I really, really love this book. It’s like an autobiography and body of work rolled into one. The only gripe I have with this 288 page beast is that I wanted more words. Maybe next time.

I swear an ice age is happening in Sydney right now.

One time I was walking back to my car and I nearly collapsed from the cold. True story.

May 2008

Now I don’t know what to do with it.

UPDATE: Had a proper go on it. Web browsing sucks because of the lack of RAM. You can’t have more than four web pages open without them refreshing. It gets really annoying. Until they fix it, or add more RAM in the next model, I’ll just sit and wait.

Shot using Hipstamatic for iPhone

Can’t believe 5 years have passed since I jotted these down. Really glad I found them again in one safe place. They’re not great, but they do make me smile. Hoping to turn a couple of them into short storybooks one day…

David Choe has always been one of my all time favourites. He’s a constant source of inspiration. His work may not be cookie-cutter ‘pretty’, but it’s the frantic energy within his works that capture my attention. His works are furious, wild, rough and let’s not forget messy. And that’s the beauty of it all.

I love his work more because of the life he’s living. He’s like a cowboy in the wild west, slinging paint whenever and whereever he can.

What people don’t understand about Choe is that if you work for 4 hours, he will work 7. If you work 15 hours, he will work 24 hours straight. If you spend 3 hours with your girlfriend, he will ditch his and spend 10 hours painting, producing, planing, preparing and executing.

He’ll be in China for a solo show isolated in a studio for days. Not bathing, just painting. Then he’ll hike to the mall in the city perving on the Chinese girls walking around in mini skirts. Not daring to talk to them because he doesn’t know a word of Chinese. Out of frustration, he’d sprint back to his studio. And masturbate all night.

Did I mention he’d been in a Japanese prison? He served only 3 months of a 7 year sentence. During his stay he was so desperate to paint he would utilise anything to paint with, like soy sauce.

When Obama was elected President, Choe’s original portrait of Obama was hung in The White House.

Amongst the crazy life, there’s another reason why I love this guy and it’s summed up pretty well here by Eric Nakamura:

Another entirely overlooked point about David is the fact that he’s pro Asian and pro Asian-American without upholding a flag. Without knowing, this might be his greatest feat, even bypassing his entire career of art shows and mythos. He’s helped enable and empower a strong cross-section of Asians and Asian-Americans. If you watch his documentary, Dirty Hands, it’s a strong subtext that’s never discussed. Although I get some props for pushing a different view of Asian and Asian-Americans via Giant Robot magazine, David has done the same through his art, comics, and storytelling, which is something he doesn’t get credit for and would probably scoff at it if he did.

Cheers Matt for the heads up.

(Note to self: Need a less-busier background for photo-taking)

I’ve found a quantum of  solace in playing dressup at costume themed parties of late. Keeping up with my own fascination for medieval/fantasy personalities, I decided to go with Robin Hood. Not just any Robin Hood, but the ‘Men in Tights‘ version of Robin Hood.

Thankfully, despite the new Riddley Scott’s ‘Robin Hood‘ being a terrible flick it was enough to remind people (including me) of the legend. So half of my job of convincing the people was already done, ya know?

The biggest fear I had with this whole get-up were the tights. Without the tights, there would be no punch line…

So with a big fat gulp,
I donned my bow and quiver.
Slapped on my fresh green tights,
And braved the cold with a shiver.

LOL

Click to enlarge

Click images to enlarge

TV show Star Wars: The Clone Wars is pretty boss.

Inspired by John Mayer’s Heartbreak Warfare

Seriously.

I’ve always been a fan of costume parties. They’re a window of oppurtunity for us escapists to step into the world under another guise. And one of my favourite guises is Frodo Baggins – or just about any old hobbit.

On the night of the soirée, one of the Catwomen (there were at least 6) asked me a profound question along the lines of, “Why Frodo, Johnny why?”

To which I wanted to quip, “Idiot. Why not? No one would ever dress as Frodo. This is a Hero & Villian’s themed le partay. Who would ever think of dressing up as a poor, helpless little hobbit? Everyone would be dressing up as a generic hero, like Batman or Spiderman. And I think too highly of myself to think of such a literal interpretation of this party’s theme. Coming as someone as understated as a hobbit would be pure GENIUS.”

But in truth, I uttered, “Well, um. I look more like a hobbit than an elf.”

Frodo’s apparel was easy to put together. A dark green cape, a brown jacket and 3/4 pants are enough to fool the passerby into thinking you’re from Middle Earth. But what you need to escalate the essence of Frodo, or any hobbit for that matter, is the feet.  Hairy feet my friends, is the punch line.

Here were some possible ‘hairy feet’ options.

Option 1:  Shoes
C’mon. I’ve invested all this time putting my costume together. My cape was home made! (Read: mum made it). Wearing shoes would’ve just ruined the whole look and feel of the costume. It’s like watching a really good film that has a great lead up to the climax, only having it fall short of a bang at the end. This was not an option.

Option 2: Thongs (aka flip flops for you Americans)
Putting hair on your feet would be the most authentic, but it’s not practical. Why? Let’s think about this carefully.  The arena of play was a nightclub-esque venue packed full of people. People dancing. And all those people would be wearing shoes. Some in particular, like the females, would be wearing heels. Now imagine all those shoes stomping on your heavily-exposed-yet-really-authentic-to-middle-earth-feet. This also was not an option.

Solution: Skin-coloured shoes with feet detailing
This was a win-win. You get the rugged protection of foot apparel as well as the “natural” look of hobbit feet. It’s half-arsed, but hey, it worked. It worked so well that people actually started talking to me for once.

Before

After

I was never really an Art student per se, although I did complete a Digital Media course at an arts college.

High School art for me was more about learning the history and the works of the great artists (of which I’ve forgotten all now), rather than being trained in artistic skills like painting, photography or even drawing. And when the time did come for practical skills, I never really got the grasp of ‘feeling’ it. I was mostly doodling Simpsons characters and whatever that represented Manga/Anime. My painting skills were also non-existent, where they were made up of solids of colour and with no variation between shades.

I’ve been drawing ever since I could hold a pencil, but it’s always been on and off, with some intention of doing so to pass time. I think I even went on for 2-3 years without doing anything in a sketchbook. And it was only 2 years ago when I really understood the differences between pencil densities like HB, 2B, 4B etc lol

Anyhow, currently using 4B pencils at the moment. They rock.

(I’ve always wanted a curly mustache)

Some reference used for the facial structure.

I remember back in 2007 when I started watching the behind the scenes of The Lord of the Rings (Extended Editions) when my mind was blown wide apart by the artisans behind the magic at WETA. I honestly found the process of building and creating the world of Middle Earth more appealing than the films. There was even a moment where I seriously considered ”trying” to get a job at WETA. My concept art/design folio was non-existent, so I didn’t care if I had to clean the toilets, or peel the potatoes in the kitchen – I just wanted to be part of it. And in early 2008, when the rumourmill was in full effect with news that The Hobbit would be in the works, my desire to ship over to New Zealand (where WETA is based) only became more powerful.

Anyhow, ahem. Fast forward to today.

PS. Back in my day, I bought the Extended Editions for $210!

Anyone recommend any good inking pens? I’m using these pigma brushes at the moment. And felt tip pens don’t go too well over pencil.