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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Ten days later

Phfew! Another 10 days done in response to the 30-day drawing challenge that I embarked on earlier.

What's interesting about the challenge is that not only do you get to exercise drawing (or in my case, sketching randomly with pen on paper at work!) regularly, the process also gets you to know yourself as a person better ^^

That being said, here goes!


Day 11: Turning point in your life

Reference pic used for Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament ^^


Day 12: Most recent accomplishment

I can only hope they won't be the last, either! T__T


Day 13: Comic

Based on a true story. Those fail whales are so annoying, especially when you wanted to tweet something important, or even change your avatar! XDD
(I'd never put a real photo on Twitter tho o.O)


Day 14: Fave fairytale

This one was drawn following Snow's famous pose by Disney ^^
Still not too sure why I like Snow White the most. It's mostly to do with her appearance I suppose, which is exactly what Disney fairy tales are all about: beautiful airhead princesses being rescued by shallow princes -__-"
Is there even a moral lesson there? Never mind XD


Day 15: Family picture

Weee :D
Clockwise from top left: Me, my younger bro Alvin, mum and dad :)
(this drawing hardly does me dad any justice -- he mostly wears batik and Hawaiian floral shirts these days LOL)


Day 16: Inspiration

Being fangirls, of course we are constanstly inspired by all the beauty that surrounds us ^o^/
Do tell me, is it just me or do you also think the randomly drawn bishounen above give off a certain River Phoenix vibe? XDDD


Day 17: Fave plant

I've had this plant a number of times ever since I started working, but never managed to keep one alive for more than a few months each time.
Apparently they make the ideal breeding ground for Asian tiger mosquitoes too, noooo ;__;


Day 18: Just a doodle

Facebook's Poupee Boutique application, which complements the original Poupee Girl dressup game. This, by the way, is my poupee Jumjum :)


Day 19: Something new

I need a new mp3 cassette!!! T___T
For some reason these (cheap) cassettes keep on breaking down after some time, so I can no longer play my mp3 files through the car stereo -__-"


Day 20: Something orange

Since an orange would have just been too predictable, here's a carrot for you ^^;;
Supposedly my dad 'invented' our family's signature stir-fry minced meat with carrot, green peppers and onion in oyster sauce dish... until I found out the dish is called Oriental Beef and is actually pretty common -_-"


See you at the next and last installment! :D :D

Meanwhile, check out the 30-day drawing attempts made by Raven, Archie and Rou! ^^
If you're doing one too, feel free to share them here! :D :D

25 Essential Expressions meme!

(...say, can we make it 20 instead? -__-")

I've had this thing for a while but haven't got round to finishing it, so I figured I should just give up now and cut my losses XD

Here's my response to the 25 Essential Expressions challenge by Nancy Lorenz:



A little note on some of the expressions:


Pleased: I had a hard time distinguishing between 'happy' and 'pleased' so I settled for 'cheerful' instead, complete with the flapping fringe (which in Indonesian is normally called 'polem' or poni lempar XD)

Angry: Had I realised this list would contain a number of similarly 'angry' expressions, I would have softened this one a little... it feels rather heavy-handed for a simple angry face -.-"

Shocked/surprised: Those fists are just too cute! X3

Irritated: A valid excuse to draw the middle finger! Yay! :D

WTF?!: I didn't know how to draw this face without being redundant so... =.=" (ditto for 'fear', 'bereft', 'fierce' and 'sarcastic')

Triumph: A friend actually came up with a fun alternative for this one! XDDD

Bereft: What is bereft, exactly? *still confused* +.+

Flirty: I find this one brilliant, but you can't seriously be flirting with THAT face :P

Serious: Come to think of it, this one's probably more 'contemplative' than 'serious'

Silly: Silly enough for ya? XD

Hollow/blank: Not sure why but I sort of associated 'blank' with 'taking up the whole drawing space'...

Incredulous: Had to check the dictionary for this one, followed by some time in front of the mirror mimicking disbelief ^^;;

Rage: More CUTE than full of rage! XD


Final impression:
This is a great exercise for practising your prowess in mimics and expression. It's certainly not easy as it looks and I've yet to take up the challenge on utilizing a more realistic drawing style here! :D

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Back to the drawing board ^o^

So, it's finally time to face my inner demons and start drawing again! XD Taking cue from my beloved girl friends, I'm currently following a 30-day drawing meme that's been circulating over the net lately.

(Unfortunately I haven't got the time nor the patience to do one drawing per day, so... I'm just doing these with no strings attached ^^;;)


Day 1: Yourself

No comment! XD


Day 2: Fave animal

Hippos, particularly the ballet-dancing kind, have always been portrayed as cute, cuddly creatures in most cartoons and animations. Not sure if they're really like that in reality, though -_-"


Day 3: Fave food

Forget diamonds, chocolate bars are a girl's best friend! :D


Day 4: Fave place

One of the few remaining book sanctuaries in the heart of Jakarta... too bad the BL selection here can never measure up to that offered at Kinokuniya Sydney T_T (LOL)


Day 5: Best friends

Just a random doodle of Italy and Germany from Hetalia! :D


Day 6: Fave book

Galaxies Like Grains of Sand is an epic SF chronicle spanning over millennia and aeons that finally lead up to the last days of mankind and our known universe. My favourite bit of the book is the last chapter, where Aldiss intriguingly uses second-person narrative to get readers literally immersed into the story.


Day 7: Fave movie

Unfortunately, my rendition of Motoko Kusanagi's iconic pose falls a little short when drawn from memory ^^;;


Day 8: Fave animated character

Much to my delight, Yugo IS a bonafide animated character --
I almost forgot this master negotiator had his own anime series!! XD


Day 9: Fave TV show

I can't believe my mum still thinks The Simpsons is a kids' show! XD


Day 10: Fave candy

After all the terrible things that had happened to my teeth, I know I should be cutting back on sweets and the like.
This is definitely easier said than done (_ _)


More to come soon! :3

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