Recent Experience

 

Pretty passing view of nature during the train ride on the way to Rochester, NY for DeafNation Expo.

  

The campus at RIT is beautiful with all nature around, especially tall trees with different colors and shapes of leaves.

At SOI, May 17

Finally, I get to surprise my parents and my sister in bringing them to New York City and the best part is watching them observe what the world of illustration is like through the Student Scholarship Show at Society of Illustrators. It was the first time for them. It felt heartwarming to be with my family and it was great to see some familiar, sweet faces at the Society of Illustrators, NY.

Thoughts on SCBWI Conference NY 2013

Firstly, it was an amazing conference of 2.5 days. The first day started off with an Intensive workshop which featured great speakers sharing their experiences, process and artworks. What is helpful to know is how they overcame their obstacles like the printing error, figuring out their style, about their relationship with the Art Director and so on. Below are my favorite / helpful lines that I managed to catch through the interpreters.

"Style developed from problem-solving issues during the process of experiments. It is more about how you think and problem-solve. It is the intersection of all styles that you have tried. It is like your personality." - Shaun Tan

"Always move forward. Get to know your inner artist and inner critic. Take care of yourself. Let go of the outcome and control. Work when you're sleepy. Doodle. Believe in magic." - David Ezra Stein

"Art never finish. Unfinished art can be a winning piece." - Floyd Cooper

"The book is the finished art." - The Brothers Hilts

It is interesting to hear their different viewpoints and I couldn't help agreeing that both are right. Art has a lot of layers like a croissant.

You will want to remember this. "In conclusion: Love your Art Director." - The Brothers Hilts

That sweet laughter moment when they showed a photo of their cheerful A.D. Cecilia hugging her dog. I smiled at my first immediate thought of A.D. SooJin, Chris and their min-pin, Sota.

"Always let the agent be your advocate. Don't contact the publisher and art director directly if you are upset / angry. You don't want to break the relationship with them." - Panel discussion talk

I Will Be With You

My piece in response to the Newtown Tragedy. I was contacted by the Relief Print headed by Gab Thompson and Sarah Kambara to contribute the illustration for a fund-raising event where the funds will help the families of the children affected by the shooting tragedy. During the research and creation of the illustration, I found it difficult to finish it not because of the tight deadline but rather a painful reminder of the heartbreaking news / stories. Almost each time, I zoomed out to take a look at the whole piece to check for value and color overall, my eyes welled up with tears. Nonetheless, I'm glad to at least be able to contribute it for a good cause. 

My heartfelt condolences to the affected families.

Peranakan Silence Show

Today is the opening of the Peranakan Silence Show and I thought it would be apt to show the process of the artworks done for that show. 

RWF & KFUN

Last weekend saw me travel over 5 hours' car ride with my good friend, Marissa to attend the Right Whale Festival at Jacksonville. Although it was pretty chilly especially the icy wind blasting often on everyone, it was definitely an enjoyable experience - hearing their educational talks on protecting the right whales, bottlenose dolphins and manatees, meeting awesome people, strolling from booth to booth, and interacting with the kids. It had definitely left me thinking about the human threat to the animals and it was appalling to know that the dolphin was fed with batteries. Humans. How long can this world survive?

I got side-tracked.

Sketches can be so pretty and something simple can really help the non-profit organizations.