws him one messed up event after another. Anyways, if you get a chance, watch it.

I'm currently reading The Book of Biff-Christ's Childhood Friend, a satire about how Jesus (whose actual name is apparently Joshua), became the Messiah. If your not super religious, or know how to take a joke, its a great read. I'm about halfway done. It's not just a typical "make fun of religion" comedy routine, my take on it would be something like "if Jesus was the protagonist of a fantasy novel where the protagonist tries to understand his role as a hero". Heavy emphasis on the fantasy novel part, think almost like Lord of the Rings, but written by Terry Pratchett. The ending is already set and well known, we all know who Jesus is, so the fun part is watching the hi-jinx that ensues as he tries to figure out what exactly the Messiah is suppose to do. Those familiar with the Bible will also love the bits of biblical references that are added with a comical twist.

I also saw Megamind, which, since its a kids movie, I'm not really going to get into, but it was definitely an uplifting, feel good flick, especially after watching The Machinist and American Psycho.

I'll post up some doodles I've been meaning to put up eventually.

If calvin was asian..

O Hai

Making a quick update before I go to class. This post is less of an art dump and more of a guideline for what I’m planning to do in the upcoming months.

First: I’m planning on drawing a comic. A proper one, with a fleshed out story, character designs and all that junk. This of course means that I’m continuing on my with my anatomy studies (yaaaa- facepalm*) so heres a few sketches, and the character design of the protagonist.

Focuses for this project:

Anatomy- practicing expressions, profile and 3/4 views, along with dynamic movement (walking, running, making out, etc)… this point sounds really weird to me when I read it out loud…

Setting- the comic focuses on people, so there won’t be an emphasis on a lot of scenery/background drawing.

I’ll be posting up my character sketch of the female protagonist, along with rough drafts of the pages. It should be roughly 3-4 pages long. I’ll have the final draft up after I purchase my Wacom tablet =). It’s nice to have a bit of cash.

Ghost Reporting

Life, Death, and Starcraft 2

alternative title to the post: Hell, its about Time...

Starcraft 2 finally came out. The campaign was epic, graphics were jaw dropping (although i play the game on the lowest settings because my computer is a pile of junk), and the multiplayer is well balanced. Another blizzard epic. In my starcraft- high, i decided to make a little doodle. I wanted to draw a marine, and good old Tychus Findley seemed to the most popular on google images. What an image whore.

About a month ago, early July, a friend of mine passed away along with his brother. As it was a very sudden and tragic death, I had hard time believing it was true. I can't say that we were close friends, but he was always kind, patient and considerate around me. When we first met, there was a slight mutual dislike for each other, but after hanging out every so often, I eventually earned his friendship. The few conversations we ever had were always insightful or humourous and I'm glad and honoured to have known him. As a dancer and artist, he was admired by many, and with his calm and gentle character, it was hard for anyone to dislike him.

There are many more things I'd like to say about Jae, and even more things I would've liked to say to him. The one thing that hit me the hardest about his death was how similar our dreams and aspirations were. Both of us desired a life career in the arts, but found ourselves in situations that made these goals difficult. The last time we talked was during my exam period last year, a moment where I was stressed and very doubtful about my art abilities. We talked about our plans for the future, and he complimented the sketches I posted on this blog, and then encouraged me to continue drawing. Jae I don't think you ever knew this, but if it wasn't for what you said, there's a good chance I would've settled for a different lifestyle.

We weren't the closest of friends, and yet you helped me get through some big milestones in my life. My only regret is that i didn't lend you the same helping hand that you had lent me. Your presence was always a positive one, putting others first, and constantly showing friendship and acting as a role model. I hope you knew that your life made a huge impact to all your friends, and inspired many others. Rather than continuing to mourn your death, I'll celebrate the life you lived.

Rest in peace, Jae and Julian Leung