Sketchy-Characters

Whuh?

2012-01-05T16:17:00.002+08:00

Sometimes I go through these periods of frustration and confusion, usually brought about by becoming stuck in just doing lol. Means I become stuck in not having enough time and having too many things to do! I don't have time to relax or chill or have fun!

Well...that tends to happen to me a lot. Learning to deal with it, or accept it and move on. Why a rant before the drawing? Cuz the drawing has everything to do with what I just went through, it was a moment of getting myself back to equilibrium again. My own space, my own life! :D I've no idea how the image came about lol, just felt a really urgent need to sketch and the first thing I drew was the girl's face! Aaaaand then she's caressing something! Which happens to be an oversized Neptune head...yeah. It was drawing on the go hehe! :P No pre-planning just go with the feeling~

Square drawing this time around. I think it is working out really well! Trying not to go overboard with the lines because it is a small piece and and easily get 'hairy'.

Closeup.

Music listened to were soundtracks from Sucker Punch and We Bought a Zoo. I'm lovin' it! :D

The Spider Cafe - Completed

2011-12-14T10:20:00.000+08:00

It all starts with a spider's photo and a lil' thumbnail sketch...I like how my ideas appear, it's as if they are beamed to me or something!

Amazing what a little idea can transform into given the time and effort! I'm very happy with how this turned out! I like my clouds swirly and my toadstools stripey...

Detail of the cafe. I added in the flying creatures after my mom commented how there was not enough movement in the skies.

This was the part giving me so much grief near the end. Soph saw it and commented how everything was blending into one another so I darkened the darks and it all clicked! That was the best feeling ever. It's like scratching an itch between your shoulder blades or something!

The other thing that got me all excited was when I took out my other drawings while taking photos of the Spider Cafe...and I realized I've got 8 drawings!!! 3 A2 sized ones (The Sky Whale, Deep Ocean, The Spider Cafe) and 5 medium sized ones (The Embrace, Lord Nevermore, The Meeting, Telling Tales, The Tree of Dreams). I've got two more ideas, both A2 sized drawings, lined up after this and with 10 pieces complete dare I say...I'll have enough for an exhibition! YEEEAH!

I know I've been saying that for more than a year now but finally it doesn't seem too far away now! Though I've had these drawings up on my online portfolio but especially for the big ones, seeing it in person is a whole different experience :) So yeah, that's what I'm looking forward to next year~

The Spider Cafe - con't

2011-12-08T14:30:00.001+08:00

The Spider Cafe has been crawling along for a while now. I begun this piece end of September. I got stuck with the bamboo grove. Once I got over that things began to roll along nicely! :)

Getting into shape! Still not too sure what the background will be, this is how things usually work. When I get an idea I don't have the full composition in view. Just bits of it. And I'll fill in the blanks as I go :P This is more common for the A2 sized drawings than the smaller ones.

Close-up of the cafe. I love how the different textures turned out! And the pots and pans, various vegetables, that creepy cook and the clouds reflected in the fragmented glass on the top.

The Makings of a Namecard

2011-12-05T09:38:00.000+08:00

It began when I started to design a new website for a new identity :) I decided I didn't want to use my name as the domain anymore so my friend and I came up with 'timeless realm' as the new name. I like it a lot! Sort of describes what I draw and create very well. So with a new site I'll need a new namecard...

To start with I had two designs to choose from! I like this design because it is clean and straightforward.

This was the second design and true to my style it is filled with lines! I actually liked this a lot, but after asking around at that small size the lines could be too overwhelming. But I still enjoy the feel of it :)

So I decided to go with the first design and redrew the walking troupe to be more lively and fun! The first time around looks almost like they were walking to work lol

Somehow the girl reading a book on the back of some beast has transformed into a lizard instead. Don't ask me why... Also the big furry one with the horns and goofy smile is back, giving us a peace sign! lol But something was not jelling in this design, I felt the vines didn't work with the walking menagerie at the bottom. Also the text was not as nice arranged like this.

If something doesn't work, keep going at it until it does! :P

It was a headache for me to reach this stage. Lots of drafts were made before I had a lightbulb moment and drew in a background with mountains instead. Then I decided it would be cool if the design joined up at the edges to form a continuously walking group of creatures! I was quite rushed for time as I had to get the namecars printed the next day, but I'm very satisfied at how it turned out! At the Rainforest Gallery bazaar one of the funnest things was showing people how the namecards linked up :) I know I enjoy it a LOT XD

The Sketchiest of Characters!

2011-11-30T21:11:00.001+08:00

So it all started when I got a new template for this blog and decided the old banner had to go too! So I'd set about drawing a new one and this was the result!

To make it fit in with the dark background I inverted the colour and gave it a rainbow neon glow...gives it a trippy look, no?

I did some other random drawings, this one was supposed to be for the background, set to tile. I think it gives a different dimension to the characters but the result when applied was too distracting. If you look closely they are all the same characters from the banner, doing their best glamour shots ;P

Then I had the idea of drawing them capering about...I really like the big furry one with the horns and the goofiest smile - it even made it to my namecard, which you'll see in the next post!

It turned into an endless electric dance...

I wanted the dance one to be the background for the blog as well but it also turned out too busy. Oh well, I'll figure something out! Until then the default background from the template will stay. This piece however, makes for an infinitely dancing desktop wallpaper! I have it decorating my iMac and it is just luscious. Or ludicrous. Lifts my mood anytime :P Feel free to use it on your desktop too! Heheheh

A bit on the characters: the skating cat is from my blog profile pic. The tentacled dude reminds me of an Ood from Doctor Who now that I look at it again...The unhappy tapir is unhappy (except he looked quite content in the dance), the shy sheep boy is from the banner and the winged worm (try to spot him!) is from this story by Fritz Leiber called 'The Terror from the Depths". It's about this guy who had certain dreams about being a primordial creature resembling gigantic, winged worms. The story was inspired by the Cthulhu mythos and is a great read if you are into horror :)

Timeless Realm

2011-11-26T16:02:00.001+08:00

www.timelessrealm.com is live! Still some bumps and rough patches to smooth over these next few days, but overall I'm quite happy with the new design...especially the colours. I'm looooving the colours :D

The Spider Cafe (W.I.P.)

2011-09-26T11:21:00.005+08:00

Hmmm...

HMMM.....

So what is this about? I have no idea :P Suddenly the creaking image of a walking restaurant shaped like a spider came into my head. And it is making Teh Tarik (literally, pulled tea) lol! There is a menu tacked onto the wall of the cafe, some of the food offered are local fare and some are just plain made-up. The spider has some funky designs, that speak of grander days but have been outfitted to serve this purpose now. Not like it minds, it is simply content with preparing the special tea for its customers!

The cafe has stopped in a glade carpeted with low mushrooms that the customers can sit on and enjoy their meal and drink. Some wear bibs to protect their suits from getting food on them. The bowls have a spiral on the as do the bibs, with 8 legs radiating from it. That is the logo of the spider Cafe. On the right is a bamboo grove, and I have not decided what to do for the background yet. Interestingly enough, there are no humans in this piece. Only a snoozing cat :P

The shape of the Spider Cafe was inspired by this cool spider here! There is such an abundance of inspiration from nature :D

The Fable Reader / Telling Tales

2011-09-26T10:50:00.008+08:00

This is progressing well! I actually began this one before the Meeting and Tree of Dreams but it got stalled for a while. Didn't get the feel of it until now, but that's the way it is :) I do have a few pieces that are stalled indefinitely (like At the Threshold) mainly because I've lost the story of the drawing. Well, sometimes it comes back, I just have to have patience! :P

Tree of Dreams

2011-09-20T13:45:00.004+08:00

The Tree of Dreams grows on a high cliff, dreaming an endless sleep...

I really liked how this piece turned out. It was the better decision to redraw the whole thing again. The hammock creature is more lively, and stands out against the background. Detail getting a bit out of hand in the cliffs, especially after I added the ocean, but overall it pulled together really well! :)

My favourite part of the drawing experience is the final 20%...when a piece is just about done, and I'm tweaking the shadows and focus. That's when you're about the see the results of your hard work haha :D So yeah, happily finished and as soon as it was done another idea came into my head, so stay tuned for... The Spider Cafe! :)

Take Two

2011-09-02T11:46:00.007+08:00

Was working on this drawing and rushed it somewhat, all the lines sort of became muddled and I did something I've NEVER done before - redraw the whole thing from scratch! At first it got a little confusing as I was still trying to make the new drawing exactly the same as the old one. That was the first thing to let go. Copying was never my forte so I allowed the new drawing to breathe and evolve. It still retained the feel of the previous piece, but many of the details have been worked over :)

The first drawing. I'll probably use this to test out how to draw the ocean, but won't be a finished piece.

Second drawing - much cleaner and better control of the lines. Really giving it time to grow instead of rushing the process! :)

The Fable Reader (in Progress)

2011-08-09T15:55:00.005+08:00

This came out of nowhere...I sat down with a pen one day and just drew. Made up the creatures as I went as well :P

Been reading the Amphigorey books by Edward Gorey, I just love his use of lines! :)

Deep Ocean (formerly Untitled: Big Fish)

2011-08-09T15:18:00.006+08:00

It's done!!!! Ended up being more complex than expected - but that's the joy of doing it! The photo doesn't do it much justice...it's hard to capture all those fine lines. Will have to get a better reproduction for the website :)

Detail of the crashed submersible with the gigantic sea snake behind it. At the last minute I added the shadow of the huge fish or otherwise the space behind was quite empty.

Floating jellyfish. My favourite jellyfish out of the whole piece. Buoyancy~~~

Swirling water and swirling fish! The ocean turned out really abundantly filled with imaginary sea life.

I really liked the design of this ocean discus. Originally based off a sunfish but became more discus-like towards the end. It has three eyes. All the better to see you with...

I really tried to give the impression of a vast sea, with a heaving surface seen from below. Did I succeed? Well I'm satisfied with the results :) Can do better, but I thoroughly enjoyed the process!!! Can say that H.P.Lovecraft's stories do play a big influence on this piece. I'd thrown in cyclopean ruins under the ocean and lots of funky sea creatures. Only the huge fish in front with the snaggle-tooth jaw comes from a different influence...I tried to do more of a steampunk creature.

Something always fascinates me with seas and oceans. It's so VAST. And we know so little about it and its inhabitants. So lakes, seas and oceans are always a source of mystery to me. There is a bit of the ominous, a bit of the mysterious and a bit of the light-hearted in this piece. ;)

Blessed Sakura - cont'd

2011-07-12T12:45:00.001+08:00

For now I'll be posting more of the progression of this piece on my FB page instead: Yün. The Sakura is coming along very nicely :)

Blessed Sakura (W.I.P.)

2011-06-26T21:49:00.003+08:00

My second take on the Sakura theme :) I had another sketch drawn up on my computer last month, then my HD crashed and I did not back it up >.< Thankfully I had the whole system on Time Machine :) That's why I love my iMac...full system and preferences restore took a little more than 3 hours! But anyways the lost sketch made way for a new one to begin! Can say I'm more in tune with the feel of this piece now...so hopefully, an acceleration! :D

Untitled (Big Fish) Work in Progress

2011-06-23T16:18:00.005+08:00

Drew this little drawing two years ago on a memo pad paper. Something about happily sitting on a buoyant jellyfish lol :P Now after two years the image comes back again and I set out to draw it on huge paper. Yes, this is another BIG drawing! :D

Vastly different from the original sketch, only thing I kept was the girl on the sea jello :P That is what a difference of two years can do to a piece!

Haven't drawn for a while so feels a bit rusty...

The big picture! Starting to get the hang of all those lines!

The fish is a lot more ornate this time...my attempt to channel steampunk lol. I do love my cyborg/mutant/hybrid creatures. Let's see where this drawing can go!

Misty River

2011-06-02T07:14:00.001+08:00

Tranquility.

Abyss

2011-06-01T09:08:00.001+08:00

Fear Him.

Drawing has always been an outlet for me and the origin of this piece is an interesting one. Although I'm typing this after it's all blown over so yes, it is interesting in hindsight but while it was actually happening it scared the shit out of me. This is about the anger and fear in me. All of us have it, a darkness inside. I finally took my first steps to address and accept this and to stop consciously feeding it, which is what I have been training myself to do my whole life. As long as I keep it fed, I can go on 'living', that is functioning normally in society. But that was only surviving in the shadow of my ego. It does not give me the freedom to be my higher self!

So I've been reading about ego and painbody from Eckhart Tolle's New Earth. Such a marvelous book. I was having these bouts of depression and I couldn't understand why I could not be appreciative of all I have. What it was is that I was becoming conscious of my ego and the painbody attached to it, and it doesn't like that one bit! Oh nooooo....and all these negativity just suddenly came up attacked me! I blamed everyone and myself, and felt there is no meaning to life anymore etc. I felt suicidal. All my worst fears assaulted me - fear of losing loved ones, fear of not being acknowledged, fear of not being right, fear of becoming nothing.

I wrote all my anger in my journal, and now that I read back on it, I can clearly see the form that my ego takes. Those words in capital letters shouting out from those pages were the screams of the ego losing its power over my being. But what a lot of fear I had to face! The cool thing about fear though, is once you've faced it, you'll realize that fear was nothing more than a mask for a deeper desire - to be loved. I used to equate that with being needed, useful and conforming to others' expectations. All a lot of 'needs' and nothing of 'being'. This little episode with my ego has taught me to finally break free of those expectations, and to face my fears and confront the anger in me; worth it all for the joy and peace I am feeling now!

I am prone to complacency, so I still have an arrogance in me. this is the first test I've passed but by no means the last. Life if the sum of our courage, fears, success and failures. I have learned tremendously on this journey and I couldn't have done it without strong external support from my friends and family! We are never alone so reach out if you can and take that hand offered to you. You will find that it makes all the difference :)

Lord Nevermore & The Girl Who Listens To Animals

2011-05-30T12:14:00.004+08:00

A double-feature! Lord Nevermore (finished) and The Girl Who Listens to Animals (line art) both available for viewing at winniecheng.net!

Sparrow

2011-05-15T08:10:00.004+08:00

Drew this like, 2 years ago, when I was still working at YP... yesterday sat down and looked at it and well, this will be going further than just a drawing! :)

I'm having this moment where my head is being flooded with ideas for drawings, illustrations, comics...lol. The sucky feeling comes from knowing I probably can't do them all, I'm only one person after all. And I've still got my research thesis to focus on! :P Aaargh a little frustration, imagination overdrive!!!

Also been listening to Bruno Mars ;) Ever since high school, I always needed to listen to music while I draw/paint etc. Last time it was to feed that anger and teen angst. Not like I don't do that anymore, but my song choices is much more varied now! And I don't absolutely NEED to listen to something while drawing anymore. I used to go into the music and it helps me concentrate on my lines. Sometimes feels a bit trippy lol. Music videos too are a source of ideas. When I say music I'm not really talking about Pop, back then I was all about Korn, Linkin Park, Limp Bizkit, Rammstein, System of a Down... those are like my classics now! XD

Haha well, variety is the spice of life! I think my music library has songs from Tiesto, Sonata Artica, Dr Who (ehem), and some Top 10s in there for fun :) Oh yeah, recently a TON of GLEE songs took residence in the library too! L

Lord Nevermore - Sketchalating

2011-05-14T10:54:00.004+08:00

Lines lines lines! Blacks blacks blacks! Hehe and lots of clutter, fusty wallpaper pattern...makes me a very happy person :P

The subject of this piece is based on this bird:

It's a not so happy story - my cats caught this black bird, I managed to stop them from killing it, but it had a deep cut on the chest that won't stop bleeding. I put it in a safe place to recover, unfortunately the blood loss was too much for it to handle.

This bird has brilliant ruby eyes. Really awesome, when you look into it you can really see an intelligence there looking back at you. That's where the inspiration for my drawing came from. The finished piece will be black and white but the eyes and the heart pin on its chest will be bright red.

Ongoing, it's A4 sized so shouldn't take long to finish :)

Sakura - Initial Sketch

2011-05-10T16:21:00.004+08:00

2 perspectives on a Sakura tree. Nature and mankind. Day and night. Let's see where this sketch will go! :D

The Embrace

2011-04-13T09:13:00.003+08:00

Well I finished this in record time - took me 3 days straight...now I need a break because me wrist is achy! :P Not sure how or why, I've stopped searching for reasons an image will suddenly pop up in my mind. This piece has a lot to do with acceptance and unconditional love, whether it is someone else or especially with yourself. To me there will always be a light or dark, no one being is 100% good or 100% evil, we are all shades in between. So yeah, image received (I sometimes feel like a satellite receiver) and I set out to draw this emotion I felt.

1st stage, always happens when doing the main characters; I'll get the most criticisms from my mind. It'll be yabbering in the background how 'this is not good enough', 'that line is crooked' or 'come on be more perfect!'. It is always a challenge in the start of every piece to overcome my personal hurdles...internally lol. :P But I think it started as well as I can manage! :)

I didn't manage to get a 2nd stage work in progress but this is the 3rd stage, half filled in the background. I did have one regret, there was no need for the floating bubbles/spores. Because in the end they made the image too busy. Oh well. Another part I thoroughly enjoy of any drawing is to make things up as I go. Those giant 'mushrooms' (I love mushrooms) were added on the fly. I was staring at that blank space and they just filled themselves in :D

The finished piece! This is a photo, haven't got around to scanning it yet but it should be easier than The Sky Whale, this is almost A3 sized. Had some trouble with the shading...might have gone overboard here with the lines teehee, but I think it turned out well! :) Look forward to have this as a print in the near future!

The Sky Whale - Completed!

2011-04-12T08:53:00.000+08:00

It's done!!! :D This is the first time I've done such a large piece for a while now, the size is A2. Back in the years I usually stuck to small or tiny formats...cuz I love my details and I'll fill the whole surface with lines if I could! :P But working big actually feels more liberating - there is more space to breathe, play with lights and darks...This definitely won't be the last A2 sized drawing from me! I've already got 2 more ideas lined up to be drawn :D There is a common theme among all of them - the dynamic contrast between something gigantic and something tiny. :)

A scanned and cleaned copy. It is slightly cropped because A2 is a bugger to scan on an A4 scanner! I'll have to figure out a system somehow. There are some inconsistencies where the edges are warped and don't line up together -.- Well, experimentation time! :D

Hope you've enjoyed this as much as I've enjoyed drawing it!

The Sky Whale - con't

2011-04-09T09:27:00.004+08:00

So I had another burst of inspiration and redrew parts of the foreground and background. Originally the whale was high-fiving a guy holding on to the top of a tall clock tower. But I took that all out cuz it wasn't working for me. Too static. So the guy now is a paratrooper reaching his hand out to the whale's flipper, and the area below is filled with crashed bombers, rubble and dead creatures.

A dead creature's clawed foot. I loved doing the details on this one! As with all the architectural bits. Sometimes I felt like I'm channeling Mike Mignola (Hellboy) or Frank Miller (Sin City) lol. I do love their black and white art style tho! Of course I'd have to have some Edward Gorey in there too!

Yeeeeah...so there are some style differences. Always happens when I work on something again after leaving it for almost 3 months. But I think it all goes together though, and makes it more interesting and dynamic!

So, more to come. Hope I'll have it in this push to finish this piece :D And you'll be seeing lots more large b/w drawings from me! Just next time I'll be using ink and brush to fill in those patches of black. I've been inhaling a bit much of Sharpie fumes...hmmmm :P

The Muse - Completed!

2011-04-06T21:35:00.004+08:00

The Muse in colour! Link to the full image here: winniecheng.net

The Muse (W.I.P.)

2011-02-02T09:00:00.000+08:00

So one day I was puttering around Sophia's room and she was sitting on her bed strumming away on the guitar. The song was 'Just the way you are' by Bruno Mars. But it just looked so surreal with the bright green and yellow walls and that funky bed coverings with the spirals...

So I took a shot with my phone camera :P

And when I got back I sketched out the image I saw...someone strumming away on a guitar sitting on fluffy clouds that are frozen to icicles on the bottom. It's sort of a windy, chilly setting.

The final sketch - I found a pic on the 'net of a twisty bonsai I liked so I put that in as the tree. Lots of spirals here...in the ferns and the shell clips in the hair (not sure if those are visible). Background will be a swirly cloud scene too.

These sketches were done a month ago, and colouring was just completed so watch out for the final artwork coming soon! :D

The Sky Whale (W.I.P.)

2011-01-31T09:09:00.010+08:00

I saw this pic on the 'net some time ago of this scuba guy hi-fiving a humpback whale.

Something about that photo just caught me and well...a while later I had this idea to draw it. But in my twisted way of course. I've been drawing monsters lately and it's been quite some time since I've drawn anything grotesque. And I want to do BIG drawings now. Like huge! :D

So I bought the largest Art block I can find, size is A2 and woohoo I was getting high off all that expanse of blank paper! :P So here's the result (still in progress):

The weapon of choice are Sharpie markers. Oh the fumes...

It is sort of set in a post-apocalyptic world (oh I love those) and the 'whale' is part machine. Cyborg Sky Whale.

And this is how far I've got as of now. I originally intended the guy to be holding on to the top of a leaning building but I'm gonna change that now to maybe him being on a jetpack or something.

The whale with its many eyessss...

Detail of that swirly brain.

It's not finished yet, not by a long shot. Gonna unroll it and work on it some more soon. :)

Nurturing Heart

2010-12-27T21:04:00.002+08:00

A friend of mine sent me a link to a Threadless Design Challenge. The theme was 'Love'. I began work at 9am Sunday morning and did not stop till 11:30pm that night...and made the deadline! Now I'm waiting for the design to be approved for scoring :D I've always wanted to do t-shirt designs, and looking at all the submissions gave me loads of ideas. This is my first t-shirt design but it won't be my last! Nurturing Heart will also be available as a digital print :)

Threadless Design Challenge Link

Enjoy and love life! ;)

At the Threshold - Evolution of a Sketch

2010-12-10T11:57:00.004+08:00

Finally got around to working on this piece after a looong while! Originally it was titled "Through the Open Door" and began as a rough thumbnail sketch in my sketchbook:

So then I scanned it and drew out a cleaner copy in Photoshop:

But for some reason the image didn't call to me and it stayed stagnant in my hard drive until yesterday, when I reworked it again:

I flipped the drawing around, added more stuff around the door - I wanted the room to appear claustrophobic and cluttered. And the girl was no longer lingering by the door, she's bounded out with the cat! (yeah only 1 cat here).

Then I decided to change it again and the girl is once again behind the doorframe, but taking the first step outside. There are 5 cats now, all in various progress of exiting the room:

The final clean drawing before colouring!:
There are 3 grades of lines to help emphasize parts of the drawing. Most of the clutter will be in deep shadow, and the outside is very bright.

Is this home?

2010-11-16T08:46:00.002+08:00

A moment of culture shock. Started out as just the girl and the monster...the futuristic, industrial background just cropped out of nowhere. I mean, I thought to myself, what would a girl and a monster be standing there looking at? I guess a new home would be appropriate. A home full of steel, glass, smoke and high speed transit.

The Girl and the Monster

2010-11-12T10:50:00.010+08:00

It's been far too long since I've updated here...I was concentrating on my papercuttings, so no sketches or prints for a couple of months! But now I'm taking a break from papercutting, and I'm totally in the mood for drawings! Lots and lots of drawings. I was looking through my work from high-school and A-levels...sometimes I get so competitive with myself that it's detrimental to me. Funny isn't it? I always push myself so hard to improve and improve, but if I had not done that I would not be at the level of skill that I am now. The thing is I often neglect to keep in mind the intention of why I'm doing this in the first place.

All these processes of drawings, papercuttings, digital illustrations among others bring me such joy. When I'm caught in the artwork is when I'm totally in touch with my life and being. I've sort of forgotten and neglected this along the way, replaced it with a constant rush to create and create. I've let my art become me instead of me driving my art. I guess the warning signs came when I was rushing to produce the final artwork for Dance of the Tempest instead of enjoying every single cut and line. Though the final piece looks reasonably good I feel that something is lacking in it. I always used to pour my emotions and feelings into each piece, a bit of my soul in every line. That is what I saw when I looked back at my old drawings. And this is what I'm going to strive to recover and bring back to my artwork again :)

Introspection over, now back to the drawing at hand! For a long while now I had a quick scribble in my sketchbook of lil' Red Riding Hood lying in the leaves face to face with the Hungry Wolf. It's just a close up of their faces. That hasn't been manifested yet, this came out instead. Not little Red Riding Hood, just a girl facing a monster. In a field of butterflies and a background of tangled roots.

And a close up of their faces.

Enjoy :)

Apple House - Completed!!!

2010-09-15T17:36:00.002+08:00

It's done!!! :) Yahoo! Adjusted the shading, sky and filled in all those little details like veins in the Apple leaves :D

Apple House - cont'd cont'd

2010-09-13T17:18:00.004+08:00

Added in the background foliage, grass and shrubbery in front and flowers and butterflies. Almost done! :D

The Apple House - cont'd

2010-09-11T20:03:00.003+08:00

First stage in the colouring process - blocking in sections with solid colour. I wanted a purple underpainting to show through for the apple and stone whereas the grass, foliage and other elements will have a dark blue underpainting. The door and other wooden bits are coloured in here.

2nd stage in colouring - colour and texture on the apple! I like how the shine worked out :) Also added the ambience with blue sky and clouds. Though I will rework the clouds when I find some reference to the fluffy kinds I was trying to do! Not quite satisfied with these ones yet :) Clouds are haaaard!

That's the progress so far! This will come out as a print by end of this month so don't forget to check out my Facebook Fan Page - Yün! Thanks! :D

The Apple House

2010-08-24T19:28:00.005+08:00

Drew this while at Shenzhen for my printing trip. :) Look forward to colouring and turning this into a print!

It's aLIVE!!!

2010-08-20T19:12:00.000+08:00

winniecheng.net is finally back after 3 months of redesign!

Joy and jubilation! :D

Check out my updated portfolio and my FB fan page Yün for more artwork for sale.

Storm

2010-07-10T22:40:00.002+08:00

Turned out kind of Giger-esque... got the image of the guy and panther and the crawly background just appeared naturally! :P

Handful of Sunshine

2010-05-05T11:08:00.003+08:00

Pen and colour pencil on watercolour paper.

Shrooms

2010-04-22T21:35:00.001+08:00

Something I drew to destress in office :) Will be coloured! :D

Creatures & Monsters!

2010-03-19T07:33:00.002+08:00

Haven't been sketching much, been doing a spate of papercuttings :) Well now I'm taking a break from cutting to draw again, and here are the results! Monsters! :D

Originally I had set out to draw dragons, but this first guy turned into an aquatic beast of sorts...so, here we go!

The Swimming One

False Dodos & Land Crab - Colour pencils

Stinger

All are drawn on card stock with black ballpoint...more to come!

3 Small Sketches

2010-02-09T14:31:00.000+08:00

I was so happy today when I found this block of watercolour paper cut to the size of name cards! :D I love small things...so here are some tiny sketches!

Shelter

Sheep Friends

Skippy the Lamb

The Swamp's Edge - Complete

2009-12-20T17:49:00.001+08:00

Wohoo!!! Another completed piece! :D

Sephy Sketch - Finished

2009-12-20T10:02:00.001+08:00

Finally got over the tiles...started in September, finished in December. Finally! Around 10 hours including fussing around with the tiles. -_-

On Top of the World - Complete

2009-12-19T14:46:00.006+08:00

It's been a while since I last posted...this was done in roughly 6-8 hours...not sure, I did not keep track of time -_- I missed drawing a lot, haven't had the time last couple of weeks lol. Well, hopefully more completed pieces will follow suit! :)

Initial sketch here.

Witch and Child

2009-11-05T23:32:00.003+08:00

Along the same line of "Crow". Photoshop CS3, Wacom tablet, 1hr +.

Detail of the grinning face.

First sketch done in office. Less than 5 mins lol.

Balancing Trick

2009-11-05T07:25:00.005+08:00

A clown balancing on 2 balls being bombarded by demon Rambutans. Err...

I know there are a ton of projects that are half way done or uncoloured...too many ideas and I'm just trying to catch a few to put on paper before they evaporate. Then I'll finish them slowly at my leisure when there's an idea drought :P

The Swamp's Edge - WIP 2

2009-10-31T11:24:00.001+08:00

Shading shading shading...

The Swamp's Edge - WIP

2009-10-28T22:27:00.004+08:00

A scene from The Swamp's Edge, one of my many unfinished stories.

Crow

2009-10-23T21:06:00.000+08:00

Photoshop CS3, Wacom tablet. Half an hour.

Birds of a Feather

2009-10-21T21:16:00.002+08:00

Started during the same time as Roses Are Blue. Not coloured yet.

Roses Are Blue

2009-10-21T21:01:00.003+08:00

This was a piece started sometime in August but didn't get finished until October, just before CV2. :) It's a birthday present for a dear friend. Of course, typical Winnie style, the present was 2 weeks late. But I finished it on time! Just that the time didn't take into account of the framing :P

Colouring it was a lot of fun! I haven't used colour pencils for close to a decade and rediscovering this medium was kinda awesome for me :D I originally wanted to do the colouring in Illustrator, but that wouldn't have had the personal look I was going for.

Closeup of the blue little alien amongst blue roses. :)

On Top of The World

2009-10-18T20:48:00.002+08:00

Initial sketch. World hasn't been added yet :P More with balloons!

Edit: Finished piece here.

Taking Flight - Completed

2009-10-18T14:14:00.002+08:00

Time spent: Roughly 4 hours. This was a quick one, I might have rushed it a bit. In the end I changed the clouds from stormy to white fluffy ones. This piece is quite buoyant and the gloomy clouds were bringing it down. Also added a bit of noise for texture. Done entirely in Photoshop, from 1st sketch to colour.

Taking Flight

2009-10-16T22:28:00.001+08:00

Started around 9pm tonight...1hr 30mins so far. :)

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

2009-10-06T21:09:00.001+08:00

Wheeee! Did this a while ago but didn't scan it till now. Still needs some post-production Photoshop :P Would be interesting to see how this one turns out!

Door Sketch

2009-09-21T16:15:00.003+08:00

Original sketch in my sketchbook.

Inked drawing in Photoshop.

Still in progress. 3 hours so far...

Small Sketches x 4

2009-09-20T22:05:00.003+08:00

Tuffies among Sunflowers and Daisies

No Wet Kisses!!!

Pug and Poodle

My Mom and I

These sketches (with the exception of Tuffie's) are based on found pictures on the net, mostly on icanhascheezburger.com :) They are namecard-sized. Will continue to add to the series!

Sephy Sketch Coloured - Part 2

2009-09-13T14:47:00.002+08:00

Total time taken so far... around 5 hours. Got stuck on the tiles -_-

Sephy Sketch Coloured

2009-09-11T21:27:00.002+08:00

Only greys so far -_- the tiles will be green and off-white. 2 hours with re-inking and colouring.

Memorial sketch for Sephy

2009-09-11T20:06:00.006+08:00

I was fostering this tiny 2 week old kitten called Sephiroth. Unfortunately I lost her at 4 weeks to a combination of worms and feline flu...she was simply too tiny to be medicated. But she was a squeaky kitten, and brought much joy during her 2 weeks with me. This is her memorial sketch.

Initial rough sketch.

Cleaned up the lines, this will be used in the final drawing which will also have colour.

Sketches done in Photoshop with the aid of a Wacom tablet. It's been a while since I painted with Photoshop, lets see how this one goes! :)

Sweet Dreams - Inked

2009-08-29T14:43:00.003+08:00

Will be traced in Illustrator, though I don't like the teddy bear here as much as the original sketch...the proportions are not as cute...

Anyways we'll see how the vector version turns out! I'm thinking of colouring the original drawing in colour pencil.

New (Happy) Sketches!!!

2009-08-27T18:28:00.004+08:00

I made a promise with my friend the other day; she challenged me to draw at least 1 happy image per week. It's a bit hard to break from my usual morbid imagery but these two were great fun to draw!

Sweet Dreams - will be vectorized in Illustrator.
Happy teddy bear snot bubbles~

Sea Jellies - will be painted in Photoshop.

I hope I can keep the happy streak alive and draw more! There was a dearth of drawings lately as I was moving house...with 3 cats. Who seem to channel diva personalities. Oh well, they've finally settled down properly, so now I can focus on drawing! Yay!

Design for a Mug for Dad's Farewell Run

2009-07-30T07:34:00.000+08:00

Can't wait to see how it looks like on the mug!

Toes With Attitude

2009-07-17T09:28:00.001+08:00

Flowers With Attitude

2009-07-14T16:40:00.001+08:00

Butterfly Lovers

2009-07-09T21:19:00.000+08:00

A commission request from a friend. For tattoo purposes.

Mystery Sketch Completed - Bonsai for Gladys

2009-07-09T18:10:00.003+08:00

Finally it's done!!! I had the result printed at a photo shop but the colours came out too dark :( Some of the details in the shadows were lost. Definitely have to find a better output source. But it was fun to paint, barring the first few false starts...
Total time taken: approx. 24 hours, over 1 month, 2-3 hrs per session.

Mystery Sketch 4

2009-07-02T22:13:00.002+08:00

Rough estimate - 20 hours. Almost done - the house needs to be finished up, then the lighting and shadows balanced. :D

Mystery Sketch 3

2009-06-20T22:53:00.002+08:00

9 hours so far. Taking shape. Has been lazy and has the flu...this piece is soooo over deadline :(

Sketch in Progress 2

2009-06-16T22:16:00.001+08:00

Taking shape...I've been lazy with this. Time spent so far = approx 5 hrs. Almost half way.

Sketch in Progress

2009-06-11T22:38:00.000+08:00

All shall be revealed soon...

Trees Having Tea

2009-06-03T21:38:00.000+08:00

Random tea time with trees.

Lack of Updates

2009-05-26T08:33:00.000+08:00

Things will be a little slow here at Sketchy-Characters... winniecheng.net is undergoing some massive additions. Here are some squiggly beads. Enjoy. Black biro on office paper.

Lovecraft at Work

2009-05-25T20:28:00.001+08:00

H.P. Lovecraft is one of my favourite horror writers...next to Stephen King, Algernon Blackwood etc. Black biro on recycled office paper.

Smokin' Catterpillar

2009-05-20T20:51:00.000+08:00

Alice in Wonderland vibe.

Patterned Slugs and Floating Cupcakes

2009-05-17T09:00:00.001+08:00

Tripping in the office.

Some Garden Flowers

2009-05-11T19:01:00.001+08:00

Cleo Sketch Complete!

2009-05-10T20:39:00.005+08:00

Total time taken: approx. 7~8 hrs across 4 days. Done in Adobe Illustrator CS3 only. 1st time I tried the pencil tool and it did fantastic things for me! :)

Previous entry here.

Cleo Sketch W.I.P.

2009-05-10T14:33:00.001+08:00

I would say this is 70% complete. Time taken so far (Line + Colour): 6 hrs

Note to Self

2009-05-10T13:29:00.001+08:00

Add time taken to complete each artwork, so I can keep a log of my progress.

Cleo Sketch W.I.P.

2009-05-09T14:19:00.006+08:00

Cleo's drawing is coming along well...starting to add colours. Here's a work in progress with the feathers blocked out.
Here's the traced drawing in illustrator. I currently have the actual size set to 14x14 inches. I think a square format suits this drawing better than a rectangular one...any thoughts?
Time taken: Line - 1.5 hrs, Colour - 1 hr so far.
Original pen sketch can be found here.

Tea With The Queen

2009-05-07T20:58:00.002+08:00

Randomness done at work one day...the result of too much boredom, and pink-hued cubicle walls.

The Cutest Microbes

2009-05-07T20:54:00.003+08:00

Cute microbes - will be vectorised some time in the future.

The Top Banner Thingy

2009-05-07T20:28:00.004+08:00

The raw drawing without title and grey colour.

Cleo

2009-04-17T14:00:00.001+08:00

This is a sketch of Cleo...you can see I attempted to have her name made up by stripes, but misspelled the name :P Drawn with blue Biro on scrap paper, without pencil. 2009. Thinking of tracing it in Illustrator and turning it into a T-shirt design. Let's see how that goes.

Hallo

2009-04-17T10:00:00.000+08:00

Welcome to Sketchy-Characters, where I plan to post all things sketchy. Over the years I've amassed such a large amount of drawings that I'm finding it very hard to categorise and update on my website: winniecheng.net.

Therefore the purpose of this blog is to allow me to keep track of my drawings as well as progress on any WIPs(Work In Progress) floating around on my desk. The sketches are all hand-drawn and will range from stuff I did since high-school up to uni and now.

Hope you enjoy the sketches!