HAPPY NEW YEAR 2012!!!

Another year has gone by, and hafta confess,this has really been a trying year for me. But looking at the end of it all, it did come out really good in the end and am definitely more happy and grateful for my life and what it's been blessed with. I wish for the best to all of my family,friends,loved ones and everyone out there whom I'm thankful for and have the honor of sharing life's adventures with. Hope everyone will have a grand time celebratin' the New Year and be safe and well out there. I will definitely be posting more images and goodies in here once things have calmed down,parties over,last bite of food digested and recovered from excessive laughter and cheer. :D

Here are a series of clips to bring out more fun and laughter for everyone,and hope it will carry forth into the new year. I can't get enough of it. Kudos to the team who gave us 'Just for laughs'. Hehehe,guess it goes to show that cartoons doesn't necessarily have to come from painted cels ,drawn out papers and digital graphics. ;)

Have a Happy New Year 2012,Everyone!
Lots of Love and thanks for all the kindness and support all through the years.

Cheers! *NY kiss*

Out of Sight

out of sight from kynight on Vimeo.

Something absolutely charming for the day. :D Although I've already seen this several times,I just can't get tired of it.
Insert from the vimeo page :
'This is a graduation Production made by three students graduated from the National Taiwan University of Arts.

The main character of little girl in the story confronts a robbery and strays from the road she is familiar with. After passing a hedge, she enters an unknown world and unfolds a magical adventure depending on senses other than vision and her imagination. With soft and cute colors as the main key, we used simple designs to depict the little girls' imaginary world.'

Merry Christmas 2011 from Claude & Chunkie!

Merry Christmas 2011 by ~Sandora on deviantART

A Claude & Chunkie Christmas 2011 Greeting to all! :D
Hope you all will have a very warm and cheerful Christmas this year and a Happy New Year.
Rushed art on my part with a lot of touch ups still needed. But thanks to the awesome and talented Zeke Chan for pulling it all together and getting it through.
Cheers and happy holiday,folks!
*hugs*

Its Christmas Eve!

Time for some good ol' Christmas toon tuning!


With some more Christmassie tunes....this time with Ricky!



MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYBODY!!!!

Pluggin' into Bento

My apologies to the folks who bought our book but could not truly appreciate the art in all it's glory due to the BnW publication. So will slowly post some of the art in here for everyone.
Cheers and hope this makes you all feel like a Bento for your chow time.
:D

MNU Art Book 2011

Hi all,

Here's a preview of this year's MNU art book anthology for Comic Fiesta 2011 at KLCC last weekend. If any of you folks are keen for a copy,do let us know here by dropping a message.

It's only Ringgit Malaysia 10 (which would be about USD3++) for a copy excluding postal charge.
Inclusive of our main art team,we have about a dozen new guest artists contributing their art into this year's book.

Hope you will like it and thank you so much to all for your kind support during the con and all this while. *hugs*

Insert : Ed, I'm still gonna bug you for that yamchar for failing to include my name in the editorial section. Rrrrrrr....

Cheers and Merry Christmas folks!

Random Sketches

Comic Fiesta 2011

It's a wrap!!! What a blast it's been for this year's comic con at KLCC. Total mayhem and chaos and waaayyy too many visitors than we'd ever anticipate. Felt sorry for the folks that couldn't join in on the fun due to sold out tickets and over crowding in the hall. But everyone has put in a lot of effort and overall it was worth it and the event ended on a high note. More pics can be viewed in my FB page for now till I can find time to upload the stuff into my Flickr account.
Cheers folks and whoever wants to pick up a copy of our new MNU book can place their order here. It's only RM 10 for a copy of the grahic anthology from the team as well as a dozen new guest artists featuring their works inside. It's print in BnW btw but still packed full of punch including my new Claude & Chunkie strips and new development art for a personal comic project.

And for all you Bill Watterson fans out there,enjoy these clips! And thanks to my friend Luc for this awesome link of an interview into some of the details into the elusive life of Bill!
link : http://jawboneradio.blogspot.com/2005/11/jawbone-81-in-search-of-bill-watterson.html

Enjoy!

RIP Jerry Robinson and this Christmas Season

Jerry Robinson & The Joker by R. Sykoryak

First off, a respectful acknowledgement and honor to the late Mr. Jerry Robinson who gave us all the world's most famous and loveable villain of all time, The Joker. He will always be remembered for his profound contribution to the comic industry and his spirit endeared whenever we each hear that familiar laugh and see that familiar big wide grin we've all come to know so very well.
Comic Books Resource has written an article about Jerry and his contribution to the industry here in the link below. Please take a look :

http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=35811




Some embarrassingly old stuff with new stuff.
Thank you, Mr. Robinson.

Moving on, some shameless plug-in to my very talented online pal,Ood Sereira just had her interview posted online by my best friend, Bob! Do check it out. It will be a series of interviews on comic artists around the world!
http://www.comicbloc.com/read/2011/12/comics-around-the-world-part-3/
http://ood-serriere.blogspot.com/
And here's another equally talented artist from our shores and am proud to say,my friend too,Ms. Hanie Mohd.
http://www.comicbloc.com/read/2011/11/comics-around-the-world-part-2/
http://haniemohd.blogspot.com/
Here works are just amazing,cute and heart warming! Please take a look if you can. :)

Finally, am kick starting this holiday season with a lot of Christmas'y themed songs and what better way to usher it all in than with a lot of Frankie and Bing. :D




And a Christmas treat from Dreamworks! Watch it if you get the chance. Just a short,heart warming clip for this holiday season and the best part is,all of the characters in here are just more endearing and I mean especially/specifically Astrid.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

The Sword in the Stone will always epitomize the sheer fun and excitement in good ol' fashion 2D animation than any other film for me.

And something else I've discovered...apparently created in anime studio pro 5? Amazing job! I like the final rendered quality a lot!

Insane Photoshop Skills

Insane Photoshop Skills - Watch MoreFunny Videos

Claude & Chunkie colors

Here's a quickie sample of one of the panel fully colored and finalized. As you can see,I've done 2 colored versions : One retaining the rough pencil lines, the other cleaned up for the characters. Then I went further to check the B&W quality of each version to see how they'd fare as our artbook will be published without colors this time 'round. Hope you like it ,folks!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

What's Thanksgiving without some of the good ol' classics??? :D Here are some of my favorites from The Peanut Gang,Garfield and of course, Tom & Jerry.

To all of my friends celebrating Thanksgiving.

Cheers folks! :D

For MnU

One of the many art pieces I've worked on for my art group's new upcoming book. Hopefully it'll come to fruition. I'm calling him Foxy for now.

Cheers and hope you like it folks! :D

It's DONE!!!

The new sets for my Claude and Chunkie installation has been complete! Here's a sneak preview of the roughs with inks for you.

Cheers folks!

Happy Belated Birthday Cal

Have been so caught up with work that I have to hustle myself to really make up for the many belated birthday art gifts I've as yet to complete. Here's the first of many. This one is specially dedicated to my best friend's youngest son,Calvin Francis. Hope he can forgive my terrible terrible tardiness. Being a big Spongebob fan ourselves,that's why we warm up and got along so well. :D Happy Belated Birthday,Cal!!!!

An now,something really exciting that's I've only just discovered recently thanks to friend's head's up in FB. It's a short clip called 'The Emperor's New Clothes' by director Steffen Schaeffler from Pascal Blais Studio. Am resolved and inspired that this should be the technique to aim for in any of my future animation projects. *big grins*

And many new animated features to look forward to coming soon ...
A Monster in Paris/Un Monstre a Paris



Image extracts from : http://megabluelove.livejournal.com/9225.html


I love Dr. Seuss! So looking forward to the same team at Illumination Animation and Universal that did such a fine job rendering his heart warming imagination and literature to the big screens including 'Despicable Me'. No doubt, their new trailer really got me all excited for it's release next year.
For those who can remember this wonderful animated classic take by the likes of Friz Freleng, Maurice Noble, Hawley Pratt,Ted Geisel and more, here's a quickie trip down memory lane 'The Lorax'.



And finally...'Brave' from Disney/Pixar. I can hardly wait!

New Claude & Chunkie and 850 Meters

Something I've been putting off for the longest time ever,since Febuary last year in fact. It always takes a purpose and a deadline for me to start hauling arse to get these new panels up and running. Here's a quickie teaser of what's in store for the new adventures of our fatefully paired duo. Hope you folks will like it. *fingerscrossed*

And now,something gobsmackingly funny by Thuristar & Lunanime called 850 Meters. A teaser first introduced to me by my bro quite some time back. Can't believe I haven't shared it yet! Well here it is folks! Enjoy!


Excerpts info taken from their YouTube link :

"850 METERS is an "after hours" project, a 10-minute animated comedy short currently in production, produced by THURISTAR and Lunanime, with the support of the VAF.

The film tells the QUEST of a FAME-AND-FORTUNE-hungry, wannabe hero, in a not-so-fairy tale!

850 METERS will be completed in 2011. As we move forward with the production of the short, THURISTAR is also producing a 'making-of' of the film. The idea is to follow the work of our small team 'behind the scenes', through monthly 2-minute episodes, each of them featuring a different production step.
Mostly Belgian, but also French, American, Norwegian and from Luxemburg, the 850 METERS team is working between London, Paris, Valence, Albuquerque, Kortrijk and Ghent, for a few months of 'after hours' production."
A THURISTAR -- LUNANIME short film
Created and directed by Joeri Christiaen
Music by Frederik Segers
Written by Joeri Christiaen and Perrine Gauthier
Developed with Karim Rhellam
Creative Producer: Perrine Gauthier
Executive Producer: Annemie Degryse
With the participation of PMG Worldwide (messiahStudio), Grid vfx and Temple of Tune
With the support of the Flemish Audiovisual Fund (VAF)

With the AMAZING work of:
Vegard Myklebust, Technical Director
Michael Mahy, Character Animator
Olivier Thill, Modeler and Z-brush artist
Maud Chalmel, Graphic Artist

Making-of by Antoine Kerninon & Perrine Gauthier

Munchkinland

Sorry have been out on the loop,folks. Been having a lot of comp issues starting with my system getting infected in-between renewing my antivirus and then later on having to take it to the shop to manually install the antivirus....and then the tedious task of re-installing all of my softwares and then checking out all of the bugs and updates affected by my comp hardwares,updating each of them and adjusting/tweaking them for my use. Gggrrrrrr....
What did help were my best friends being there for me during my stressful episodes and one even hooked me up on a new series by one of my favorite British personalities,Stephen Fry. It's called Planet Word. Excellent show overall as expected and even got me hooked back on prior comedies and eps from other documentaries I didn't get to catch in BBC.

This next one, The Secret Life of a Manic Depressive kinda rang true to me somehow and got me pondering a lot.


And this entry wouldn't be complete without my sharing another little gem I stumbled upon recently : I love all of the creative little 'Must Drink More Milk' segments.


And I so want a copy of this book to add to my library :(

Congratulations and more updates

First off! Congratulations to Dice Tsutsumi and Gerald Guerlais for the most awesome achievement during the wrap up auction of SketchTravel recently.
One red sketchbook passing from one artist's hand to another spanning through 12 countries over 4 and half years. All in aid of 'Room to Read'. Check it out here and I am so aching to get a copy for myself!

Sketchtravel trailer ENGLISH from Sketchtravel.tv on Vimeo.

http://www.sketchtravel.com/
http://sketchtravel.blogspot.com/

Sketchtravel en 30 secondes from Sketchtravel.tv on Vimeo.

GAaaa!!!! *drooling*




Thank you to Harald for the heads up on this new TinTin trailer. I can hardly wait!



And to Ben for the heads up on 'Ninokuni' ,a game colab between Level 5 and Studio Ghibli.



And to Isabella Mazzanti for this charming animation cut out link called Les Trois Inventeurs by Michel Ocelot in 1980.

One Inspiration after another.

I heart Juanjo Guarnido's Blacksad.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzvdhEz9tkI

One Word : Valve.





And the Giants.

And day of inspirations.
Cheers Folks!

Day & Night

Love the clever mix of 2D and 3D animation in this charming lil short.

Word of the Day : Constantinople

I started a trend with an art bud,drawing a rough concept/sketch out of a word or phrase of the day which we'd take it in turns to come up with. The word this time was 'Constantinople' which at the the I thought was too huge and glorious an undertaking to achieve in just one sketch so dilly dallied,not wanting to face the obstacle on my sketch journal. Eventually,I got to it and this was what I can up with,drawing from memory what's best I can come up with which links me to it,without having to go through arduous referencing,totally undermining the purpose of the everyday sketch exercise. So this is what I came up with. Thoughts of Emperor Constantine,the Byzantium era...Hagia Sofia in Istanbul....

So there you have it. My take on Constantinople.

They Might Be Giants - Istanbul (Not Constantinople) from They Might Be Giants on Vimeo.

Also,thanks to my DA pal, Avancna from US for sharing this link with me on it. Really cool!


Cheers folks!

1955 - 2011

Rest in Peace,Steve : Oct 5th 2011.

He was one of those who inspired me to get back on my feet.

Not the greatest art piece in the world,but it's what I will keep in my sketch journal to remind myself what he went through and how he got through it.

"Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary."

"Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish."

- Steve Jobs

Cheers Folks

Saladin Nominated for the International Emmys

WWAAAA!!! Just received the good news from the team!
Our Saladin the Animated series has been nominated for the International Emmy Awards under Children & Young People category.
I'm so chuffed I'm still trying to settle down after hearing about it.

Here's the news!!! :

http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/story/2011/10/03/international-emmy-nominees.html

Congratulations to everyone in the team for all their passion,dedication and hard work in seeing this project through!
Win or lose...its still the best thing ever and I'm so very very thankful and happy.



And Here's today's word of the day..."Resplendent" It was Luc's turn to come up with the word.

Cheers everyone!!!!

The Cat's Pyjamas

Here's today's word/phrase of the day...'The Cat's Pyjamas'. A quick check in Wikitionary says that it was " a slang phrase coined by Thomas A. Dorgan. The phrase became popular in the U.S. in the 1920s,^[1] along with the bee's knees, the cat's whiskers (possibly from the use of these in radio crystal sets). In the 1920s the word cat was used as a term to describe the unconventional flappers from the jazz era. This was combined with the word pyjamas (a relatively new fashion in the 1920s) to form a phrase used to describe something that is the best at what it does, thus making it highly sought and desirable.^[2]

A report in the New York Times^[3] of a publicity stunt by an unknown woman in 1922, in which she paraded along 5th Avenue clad in yellow silk pajamas and accompanied by four cats similarly dressed, may indicate the phrase was already current by that date, as the "cat's meow" certainly was.^[4]

Good to know and I certainly took the phrase literally ..so here's my take on Cat's Pyjamas.

The phrase brought back fond memories of a certain little Tom Kitten, who had overgrown his best suit while forced to get ready for proper company by his mother. Just look at his expression! BP has certainly nailed his look to a tee. Goes to show how far love and passion goes when one adds it into one's work. Priceless!



And thought this was a sweet soundtrack and music video to share.
Cheers folks!

Creative Escape to Borneo

Hi everyone, I've been away recently to host my friend,Luc, who was on a short visit from HK for a creative holiday escape to Borneo. Actually didn't think we'd make the trip at all due to some unfortunate incidences that caused delays and what nots,almost canceling the trip altogether.
Anyhoo, we got to go after all and here are a few quicky pics of the trip I took along the way.


A sneak peek of my travel journal in the works. We stayed and traveled around Kota Kinabalu this time 'round.
We planned our trip around to hit the jungles and beach scene to get away from staring too much in front of the computer and just to get more fresh air in the lungs and see some greenery for a change. It was marvellous! The air up in the mountain range is so clean,crisp and cold. Loved the market and dense vegetation all around us.
A glimpse of Mount Kinabalu,the tallest peak in Malaysia.
And a rare treat, the Rafflesia,one of the rarest plants in the world. Although in fact,it is a parasite. It's lifespan after blossoming is only a mere 1 week before it starts it's decaying process.



We paid a visit to the tree tops,trekking up the hills and did a canopy walk in the hot springs and parks.
A visit to Borneo wouldn't be complete without a bit of island hopping excursions. We only did 2 islands but it was more than enough for a one day trip. Good to see some clear turquoise water with corals and fishes. Thankfully for the duration of our visits and tours,the rain clouds stayed away and we have had good cool cloudy and sunny skies all day.

Some painting on the beach.

Some lovely natural rock formations and designs nearby our spot.





My journal page.
Luc was testing out his new brushes and water color palette. He did a grand job for his journal as well.
Our last night out was a necessary visit to the Philippine Night Market in the heart of town.

Vibrant colors,noise and the pungent aroma of food wafting through the air.
A bit too humid and smoky to sketch as we've unwisely pitched ourselves amidst chaos amongst the nearby open air food stalls. But we eventually got some good art out.




Even found some time to sketch some more while killing time at the airport.

Arriving back safely to KL, a quick dinner with some pals in the heart of town and had to introduce Luc to our most recognizable landmark before bidding adieu and an early flight back to HK the next morning.

All photos of the trip can be viewed in my Flickr page here : http://www.flickr.com/photos/81755819@N00/?saved=1