14.12.11

The Hiatus has Paused

So after a very long waiting phase.. I finally get that email. I won't say this is an end, or this is over, because it'll be a beginning of my next phase (OH FINALLY!). I remember that I was once a college student, then after graduated, I caught in a hiatus (an euphemism for "unemployed") for more than a year, so I'm so excited for this moment to come.

I actually a little shy because I once bad-mouthed that company. Apologize! So I think the case closed then. I hope that company won't read that post. :P I'm just thinking that when I was ready to let this opportunity go, and try to cope by applying another job, then it suddenly came back to me again without notice. I believe this is a blessing from Allah. Alhamdulillah. Because of this riot, I'm able to learn what "sabar" (patience) and more of sabar means. Although I might won't keep this for long because after all I'm only human, but insya Allah, I'm gonna do my best. :)

Well this is the latest illustration I made on yesterday. I was thinking to make a fashion illustration since the girl I drew was in a fashion-spread on my old magazine. But it just ended up like this. A little whimsical and ghostly at the same time. I doubt it could be categorized as a fashion illustration. But I'm sure this picture describes a lot of my hiatus phase before I finally invited. (I drew it yesterday, means it was before the email came, remember?).

Forest girl. Waiting for something.
Here I also want to tell you readers that I'm afraid I can't get in touch with this blog again. I'll have my job training started in 2 days and probably won't post anything until next month. I hope we'll meet again in not later than January or February 2012, right after I turned 22. :P Wish me luck guys! :)

10.12.11

Sisters

I have no sister. Okay, I have my best friends in behalf of this "sisters" place. But you know I sometimes imagine what is it like to have sisters. Is it fun, or is it a curse? :P You maybe own a person to play your barbie doll with, or to play cooking, or to talk some cheesy gossips with, or the most important thing, to brag your stuff with. Well I have two brothers and they never let me to brag about my new clutch, or my new accessories, or my brand new make up (As if!). But I proud of them anyway. Besides, I still have my mom to talk with. I brag everything to her. Sometimes she bored with my bragging thing but come on, bragging will not make you look good in your friends' eyes. They will consider you as an arrogant lady. So, the safest person to brag is your very own mom. :D

And oh she's also like to play make up to my face since she's some kind of make up artist. Man.. I honestly hate it. :P

Playing make up with your sister.
Model: Dakota and Elle Fanning, from W magazine.

8.12.11

Letting Go

I'm so ashamed by the post I made earlier. (I won't tell you which one :P). At first I just attempted to write about my feeling and I don't think many of my friends will read it. Okay, I did give the link to several of them, just to get opinions. Still, I never thought that they will read it! So now everyone knows what has happened. So they knew that I was a pathetic. But it's just a "was". Means, I'm no longer in grief.


Grief.
Okay, I still feel the grief.

But not too much. At least I'm ready for the letting go stuff. Yes. I'm coping now. And big thank you for everyone who's gave me supports, courage, advice, anything. You might not believe it but any positive words from you was superb. Appreciate it. May Allah give y'all the best. :)

To be honest, letting go this grief was not easy. But thank God we've managed to do some efforts. So yesterday we had an outing together (all of us, with the same problems). At first I was thinking that if people with the same problem had a discussion together, they will talk about their problem and make pathetic confessions so that the grief will grow bigger. But I was wrong. After we had a chit-chat, ranged from our very problem to the light ones, we felt so much better.

So in my opinion, if you had a grief and want to let it go, I suggest you to talk it with, mostly, the ones who have the same or similar problem with you. If you think, "no, I'll get better after some self-alienation, just leave me alone", you are wrong. Alienation will just make your grief grow bigger, since the negative energy will gather and reach you easily. And your brain (or your heart) won't stop to fight. Your brain may say, "hey you have to stop being a pathetic," but then your heart answer, "no, leave me alone, I'm a loser". etc. Isn't it complicated?

Communication is the key. Don't choose to be alone if you are able to meet other people. By the way, here are some pics of our "letting-go-the-grief"-outing.

Before
Who is this? Is this really me? :P

After

Some silly snapshots in the restroom.
A little pose while having a talk.
This condition reminds me about a song from Savage Garden, entitled "Crash n Burn".


When you feel all alone

And the world has turned its back on you
Give me a moment please to tame your wild wild heart
I know you feel like the walls are closing in on you


------

---------
Bridge:
Because there has always been heartache and pain

And when it's over you'll breathe again
You'll breathe again


Have a great day always. :)

7.12.11

Feline's Brigade

This weeks's theme of IF is "Brigade". First thing I captured in my mind about brigade was army, troops, etc. Uhm.. quite sure, actually. Well without further ado, I make this illustration, about feline's brigade.
Feline brigades. Their motto is "thou shalt fear the dogs nor the sea".
I don't know why it end up like this. It likes a pirates crew. Is pirates crew also a brigade? Never mind. I draw cats quite often and drawing various cats is fun. So here's the list of the crew:

(from left to right):
1. Lynx cat (a rare species, founded in Siberia..uhm where's Siberia?lol)
2. Persian cat (elder)
3. Black ordinary cat (the smallest member yet the most brave one)
4. Lady Ocelot (you won't like it when she's mad)
5. Mr. Lion (wonder why he's not taking the lead here)
6. Puss in Boots (heheh, it's a twist. I love this character so much!). He's the leader since he's so clever as a cat.

So.. what's your opinion?

5.12.11

Ridiculously Tough, Ridiculously Uncertain

Can you believe, I have a ridiculously tough time in this past 2 weeks and I think it won't end too soon! Well as I said before, I've been waiting for an email which is said will change my life. What kind of email is that? Uhm you might aware about it from something I posted before but I don't want to tell.

So yes, I've sentenced as "pass the final interview and going to receive the invitation email to get the job-training". But, as you might guess, the email didn't come. I don't know. Is it "didn't come" or don't come yet" or "will not ever come", I don't know. How could I know? It is really unfair knowing that some people who applied later than me (I applied in January 2011, announced to pass the interview in July 2011 and SAID that going to have training not later than December 2011) has already received the invitation email and so they are going to get the job-training before me. Just why is that? Of course, I asked it to some people who's already work there and also emailed the recruitment team, why did my email doesn't appear in my inbox. But the answers are always the same: "dear Dewi, we've received your email and we wish you to wait longer". Wait, wait and wait. All I heard just this "wait" words. But they didn't give me (and 2 of my friends) a straight answer. I was hoping we received something like "dear all, you might get your training starting not later than month xx and date xx. Because you are blablabla." But they didn't do that. So everything just remains uncertain.

I just feel like deceived. Well it's a huge company. Some might won't believe this is happened. But it just does happen. We Indonesian called it "BUMN", a state company. It produces a large quantity of oil, lubricants and something alike (from here if you are Indonesian, you must know what kind of company I mean). But just why is the recruitment system is this uncertain? They probably should improve their human resources to get everyone happy and fairly treated. And again, just so you know, it's already passed 11 months since I applied. I also must note here that I really pass the final interview so I have rights to blab about this, no? 

Just what should I do? Should I be grateful because I probably could pursue my dream to become a full-time illustrator (right now I'm still a free-lancer with a small number of commissions)? Or should I keep send spam to their email just to get the answer and the justice? I just confused. I'm nobody. Really, I won't win against this kind of company if I try to sue or something like that.

Un-umbrella-ed girl. Just like me. Because I'm nobody.

P.S: At first I attempted to write this post in Bahasa Indonesia since this is an emotional writing; but you know if the company find out, I'm afraid they might block my blog. Something like that. They are tricky. And I'm not brave enough to fight.

30.11.11

a Woman in Kimono

Juriko's blog has always bring on her unique illustration of mostly, desk and something similar, which is simple yet lovely in colors. I already followed her blog and her works are always gorgeous. And then several days ago, I noticed her post about Hooka's desk. She gave an invitation to send her any picture of desk, in this case, our own desk, to be illustrated by her. Well of course I'm so excited, so I email-ed her a photo my desk. Although my desk is a bit messy, I think it'll be exciting to see what she's going to capture the image on her illustration. But then I think, wouldn't it'll be more exciting if she challenge me back? Well we are both love to make drawings so we should challenge each other in order to get the excitement. And then after several emails, she accepted it! So that means, she also gave me challenge, to make a drawing of her portrait. We called it an "artwork-barter" (couldn't find another name for it lol).

This is very exciting, besides, she gave her portrait wearing a cute kimono (did I mentioned that she is a Japanese?)! Whoa..as a Japan-culture lover, I couldn't be more excited. She's gorgeous in the picture and her kimono is so colorful. So fun to draw! And here's the image I made for her:

A kimono-girl! I want to wear it someday. hee hee
I made it by my pencil drawing and a little photoshop in the finishing. And just now I've received a link from her on twitter, that she's already upload the image. (She's busy but she managed to finish her artwork in no time. Glad for it) And I Loooove it. It looks simple yet cute, and love the color and also the details! Well done, Juriko! And big thank you for the pics. Want to know what has she captured from my desk in her illustration? Go straight to her blog here:

Well again, if you want to exchange your artwork, give challenge to me so I could challenge you back, please don't hesitate to email me here. I'll be happy as long as I'm not busy working. :P

tweedledew[at]yahoo[dot]co[dot]id

26.11.11

Get In Touch Again

Last two days, my friends and I had attended the 2nd International Seminar of Chemistry (ISC), held in our campus, at Aula Pusat Studi Bahasa Jepang (PSBJ) - Universitas Padjadjaran, Indonesia. The first seminar was held 4 years ago, while we were still student and didn't attend officially. Actually for this year, we also didn't have any plan to attend it at the first place, but since we had nothing to do (yeah, we're still categorized as jobless, because our job training hasn't started yet), and the seminar provided certificate, we decided to take a part as attendant.

The global theme for this year seminar was "Chemistry for the better future". We got guest lecturers from U.S.A, Australia, Japan, Malaysia, Turkey, Germany, and the Netherlands, and of course Indonesia (our own lecturers, so nostalgic). It was kind of awkward having a lecture again after several months we didn't attend any class. And this time, it was international class. So of course, they used English. But even if they speak with the same language, English, yet they speak it differently. I mean, they got different accent and it was interesting to have everything performed in the same room. I honestly have to struggle to understand the talk, especially for the Australian - I mean, he talk so fast! After all am not a native speaker. lol.

And nah, I wouldn't talk about what was in the talk because it didn't fit with the theme of my blog, did it? I guess I'll talk a bit about this on my other blog. Once the Pikaland, an illustration website said that in order to improve our drawing skill, one way is to draw a person a day. And in the seminar we got a lot of interesting people, and also foreigner. So I didn't waste my chance to draw their sketch. Here are them:

Marked by the country flag:
The Netherlands: Dick B. Janssen : enzyme and biotechnology, a little organic chemistry
Australia: Robert P. Learmonth : biotechnology
U.S: Brian P. Coppola : chemistry education
Japan: Ikuo Fujii : biochemistry, immunology and bioinformatics (fit perfectly with my final project! How nostalgic)
Germany: Evamarie Hey-Hawkins : nanotechnology
Turkey: Ayhan Bozkurt : membranes and fuel cells

This universe is diverse, that's what I realize while seeing and drawing each speaker. But when we talk the same language, we could share and discuss like no borders. Well, here are some pics we got from the event:

First day of seminar was like pathetic, we were late so we seated in the second story. This photo is what exactly could be seen on the seminar. Fortunately, the second day, we have a good seat - and view. 
Goodie bag always bring happiness, especially for me. And the tote bag is quite cool.
The certificate. Someday we may need it.
A little pose before leaving the seminar room. From left to right: me, Jimmies, Dara, Ve, Dewi (she's also Dewi, but she's not me :P).
You know this may be a little weird, but attending this seminar - means get in touch with chemistry again - is made me like, I miss studying chemistry - especially biochemistry. And I miss attending classes, college, my lecturers, friends, and even the tests! I think, if someday I get a chance to enter college, for master degree, I won't decline it. Well it just a may be. :)

21.11.11

Twilight (no no, not that Vampire's drama)

Did you know that I'm a HUGE fan of Do As Infinity? It's a Japanese band with a vary genre ranged from pop to rocks, whose formed in 1999, and once disbanded in 2005 before they have re-grouped again in 2009. If you ever saw an anime titled "Inuyasha", then you must know the soundtrack entitled "Fukai Mori". The song belongs to Do As Infinity (DAI).

Good news is, they have released their newest single entitled "Tasogare" or "Twilight" in English translation, in November 16, 2011. I LOVE this single and couldn't help myself to not to play it over and over again. Even though I don't really understand the language (It's in Japanese and I once learned it in high school but still it doesn't very clear), I always love how it sounds, like the arrangement's, composition and so on (like I understand lol). So melodious and couldn't go away from my mind.

Here's the PV, released in October 26 in Japan:


And here's the lyrics (obtained from Jpopasia - permalink):

TASOGARE
by Do As Infinity


Tasogare wa yume mo namida mo akaneiro ni somete
Ikutsu mo no kizu to itami wo kagayaki de iyasu yo

Naze nanno tameni umareta no ka
Toikakeru bokura wo
Azawarau you ni hokorashige ni hikari hanatsu

Kagerishi nokoribi no yamiyo ni kieru toki made
Dare ga tame terasu tame
Wagami wo moyashite ikitai to sakebu sora

Tasogare ni wakareshi tomo no omoide ga nijinde
Furusato no todokanu keshiki afurete wa ochite ku

Mada hate mo miezu boku no yukue
Tsuzuite yuku nodarou
Tada mune no oku de setsuna setsuna myakuutsu dake

Hakanaku oto mo naku yozora ni noma reyou to mo
Dare ga tame mamoru tame
Shuiro ni somarishi tenohira wo kazasu sora

Naze saigo no hi wo osoreru no ka
Imanaraba wakaru yo
Mada warau kimi to nagori oshimu mirai ga aru

Kagerishi nokoribi no yamiyo ni kieru toki made
Dare ga tame terasu tame
Wagami wo moyashite ikite

Hakanaku oto mo naku yozora ni noma reyou to mo
Dare ga tame mamoru tame
Shuiro ni somarishi tenohira wo kazasu sora

I haven't finished the translation yet but I guess it's about some kind of musing (like DAI always do in their lyrics). Tell me if you also like it. It'd be so great having the same musical taste. :)

8.11.11

Got You

Three days ago I watched "Red Riding Hood" and so much inspired to make a version of mine. So in this image, she finally found out who's the werewolf and ready for the battle.
Got You!

7.11.11

DIY Pinkat Bolsters

As rainy season has coming on his way... this freezing air is really something to me. All I want to do is just laying on my bed, get covered with my blanket and anything will do to get warm.

So this idea came to me, I made this bolsters to make myself even warmer. Actually I was inspired by an article written on Teal cat Project website, they promoted their cat dolls product and I felt like I could make one. But! I'm so sorry I didn't write the instruction in proper words so I just post the step-by-step images. Check these out, it's quite easy. :D
Supplies needed
The pattern
Cut the fabrics
Sew and hem the edge of fabrics, leave 10 cm opened on the back.
Sew the bow, fill it up.
Set the eyes, bow and nose.
Fill the doll up, sew the opened edge to close.
The sewing technique used: 1. The first one for the mustache, 2. the second one for the tracing before sewing with machine, 3. the last for finishing the open edge.
Let Pinkat embrace yourself in this brrrainy season! :D

1.11.11

Scary Doll

When I was a kid my mom used to buy me tons of dolls. I kinda like them at the moment, but as I grew up, I changed my mind. I think they are scary. I mean, look at the eyes! Okay, enough said. For IF submission this week, I drew this doll to represent that "scary" theme. And FYI, I'm not good at lighting, so this is the best I could do for now.


31.10.11

Komodo oh Komodo

This is a local issue, so I tend to write in Bahasa Indonesia.


Akhir-akhir ini di media masa dan elektronik terdapat kampanye yang lumayan gencar agar kita bangsa Indonesia banyak-banyakin vote komodo untuk menjadi new 7 wonders yang baru, sebelum 11 November 2011. Awalnya sih aku oke-oke aja, meski belum nge-vote juga karena merasa sungguh lucu kenapa penentuan 7 wonders alias 7 keajaiban dunia harus pake sistem vote lewat sms dan internet? Udah gitu tarifnya juga lucu, awalnya seribuan eh turun drastis jadi satu rupiah doang. Sampai dua hari yang lalu, sebuah tweet kebetulan mampir di timeline-ku, dari mas Pandji Pragiwaksono (presenter dan aktivis nasionalis), yang kira-kira isinya begini:

RT : Pahami faktanya. Kalau peduli Komodo, mungkin ada baiknya jangan dukung program kirim SMS --> 

Setelah ngecek link yang di-attach di tweet itu, tiba-tiba aku langsung ngangguk-ngangguk setuju. Hm ini bukan berarti aku kontra dengan penobatan komodo sebagai new 7 wonders sih, tapi bener juga lho, komodo itu butuh diselamatkan, dikonservasi (dilestarikan), bukan diperjual-belikan (tidak secara harfiah) untuk tujuan wisata apalagi secara internasional. 

Yah.. sebenernya menurut berita yang aku baca, 95% turis di taman nasional komodo itu memang sudah merupakan turis asing alias bule (sumber). So..bule-bule juga udah tau kalau komodo itu makhluk ajaib alias "wonders" dan cuma ada di Indonesia, jadi rasanya memang sedikit lucu ya kalau kita harus mengukuhkan hal tersebut. Bagus sih buat iklan, pariwisata Indonesia mungkin sangat membutuhkan iklan seperti itu. Tapi apa komodo-nya sendiri butuh?

Dulu, tahun 60-an saat pulau komodo baru mulai dikonservasi, katanya jumlah komodo mencapai 5000 ekor dan ukurannya besar-besar, sampai ada yang 3 meter lebih. Nah taun 2000-an ini, jumlahnya tinggal 3000 (sumber). Kedengarannya memang masih banyak, 3000 gitu kan. Tapi bayangkan, 3000 itu bukan cuma di Indonesia, tapi dunia! Artinya, dari sekian luasnya dunia ini, cuma ada 3000 ekor komodo dan jumlahnya terus menurun di samping ukurannya juga mengecil. Katanya sih ini gara-gara habitat mereka terpepet bukaan untuk pemukiman penduduk, dan selain itu mangsa alami mereka, semacam rusa, juga sudah mulai berkurang jumlahnya (baca lebih jauh di http://www.komodonationalpark.org/ ) .

Balik lagi ke masalah 7 wonders tadi. Sekali lagi, tanpa bermaksud untuk kontra nih, coba pikir ulang sebelum memutuskan vote atau tidak. Kalau gak vote dibilang gak nasionalis, saya pikir itu berlebihan. Karena apakah vote itu bisa membantu melestarikan komodo? Gak juga 'kan. Simple-nya begini - ini cuma opini saya aja lho - kalau komodo jadi salah satu 7 wonders, mungkin komodo akan semakin dikenal luas di dunia sebagai 7 wonders dari Indonesia. Dengan gitu nama Indonesia keangkat, terus turis asing tambah pengen ke Indonesia, karena ada komodo. Lalu pendapatan negara akibat aktivitas turisme internasional ini meningkat, jadi taman nasional-nya bisa dibagusin lagi, diperbaiki fasilitasnya untuk mendukung pariwisata. Dengan begitu pulau Komodo jadi tambah kinclong, untuk obyek wisata. Sekali lagi, obyek wisata. Terus komodo-nya diuntungkan gak? Mungkin ya, mungkin tidak. Ya, karena stok makanan mereka mungkin nambah. Tidak, karena sifat komodo itu mudah stress, bayangkan mereka tiap hari dikelilingi jubelan manusia yang ingin melihat (obyek wisata nih, jadi cuma untuk melihat), bayangin gimana stresnya mereka belum lagi habitat mereka yang makin sempit. Kalau jadi obyek wisata, pasti nanti muncul kios-kios di sekitarnya, dan habitat yang sempit itu jadi tambah sempit. *CMIW please..

Ini bukanlah masalah vote atau tidak vote, aku gak ikut-ikutan soal ini. Tapi tolong diingat, pulau komodo ada untuk memfasilitasi pelestarian komodo, bukannya memfasilitasi komersialisasi tempat tersebut. Tonjolkan sisi konservasinya, bukan pariwisatanya. Komodo akan tetap jadi wonders, keajaiban dunia, terlepas dari apakah mereka termasuk yang 7 besar atau tidak.

Save them, do not sale them.

Catatan: Pembahasan tentang pro-kontra dari segi transparansi penyelenggaraan ada di sini.

29.10.11

Influential Visual Science Book

When I was a kid, I was so in love with kids drawn-science books. It was because there were so many amazing pictures in it, making science became so fun to read even if you just looking at the picture. I couldn't name all of them because I read a lot, but my favorite books are came from a German kids books author and illustrator, Hans Jὓrgen Press. His work are amazing and so fun to stare at since he was also a mystery book author and you need to stare at the illustration to solve the mystery. You know "The Black Hand Gang"? It's a mystery book, about a detective group. Unfortunately, it didn't published in my country so I wouldn't tell much about it but from what I heard, that book is so fun to read (and stare).

  
Okay so I've read several titles of his works but my favorite was "Melacak Alam" (means Nature Tracing), an ecology book which was published in 1970's, but I found it when I was in middle school. I read it like, hundred times and did almost every experiments written there and also even re-wrote my favorite parts along with the picture. So if you wonder where did I get the science-drawing enthusiasm, now you know the answer.


I totally adore his fun illustration technique. It's just simple but full of details. And you know what, his work is one of my influence in making my own illustrations.
A peak of his book titled Simple Science Experiments.

From the book "The Black Hand Gang series".
Here are some sketches by me, taken from "Melacak Alam" (pardon me, they are a little blurry).


Right now I'm looking forward to gaining every pieces of his books, even if I have to search the used books since they are so old. Several science books are still available to order in my country. Well, from a little search, I heard that Mr. Julian Press, Hans' son is also a kids book author and his illustrator is similar with his father's. I guess I'll do some search for his work later.

24.10.11

Varicella

Today I intend to write a post about my chicken pox, just in these images. I have no intention to write much, so these are what's describe me best today.


Go to see the doctor with mask and big-glasses.
Lay down all day in my bed because my body is so itchy.

I want to take a bath!


23.10.11

I'm a Zombie!

Lately I've been busy, yeah, busy to recover for my very first pox (measles, varicella). And you know what, I had dreamed about this, a day before the disease came. Uhm, it might be a coincidence but at the day, I was surfing through one of my favorite website, doodlersanonymous and find this zombie article. Actually we Indonesian didn't have any tale about zombie stuff so we shouldn't likely scared to them but the pictures I saw there were so damn creepy, spooky, and believe it or not, I had a quite insomnia in the night. And then I dreamed about myself turned into a gross-faced zombie, with orange poxes and bumps and scratched skin. Oh I really hate this and I couldn't erase that picture for 2 days afterwards! And so it happened. I got my very first pox, and it's been invading everywhere, even my face! My, my, how could I go out like this? I even wear my mask and big glasses every time I out from my own room. It was too disgusting. It was like a dream (that zombie-faced dream) came true. Of course my face doesn't look that zombie-ish. But still, every time I see the mirror, I was like, oh my God, is that really me? Well well, I think I won't tell you the whole story right now. Maybe you'll be bothered to read this because once again, this is very disgusting. But everyone must experience this disease in order to be immune from the pox. You know, for a pox case, it's always better late than never. So I really envy to you who has experienced this when you're still a lil' kid. You won't be this ashamed or annoyed, right? Write to you later (after I recover) and beware of pox!
This is the zombie-faced me from my dream, NOT me with my pox-face.

19.10.11

Happy Global Handwashing Day!

Although it's already a bit late to say this but.. Happy Global Handwashing Day! Remember about Coli bacterial (yes, that Coli. The one which is circulated in our intestines) which has spread in UK lately? It was said that one per six cell phone in there was contaminated with that bacteria (source). I hope everyone with the disease is no longer infected and that's why we have to keep ourselves, especially our hands, clean and healthy.

I once made this comic, 2 pages with guides for kids to keep healthy and immune. It was a project from my friend who is studied in nurse faculty to socialize the subject to kids. At the time, I knew nothing about how to make a children illustration so I just came with this. (everything was written in Bahasa Indonesia, but the picture is quite obvious)


I didn't edit those images, because once the comic had done, everything was saved by my friend. And oh if you need this image to, maybe, introduce how to be healthy (basically) to your kids or younger bros/sisters, you can ask me for the better quality image. It's quite crowded to be read by kids but I hope it'll be useful. Check Global Handwashing website for more information.

17.10.11

The Luck Talk

When you don't earn anything that you're excited and overwhelmed about for a long time, you'll get very down.

That's what happened to me today.

Well it's a simple thing. The day Steve Jobs died, it was announced that his biography will be available by the end of October in Indonesia (of course, it's been translated to our language). As a big fan of him, and also since he's passed away which means the biography became valuable, I was so excited and has tried so many ways to get the book. Like, when it has first announced, I put the book in my wishlist on my online-book-shipper account. It took a day for me to decide whether I have to buy the book or not. Thing is, it's quite expensive but since the book isn't available yet, we have to get the pre-order-ed one, which means cheaper by 20% to the original price. So then the next day I returned to the website, tried to put the book into my cart. Guess what, the book stock ran out. My my, I was so sad at the time.
Retrieved from bukabuku.
After that, I tried to put the wish-list-ed book to my own cart, despite the notification said it was no longer available. But it worked! Means, I was just ordered it. I was so happy but the notification really drove me confused. Did I really ordered it? What if my order wasn't noted on their list? So I asked the customer service if they had received my order or not. But the email took 2-3 days to be proceed and it got on my nerve so I, without any purpose, CANCELED that order. I changed the amount from 1 to zero. And then I shocked! It was really canceled! I couldn't pre-order the book any more! I also couldn't back to the previous page so the order was officially canceled and I couldn't re-order it since it was still unavailable!


So then I did the next step. I browsed the publisher's official site, just to get to know whether it'd be possible for me to get the pre-order. Unfortunately, there wasn't any pre-order available yet. At the time I thought that I really have to wait a month to get the book. Man..it's too long. But accidentally I found another announcement. They said they would give us 5 free books as giveaways. So I still had the chance, and this time, the chance to get the free one, not only discount-ed. The rule was, you had to make a short statement about how was your feeling about Steve Jobs and his death. Well I had a bunch words to say and it took me a day to decide what statement should I give. Finally I stated about how Steve Jobs changed my mind about the choice of being a scientist and artist at the same time. I used to think that you have to choose one in order to success. Nobody could walk both of the path, there's always choice to choose. But Steve Jobs once stated that we could live the path, both of them. Yeah, I felt like it was the best words to say because nobody would talk about that. So far, I saw them stated about sadness, contribution, and anything like that. I won't put the statement here because I still felt down. You're right, I didn't win. I was too optimistic. I joined the competition like 4 days ago and today is the announcement. I opened the website like, every hour and the last time I checked, I learn that I didn't win!


Well, the last time I checked the book-shipper, it's said that now you're able to pre-order the book due the end of the month. Yeah, it's available again now. You know what, I'm no longer too overwhelmed about the chance to get the book (okay, I'm not honest about this). I'm just tired. Maybe this isn't my luck. Maybe I have to save the luck for my other commission, or competition, or even my carrier. You know my friend once told me this, if you put yourself too much into the luck-dependent things, like game or competition or gambling, someday you'll lost all of your luck stock. I don't even know if luck has stocks, or whether it has limit or not, but I think that Luck can be found, or created everywhere. You don't have to cry about one unfortunate event because there's always another chance. You've done enough and you've got to move on, think about another possibility. Just like Steve Jobs said, "don't settle".


Anywaaaaay......enough with the sad story. I've been busy lately to do another illustration (or you can say commission), the picture of my biochemistry-laboratory colleagues. We didn't have time to do the photo-shoot so I've just collected their photos (mostly from their facebook pages) and sketched it one by one. The concept is, I will put the sketch along with their actual photos held on their hands. Right now I'm still working with it, and the progress is below.




I made it on tracing papers so it looks transparent.
Well, wish you a good day today and stop being so depressed just because a small thing. :)

15.10.11

View from the Top

I always having trouble in putting the right color with the right technique to my sketch. For years, I was just happy to make a black and white sketch, didn't bothered with the color or how did I put it to finish. So here I tried to make that type of sketch, again. (Sorry for the blurry image, didn't scan it properly).
That is the place where I used to live and if you ask, the place is exactly looked like this. The long stairs, high foundation everywhere, a little far from the road and so many trees around. It looks like wood or something (my friends used to mock about this). No, I'm not ashamed. I'm quite proud with this place. I love trees, really love them and thanks God my place is surrounding by them.

14.10.11

We Love Bali

Some people say that Bali is a Paradise island. Well that may be true. Bali is one of my favorite places on earth and I've visit the place last year for my study tour. Sadly, yesterday I've learned that there was an earthquake, a huge one (6.8 in Richter scale), happened in Bali. What a surprise. And I even more surprised because a day before the disaster came was happened to be the memorial time for the Bali bomb disaster which was happened 9 years ago. So creepy. Well, I hope that Bali will recover soon, and the earthquake stop invading our homeland, Indonesia.

 The earthquake was really a disaster. The image retrieved from Kaskus.