thedesignlanguage sketchbook

Hair Stylist Study

2008-10-28T22:50:00.000-07:00

Just a Study.

SketchCrawl Oct 2008

2008-10-26T11:50:00.001-07:00

The result of the 20th SketchCrawl 2008 is posted here:

http://www.sketchcrawl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=42&t=3339

Sketches during the road trip

2008-01-03T18:15:00.001-08:00

Road Trip Sketches

2008-01-03T18:09:00.000-08:00

Captain Hook & Pirates

2007-12-01T20:47:00.001-08:00

More random sketches...

2007-12-01T20:13:00.000-08:00

Dino sketches

2007-12-01T11:41:00.001-08:00

Just recently I felt like drawing dinosaur again. It has been such a long time since my dino painting was featured in ImagineFX magazine.

:)

St Augustine Sketches

2007-11-29T07:34:00.001-08:00

St Augustine is really a beautiful city. I think I like it far better than Savannah... will go back again to take a better look. We stayed there for just about 3 hours.

")

New Sketchbook: Life drawing from Sketchclub

2007-10-01T15:58:00.000-07:00

More sketches outdoor...

2007-09-04T17:53:00.000-07:00

Enjoy!!

Sketches...old and new

2007-08-01T20:22:00.000-07:00

SCAD Sidewalk Festival Spring 2007

2007-04-29T20:42:00.000-07:00

These were from the recent sidewalk festival at Forsyth Park. Great day great fun. if you are interested, you can visit my photo album here. And here too.

Hope you enjoy them!
:)

Life Drawing:: Gesture Drawings

2007-04-29T20:38:00.000-07:00

These are the results of one session of life drawing with variations of 1 min pose to 10 minutes pose. I am really trying to attend such sessions as much as possible since SCAD is providing them free of charge. I needed the practice. It's free why not! But more than that, I enjoyed drawing and training my eyes as well as my hands. :)

")

More fun sketches:

2007-02-05T20:32:00.000-08:00

Character drawings and designs!
")

Arkansas Sketches

2007-01-02T20:46:00.000-08:00

We were at Arkansas over Christmas - thats because Natalie, an American friend we got to know here at Savannah invited us to celebrate Christmas with her parents who live in Springdale. You know, we drove 15 hours through several states. I reckon this is the best way to tour and travel through America.

Anyway, I did some sketches in and outside the house. One of the kitchen, one of the house and one of the many guests that came too. njoy!! :)

Thanks!! ")

Tybee Trip and Sketching Expedition

2006-12-19T22:45:00.000-08:00

More sketches made during our trip to Tybee beach!! :P

Just four.
njoy!!

Sketches (09-10 Dec 06) - Universal Studios Orlando

2006-12-13T12:45:00.000-08:00

Did these during our trip to Orlando, Florida at Universal Studios. Enjoy!!

More coming!!

Sketch for Pin-up

2006-11-27T12:56:00.000-08:00

Feeling some holiday cheer.

Sketches (20 Nov 2006)

2006-11-19T22:12:00.000-08:00

It all started from a couple of failed drawings...and when I persisted... something came out of it - a high-school-gum-chewing girl - and I like it. My fingers have been itching to draw something else other than just for the school projects I was doing for the last weeks. Looking at the same thing day in day out makes one mad. There was a moment when I asked myself whether I have chosen the right major. You know, animation can be very tedious and time consuming. I discovered why I like illustration better: because I just couldn't stand drawing the same thing over and over again with just a minute change. However putting this drawings with subtle differences in them makes everything worthwhile again. When I could see the drawings actually move, my heart leaped with joy. Maybe I really like doing animation - I need patience, more patience now.
")

Sketches

2006-11-19T21:53:00.000-08:00

Sketches, originally uploaded by thedesignlanguage.

Sketches (18 Nov 2006)

2006-11-19T21:52:00.000-08:00

Sketches, originally uploaded by thedesignlanguage.

Fall semester, like a gust of wind over the field, has almost finished and is now left with 2 more days, mainly for projects presentation. Finally I got a breather after 2 solid weeks of a desperate attempt to finish the projects. I was just surfing blindly on the Internet when I happened to check my gmails. A mail was sent out by a professor for my Winter class to get the students prepared before the class commences. Fall break has not even started!!! But my spirit is not broken... I like the fact that this professor wants us to come prepared, and I am going to take this opportunity to make a new 3D character like what I did during my summer break (I did an extra 3D car). It would be difficult but worth the try. :)

SKETCHES

2006-10-27T20:29:00.000-07:00

SKETCHES, originally uploaded by thedesignlanguage.

Posting another sketch done in the month of Aug. I liked the fat lady better.

More sketches

2006-10-27T19:54:00.000-07:00

More sketches of characters:

A classmate was not paying attention to the DVD being played in class. He was sketching his characters for a story he has written. So... I joined him, abandoning the not so interesting movie playing over the projector.

The sketches just simply took off. He was designing an old man character for his animation. I drew my version of the old man he has done. And then many other versions after which.

It was fun!!

I am always on the look out for those who loved to draw as and when. Why isn't there anyone who love to sketch as much as I do?
")

Character sketches (idle doodle)

2006-10-16T20:59:00.000-07:00

These sketches are just for fun!!
") While researching on people on the weighty side, I found some photos on the web featuring some very special looking people.

They are for real. I am not exaggerating!!
:)

Savannah City Market - Sketching Expedition

2006-10-12T22:06:00.000-07:00

Part of our coursework is to have field trip for outdoor sketching. Dig it man! Here are my sketches!!

Alright! Will show you more when I have more!!

Stone Mountain Sketching Expedition

2006-09-26T15:16:00.000-07:00

Not exactly a sketch expedition. Half the time we were struggling with catching our breath as we ascent up the mount. I only started to sketch when we reached the top, had a coke and rested. Then it was down again after only half an hour, because our bus would leave in an hour's time. The ascent and descent would take about 2 hours each. Fortunately we went down faster than we were climbing.

Here are the sketches. Coloured in the studio.

Thanks!!
")

Summer - Fall Sketchbook

2006-09-20T12:38:00.000-07:00

Beginning Fall 2006, I will be doing a lot more sketches than usual. Yep, I have decided to work extra hard to make more drawings everyday. No more slacking, no more lazy slouching on the couch. It's gonna be work work work and work!! :P What's it gonna be? My Fall quarter is also requiring more drawings from me because the 2 subjects I am taking now are Drawing in motion and 2D Character animation. Yeah! More drawings to be done!
")

I have been drawing on ruled exercise books because they are cheaper than a sketchbook, which would cost more than 10USD for one that is about A4 size. I don't think I am spending that kind of money just to make rough sketches. They don't worth that much.

The whole exercise is to design 2 characters - a big guy and an old man. These are just some of my sketches.
")

Soulful

2006-08-26T21:26:00.000-07:00

A colour sketch done in Painter as well. ")

Manga Gal Sketch

2006-08-26T12:48:00.000-07:00

Another sketch produced today... ")
A teenager girl drawn in the style of manga.

Angel Sketch

2006-08-26T09:31:00.000-07:00

A sketch with reference photo used.
Done in Painter IX with the pencil and pencil cover tool.
")

Blue

2006-07-28T18:41:00.000-07:00

2006-07-13T21:21:00.000-07:00

2006-07-03T06:37:00.000-07:00

A WIP... stay tune for the complete one... with Painter. Coming very soon. After my quiz of course.
")

2006-06-14T11:07:00.000-07:00

Sketches from Savannah

2006-05-12T07:23:00.000-07:00

I have been having so much fun recently until my PC broke down... it is up yesterday to my relieve... changed 2 fans and finally it does not crash anymore while using Painter 7. NVM... no news is good news... anyway I did another manga-ish character just to see how I am in manga drawing... not bad... will use this character in another story that I have come up with not long ago...

2006-05-07T19:25:00.000-07:00

A warm-up sketch for the day. :)
BTW, I am back to using Painter IX becos Painter 7 crashes on me... what's worse, my computer shut down on its own... I am not too sure what exactly happened, but it sure scare the wits out of me! I will have to wait and see.
:(

2006-05-03T07:06:00.000-07:00

Painter 7

It has been a difficult decision between what is the best. When I watched my fav artists Ryan Church and Feng Zhu doing their demo on the Gnomon DVDs, I noticed that they are not using the latest Painter version in their demonstrations. Therefore if I am using Painter IX, while they are using version 6 or 7, I find it kind of hard to relate. Even though the demos are not about the technicalities of the software, it would be nice to know what kind of tools and what settings they are using. So now there is gap. I am using Painter IX currently so I have to figure out the equivalence between what is in Painter 7 and in Painte IX... The quickest way is to go back to Painter 7.... :)

Sorry if I am not making sense. For now, I will settle with both. Why give up any if both are equally good. I am greedy you can say.

2006-05-02T00:20:00.000-07:00

SketchCrawl on 22 Apr 2006 was really fun. I posted some sketches that can be viewed here. (Click here to go there). Moreover I was pretty busy with work so I couldn't really do any new digital painting lately. But there are some WIPs that I wouldn't mind showing off (heh). Here they are: the April Sketch Report!

"P

2006-04-17T19:38:00.000-07:00

April is such an exciting month. First thing, I have quit from my current job as a graphic designer to go into full time freelancing in illustration and digital comics, and hopefully some teaching. But the main task is to prepare for my trip to US for my studies in animation. What will I come out of it? (very popular question asked) Not sure. My answer is always so short and straight to the point, that it baffles those who ask. Second thing is, we have a new addition to our dear friends' family in UK. He's Josiah and he is born in London. Congrats! Amy and Jason!! God blesses you richly with the grace to become great parents.

BTW, we had another new model to pose for our weekly life drawing sessions! 15 mins short poses. Here are what I have done. Not quite there this time...:(

This piece was done in soft pastels that I bought years ago but have neber touched. So did this pastel rendering for the first time.

Total seven pieces!! njoy!!

2006-04-15T02:31:00.000-07:00

Cabaret Dancer::

2006-04-09T18:35:00.000-07:00

Another fun sketch done for practice!! :)

2006-04-03T16:59:00.000-07:00

Time for sketching again... yes, another round of life drawing session at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts. This round, I used conte pencils (in block form), both brown and black, and textured papers named "Fabriano", that are available in "Straits Commercial"... :)

I have posted the same sketches at my multiply photo albums, go there for a closer look! :)
Go there now!

2006-03-27T19:39:00.000-08:00

Finally I am able to post a coloured sketch. Other than using traditional media, i practise quite a bit with digital media too... in this case, I used Painter IX, simple watercolour brush adjusted to "cover" rather than "build up"...

First I started with a photo downloaded from the Internet. Using a background colour (as though I am using a tinted canvas), I sketched direct with a grey creating a silhouette of the subject... progressively adding details with a darker tone... and everntually adding details with shades of the skin tone... finally putting details of the eyes and so on...

It's just a coloured sketch and there are rooms for improvement eg. the focus of the eyes... as pointed out by a friend. (*thanks!)
:)

2006-03-15T07:04:00.000-08:00

A head study...

Done within like 10 minutes... this time I tried to draw as much likeness as possible so I can have a practice on portrait making too. The following week would be single pose for the entire 3-hour session and I would be using oil for the practice. :)

2006-03-09T18:50:00.000-08:00

At last, an opportunity to post something new here. Do not mistaken, it was not out of a season of no activity. I was pretty busy with work though. But when the life drawing session began a couple of weeks ago, I took no chance of missing it! These are 15 mins poses...

A 3-hour session would allow us to complete about 8 sketches and I threw in an extra sketching one of the artist there while everyone was taking a short break.

This time round an ang mo posed for us....

I will post an oil painting sketch later if time permits... :)

2006-01-17T23:16:00.000-08:00

Have been playing around with the parameters in Painter IX and ended up with this brush with a special touch. Here's the result. Will try to find out more of making customised brushes so I can make it available to you all.

2006-01-12T04:52:00.000-08:00

This is another sketch I quite like.. her hair would be quite exciting to paint I think.

Something more on the gothic feel... :)

And one with some eroticism...

Just another sketch practice... hope you like all of them!

:P

2006-01-12T04:48:00.000-08:00

Dancer
In this simple sketch of a dancer, I was trying to portray a gypsy dancing to a hot number... but unlike a traditional gypsy, the one I drew was wearing something more imaginary... like petals of lillies as skirt, while the ribbons on both of her arms would sway to her motion...

2006-01-01T20:05:00.000-08:00

2006 started with a bang! Beautiful fireworks and a beautiful night without rain. It has been raining pretty much this past week before the new year began, though wet, the rain has cooled off the entire island of Singapore too. What a wonderful way to start the year. Yesterday, the first day of 2006, we decided to take a walk after coming back from church and lunch. It would be nice to watch the first sunset of the year..heh. It so happened that it rained quite heavily when we arrived at Labrador Park. The storm cloud hot behind our heels as we sped towards the beach. It drizzled for a while and then thunder storm. The picnickers scurried towards the pavillion where we sat. Soon it was like a couple of dozen people cramped inside.

Well, the only way to pass time was to whipped my sketchbook out and start sketching. It was really really a great way to spend the new year. Here are the sketches!

At first I started to sketch the legs of those people standing around us...

Then the dogs shivering in the cold...

An indian man standing with 2 umbrellas chatting with his friends...

Misc sketches of those seeking shelter in the pavillion....

My wife....

And finally another portrait of my wife...she complained that the last one I did does not look like her...oh well. A client is always a client! :)

That should be all! :) Happy 2006!

2006-01-01T19:36:00.000-08:00

Some sketches found in a sketchbook stashed away without apparent reason. I did these during the life drawing sessions held by NAFA (Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts) for students and lecturers. It's a free session for anyone interested but each session will cost about $10. The money collected from the individuals would go to the posing model. Anyway I can't wait for the new sessions to commence this year (2006, I mean).

I tend to do very fast gesture studies so I moved around within a duration for a pose.

2005-12-29T20:06:00.000-08:00

I thought I could make use of the office closure and the holidays to do more drawing but in the end, I found myself "playing" more than drawing. However, it was quite fun. There was so much to do; movies, visitations, barbecues and shopping. Great fun. I got to watch 3 movies in a row... Narnia, King Kong and A History Of Violence... now I am ready to do something serious... oh wait... I am going kayaking this afternoon. :P

2005-12-18T23:01:00.000-08:00

Gimli - LOTR Character

I am into drawing dwarf recently. You can see a finished version on my digital gallery ... here's the link:

My Digital gallery

Another sketched version here... clean up in Painter IX as well.

2005-12-18T04:10:00.000-08:00

King Kong Mania

Actually not because of the movie - I did this a couple of days before the premiere of King Kong. I have been drawing gorilla as a mascot for this company, but have not continued to do so for a long time now... as a spur of inspiration I wanted to revive this character again... so before doing so, I dug up a few photos of gorillas and started sketching away... :)

This is one animal you wouldn't want to be up close with!

Cute!

Skeleton Study

:)

2005-11-14T19:04:00.000-08:00

Recently we got ourselves a power book and I have the wildest dream of doing sketches with it just like I am sketching on a sketchbook. The only difference is I would be sketching digitally with a wacom tablet.

This sketch was done last night in order to get the hang of using the tablet with the powerbook. Initially the control of the stylus was a little awkward, and I feel that the tablet is a tat too big to work on. I am currently using a 12 X 12 tablet and it fits well while it is attached to my PC with a LCD screen. In this case, the powerbook has to be placed way in front of the tablet due to its size. I could use a smaller one for conveinence sake.

2005-11-09T02:04:00.000-08:00

I have been participating a life drawing and sketching sessions organised by the NAFA (Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts) Club. So far after a month or so drawing, sketching and painting the nude figure, it has been rewarding in terms of getting back to the basics and rediscovering myself as an artist. This is the first time for me drawing the human figure from a posing model and it has been a different experience altogether. I have been practicing from photographs of clothed figures for all these times...

Here's a few of my fav samples:

Posted Sketches on sgcomic.com

Each session is 3 hours. For short poses, the model would change her pose in every 15 minutes. For long poses, she would maintain the same position throughout the session taking short breaks in between. Short poses are good for quick observation and gestures study. I would take roughly 5-8 minutes for each short pose and would move to another angle for a quick study.

:)

I would find a site where I can post all the picture in a folder for easy viewing.

2005-10-30T06:25:00.000-08:00

Here is a WIP -- my objective is to sketch a group of ladies in different styles and designs of corsets -- I had my reference from a magazine photo and I am trying to emulate the feel in the picture, but not doing an exact copy yet retaining the look and feel. It is kinda taking a tat longer time because I am sketching in straight on Painter...

2005-10-27T04:31:00.000-07:00

What a crab!

2005-10-23T05:05:00.000-07:00

2005-10-23T04:54:00.000-07:00

Finally..there is the opportunity to sketch.. here's posting "Return of the Zorro".

2005-10-09T19:25:00.000-07:00

Have not been doing sketches for a while now... most of the time over the weekends was spent on my sculptures... whew! Hardwork but worthwhile. Here is the link to my Sculpturing Blog...

http://sculpturesquare.blogspot.com/

2005-09-28T08:27:00.000-07:00

Painter. 2B Pencil brush variant. 15 mins quick sketch, with ref.

2005-09-27T11:38:00.000-07:00

Done straight in Painter IX... gesture study.

2005-09-19T11:30:00.000-07:00

Attempting a fantasy compostion, also partly sci-fi - Soldier lost in a thick jungle, a dangerous object lurks close behind.

The sole objective of this sketch was to so a study on the male figure in action pose. Notice that I have not included any clothes on him. And of course he is supposed to wear something other than his gun... I mean the other type of gun.

2005-09-19T10:56:00.000-07:00

I am only coming to understand a little about the anatomy of human bodies, especially those that belong to the other gender. Lacking a formal art education, and mostly self taught, my source of reference came mainly from comics and fantasy illustration. When I find myself doing fine art, it is so difficult to shake off the tendency to make the figure drawings look like character designs. I am not talking about the one posted above, but the figure studies I did during a figure drawing session at NAFA. I was so thrilled because I could unlearn everything I have learnt thus far, but the most exciting part of the session was the opportunity to look at the very experienced artists who could depict the anatomy in just a few pen strokes. That's what I call experts! :)

2005-09-16T19:55:00.000-07:00

A new sketch of a reclining lady using a new painter IX brush downloaded from the internet. The brush is named Jeremy_Sutton_Grainy_Sketcher, of course creater by Jeremy himself.

Thanks!

2005-09-09T18:55:00.000-07:00

Another post:

These are youngsters with hip dresses and can be seen walking on the streets of Singapore if you observe close enough.

Drawn with photo reference.

Pencil drawing scanned into computer and added the touch of shading and colour.

Hope you enjoy it.

2005-09-08T08:26:00.000-07:00

If I can be a professional comic artist doing this as a profession, I am going to be like J Scott Campbell, choosing "Danger Girl" as my heroine, except that mine is slightly less masculine.

If I can do this as a career, I am going to draw pretty gals pin-ups all year round!

2005-09-08T07:22:00.000-07:00

Fantastic Four
A rough and quick sketch to test the composition. Done in pencil and scanned. Digitally retouched to give it a sepia tonal efx.

Something about the characters in the Fantastic Four movie. They seemed to be more concern over domestic issues then the global threats and the villains. After a while, you feel that they are a little too petty for super heros.

Think about it.

2003-09-28T22:42:00.000-07:00

My dream is to travel around the world all my life, and sketch what I see along the way. How can that be possible when you've so much committment and leaving everything behind seems to be a irresponsible thing to do.

The first sketch to be posted on this blog.
Drawn from a photo I took of New York City. My original intention was to do a sketch on the spot, but time did not permit me to do it at that very moment.

Anyhow, here is the sketch done, say in 5-10 mins with a Japanese self-inked brush with its brush tip cut off to give it a flat edge.

Click on image to see a larger view.