Letting Go

I usually don't draw the same image twice. It's a rare occurrence for me to redraw a piece and so far I've only ever done it with The Tree of Dreams. But this is starting to change as I begin to open myself up to explore a particular image in different perspectives. This change was a result of my interest in sustaining a series of work that has a unifying theme! Letting Go was a small pen drawing on card coloured with colour pencils. My intention was to capture a moment of release, to let go of burdens and be carefree. The first instance of Letting Go had a little girl in a mushroom and toadstool grove and a sleeping cat and was created in 2010.

I was not fully satisfied with how the first drawing was finished and felt it would be interesting to revisit the drawing again in 2014. This was one of the first drawings I worked on since moving back to Penang in March of 2014. Instead of smooth card the second drawing was done on 300gsm cold press watercolour paper. I've placed the composition in a circle as I found it easier to contain the composition in this manner. The toadstool grove has grown, and a sleeping cat, little frog and steampunk seahorse now accompanies the girl. She has also grown up somewhat!

Sketch and the beginnings of inking.

The inking was done using Staedtler Pigment markers 

which was also used to ink the first drawing in 2010.

I had begun to work more with watercolours since 2012, and have gradually improved my skills. I would build up colour through many layers of wash and the cold press paper made it possible to do so. For this piece I used a 24-colour watercolour set by Schmincke for the first time. I liked this set for the way I am able to get a brilliant finish with the colours.

First wash tends to be very light as I begin blocking in colour.

Colouring is a slow and painstaking process in order to ensure the composition

stays balanced and stands out at the right places.

As each spot is filled up it becomes easier to choose the remaining

colours to fill in the rest!

I enjoy a saturated colour palette and placing complementary colours next to one another!

The finished piece!

The drawing was begun around March 2014 and completed in November 2014. Compositionally I feel this piece is stronger than the first drawing as the circular format really draws your eye into another world of fantasy and make-believe. Perhaps I will draw the same image again at a different time of my life and see how the picture has evolved! :)

REstart - New Banner and look!

For a long while I had shifted by base of operations to my Facebook Page and Instagram. I had considered retiring this blog but never got around to doing it. I guess I have some sentimentality especially when it comes to posts documenting my creative process - it reminds me of how far I've come and how much further I can go. More than a year has passed since my last post, I've graduated with my MA, moved back to Malaysia, and am seriously building my career as a professional artist! So I'm glad I kept this blog, perhaps it may inspire some who also intend to pursue their dreams despite practical advice on how life should be lived. Somehow it is working out for me, so I'll continue to share my journey here!

So first things first, is to change the design from the clunky flipcard template to this simpler one. It looks better to me! Second is to update the banner! The previous banner was a funky neon design, which I still love but does not fit with the current theme.

Banner from 2011-2014

The new banner!

Hope you like the new design! I've managed to keep the rainbow colours but toned them down a bit. I'm beginning to use colours more and more in my art, especially watercolours!

New badges for Behance, Facebook and Society6

In addition I've also created new badges that link to my galleries on Behance, Facebook and Society6! Go to Behance for large, scrumptious views of my black and white drawings, while my Facebook is catered to my custom papercutting and illustration commissions. I've also got a few art prints for sale on Society6! Go check them out!

The Adventure, Pixie Storytime and The Dreaming Treehouse

It's been a long while since the last update... I was caught up with completing my thesis on painting style in Brunei. Now that the writing's been done, I've finally got the time to reconnect with my drawings once more!!! It's the most beautiful feeling ever :)

'The Adventure' is based on how I'm feeling with my life becoming more of an adventure than being stuck in drudgery. Though I'd love for my life to be like my drawings, I've learned to accept this reality for what it is and still carry that spark of the other place within my heart constantly. This is what keeps me enthusiastic and inspired for the next day!

I've always wanted to draw a scene where you are led from a hill in the foreground to the wide ocean in the distance. The possibilities are out there!

Closer look at the girl and the jaguar. These characters are inspired by the people I meet in my life :)

'Pixie Storytime' is a small watercolour piece in progress. A peaceful moment in time.

Lastly it's 'The Dreaming Treehouse'! Drew this a while ago, finally getting on with the colouring! Sometimes I'd find this one colour, texture of background that can get a drawing rolling and it feels awesome when things fall into place :)

Melancholy Dragon Hut

After looking back and re-evaluating where my drawings could go, I realized that what I''ve been drawing so far were imaginary landscapes and well...I've been imposing how I feel on these external views. Not sure how to say it but what I really want to explore now are my insides, my thoughts, emotions and spirit.

I really love doll houses and models, so I was inspired one day to 'hey, let's draw interiors!'. So this is the first of my foray inside my inside lol! Not a very happy one, then again that's how I was feeling. But it was fun to work with the depth and the surface patterning of the clouds to convey a sense of oppression. I was feeling trapped in my head and my little apartment.

I hope later drawings will be more fun with imagination types but the common theme would be exposing truths about family and relationships to me. Thank you for staying with me on my journey so far and I hope you enjoy this new phase of my travels! :D

...and I've also resolved to talk less and let my drawings do the talking! :p

Neptune - Completed

Finished this piece a while ago but didn't get to post it till now. I liked how the dark, swirly water looked at the upper left corner! I was a bit worried how it was going to be because I don't want it to be too dark to upset the balance of the whole piece. So, IMHO, it matches the swirly patterns on the sea-gods body quite well :)

Overall, really enjoyed the lines and darks as usual hehe! Not sure if this might end up being coloured, but I'm brushing up on my digital painting skills so this might be next! Or maybe I'll finish 'The Girl and the Monster' first...waaaah such a backlog!!! XD

Whuh?

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 Makings of a Namecard

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!

 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 :)

Deep Ocean (formerly Untitled: Big Fish)

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. ;)

Lord Nevermore & The Girl Who Listens To Animals

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

Sparrow

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

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 :)

The Embrace

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!

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

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 Sky Whale (W.I.P.)

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. :)