Olive*Tea + Kensou: Art Blog!

Art Inspiration: Children's illustrations by Mary Blair

2012-02-26T23:50:00.002+08:00

I love looking at children's illustrations.

As I was researching on the internet some images for the color palette of a new illustration, I came across some lovely, classic children illustrations by artists from the old days such as Mary Blair, Alice Provensen, Charley Harper, Maurice Noble and Eyvind Earle. I was going to feature drawings by each of the artists, but as I found more and more artworks by Mary Blair that I like so much, this post got longer and longer! So I decided I'll feature the other artists in another post and dedicate this entry to Mary Blair's work only.

M a r y B l a i r

Mary Blair (1911-1978) was a conceptual designer, artist and painter for The Walt Disney Company. Noticeably, Mary Blair liked to use geometric forms and tended to paint very flatly, but managed to create theatrical lighting with her excellent use of colors and shapes. An animator once praised Blair’s ability for “putting together simplified shapes and colors to make them really pop forward. She had a great ability with lighting... with just a little bit of lighting, you can change the atmosphere of the whole scene.”

There's more information about Mary Blair's art here and here.

John Appleseed (1948)

Concept art for Cinderella (1950)

I find these old, classic children illustrations very charming. There's an authentic feel about drawings made with traditional medium that lies in the textures, etc... which is a quality that can't be found in 3D animation seen these days.

Sources:
http://magicofmaryblair.com/mary-gallery.htm

http://community.digitalmediaacademy.org/14722-a-tribute-mary-blair-artist
http://eye-likey.blogspot.com/2011/06/mary-blair.html
http://www.michaelspornanimation.com/splog/?p=2371
http://maryblairgallerywallpapers.blogspot.com/
http://www.animationresources.org/

Art Inspiration: Little Thunder

2012-02-23T00:01:00.000+08:00

Little Thunder (門小雷) is an illustrator from Hong Kong. Elements of Hong Kong and sometimes a bit of nostalgia can be spotted in her drawing.

You can view her works on her flickr page, as well as her facebook page.

I'm Korean! (simple sketch)

2012-02-20T00:49:00.002+08:00

Guess what TV show/comic book this is from??

There's no prize for the winner though! This is a quick sketch I did quite a few months ago, which I'd totally forgotten about, until now...

Mau Dan 10 the Magazine

2012-02-12T20:55:00.004+08:00

Mau Dan Ten (or Mau Dan 10) is a magazine founded (and will be irregularly updated) by my friend Martin Ng. It took Martin quite a few years to put it together. To simply categorize the Maudanten into a certain genre is not an easy task, as it is a magazine that covers various fields, including arts, music, movie critique, short fictions, design, illustration. In volume 1, there is an interview of an owner of a traditional photo studio in Hong Kong.

《風流不下流》 (原名：貓釘廳) 乃吾友吳馬田嘔心嚦血、花了數年光陰製成的(不定期)雜誌。要將它簡單歸類為某一種類別的雜誌並不簡單，因為它涵括了多種不同凡範嚋，如藝術、音樂介紹、電影評論、短篇文學、設計、插畫，今期更有一篇傳統影樓攝影師的訪問。

Below is a promotional video in which I helped filming:

以下是我有份參與協助拍攝的一個小小promo video:

[Music: The Hardest Button to Button by The White Stripes]

And the original video idea stemmed from this little video I put up together:

Mau Dan 10 is sold at HK$25. For more info, please visit www.maudanten.com.
《風流不下流》每本訂價港幣$25，詳情請到www.maudanten.com

Jar and tea cup (Oil painting practice)

2012-02-06T00:49:00.001+08:00

Here's a painting from my oil painting class from a couple weeks ago. I think it turned out alright :P That's it for now. I'll have more art updates later this week hopefully.

P.S. How'd you like our new blog banner? :D

Art Inspiration: Victor Castillo

2012-01-29T00:22:00.000+08:00

I've just discovered Victor Castillo and his amazing works...!

V I C T O R C A S T I L L O

Victor Castillo is an incredible painter who was born in Santiago, Chile in 1973 and now resides in Los Angeles. Despite having grown up under the influence of a dictatorship, Castillo doesn't necessarily "want to talk about dictatorship in his work". However, it is apparent that political subjects and conspiracies, etc often serve as the theme of his paintings. As pointed out by the artist, "ignorance is a form of blindness", which is the reason the children in his works wear the signature forever-grinning mask, with a sausage nose that resembles Pinocchio's, and "these eyes that don't see".

The video above documents the work in process of his painting Masters of the Universe for the exhibition of the same name at Heliumcowboy, Hamburg, Germany, October 28 - December 1, 2011.

Victor Castillo began to exhibit internationally in recent years. His next solo exhibition will be held in Feb 25 - Mar 24 in Jonathan Levine Gallery in New York. For more details, keep an eye on their website.

And of course, check out the artist's official website for more amazing paintings, drawings and interviews, etc! More awesomeness guaranteed!

Image source: http://heliumcowboy.squarespace.com/photos-2011/2810-victor-castillo-masters-of-the-universe/

Free Shipping on my art prints thru Sunday, worldwide!

2012-01-27T03:55:00.002+08:00

Hello~ Olive*Tea rambling here again! I just came back from celebrating Chinese New Year in mainland China last night. (I went for 4 nights.) Checked my email and found that Society6 is offering free shipping on all art prints, iPhone Cases, skins, etc again through this Sunday (US time). You can hop over to my s6 shop (also entitled Olive*Tea) to check out my art prints and other goodies :D

That's it for now! Hopefully I will post up some new drawings shortly. Stay tuned!

Photo Inspiration: Davis Ayer's dazzling visions

2012-01-16T02:11:00.000+08:00

Usually, this blog is dedicated to illustrations and paintings, but that is not to say that I cannot appreciate other art forms such as photography! In fact, I often find myself flipping through photography books or photo blogs online. (I like taking photos as a hobby and have a few photo prints in my online shop despite I am no pro!)

D A V I S A Y E R

Anyway, when I first came across the works of Davis Ayer, an aspiring photographer from Austin, Texas, I was immediately blown away by his vivid, dazzling imagery. Ayer likes to shoot in the traditional, analog way (which I've grown more and more passionate about recently). He pointed out in an interview done with lomography.com that, "film is so much more dynamic", and that he thinks "shooting film forces you to be patient and learn what you want in the frame".

Apart from the eye-catching bright colors, another thing you see in a lot of Ayer's photos is motions.

The subject in his photos is predominantly young girls, whose energy and beauty are lively captured. To Ayer, light is also another important element when photographing. I personally feel the same can apply to painting. It's rather safe to say photography and painting aren't that different after all, right? ;)

If you want to learn more about Davis Ayer and his photography, don't miss this interview and his website. He can also be found on facebook, tumblr and flickr.

Sources:
http://www.davisayer.com
http://www.lomography.com/magazine/lifestyle/2011/10/16/5-questions-on-analogue-photography-with-davis-ayer

[Late] Christmas painting :P

2012-01-09T01:37:00.000+08:00

Just as the title suggests, here's a late Christmas painting haha. I recently just started oil painting class again (slightly advanced level than before), and this is a result of the first lesson. Nothing spectacular here, just a little something I'd like to share :)

Lioness: Hidden Treasures (Drawing of Amy Winehouse)

2012-01-04T19:26:00.000+08:00

I never really considered myself a fan of AmyWinehouse, even though her songs are constantly among my most played list on myipod, and I’d always thought she was a musician that’s full ofcharacter. But when I received the news of her death last year, I found myself more saddened than I’d imagine.

I did the sketch with ink pens and pencils on my sketchbook, and played with watercolor on separate sheets, and composed it altogether in Photoshop.

More than 6 months have passed since Winehouse hasgone, her third album was recently released. I felt like I had to buy it because I missed her voice so much.

Lioness: Hidden Treasures is not really a planned studio album though. It is more of compilations of recordings Amy did that were not previously released. It includes different renditions of tracks that were on her previous albums, such as the original version of Tears Dry On Their Own and Wake Up Alone, as well as covers of some old classics including Our Day Will Come, Body and Soul, A Song For You, Girl From Ipanema.

My personal favorite track is probably Like Smoke, featuring Nas. It showcases Amy's musical ability perfectly, and blends her soulful singing well with Nas' rapping.

Randomness: Olivia's work desk

2011-12-30T17:51:00.000+08:00

Here's a picture of my favorite spot at home... my work/play corner, where I browse random stuff on the internet endlessly, draw, and try to stay productive :)

2 new art prints: The Red Wall + Mama Mia

2011-12-28T01:37:00.000+08:00

I've just submitted 2 new art prints to my s6 shop. Both photos were taken when I was traveling(one in Beijing, the other in New York).

The Red Wall

Mama Mia

You can read the description by clicking the images. Both prints are available in various sizes, starting at US$15.

Olive*Tea on Pinterest

2011-12-22T01:38:00.001+08:00

I just decided to join Pinterest to better record my interesting finds on the internet, and share them with others, and of course, I'll put up my drawings and photos there as well. I think it fills in the spaces between a regular blog and tumblr, combined with social network elements. One thing about tumblr I don't appreciate is it seems users there often forget to cite the original source of an image (or article, etc), so it makes it harder to trace the original author and the original owner of the image is not credited. While with Pinterest, every time you add a "pin", the original URL is automatically added, although I'm not sure what happens if the original image link is broken or doesn't work anymore.

All in all, I like it a lot so far since I've already seen so many fun things via other users on the website. If you have an account, you can add me here :)

Promo Postcards

2011-12-18T02:55:00.001+08:00

Hello~~

Recently I've just made some postcards featuring my illustrations. They are to be used for promotional purpose. Here are some photos I took:

You can't really see in this photo, but on the back of each postcard, there's a brief biography of me.

Here 2 drawings are featured in my designs: Hello, Beautiful and Hanging the Goat Head.

I think the colors turned out decently nice! And you can see the rich texture of the paper I picked. I kind of like touching the surface of the paper just to "feel" it. (I can really be a weirdo sometimes XD ) Maybe I should sell these cards online?? Anyways, I think I'll come up with more designs later on hopefully :) Gotta stay hyped and productive!! Even though winter is here!!

Until I post again, peace!

New (sort of) drawing: Look at the Stars

2011-12-09T02:08:00.001+08:00

I was a mega big fan of Coldplay when I was younger. And here's a drawing of their front man Chris Martin, which I actually finished a couple months ago, but never got around to scan it and all that post-edit on photoshop.

Click to enlarge

Originally, I did this drawing as part of a collaboration with my graphic artist friend Martin's personal project Maudan 10. I was supposed to illustrate my favorite music/album along with some text describing it. This is based off an early song of the band entitled Yellow (one of my all-time favorites from them), from their debut album Parachutes that came out in 2000.

Details

I started off by doing a sketch on recycled paper bag (random material I wanted to try on), with the help of several photos of Chris I found on the internet. Then I laid down colors with watercolor washes, with a little bit of acrylic here and there. Some touch-ups were added using colored pencils and oil pastels as well. Last but not least, I scanned it to my computer doing a bit more adjustments.

But oh my, I swear, colors such as hot pink, yellow, and pretty much anything neon are such pain in the butt for a scanner to pick up!! I wish I knew a better method of how to do it, because the pink in the actual drawing is much more intense! Even though I tried tweaking it on photoshop, I just could not make it as intense as in real life. Ugh...!! Frustration, frustration...

Original sketch

Anyway, I already posted this up on society6 as art print, iphone case, laptop skin, stretched canvas, and all that good stuff as usual. However, this time I decided to turn this into a tee & hoody design for the first time.

The tee comes in 8 colors including gray and yellow, which are probably my favorite colors to be applied on this design.

And this is the hoody.

Thanks for checking! I hope y'all like it!

Art Inspiration: Sam Weber

2011-12-05T02:52:00.001+08:00

I think I first knew of Sam Weber and his art from this illustration book I bought that featured an interview of him. Coincidentally, he graduated from School of Visual Arts in New York, like some other illustrators I admire (eg Yuko Shimizu, Tomer Hanuka, James Jean, etc). I love his color palette, it's almost always subtle and moody.

Head over to Sam's website now to see more great works of his!! Or stalk him on twitter (you know you want to :P ) And Here's a pretty cool video interview of him in which you get to have a glimpse of his studio.

Eyes+Ears: Vol. 05 from REYNARD LI on Vimeo.

That's it for today. I hope you've enjoyed this post :)

[The images above belong to Sam Weber.
Image source: sampaints.com]

Art Inspiration: Mark Ryden's work gracing Juxtapoz cover

2011-11-19T16:48:00.001+08:00

Gracing the latest issue of art/culture magazine Juxtapoz, the painting above is entitled Incarnation (oil on panel, 182.9 x 121.9 cm, 2009) and it's a masterpiece by American artist Mark Ryden, another personal hero of mine. His imagery often involves girly sweetness, mixed with strange surrealism and bizarre scenarios (at times even humor) that resemble Alice in Wonderland.

Here are some recent paintings Mark Ryden created for The Gay 90's Show. In addition to the paintings, I absolutely adore these beautifully crafted frames.

Here's a video found on youtube showing Ryden's painting process of Incarnation. What a pure genius!

Artwork images above belong to Mark Ryden.

Image source: DesignScene.net

Art Inspiration: Soey Milk

2011-11-15T17:27:00.001+08:00

I just discovered the art of Soey Milk today. Her blog is full of awesomeness!

I have yet got to find more info about her background. The following text is excerpted from hifructose.com:

With a stunningly emotive precision, artist Soey Milk creates portraits of lone women, often engaging with simple objects such as an apple, red string and a bleached skull that appear symbolically charged within the composition. These inclusions add to a deeper understanding of the woman depicted, often lending the portraits with a romantic context. Laced with a subtle darkness or oddity, the works appear as captured moments in a larger narrative. View more images of the work below.

Soey Milk is participating a group exhibition 'Homeroom' at the Subtext Gallery in San Diego at the moment, along with 21 artists including Audrey Kawasaki and Yoskay Yamamoto. For more information, visit Subtext Gallery's website.

Images above belong to Soey Milk.

AH SIR! : Watercolor Portrait of Chow Yun Fat!

2011-11-06T23:03:00.000+08:00

New drawing! This is a remake drawing based on a classic Hong Kong movie called Prison on Fire (監獄風雲), which was filmed in 1987, starring Chow Yun Fat (周潤發). (And of course, this was long before Chow Yun Fat made his first Hollywood debut and became an international movie star.)

This drawing features his famous quote in the movie "Just because I'm talking loud doesn't mean I'm impolite, AHH SIIRRRRR!!". "Ah Sir" (yes, along with "Ah" instead of "Sir" alone) is a term we Cantonese speakers use to address certain people from the authority, for instance, a policeman or a teacher. In this scene, Chow Yun Fat is fronting a jailer who has been picking on him throughout the movie, which is why he looks so angry.

I used watercolor and a bit of acrylic, edited in Photoshop. The neon pink background was such a difficult color to be captured by my scanner! So I had to do some major color tweaks digitally. (I tried photographing the drawing, but I wasn't pleased with the result either.)

Here's a close-up of the drawing.

Original sketch:

I also googled up some images from the internet for reference.

Below is a video of the original movie scene(starting at 3:36), enjoy! :D

OH! By the way, today is the last day of FREE SHIPPING on ALL products worldwide on society6.com, so if you are thinking about getting a new art print or a new iPhone case for a friend's birthday, etc etc, please head over to my online shop on s6 and have a look! Hopefully you'll find something you like :)

Olivia's new name card + FREE shipping

2011-11-04T04:09:00.001+08:00

I'd been wanting to create a new name card for quite a while, so I finally put it together a couple weeks ago. Both the front and back of the card feature my drawing Hello, beautiful!

Some errors and trials were made before the final product came out, of course. The initial paper I chose to print the card on was not thick enough for my taste. I wanted to print on thick weight, textured paper.

This is how it turned out in the end :) (Sorry, I had to make my tel. no blurry due to privacy reason.)

And some nice detail shots here as well~

I should be sending some away pretty soon :)

Also, FREE shipping worldwide is being offered through Sunday on society6 at the moment, so if you're looking for some affordable art prints or iPhone cases, etc, head over to my shop page NOW!!

OK, I'm out ;-)

Sky's the Limit: new photo print!

2011-10-27T03:36:00.001+08:00

Hello, folks! I just submitted a new photo print to my s6 page the other day.

Entitled "Sky's the Limit", this is a photo I took on a rainy day wandering in the city of New York when I was traveling there 2 years ago. I love being a tourist!

I also added a laptop skin and an iphone case/skin using the same photo. Hope you like them!
It also comes in stretched canvas and more, please click here for details :)

2 videos for your daily inspiration

2011-10-24T02:51:00.000+08:00

1st: a video made by artist Eric Yeo to promote Faber Castell by drawing a continuous circle which forms the famous painting "Girl with A Pearl Earring". The result is pretty damn mind-blowing!!

Faber Castell from eric yeo on Vimeo.

2nd: James Jean interviewed in studio, talking about his transition from being an illustrator to a fine art artist, and basically his art career thus far. Need I say more? :P
1-2-1 w/jeffstaple feat. James Jean from jeffstaple on Vimeo.

Art Inspiration: Japanese artist Fuco Ueda (上田風子)

2011-10-16T14:41:00.000+08:00

I was flipping through an art magazine the other day, and saw this ad of an art exhibition of Japanese artist Fuco Ueda (上田風子). Immediately, I knew I had to find out more about this artist. So I searched her name on google and was led to her personal website, which is filled with AMAZING works!!

It turns out she's a young artist (born in 1979) but already she's had quite a number solo and group exhibitions and participated in some major art fairs in Asia, including ART HK 11 and Young Art Taipei.

I read that she mostly paints with thinned acrylics, to achieve an effect similar to watercolor.

An interview of the artist was conducted in 2009 by tale-of-tales.com:

FUCO UEDA 上田風子 makes picture of girls. Not innocent girls or defenceless girls or even seductive girls. Fuco Ueda paints guilty girls, aggressive girls, seduced girls. There’s certainly an element of sweetness in her work. To the point where the honey literally drips form the flowers. But in her pictures sweetness becomes strength. Her girls don’t seem to need anybody else. They are each other’s friends. And they do whatever they please. In the process they may arouse us and confuse us. But in the end, the only pleasure they care about is their own. And they leave us, the viewer, to care about their pain.

You can read the full interview here. Also, make sure to check out more of Ueda's beautiful, dreamy (sometimes a bit creepy!) works on her website!

Sources:

HA HA HA (new drawing from Olivia)

2011-10-15T00:29:00.000+08:00

As promised, here's another recent drawing from my sketchbook. I call this one "HA HA HA" or simply "An Ugly Person".... heh

This is a very, very evil looking person. I sketched this with pens, added watercolors, color pencils, and some edits (color adjustment, "ha ha ha", stamp) in Photoshop.

Sketchbook Randomness

2011-10-12T22:57:00.001+08:00

I just scanned some drawings from my sketchbook today as it was my day-off. I like to draw random people in my head, especially celebrities. So here are some random celebrities from my sketchbook :)

Jay Chou, I actually drew some Jay Chou's as a practice prior to the drawing Listen to Your Mama, kind of to get into myself into a rhythm before doing "the real thing" if you know I mean :P

Jimi Hendrix... I think I managed to make him have quite a bit of resemblance hehe (Absolutely adore the song Little Wing...)

And Amy... when she's sober. I have yet got to do a portrait in memory of her. (Yes, I am a little fan of her music, and I do think she was quite a character, which made her a really interesting drawing subject I'd like to add.)

Of course, there are always some random girls' faces in my sketchbooks. I love drawing girls' faces. I drew this when I was browsing through Audrey Kawasaki's blog and drooling over her girls drawings. This is actually a little impersonation practice, which is why she looks so much like one of Audrey's girls.

Another girl with curls.

That's it for today, but I shall add more later this week. Stay tuned and thanks for looking :)

P.S. My friend told me about UNICEF Charity Run 2011 today, I decided it's a good cause and joined the 10km race which will be carried out on Nov 27. I've created a donation page, donations will go to provide HIV kits for mothers in over 150 developing regions across the world. Any amount of donation will be greatly appreciated!! Personally, my goal is to raise HK$1,000 :)

Again, thanks for checking out!

Art Inspiration: Finnish artist Rikka Sormunen

2011-10-07T01:24:00.000+08:00

I first saw the art of Riikka Sormunen (from Finland) from Boooooom! a few weeks ago and fell in love with it instantly, but kept forgetting to make a post about it :P

It seems like she uses watercolor as the major medium of her illustrations. (But I could be wrong?) I love her color palettes.

R i i k k a S o r m u n e n

For more of Riikka's awesomeness, visit her website.

Image source: riikkas.com

Art Inspiration: Amy Sol

2011-10-03T00:43:00.001+08:00

Recently I decided to join twitter (finally) to help promote my art and this art blog, and also found some badass artists such as Amy Sol. As described in her website, "the style of her work is greatly influenced by a combination of manga, folk-art, vintage illustration and modern design, she remains a self taught artist. She has dedicated many years of her life mixing pigments and mediums to achieve a unique color palette of subtly muted tones."

As it turns out, she is going to have a group exhibition with 3 artists including Audrey Kawasaki (one of my favorites!) starting this October 8, at Thinkspace Gallery in California.

To see more of her art, please visit her website/follow her on twitter/blog.

(Image sources: amysol.com, thinkspacegallery.com)

P.S. I've just added a stumbleupon button to the sidebar on the right, along with other share buttons. So if you have an account in one/some of them, please show some love by sharing, it will make me a happy camper ^_^

Olive*Tea's analogue photos from trip to Houston 2011

2011-10-01T18:42:00.001+08:00

I have a red Holga camera (CFN 120) and take photos with it occasionally. I'm still exploring what it does and what it's capable of since I bought it back in 2009 haha Although a little late, here are some shots I took during my trip to Houston this past April. :P

I shot 3 different types of films. The first was Ilford Delta 3200 ISO 120 (black & white).
This is a double exposure shot of Kevin driving.

Inside Toyota Center, before the game Houston Rockets vs Dallas Mavericks began.

2nd film I used was Slide X-pro 35mm ISO 200
I believe the film looks so faded because plenty of light leaks occurred when I was unloading the film out of the camera under the bed sheet ... :P

Busker in the street of Austin.

Klick Photopoint ASA ISO 200 35mm (expired in 2007)

Me and buddy Christy inside a restaurant. A little underexposure despite the help of flash, but I still kinda liked it :)

Olivia presents... the NEW online portfolio

2011-09-24T02:18:00.003+08:00

Hellooo. It took me long enough, but it's finally here... my NEW online portfolio. I've been working on it forever. This is a portfolio site that I wanna show my potential clients to get an idea/reference of what my work is like. So, go check it out right now, any thought/opinion/share will be greatly appreciated :D

Help spread the word folks!!

Scared of Nothing: Portrait of Natalie Portman

2011-09-15T22:52:00.000+08:00

I almost forgot to post this up. Here's a portrait drawing of the lovely Miss Natalie Portman, which I started off back in April when I was still in Houston actually. But I didn't add the touch-ups until recently.

The quote (by Miss Portman herself originally) says, "I'm afraid of everything. But maybe when you're afraid of everything, it sort of seems like you're scared of nothing."

This pencil drawing is based on the fragrance print ad she did for Dior (I hope this comes off pretty obvious :P) I think she looks absolutely gorgeous in the entire commercial series. I hope you all like it. I had lots of fun drawing her :)

This Natalie portrait is also available as art print and more on my society6 shop. Btw, they now offer framed art prints there, ready for people to hang on wall. So go check it out!!

Art Inspiration: Olaf Hajek

2011-09-09T01:27:00.000+08:00

Just found out about this awesome artist Olaf Hajek. He was born in North Germany and resides in London and New York now. His clients include Architectural Digest, Bloomberg Inc., Financial Times, Flaunt, Food Illustrated, Forbes, Fortune, Gourmet, GQ, among many others. I absolutely adore the smart use of colors and textures in his works.

Here are some of my favorite drawings I saw on his website.

O l a f H a j e k

For more awesomeness, check his website here.

New Print: Barbwire and... twitter?!

2011-08-31T22:50:00.002+08:00

I've just submitted a new photo print to my shop. Entitled Barbwire, it's always been one of my most popular photos in my old deviantart account. I gotta admit, I still like it even though it's been years since I took this picture. (I took it back in about 2006!) So here it is, I hope you all enjoy!

Another small update here: I just opened a twitter account... mostly just so I can follow my favorite artists, illustrators and likewise. I probably won't do much with it but let's see how it goes :P

Inkling by wacom

2011-08-31T17:01:00.002+08:00

Don't even need to say anything, just watch this. This is too good to be true, almost as if some kind of magical tool from Doraemon O_O

FYR: “Cure for the Common Font”

2011-08-22T02:13:00.000+08:00

I am no expert when it comes to typography design (although I do know the basics). So when I came across this comprehensive slide show “Cure for the Common Font”— A Web Designer’s Introduction to Typeface Selection, I had to stop whatever I was doing at the moment and checked it out real quick. Go over to typograhica.org to have a look. There's even an audio recorded during the actual presentation, which is cool, you can just click "play" and listen to it even if you don't really have the time to view the slides.

(image source: typographica.org)

This is straight up weird...

2011-08-19T01:31:00.005+08:00

Weird but I enjoyed it. Here's a video of Jean-Michel Basquiat appearing on this cable TV show based in New York City, called TV Party back in 1979, before he became famous worldwide.

The artist talked briefly about his work and his views on street art. But to me, what makes this interview interesting is the fact that the host had this real asshole attitude going on (from how he talked to Basquiat to how he talked on the phone with the callers), and the way the show was run, Basquiat's response, etc were just weird... even the people calling in were equally weird! lol

And you just can't re-create that.

Jean-Michel Basquiat(1960-1988)
(image source: wikipedia.org)

P.S. (1)Somehow I've been having a pretty good working incentive lately, and I love it. Let's keep it up!

P.S. (2)Have you noticed a FB "share" button has been added to the box on the right hand side?? Tempted to click it?? Do it! Spread the word and share us with your friends, cause every little share helps *wink wink* ;)

Peace for now.

Photo Print: Wish You Were Here

2011-08-17T01:50:00.003+08:00

Guess what guess what?!
Olivia has a new art print for you :) It's a photo I took in Kemah, Texas back in summer 2009. Hope you like it!

Art Inspiration: Ukiyo-e (浮世繪)

2011-08-16T01:27:00.003+08:00

I love ukiyo-e (浮世繪 Japanese woodblock prints) from the 17th-20th centuries. They were a big inspiration for impressionist painters from Europe, in terms of the colors and composition, and had quite some influence on their art development.

"Usually the word ukiyo is literally translated as "floating world" in English, referring to a conception of an evanescent world, impermanent, fleeting beauty and a realm of entertainments (kabuki, courtesans, geisha) divorced from the responsibilities of the mundane, everyday world; "pictures of the floating world", i.e. ukiyo-e, are considered a genre unto themselves."

You may read more about it on wikipedia and this page dedicated to the technique.

Here are some images of ukiyo-e prints I found off this Japanese website and some other website.

Olivia has a new design for your iPhone!

2011-08-09T01:22:00.002+08:00

Well, it's not exactly new because I used a rather old photo I took from my stay in Beijing in spring 2009. (I stayed there for like 8-9 weeks because of work!) I remember flowers started to blossom everywhere in the city after a long winter. I went to a park with my coworkers one lovely afternoon. Hope you like this.

Available as art print, iphone case and more.

Buy this and help spread the word! I'll love you forever lol.

Art Inspiration: Audrey Kawasaki's latest works simply blew me away!

2011-08-04T23:57:00.000+08:00

Audrey Kawasaki is having a new exhibition entitled Restlessly Still in Merry Karnowsky Gallery(170 S. La Brea Avenue Los Angeles, CA 90036) at the moment. And oh my! Her new works have me jaw dropping all the way down to the floor!

Seriously, I never get disappointed look at her works. I mean, just look at all these delicate, carefully painted details seen on each of her piece, not just the lovely, beautifully crafted features on her girls' faces, but also on the backdrop.

I think she used more blue-ish hues on her paintings this time, which I adore, because I just love all kinds of blue hues (and pretty much all my friends know this haha).

For more peeks into her new paintings, close-ups and some working process shots, hop over to her livejournal.

And for those who live around LA (I envy you!!), the show is running NOW until August 27. For more details, please visit the website of Merry Karnowsky Gallery.

(All painting images in this post belong to the artist Audrey Kawasaki.)

Art Inspiration: Victo Ngai

2011-07-28T01:30:00.002+08:00

I think I just found my new hero... Victo Ngai is a young illustrator based in Brooklyn, New York, but she was born and raised in Hong Kong. (just like me!) Although she has just graduated from Rhode Island School of Design a year ago, she's already leading a seemingly promising career by working for clients such as Plansponsor, The New York Times, etc.

Her style is so fun and cheerful that she somehow manages to come up with an incredibly interesting scenario in her picture even when she's asked to illustrate an article that can otherwise turn out to be boring and dull. The combined use of traditional medium and digital aid seen in her work, on the other hand, sort of reminds me of a similar approach adopted by my other hero Yuko Shimizu.

Ever since I paid a visit to NYC in summer 2009 to visit my friend, I've been dying to go back (and I'm sure I will someday!). So to see a fellow Hong Kong artist doing so well over there, especially when New York is one of the toughest places to make it, I'm so envious but at the same time I can definitely say I'm looking up to someone like her.

If you want to find out more about her aspirations and art approach and such, be sure to check out this recent interview she did here.

More of her works can be found on her personal website, on Dripbook. She also keeps a blog with posts about her creative process and news (which is wicked cool!).

(All images in this post belong to Victo Ngai.)

"Listen to Your Mama" the notebook

2011-07-26T01:06:00.001+08:00

As promised, here are some photos of the music notebook I put together for my brother, featuring the drawing Listen to Your Mama! I think I could've done better, but this will do for now.

The back of the book featuring some paper texture.

This is the one and only book featuring the drawing, that is unless I decide to make another one, of course.

And just a reminder: this art piece is also available as print and iphone case, etc on my s6 store :)

New Drawing: Listen to Your Mama! (Ting Mama De Hua!)

2011-07-15T01:38:00.002+08:00

Yesh! Doesn't it feel nice to be productive??

Listen to Your Mama (2011)

What it says on the drawing,
"Ting ma ma de hua,
hao hao lian qin wo!"
("Listen to your mama, practice the piano well!")

This is a drawing I did as a gift for my brother, based on a song by Taiwanese superstar singer Jay Chou entitled "Ting Ma Ma De Hua (Listen to your mama)"! You may check out the music video on this youtube link (with English subs!) for full meaning of the song :)

Well, I drew this for a pretty obvious reason--my brother has been the biggest fan of Jay Chou for years, and his birthday was coming up (although I didn't finish it in time... :P) I used quite several photos of the singer found on google as reference to the likeliness of his facial features, clothes and such. Personally, I think I could've done better at polishing the features. But hey, at least I kind of captured his essence, right? (...right??) By the way, the little boy is supposed to be how my brother used to look like when he was little haha

Original sketch

After completing the drawing, I printed it out and put together a music notebook for my brother as he's taking piano lessons currently. I'll post up some photos of the finished book later on.

I've already submitted this to Society6 to be sold as art prints, iphone case, etc.

Iphone case US$35.00

Thanks for checking out! Stay tuned for updates!

Ways to stop oneself from being lazy + my experience on Society6

2011-07-14T01:10:00.000+08:00

I was browsing moo.com (a website specializing in printing business cards and the likes) and stumbled upon a short article that lists out 10 ways to eliminate procrastination. I find it pretty helpful seeing how I'm a person who constantly needs to fight procrastination! (lol)

1. Turn off your email, IM and Twitter and phone notifications
2. Turn off the Internet. Pull the plug!

These 2 tips are particularly true because I believe plenty of people agree there are way too many distracting websites/videos/photos etc going on the www! I should really copy those 10 tips onto a paper and put it up on cork board... >_< You may read the full article on this page.

That aside. I just added a banner on my Society6 (s6) shop page yesterday. I think this will do for now although I'm pretty sure I'll change it soon as I get bored of it haha.

I've joined s6 for more than a year now. So far my experience there has been great. I can't say I've sold a lot there, but what keeps me checking it and submitting stuff on there is the great amount of quality works found there -- especially in the field of illustration. Looking at works of fellow artists always helps me stay motivated. And I'm also with their idea that except producing the artwork, s6 does all the work, incl. producing, packaging and shipping, so then we artists can focus on doing our part, which is creating art!

In the past, I'd considered joining etsy.com and selling art prints there. I gave up the thought, however, as I was not confident that I could handle so much work all by myself -- turning my drawings into products, packaging and shipping -- without consuming too much time and labor, because buddha knows my day job already takes up a majority of my time lol (This is not to say etsy is not a good platform for artists to sell works though. It's just their nature differentiates from that of s6.) Plus, I gotta say the staff on s6 is rather helpful in a way that they pretty much always answer your questions within 24 hours (just as promised on the site).

But of course, just like its competitors, there's still room for improvement in s6. For instance, it would be great if they can offer more shipping methods in the future. (Frankly, DHL shipping is rather pricey and isn't as fast as I thought judging on my past experience...) And I'd like to see more art projects and collaborations made to promote new artists. (Or if they can start promoting not just popular art on their FB page and such, but also art by artists with less attention.) After all, the initial reason for me to join s6 is to hope to gain more exposure for my art.

New art print (and more) on society6: Macau's Paint

2011-07-05T01:33:00.003+08:00

YEP! I just submitted another photo to my society6 account. It's entitled Macau's Paint, which is a photo I took sometime back in summer 2007 during my short trip to Macau with my friends. We had a blast and this was my favorite photo from the trip! This is available as art print, canvas print, laptop skin, etc. Hop over to my shop page for details.

On another hand, my drawing "Hello, beautiful!" has just been selected to be included in Society6 print shop. Yay~!

Doors of Hong Kong... photo print available on Urban Outfitters print shop now!

2011-06-30T13:41:00.002+08:00

Yes! My photo print Doors of Hong Kong has just been selected to be included in the Society6 Artists collection on URBAN OUTFITTERS' print shop! It comes in 5 different sizes! (8" x 8", 13" x 13", 17" x 17", 22" x 22", 28" x 28") Prices start at US$15 (for a mini size) and up!

Mini/small print: Fine art print on bright white, matte, ultra smooth, 100% cotton rag, acid and lignin free archival paper using an advanced digital dry ink method to ensure vibrant image quality. Custom trimmed with 1" border for framing.

Medium - X-Large: Gallery quality Giclée print on natural white, matte, ultra smooth, 100% cotton rag, acid and lignin free archival paper using Epson K3 archival inks. Custom trimmed with 2" border for framing.

This is also available as stretched canvas print in 2 sizes (13" x 13" & 18" x 18").

Fine art print on bright white, fine poly-cotton blend, matte canvas using latest generation Epson archival inks. Individually trimmed and hand stretched museum wrap over 1-1/2" deep wood stretcher bars. Includes wall hanging hardware.

I was checking my earnings and found that someone has just ordered an X-large print of the photo. I'm pretty pleased about that ^_^ If my dear customer sees this: I'd really appreciate it if you could link me or email me (olivia_tea@yahoo.com.hk) a photo of the final product!!

**However, please note that the prices are slightly different on my shop page and on UO.

Thanks for checking!!

My work desk & making of the Field Notes

2011-06-27T00:39:00.003+08:00

Blogging from Hong Kong as always~!
Not too long ago, I got rid of my old PC that was already dying and gave it away to a recycling program organized by a local charity, and my work desk hasn't looked so clean in forever :P I also made a cork board myself. I'll be using it as my inspiration board from now on. You can also see my beloved red holga camera (check my holga pictures here) I love it even though the lens part is stuck lol ^_^ So this is where I draw/sketch/color on computer/surf the internet etc!

That aside. Here's a short clip of making the Field Notes. It's pretty interesting learning how the traditional printing process is like.

Wings: Making the Field Notes 2010 Fall Edition from Coudal Partners on Vimeo.

For the production of Raven's Wing, the fall edition of our seasonal COLORS limited-edition Field Notes notebooks, we decided to go out, shoot some footage at the printers, and show how they're made. http://fieldnotesbrand.com/ravens-wing/

P.S. Scroll down to check out the little Uniqlo calendar thingy I added on the sidebar on the right. It's totally awesome!

She Wolf Mini Print

2011-06-24T00:40:00.000+08:00

Just wanna show you folks the She Wolf mini print that I ordered some time ago on society6.
It measures 10" X 6" (printed area: 8" X 4").

Fine art print on bright white, matte, ultra smooth, 100% cotton rag, acid and lignin free archival paper using an advanced digital dry ink method to ensure vibrant image quality. Custom trimmed with 1" border for framing.

Lego Felt Tip Printer

2011-06-22T00:59:00.002+08:00

This thing is pretty amazing if I do say so. Built entirely of legos hahaha again pretty neat! Check it out!

Mock Trailer

2011-06-21T03:58:00.004+08:00

Been messing around quite a bit with Adobe After Effects and came up with a mock trailer for an event I attend and help organize. REALLY loving this program! Nothing too fancy just getting down the basics.

Grape!

2011-06-15T06:29:00.004+08:00

Quick mash up of a character from a personal project I'm working on.

2 videos for inspiration~

2011-06-12T21:26:00.011+08:00

A video showing illustrator Sarah Beetson's working process.

I Dream In Celluloid from Shell Weiss on Vimeo.

A short film showing at Sarah Beetson's show of the same name. “I Dream In Celluloid” is Sarah Beetson’s 4th solo exhibition, and explores the link between the artist’s obsession with film and how this affects her dreams.

"I Dream In Celluloid" is set to tour The Gold Coast and Melbourne, Australia, London, UK, and Ottawa, Canada in 2011.

And this stop motion film by "Broken Fingaz Crew" from Israel is just wicked cool!

Broken Fingaz -Graffiti Stop Motion from Broken Fingaz on Vimeo.

2 sketches

2011-06-02T01:10:00.000+08:00

Just a couple sketches I did.

Both guys weren't meant to be Chris Martin, but I don't think the one on the left looks like him at all. lol

Just a lil' something..Fairy

2011-05-28T23:50:00.003+08:00

Just a lil' something from the old sketch book I intend to work on in the coming months.

Introducing Skessions!

2011-05-22T18:51:00.001+08:00

It's been a couple weeks since I came back from my vacation in Houston now. So I feel like it's about (damn) time I should post up the rest of the little sketches I had done during my stay there.

Random skull head and random girl with curls inspired by girls I'd seen in the mall earlier during the day.

These were done when I was hanging out with my friends at Skessions!

What is skessions you may ask? Well, literally it means sketch sessions. But instead of sketching all by yourself in a little corner of your room, skessions is a weekly gathering (usually on Wednesday) of a group of Houston artists, held at a bar. (The two times I went it was at The Next Door.) So you get to be artistic sketching and creating, while hanging out and sharing ideas with your buddies with a couple drinks, listening to cool music, not to mention meeting new friends and local artists. So needless to say, I had lots of fun there!

Some figures I sketched out when observing in the bar. Nothing serious though.
Random boy's face in the lower right corner is imaginary though.

My friend KCooL's sketchbook

Making new friends is always is always. Here are Andy watching Kim getting in the creative flow.

And this is the greatness as a result :) Photo taken with Kevin's cell phone

Kevin and Mike Hernandez, fellow artist and founder of Skessions

KCool holding up his work of craziness (Photo by skessions.com)

Kevin is pleased with his sketch. (Photo by skessions.com)

Me holding up my sketchbook (Photo by skessions.com)

Mike and his sketchbook (Photo by skessions.com)

We also went to check out an exhibition going on in another bar nearby.

For more photos and badass sketches, visit skessions.com, which I've also linked under our "friends" section :)

If you reside in Houston and you're interested in joining the gathering, here's a map of where the bar is located in:

View Larger Map

Art HK 11!

2011-05-20T01:01:00.000+08:00

Hong Kong International Art Fair (Art HK 11) is the biggest annual art fair in Hong Kong. This year it'll kick off on May 25 and run until May 29 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wanchai. Artwork from masters such as Pablo Picasso, Andy Warhol, Lucian Freud, Henri Matisse, Zao Wou-Ki will be displayed. However, young, up and coming artists' works can also be found there. Moreover, one will not only find paintings there, but sculptures, installations, everything! I can't wait to be there. Tickets will be available starting from next week. 2 for 1 tickets will be available until May 20. For more info, check out their website.

Preview of a drawing + James Jean will exhibit in Art HK 11!

2011-05-16T00:43:00.002+08:00

Here's a preview of a drawing I'm currently working. It's a portrait of a celebrity. Can anyone make a guess? Hint: He's the lead singer of a rock band :)

That aside, I just found out James Jean is going to exhibit in Art HK 11 (the biggest annual art fair in Hong Kong) this year!! He will be represented by Martha Otero and will attend the fair on May 26-29. I am definitely going to check it out (as I'll probably be working there anyway)and it would be even cooler if I could meet him in person as I've followed his art for a few years now. For more info on the art fair and how to purchase a ticket, you may go to their website: Art HK 11.

It's actually kind of funny for me to just find out about this because I've just bought his beautiful book entitled "Rift" yesterday from the bookstore.

It features 15 gold foil stamped panels showcasing a series of individual images that fold to reveal different landscapes. And it wasn't even that pricey!

This video demonstrates how cool the book is!!

Alright, I believe that was enough talk all at once, I'll blog again shortly hopefully! Peace!

Girl with leaves crown

2011-05-12T00:49:00.001+08:00

A quick drawing I did when I was in Houston, with a photo reference :) I'll post up some more hopefully by the end of this week!

By the way, I've added 2 more links (All My Pistachios and Cedric Rivrain) in the soul food section. Go check 'em!

Stupid chief executive of Hong Kong!

2011-05-09T02:37:00.000+08:00

I feel like being productive today, which is always a good thing, so I'm posting this quick sketch I did a couple months ago :)

The title says it all (lol)
I hope I won't get in trouble for drawing sensitive stuff like this.... kidding kidding. I'll be just fine :P

Free shipping through Sunday on s6!

2011-05-07T17:41:00.000+08:00

Society6 is offering free shipping worldwide on all products right now through Sunday (US time)! Given that the international shipping usually costs US$10, this is a great bargain to purchase goods (art prints, canvas prints, iphone case, laptop skin etc) there! I'd appreciate much, much, much if our readers could take a look at my shop page and bring something from there home ^___^ Mini prints now start at US$15 only! Thanks for the attention, guys!

Inspiration: Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec

2011-05-04T23:12:00.001+08:00

I just returned to Hong Kong from Houston last Monday. I visited Museum of Fine Arts (twice) in which a pretty impressive exhibition entitled "Impressionist and Post-Impressionist Masterpieces from the National Gallery of Art" is being held, all the way through May 23, 2011. One of the artists whose works are displayed in the exhibition is French artist Henri De Toulouse-Lautrec. I've always been fond of his art for his bold composition and colors and his smart play of negative space.

Below are some of the artwork images of Toulouse-Lautrec that I found on the internet.

Lady with a Dog, 1891

(I saw this very drawing in the exhibition, and really admired the way he left much of the drawing unpainted, which allowed the cardboard surface to be played off as the wooden chair and the fence in the background.)

With advance in technology of lithography in the late 19th century, long print-runs of advertising posters began to be spread widely. Toulouse-Lautrec was commissioned to design a poster for Moulin Rouge in 1891, hence he started his career as a poster illustrator.

Love, love, love his works♥!

Inspiration: Danil Egneus

2011-04-20T09:19:00.001+08:00

Ahhhhhhhh! I feel terrible for not having updated the blog in days >__<
BUT, at least I'm having fun because I'm now on vacation in Texas :D And today I'd like to share my affection for this beautifully illustrated storybook Little Red Riding Hood by Swedish artist Daniel Egneus, which I picked up at Urban Outfitters the other day and felt in love with instantly.

(image from: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/)

The artist kept the Brothes Grimm fairytale true to the original but added a touch of romance and elegance with his beautiful watercolor and graceful lines.

A making-of video and more images will follow after the break.

Check this making of video:

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Daniel Egneus is a self-taught artist whose clients include H&M, Pepsi-Cola, Playboy, Vogue, Nike, Time, Penguin Books, etc.

Source of the 5 images above: the artist's personal website, his work and updates can also be found on his blog.

Inspiration: HK-based artist Wilson Shieh!

2011-03-28T00:16:00.001+08:00

(image source: http://www.wilsonshieh.com/)

Wilson Shieh(石家豪) is a rather young artist from my hometown Hong Kong. His style is a mix of traditional Chinese drawing and modern graphic illustration.

This is how his work is described on his homepage:

Wilson Shieh, a painter being trained with Chinese fine-brush (gongbi) technique, works on various media ranged from Chinese ink drawing on silk to acrylic on canvas to paper cutout collage. He focuses on human bodies as his theme for narration. Transforming figuration by means of tailor-made costumes, the identity of modern people is always in query in his art world.

I enjoy his depiction on people of all sorts, including celebrities, because I also love drawing people and narrating characters. Moreover, I particularly like that the culture and lifestyle of Hong Kong can be found everywhere in his drawing in terms of the subject matter.

FREE Shipping on all Mini & Small sized Art Prints, now through Sunday in the Society6 Shop!

2011-03-13T03:28:00.000+08:00

A little promotion here!
If you guys are looking for some small art prints at reasonable price, you may wanna check out my stuff available on society6 ^_^ Quality art prints available in my store starting at US$15.63, with free shipping all over the world! Offer expires at midnight on Sunday, March 13 (US time)!

For more, please check out my page:

Inspiration: Camille Rose Garcia's new solo exhibition opens on March 12 in Michael Kohn Gallery

2011-03-06T17:10:00.001+08:00

California-based artist Camille Rose Garcia, whose works I absolutely adore, has a new solo exhibition coming up at Michael Kohn Gallery in Los Angeles from March 12 to April 9. Entitled "Snow White and the Black Lagoon", the show plays off of the classic Grimm Brothers’ story, featuring a series of paintings and drawings creating a modern day allegory for our delusional relationship with nature.

Quoted from Juxtopoz.com,

"As Kohn Gallery writes, 'Referencing the classic German Fairy tale, as well as the animated film by Walt Disney, Garcia weaves a monstrous modern and dysfunctional narrative using cartoony Jungian archetypes, a psychedelic saturated color palette, and an obtuse combination of action-painter brush strokes and carefully controlled, calligraphic line work. Gold leaf and black glitter hang out together on the paintings in an uncomfortable but tolerated relationship. Leaking black castles, oily witches, and a gang of tired and dizzy dwarf miners accompany the Snow White and her fragile entourage of forest and lagoon animals as they traverse through caves, lagoons, and compromised natural landscapes, searching for an elusive happy ending.' "

I've always appreciated Garcia's effort at re-interpreting classic fairy tales and Disney cartoons and the alike, with a twist in her use of hues and characters. So I'd say folks from Los Angeles should definitely check it out!!

Sources: Juxtopoz and Michael Kohn Gallery

Learn more about Camille Rose Garcia's works on her website.

Good find on Society6

2011-02-28T01:55:00.001+08:00

I love Society6.

Or rather, I love artists who are on there. Here are 2 artists I recently spotted and whose art I like a lot.

Josie Portillo (Society6)
I like the lovely use of colors and contrast, and the carefully placed elements in the composition. I can see her drawings in children's books.

Andres Guzman (society6 and personal website)
Love, love, love the free flowing strokes. There also exists a sense of humor in many of his works. Oh, and he draws nice types!

Inspiration: Korean artist Kim Seok and his robot sculptures

2011-02-24T02:19:00.001+08:00

Born in Kim Hea, Korea in 1976, Kim Seok graduated from Sculpture Fine Art in Kyungnam University (B.F.A). His robot sculptures, influenced by anime culture (obviously), depict the loneliness of a robot.

Judging from the design of the robots, I bet young boys and kidults from around the world can definitely relate to these robots haha

All images from the artist's website.

New print size available on society6 and more...

2011-02-21T02:48:00.003+08:00

Shameless self-promotion here... ok so here it goes!

It looks like society6.com now offers a new print size which is called "mini". For example, my illustration "Hello, beautiful!" now comes in a mini size which measures 7" x 10". I think it's a good thing because it's always good to be given more choices from a consumer's perspective. I think I'll probably order a mini print myself sometime!

Meanwhile, folks from society6.com posted a new blog entry demonstrating how hands-on they are when producing artists' stretched canvas.

Society6 Stretched Canvas - a day in the life from Justin Wills on Vimeo.

A pretty cool behind-the-scenes indeed.

Olivia: back from mainland + new print selected by Society6!

2011-02-13T22:40:00.003+08:00

Hello, hello~! This is Olivia reporting from Hong Kong. I've just come back from the mainland China (for Chinese New Year holiday) a couple days ago. I almost forgot to blog about my drawing Hello, Beautiful! has just been selected by Society6 a while back, to be sold on their shop (in addition to being for sale on my Society6 page). Well, this is certainly good news and a good way to kick started with 2011 (officially, now that Chinese New Year has just passed ^_^ ) isn't it??

iPhone Case - US$35.00

(Artwork also available as gallery quality art print, stretched canvas and iPhone & iPod skin)

Happy Chinese New Year

2011-02-02T01:41:00.003+08:00

Happy Chinese New Year~! Just wanna make a post before I leave for my small vacation in mainland China. The above image belongs to James Jean (another artist I like a lot!!). It's the latest sketch he posted up on his blog, entitled "Year of Rabbit", and yeah, 2011 is the Year of Rabbit :)

French artist Cédric Rivrain

2011-01-22T01:55:00.000+08:00

For days I've been meaning to blog about this French artist named Cédric Rivrain. Now I finally got around to do so! I've just found out about his art from trendland.net, "These renderings by french Artist Cedric Rivrian are absolutely beautiful. The flow of his work is flawless; accents and detail where necessary and loose line work use to express the aesthetic of certain design or designers. I definitely feel the Egon Schiele inspiration but his style is clearly distinctive."

For me, I think Cédric's style stands out from a bunch of other artists that also do fashion illustrations. He renders only the most essential elements in his drawing, instead of drawing everything he sees in a photo, which proves to be very effective. This is an aspect I definitely need to learn I think :P Another reason why I like his drawings so much, I think, is because of my obsession with human eyes haha I LOVE drawing eyes if it's not already obvious... just putting it out there! hehe

See more of Cédric Rivrain's art on
his website: http://www.cedricrivrain.com
his blog: http://cedricrivrain.tumblr.com

Insert Witty Phrase Here: Portrait of KT (digital coloring practice)!

2011-01-17T01:37:00.001+08:00

This is an alternate version of the same portrait of Kensou I did several months ago. Initially I just wanted to do a quick digital coloring practice but it turned out to take longer than I thought. (There's always so much to do and so little time!!) But here it is anyway :D I gave it a pretty, gay, bright pink background (hehe) because the original photo I based the drawing on had a pink background anyway.

Some details here...

(click to enlarge)

I'm happy about how some of the original paper texture is retained in the final outcome. Hope you all like it. Comments and such are always welcome. Thanks for checking :)

Solitary: iphone 4 case

2011-01-09T03:52:00.000+08:00

A while ago Society6 was offering free shipping on all orders. So I decided to order an iphone 4 case featuring my drawing entitled Solitary for my friend Hailie since her birthday was coming soon. (I would have created a new drawing for her but the free shipping deal was valid for one week only and I didn't think I had enough time for a new design. ) I made some customization specifically for the occasion, including adding the text "Para mi amiga (For my friend)" and "el primero de diciembre (1st of December, which is her birthday)" as well as changing the color scheme. This is what the end-product looks like:

It came in a small package.

Close-up shots. It has a matte finish.

And above is a photo of my messy desk when I was working on my drawing :P

Paper Works of Tahiti Pehrson

2011-01-08T01:42:00.001+08:00

The other day I just discovered about artist Tahiti Pehrson, who does beaaautiful paper works by HAND CUTTING. (At first I thought they're done by laser-cutting because I thought her work is so detailed.)

For more click below...

All her paper works show a great understanding of the relationship between negative space and positive space. Find out more about Tahiti on her website.

Olek's crochet Bull on Wall Street

2011-01-07T01:10:00.001+08:00

Saw this video on Juxtapoz.com originally:

NYC based artist Olek likes to use crochet as her medium. Keep watching the video to see how she crocheted the famous Wall Street Bull on Christmas Eve!

Olek says of the bull, "I started it with a bike and ended up with the Charging Bull as a Christmas gift to NYC and a tribute to the sculptor of the bull, Arturo di Modica, who in another guerrilla act, placed the bull on Wall Street in Christmas of 1987 as a symbol of the 'strength and power of the American people' following the 1987 Stock Market crash."

I think it's a really fun concept, and I wonder how she got the measurements of the bull so accurate?

See more insane works she did in the past after the jump.

Here's her personal website:
http://agataolek.com/home.html

Hello, beautiful! new drawing + art book I wanna buy...

2011-01-03T00:45:00.001+08:00

Hi~~ Here's a new art piece from me (Olivia) YAY! This time it's a piece of collage, consisting my pencil drawing and some aged magazine scraps. It was fun to do. I gotta stay productive, or even MORE productive than before in this new year!

A closeup picture and more after the jump...

I drew the girl with a photo of model Jun Hasegawa as reference. I'm glad she turns out to have some resemblance of Jun's beauty.

And this time around I decided to turn this into art merchandise on my Society6 account.

On a side note, I kind of want this new art book published by Juxtapoz. I think it's available on their online store only.

^a spread featuring Audrey Kawasaki's works, another of my favorite.

Happy 2011!

2011-01-01T18:25:00.000+08:00

Happy New Year~!! Here's a glimpse of what I'm working on currently. Let's keep getting busy in 2011!

Manuel Rebollo

2011-01-01T07:57:00.003+08:00

Amazing works is all I can say...gogogo! Manuel Rebollo
*Disclaimer: The page is in spanish!*

Inspiration: new art from Herakut!

2010-12-19T04:14:00.000+08:00

Hello kiddos~! How about some new art from Herakut? Yes! I know you want some!

Add them on facebook if you haven't heard of them and would like to find out more and check out more of their eye candy!

2 simple sketches from October & November~

2010-12-13T01:09:00.003+08:00

As I promised, here I have 2 drawings.

This is just a simple sketch I did when I was flipping through a fashion magazine (Yes I prefer manly boys :P )

And this is sort of a Chinese New Year drawing I'm working on... still need to fix the sketch here and there, so hopefully I'll have updates on this.

Inspiration: Mac's art

2010-12-12T03:29:00.002+08:00

Sorry for the lack of updates recently! I promise I'll update with some new drawing/sketch. For now here's some inspiration from artist Mac.

Of Our Youth - RETNA • EL MAC from RVCA on Vimeo.

Pretty neat!!

Art print of "Hanging the Goat Head" in real life

2010-11-22T00:58:00.005+08:00

So I ordered my own art print "Hanging the Goat Head" on Society6 to see what it looks like in real life, I received it in the mail not a while ago.
Print Size: 16" x 23" (Printed Area: 12" X 18").
Gallery quality Giclée print on natural white, matte, ultra smooth, 100% cotton rag, acid and lignin free archival paper using Epson K3 archival inks. Custom trimmed with 2" border.
(This means the paper will last for a long time and won't turn yellow as easily.)

It also comes in stretched canvas (12" x 19"). I'd say the colors came out pretty accurately, so I'm happy with it :)

I'll be more than happy if anyone would like to go order it on Society6 :D Thanks for checking out!

Inspiration: Francoise Nielly

2010-11-20T18:18:00.002+08:00

I just discovered a French artist named Francoise Nielly through juxtapoz.com this morning, whose works are such eye candy that make me crave for more! I feel great excitement for the crazily vivid and neon colors in her paintings. And the fact that she paints with a knife, in my opinion, helps contribute to the boldness in her works. Another thing I like about her paintings is that they cross between the borders of illustration and fine art.

Here are a few of my favorite works of hers I found on her website.See more on her website!

Quickies~

2010-11-18T16:41:00.004+08:00

Just a quicky 45min sketch of character from a personal project. Was really in the mood while I was at work waiting for things to start moving. Had fun with this, keeping things loose not worried much about perfection. Just pure fun ^_^.

Painting practices

2010-11-06T00:40:00.002+08:00

I've just had my last painting class this past Tuesday, and here are the last 2 paintings I did in class. Just practicing~

Duration: 2 hours

Duration: 4 hours
Not really happy with the croissant, but I guess the rest of it turned out ok.

Happy Halloween~!

2010-10-29T01:07:00.005+08:00

"She was always told she had beautiful eyes."

An early Halloween drawing here! (I'm simply obsessed with eyes.) I didn't get to color it in time (If I do, it'll take forever I know.)

I'll try to put some time into coloring this later on. (Edit: I didn't really like the colors so I switched it up.)

Also I've been learning to paint with oils the past few weeks.
Just some practices here :)Until next time~!

Sketchbook Goodie

2010-10-24T08:19:00.002+08:00

Flipping through my sketchbook I found this thing here left untouched, so of course why not up it to the blog?! Nothing fancy, just a portait shot of some characters from a personal project. More details as the project unfolds but this will do for now.

山本タカトTakato Yamamoto

2010-10-17T00:39:00.000+08:00

One can never have too much art inspiration.

山本タカトTakato Yamamoto
"Takato Yamamoto was born in Akita prefecture (Japan) in 1960. After graduating from the painting department of the Tokyo Zokei University, he experimented with the Ukiyo-e Pop style. He further refined and developed that style to create his “Heisei Esthiticism” style. His first exhibition was held in Tokyo, in 1998." Read more here.

Old art: Solitary

2010-10-09T00:20:00.005+08:00

Here he is standing in solitary, regarding all circumstances.

Just dug this drawing up recently and decided to give it a little colors and text to make it more whole as an illustration. Originally finished back in 2003. Please click to view in full! Also available as art prints and other goodies on my society6 page.

update from oil painting class!

2010-09-30T02:25:00.003+08:00

Just a small update from my 3rd lesson of oil painting. Nothing fancy here, just me trying to learn something new :D This took 2 hours, with the teacher helping me on the final few strokes :)

She Wolf: now on Society6

2010-09-18T02:31:00.004+08:00

Yesh! Shameless self-promotion here! Just made this drawing available as laptop/ipad skin + art print (2 sizes) + stretched canvas. For purchase info, please click below:

Let's get busy!!

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*EDIT* I've just received 2 emails this morning that both my drawings "She Wolf" and "Hanging the Goat Head" have been included to be sold on Society6 Shop (listed under the Popular section)!! Whoa I'm pretty damn hyped by the good news these couple of days haha!

Oh wow! Print now available on Urban Outfitters online print shop!!

2010-09-17T02:08:00.005+08:00

WOW! This is a pretty big deal to me... I just received an email this morning notifying me my print of "Hanging the Goat Head" has been selected by Urban Outfitters to be included on their online print shop (as an art print and iphone skin)!!! Yada!!! (lol)

Although I don't expect to make much cash from this, the exposure or acknowledgment I get actually means way more to me!! Hopefully this is only a start for me...

You can check out my print on their shop by clicking "apartment" once you log on to urbanoutfitters.com, then go to print shop and my work should be on page 8. Alternatively, you can see it by simply clicking here (lol).

CG illustration: Hanging the goat head + oil painting practice

2010-09-08T04:23:00.009+08:00

Ahhh yes! I'm a bit proud of myself that I didn't spend forever on this drawing this time, because I usually do :P

I call this illustration "掛羊頭 (Hanging up a goat's head)", originating from the Chinese saying "掛羊頭, 賣狗肉", which literally means "to hang up a goat's head and sell dog meat". Most Chinese people should be familiar with this saying, which basically means "to try to palm off something inferior to what it purports to be". (Thank you, Google dictionary.)
I came up with this concept because of how the local "(young/underaged) model" industry has become these past few years. It has come to a point where it's like, whatever it is that needs to be advertised, whether it be a model agency or an online game or whatever, just put out a seductive young girl wearing skimpy outfits showing off their "assets" if ya know what I mean (not to mention all these gossip magazine with perverted covers and ridiculously bad taste) ... when in fact, it's an open secret that what is being "sold" is actually no different from softcore pornography. If you live in Hong Kong, you should know EXACTLY what I'm talking about. It's not that I'm necessarily against the trend (although I wish those people would be less hypocritical about it sometimes), I'm simply putting it out here.
I used a reference picture of Chrissie Chau (周秀娜) for the drawing. (Again, not particularly targeted at her, but those pictures of her brushing her teeth are just too classic to pass on haha)
Here are some close-ups:

Original sketch:

Another note here, I just started taking an oil painting class in Hong Kong Arts Centre last week. I'd never painted oils before.We had a sphere study during the second lesson. Just plain black and white and pretty fundamental stuff, but I did enjoy it :)
Hope you all enjoy these!!!
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EDIT: Soo excited to announce that the goat head drawing is now available as Giclée print, stretched canvas, as well as iphone/ipod touch skins!!

For more purchase info, please go to my store on society6!!

Yoshitomo Nara

2010-09-07T14:57:00.002+08:00

Juxtapoz just did a feature on Japanese artist Yoshitomo Nara's first major exhibition in New York entitled Yoshitomo Nara: Nobody’s Fool, which showcases "more than one hundred works ranging from his early career in the 1980s to his most recent paintings, drawings, sculptures, ceramics, and large-scale installations"... Read more about it here.

I wish I could go because it seems to be an interesting exhibition.

On another note, I should post up my latest illustration pretty soon. Stay tuned!

Olivia on Society6

2010-08-31T00:01:00.002+08:00

Yay, I just joined society6. It seems to have a lot to offer to artists, so I'm going to try this out. Wish me luck, and visit my page please :D

New portrait drawing!

2010-08-30T01:13:00.004+08:00

Da Da! Olivia has a new drawing! Well, actually I've finished this a while back, just finally decided to scan it and edited it on Photoshop today. I drew this portrait of Kevin using photo reference. "Going ape sh*t" is just something that he likes to say sometimes haha Nothing too fancy here. Just me practicing my skills. Hope you guys like! (Click on it to see it in full view! :D )

Inspiration: Jasper Goodall & Caroline Andrieu

2010-08-27T17:29:00.003+08:00

Sorry there's been lack of updates! I'm currently working on an illustration, which I hope will be finished within a week or 2! But for now, I'll give you some eye candy I find inspirational.

Caroline Andrieu... I enjoy looking at fashion illustrations.

Copied from her website, "A graduate of the Atelier de Sèvres and EPSAA, Caroline Andrieu is the art director of Condé Nast digital's department for its Vogue & GQ websites. Caroline, fascinated by drawing and realistic outlines, has contributed to magazine such as Vanidad and SoChic, designs for the young Gat Rimon brand and regularly contributes to Diesel Fragrance Factory website. When she's not drawing, she can be found careeing round the street of Paris on her fixed-gear bicycle or on a plane home to Slovakia to see her family and a slice of scrumptious poppy seed cake!"

For more of Caroline's artworks, visit her site or blog.

Another artist I discovered the other day: Jasper Goodall, who's done artwork for Muse (the band) in the past.

Interesting stuff. I like that he elaborates the concept behind his work on his website. It's always good to understand the creative process of an artist.

That's a lot of cool stuff to look at. Hope you enjoy :)

A few favorites from Artlimited.com

2010-08-06T01:03:00.004+08:00

So I have an account on Artlimited.com, where I post up a selection of my works. Granted it's not as big as other art communities such as deviantart, but it seems to me members over there can appreciate good photography and tasteful art more. Not to mention their members are very polite and friendly :) Maybe it's because the audience there is more mature? Here are some of my recent favorites from there:

Sometimes I get really inspired by looking at good photography. I'd like to take photography class (more seriously) someday in the future. I think it's another effective way to express one's artistic side.

And here's a sneak peek of a new illustration I'll start working on soon...
Stay tuned for the updates!!!

Coldplay: Strawberry Swing video

2010-08-04T23:27:00.005+08:00

I used to be a big fan of Coldplay a few years back. I still am, but I prefer their older songs to the new ones. But I think the band never fails to inject great creativity when it comes to making music videos. Here's one of them, Strawberry Swing from their latest album:

Coldplay- strawberry swing from Argumente on Vimeo.

Coldplay- strawberry swing

I wonder how long it took them to shoot the video?? Anyway, I like it a lot and the song itself is lovely too :)

Kensou's drawing colored by Olive*Tea

2010-08-02T01:13:00.003+08:00

This is actually a sketch Kevin did sometime last year. I happened to come across it and colored a little bit, and finally today I felt like finishing it off...a year later lol This was outlined with marker pen (I believe) by Kevin, and water soluble color pencils by me.

And here's another page off Kevin's sketch book, also from sometime last year. (Correct me if I'm wrong.)

And this little drawing I did a loonnngg time ago, of my favorite singer Alicia Keys, dated back to 2004! I recently added a bit of minor touch-up to it and I'd just like to show it here.

Just a little blog update

2010-07-29T01:41:00.002+08:00

Hey folks! Just want to add that I've just added a couple links beneath the "Soul Food" section, because I like sharing my favorites with everyone, so go check them out :D