End of days :D

Finally~~ the 30-day drawing challenge is finished! \^o^/

I'd thought to be more experimental for the last 10 days of the challenge, hopefully that much is obvious from the more solid inking as well as introduction of some colours ^^;;

All drawings for this challenge were done manually, hope you enjoy them as much as I had fun making them! :D


Day 21: Something you want

"Wanna help clean my sword, wench?"
Ohohoho! ^///^ *Viking fetish mode on*


Day 22: Something you miss

*sniffles* It's been a while indeed... T__T"


Day 23: Something you need

It's not an easy task juggling the many things happening in your life at once.
But maybe I'm just terrible at time management.
...Or spoiled.
Or lazy :P


Day 24: A couple

Ladies and gentlemen, meet brother and sister Julian and Jillian Soh! :DDD

Jill is nine years older than Julian (the mysterious 'Agent Soh' from The Fifth Columnist) and the two were born of different mothers. This scene is taken from Soh's past when he was just a troubled adolescent living in Chicago :)

(I hope to turn this into a doujinshi somehow, but with the current lack of cohesive plotline and premise... it probably won't happen anytime soon ;____;)


Day 25: Scenery

This is a watercolour painting of Glen Etive in Scotland, though it's supposed to represent a glen my ex-boyfriend and I passed en route to Inverness from Edinburgh in 2004.

Despite the lack of vegetation and its rather unpredictable weather, Scotland commands a breathtaking landscape combining layers of brownish, terracota, greenish and bluish hues.

I regretted not taking any pictures during the car trip -- all I have are pictures of 'Nessie' taken aboard a ferry cruise across Loch Ness (and we didn't see Nessie for real anyway, he was just a half-floating sticker glued onto the ferry's windows to take picture -- and fool people -- with! XD).


Day 26: Something you don't like

Many apologies to Team Azzurri and their fans, but that greasy hair is just legendary! (to me at least) XD
Italy's no. 6 as pictured above is based on Francesco Totti -- though Totti's real hair isn't probably that greasy :P


Day 27: Someone you love

A quick pencil sketch of my mother, based on a recent photograph.
When I showed this to her, she went: "Can't you take out the wrinkles a bit?" XD


Day 28: Anything you'd like

Sen: "What, there's a hole on the wall?"
Sword: (smirks) "Shall we make our escape?"

Awww, don't they look so cute together? X3

Unlikely couple Sword Fish and Sen Owari met inside Under 'Grand' Hotel (UGH), a fictional underground prison and the title of one of Mika Sadahiro's most renowned yaoi works. (Yes it's YAOI, people! You've been warned! XD)

I was recommended the title by a friend and upon reading it, wasn't exactly sure how to feel... it started off very dark and grim -- as a prison yaoi would -- but ultimately revealed a very touching lesson: that hope springs eternal! :)
UGH is fast becoming my second favourite yaoi series (just after Ai no Kusabi), thanks to its relatively original premise, beautiful art, and brilliant plot twists. Once again, this is YAOI, people, so deal with it! X3

Coloured with Copic markers on paper. I love how Sword's braids turned out :)


Day 29: A place you want to go

I've developed a fondness for outer space since kindergarten, and at one point in my childhood I really aspired to become an astronaut. Hopefully space tourism will start to take off in the next few decades or so, cos I truly wanted to go out there before I die ;_;


Day 30: A congrats banner for finishing the challenge

Had no idea left for this one :P


Phfew, so that's about it!! How are you progressing in the challenge? Would you like to recommend other drawing challenges we can embark on next? Feel free to do so ;)

To sign this post off, lemme wish my Muslim friends a very Happy Lebaran this year! \^o^/
See youuu!


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The Fifth Columnist 1 half-time assessment :)

FINALLY, IT'S OUT! *tears of joy*

After several months of waiting (which felt like forever!), the release of Fifth 1 in the Indonesian manga market on Jan 13, 2010 came like a huge relief for yours truly. This has been my first manga release and to be honest, I wasn't quite sure what to expect.

Admittedly, one of the best things about having your work out in the open (ie. displayed in the bookstores right next to Masashi Asaki/Yuma Ando's Kunimitsu and Jun Mochizuki's Pandora Hearts! >,<) is the feedback you can expect from readers -- both the negative and the positive. These precious opinions are exactly what a manga artist needs in the quest for producing better and greater things.

So, without further ado, here's a very brief summary of the real-time and real-life feedbacks on Fifth 1 hitherto (as per Jan 22):

Plus points:

* Attractive cover
* Interesting, enticing storyline
* 'Fresh' espionage theme
* Distinct drawing style, not necessarily manga-esque but not typically Indonesian

Minus points:

* Finishing: inking is often sketchy, distracting and confusing

* Story is built up to take a clichéd romantic direction

* Puzzling backstory due to large number of non-present characters

* Content does not closely resemble cover

Then, on to some interesting points:

* A majority of readers consider Helix their favourite character because he's "cool" and "gentlemanly"

* One reader expressed fascination to Bishop's bust size X3

* One reader questioned artist's motive for using a Japanese-sounding last name (how observant! ^^)

* A couple of readers thought the cover drawing is reminiscent of Manhwa-style art

Response to feedbacks:

I will definitely try my best to consider all the above points when editing Fifth 2 -- which was originally scheduled for release in February but could now come out as late as March or April! One emphasis would be on making sure that all loose ends are tied and another could be on patching up/redoing some pages to improve drawing quality (oh nooooo...)

That's it for now, my humblest gratitude to everyone who has read/bought/borrowed the book and given their comments! ^^ Feel free to add your personal opinions below; constructive criticism is always welcome :)

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The Copic experiment, part 1

After a brief visit to Machiko Manga School in Kemang for work last week, I realised nothing was ever too late to begin exploring new manga techniques -- even if it meant spending hard-earned money on seemingly frivolous art materials!

I am, of course, talking about the famous Copic markers and their impossibly wide spectrum of colours (334 upon last count!), eight of which I managed to reluctantly purchase the other day:



In an effort to convince oneself that this new 'investment' had been worth the while, I've been using the markers on various experimental drawings that have only confirmed my suspicion that a manga artist can never have too many Copics... just as a girl can't have too many shoes -__-

As much as I find Copic's waterproof quality convenient, the fact also means you cannot effectively blend colours unless using the brand's Colourless Blender, which is yet another marker to buy!

It was particularly difficult to render shadows and values given the limited colour choices, as can be seen from these drawings -- sketched using the eight-colour set above:

Image 1


Plus point(s): The thighs and hair @,@
Minus point(s): Creases on the blouse and the painfully 'sprained' neck ;P

Image 2

Plus point(s): That leg looks divine! ;P
Minus point(s): Could do with some background and more precise hand positioning/angling. Also, his head looks a little large?


Thoughts/comments so far:

Copic's relative ease of control and precise colouring prove very flattering indeed, even when applied on plain sketches! ;P Give it some practice and more colour variants, and I'll be happy to do more manual colouring for that distinctively manga look ^^


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