New Year Updates

What a year it has been so far! So many activities, a lot of creative juice flowing... I'm pumped! I did realise however that I've been really failing in updating my blog as regularly and current as I'd like and have to work on that note. So without further ado, here's a quick glance at some of the major events that took place from last month up to this point.
First off was a little Christmas do both I and thanks a great heap to my mum for putting together,managed to conjure up a swell spread from pasta,meat accompaniments and so forth. Thanks to everyone for doing their bit in chipping in the swell and beautiful dishes as well. From Ksusha's awesome eggplant rolls and seafood wraps,to Twinnie's unexpected whole roast Chicken to the guy's Tiramisu ice cream dessert. It was all totally wonderful and what a blast. This year's party goes out to all my orphaned buds who're a lil too far away from home to be celebratin' Christmas so here's a little warm treat and gift for them to enjoy.

And am so grateful that it all went so smoothly and everyone had a grand time on Christmas. And yes,we did round up the evening with a game all artists should have a go at...Pictionary!
Wanna see how well it went? Just take a look at what my friends came up with...
This is truly a game for the non-artistically inclined. My comp tech savvy and game producing friends fared better in my opinion than my animation buds. :P Guess which one got the most guesses?
Next up,before you knew it, NY came down upon us like a heavy rain cloud. Honestly we weren't planning to celebrate anything special for the special day. Just the thought of enjoying a bit of rest before the start of a New Year with endless opportunities and possibilities is enough to make me want to just shut down and kick up my feet. But fate had other plans and before I knew it, both me and mum were invited to join in on a Russian style NY celebration with my Siberian pals at their place.

Man, it was just great soaking up great Russian cuisine and going over the traditional aspects of their celebration and historical significance was just hitting me on all the right notes. And boy,did we feel like kids again with the fireworks blasting in the night's sky with little sparklers my friends insisted on.
My favorite eggplant rolls with olives were present (I'm soooo tummy rumbling happy) along with some real smoked mackerel from Moscow with fresh lemon slice on buttered baguette for appetizers, creamed beetroot slaw ,...oh man I could go on, up to beef with pork dumplings with tomato cream sauce. These people really know how to rock out good comfort food!
One of the best things about visiting my pals is that I get to hang out with the lil 'un whom I first saw in a dingy old cage quite a while back in an animal shelter me and my pals visited last year. She was the smallest kitten amongst the many other kittens,felines,pups and canines at the shelter. And boy,was fortune smiling down upon her. She easily won over my pals hearts and mine included and was quickly picked up and taken back to her new found home here. Aptly named Kiki, had never have to see a day of worry since she was parceled off to the shelter by her unwanted previous owners and it was on that very same day did we decided to drop by to visit at the shelter.
Now she's looking all sleep,beautiful and properous and I couldn't be happier for her. Good ol' Kiki. She still remembers her adopted aunty.
Another surprise gift that came along was a double dvd set of 2 of my most favourite Ghibli features to date! WOOHOO!!! I'm in heaven. Thanks to both my childhood friends,Bolly & Daniel for sending over the surprised sweet treat. I couldn't help but play them over and over again during the course of my drawing stints at home.

The goodies didn't stop there!!! More goodies came by in the mail since Christmas and the latest one is a copy of my friends,Erin & Chrissie Humiston's BAND comic with which I was extremely honored to've contributed an art splash page for their comic. I had so much fun working on it even though it did take me many months before I could find the time to draft and put them to final inks in the process. Thankfully it all came out well and I was able to send it in time before my pals took it to publishing. Here's a sneak peek of the WIP.

MAN! I am so stoked the final page ended up being placed next to the equally awesome Dirk Erik Schulz aka Themrock. An artist I've had the pleasure of meeting in DA site a while back and up to this point,I am still amazed at the range of design skills he's capable of. My hats off to Erin & Chrissie for putting together this awesome series to print and am so very happy and thankful to have them as my best friends for so long since we've met. I love you both!

Cool cool cool! My criminal details finally out in print in a bona fide circulated print just above my bro,Eric's,details along with the ever so talented Mario Gonzalez! Words cannot describe my feelings right now. I'm over the moon. Mario,Erin,Chrissie,bro....if you're reading this, I sure hope I get to hang out with you guys again one fine day if I ever get my butt to the States again.
A bonus that came along with the comic is an amazing home-made Christmas card my pal,Erin, put together for the holiday season. Man it is looking tight!!! That's going on my wall!


Something else I came across recently when going through some old photos in my shelf. That's a series of old worn out and crumpled designs and images of a freelance gig I've worked on for a family friend who had dearly wanted for their son's bedroom furniture to be painting in an African theme with wildlife in it. Assigned to the task,this is one of the many odd jobs I've worked on during my early years as a fresh grad. Here's a look at the process I went through.
After drafting out the concepts and finally satisfied with a look I am comfortable with and without much room to trash up the job, I proceeded with final watercolor renders before photocopying the designs which will then be projected onto the furniture themselves to begin their paint job.
Bear with me,this is me as a freshie so proper illustrations were still far beyond my grasp. But I did the best that could be done at the time and with the help of my mum,aunt,twin and a friend,Daniel,I hired to help out...we did manage to complete the job within a space of 3 weeks I believe? or within the month. And it felt really good to finally get the job done without making a mess of things.

Here's a peek at the painting progress. I certainly had fun with it.

And in the end, these where the final results. I don't know if the furniture themselves are still in existence as it was def a good 9-10 years ago when I've completed the job and have never had the opportunity of visiting the home again after that. If anything,I am sure young Master Day would've done a thorough redesign of his bedroom to suit his growing adolescent age. Oh well, c'est la vie.

I'd like to end this post with another clip that got me inspired and hankering to get my own comics/graphic novels kicked to high gear. I seem to always want to share animation/art clips in here. :) I just can't get enough of watching jaw droppingly good clips that I happily come across online. Nice to add a little variety too,wouldn't you agree?

Anyways, enough of my long winded banter. Hope everyone is having a good year so far and though there's still a ton more to share about what I've been up to...*wink wink* I shall save them for another update.

Cheers and have a grand upcoming CNY holiday ahead,folks!!!