illust: thought puddles

Why is the weather so spastic right now? One minute it was awesomely sunny, the next it felt as though we were having a typhoon. I don't remember 852 weather ever behaving in such a manner.

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My intestinal issues from last week are pretty much gone, so it means I can eat solid foods again. Not sure whether I should go to the doctor to make sure it is nothing chronic, but I honestly feel horrible if I had to spend money again in such a short period of time. This guilt is thanks to my sister, who has been amazing passive-aggressive in her emails as of late. I wouldn't have cared (since I don't exactly like her anyways...people thought it was strange that I didn't cry when she left for college or got married, but honestly, we're not close) but I know some of the things she said are true.

Namely, going to an expensive college. Not like that was my fault, I had no idea what the tuition was before setting off four years ago. My parents told me not to worry about it. And now my parents are offering to pay for my grad tuition as well-- I didn't ask for it, they just offered. In contrast, my sister had to pay for her own grad programme, so understandably she's not exactly happy about it. She didn't say this out loud in the emails, but kept asking over and over if I was going to be "financially responsible" for myself, or whether I was going to "get a part-time job in England".

First off, whatever our parents do for her is none of my business. Adversely, whatever our parents do for me is not her concern. (Hell, I didn't even care that our parents paid for her car and part of her flat). And what is with her having me get a part-time job in the U.K.? The student visas have incredible limitations with it comes to employment, and I've done several years of work as an undergrad. I think some of that money would cover the costs. Plus, she didn't even get a job during her grad days....

...eurgh, I'm just annoyed at my sister and her attitude. I just hope this isn't one of those things that'll last a lifetime.

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In case anyone is interested, The Kooks are playing in 852 on Aug 21st; I didn't open my email for several days to read the livenation notice. Tickets are 380HKD to 580HKD each, so they're a little on the pricey side...

Scribbles II

Just another scribble, a break in between finishing my stash of WIPs from last year. Yes, last year. I'm so bad with time management and motivation when it comes to finishing off something related to art. It's a good thing I don't intend to become a professional artist since one of the key ingredients--patience-- is lacking in me. Don't know how I managed to draw a winter image when the aim was to draw a summer one; maybe I long for the cold days to return.
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Oh yes, the official 'hot days' [from the ancient agricultural calender, pronounced 'dai shu'] has settled into the 852. Temperatures are soaring to the 30s, and already this past weekend a dozen people fell ill from the heat. (Of course, some people were just asking for trouble when to decide to hike up a mountain in the middle of summer). Don't reckon the days will cool off anytime soon, but as long as we all stay indoors and hydrated, everything should be okay. Now if only it was considered fashionable to sweat bucketloads (there is such a stigma against sweating in Hong Kong. It's such a bother; afterall, sweating is a natural human process to cool down the body! If people continue idolizing the image of pale skinny girls prancing in the sun without a bead of sweat...hell, lost my point) life would be much more enjoyable.
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Random news: I fell ill again. Some sort of intestinal infection, nothing serious-- just means I'll be having a rendezvous with the toilet more often than I'll like to. The pain is not as bad as the time I got food poisoning (though pretty damn close); and I ended up with cold sweats, itchy skin, abdominal cramps, and general sense of fatigue. The cramps normally subside after I sleep for a while, and only reoccurs during the night. Maybe I should keep the lights on and fool my intestines into thinking that night doesn't exist....

From the Post with love

I got my copy of the Gundam00 doujinshi anthology today. It's so different when your work goes into actual print! Everything looks all neat and tidy, and because the image is scaled down, the images look almost professional. (Except because I know which areas on my drawing went wonky, because...I can see them). The wonderful image on the facing page was done by Kaiser.

Haha, shameless plug for myself, an image of Blithe and Aein. But it was great to be part of an anthology with so many other talented artists!

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In other news, I am about to kick myself. I accidentally forgot to save the layers for the Soul Eater draft (previous post), so now the lineart and colour layers are merged together. Drat. I'll have to redo the lineart, but all is not lost. It just means I'll have to finish the image like the oekaki forums I used to use...(I used the oekaki BBS when the programme was still in its primitive phases....I recall only have 2 layers to work with, and a limited colour palette).

Scribbles (and WIP!)

The WIP: This image just just a rough draft....and I'm actually inking it as I'm typing this entry. It's such a pain, since I accidentally whacked my hand against the MTR railing yesterday and now putting pressure on the third and fourth fingers is proving to be a difficult feat. But yes, an image of a younger Maka, Black Star and Kidd together! I know the storyline has Kidd being the last to join the group and only meeting the other two after the prologue, but its fun to imagine what would have happened had they all met earlier (bloodshed, most likely). Tried to draw them in character.

The scribble: Chichi to Ko. I love the fact that while the son is so uptight and worried, the father has such a whimsical way of doing things. It's surprising to see the Maka and Black Star teams getting so much character development in the manga, yet the Kidd segments aren't progressing much...not counting the rift that could happen between him and his father since the Reunion Express fiasco.

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And I must be the last person to hear about this, but an Eureka Seven movie? I can't believe they're actually making one! It's bound to be a good watch-- studio Bones can do no wrong. Sort of worried what the movie would do to the entire series itself, since they ended it with everything wrapped up neatly together (such a bittersweet last scene)...then again, it could potentially make the entire series even better and add more depth to the plot.

And I'm wondering when the Gurren Lagann movie is going to be finished (was there even a movie? I was trying to keep track of too many things and some news slipped from my mind).

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And the most random thing of all; I need a pair of board shorts. I'm not kidding. I just realized that I have to go to the beach soon and right now my entire closet consists of denim jeans. Oh, wicked college years, why have you converted me into a permanent denim-jeans wearer? You have blinded me from the range of other articles of clothing.....;___;

Illust/wip? Can't decide.

I actually draw the entire kimono out, but decided to crop the image for the blog. (I haven't finish the rest yet, and so it looks better as is). I still have to shade and highlight like crazy on the image, but it's close to completion. I'll probably post the thing on DA afterwards...despite the fact that several days ago I resolved not to visit the site that frequently anymore. I'm probably still attached to the page because of all the people I met there and also because dammit, I've had the site for over 5 years! (Though technically I've used it for less than 3 years....I do the vanishing act pretty damn often. I blame it on poor time management and a ton of schoolwork. Woe be the student who goes to competitive private schools).

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And is it wrong to hate my neighbours before actually having met them in person? They posted a notice saying how they would be renovating their flat up until the 24th of June, but they're still drilling like crazy upstairs. Not to mention that the drilling and hammering continues on throughout the weekend. My parents decided not to complain about the noise...something about being diplomatic and reasonable; but then again, they're both off to work and I'm at home trying to read. It's summertime; half the kids in my block are stuck at home having to listen to the racket all day long.

Scribbles+Semi-Spoilers

Whilst I like the composition of this image, I am rather miffed that the colour quality came out duller than I wanted (some things must be sacrificed when changing the image format). Thought about properly outlining this image for a more polished and refined look, but ultimately decided that 'freehand' suited the image and colour scheme more.

Ooh, I read the new chapter of Soul Eater today! Even though I wasn't overly eager to read the Ox and Kim subplot, it was still fun to see how the entire situation resolved itself. Never thought it would have ended that way. And Kidd is still his neurotic self, even in such an important moment....HAHAHAHAHHA!! I can't wait until the next issue in August...sounds like there'll be an interesting fight coming up.

Strange things

I have a habit of drawing strange characters like the bear here. For others in this series, please refer to the drawings below (you'll see a rabbit and also a bat in the background to the Blithe and Edel b+w images). I used to draw these things in highschool school for creative class, but stopped after one of these characters got copied by my CDT classmate...and who later claimed it was her invention. Strangely enough, by that time I wasn't even angry; probably because i)I knew I could come up with something even better later on ii)it felt like such a trivial thing to argue over back in my teens. But now that I'm older and more bitter about life, I will probably cough up blood at the scent of plagiarism of my- or my friends'-- works. (I don't care if anyone copies the style of drawing; I get peeved when it has to do with the composition and character/outfit designs).

I just realize that my little rant is sort of pointless. Afterall, I'm posting images in a blog....that I didn't advertise anywhere...
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I always find it strange when a relative (be it older or younger) decides to declare their relations with you through facebook. (Yes, it just happened to me). Not that it's a bad thing, but it is rather strange when you're reading comments from your friends, and suddenly you encounter a paragraph full of 'elderly affectionate advice', or some random comment about how-well-you're-doing-in-life and how-it-makes-them-proud. Even stranger are the comments from your aunt which actually hailed its origins from your mother. Yeesh.

In other 'elderly+technology' news, my aunt has discovered the joys of email [and the existence of the internet in general], so she keeps forwarding the most pointless things to everyone in my generation. Hell, my hand is getting tired from checking all the 'delete' boxes....

Illust (b+w image coloured)

Left to right: Aein and Erebos.
So difficult to come up with a colour scheme for these outfits! I could have gone the usual route and used the typical colour palette I normally go for, but I really wanted to try something new. Clashing colours, here we come! To be honest, I like Aein's outfit colours more than Erebos', but I like Erebos' outfit design more than Aein's. No matter, these things can be revised later on (hell knows how many outfits I gave Blithe already).

Wednesday Woes

Eurgh, what a monstrous dress. Frills, bows and poofiness all around....can't believe that little girls enjoy wearing those. For my part, I used to rip them apart just running and climbing around in Australia (you don't make friends with other kindergarteners without destroying something). So here is a rough drawing of Blithe with one of the dresses from her collection. Apparently she likes all things grotesque...dresses included.
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In other words, I will probably abandon my DA account for the time being (but not delete the account altogether yet...need to find time to sort out those works). I'll be sad to leave a lot of the friends I made in those circles, but I'm also tired of having drawings be made for the sake 'submitting' something every now and then. It's just a personal preference, nothing grand or related to the whole 'commercialization' debate. I just draw for fun, I don't profit from it and nor do I intend to in the future....

Thunder; loud, flashy-- just like people

Just a speculative drawing on what Kidd would look like without his obsession with Symmetry...which is why I made the character look as asymmetrical as I could. Actually had a lot of fun designing the cape and the entire outfit ; and because the series is so heavily based on fantasy, the imagination could run a little off tangent.
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Anxiety attacks are still coming, and generally feeling dissatisfied with...well, there isn't really a non-pompous way of putting it....other people. I'm sick of the inconsiderate behaviour seen everywhere in Hong Kong (cell phones are the bane of my life, especially in bookstores and cinemas), sick of the fact that the city doesn't resemble the Hong Kong I grew up in. The place feels so foreign now, with its slew of mini-malls everywhere and tourists charging down the streets. I don't exactly hate the city, just that I'm feeling less attached to it every day.

Most young people don't always treat the elderly with respect (e.g. not giving up their seats on public transport and at coffee houses), children are shouting at their Filipino helpers (obviously power-tripping on the fact that their parents are the employers...carry your own damn backpack, you brat), other people walking right into you and not apologizing for courtesy's sake, and people not even caring about the city itself. Not saying that 'caring' should equate 'following the cheesy-as-hell PSA commercials issued by the government', but just to be aware of things happening all around, and not let the government's vision of the city overpower the public's opinions of what Hong Kong should look like in a decade or two. Right now, I'm predicting.....mini-malls and pseudo-cultural centres all around, sprinkled with high end shops at every street corner, with the entire city having as much character as....an airport overladen with duty-free shops. Delightful.