28.9.11

Ferocious

It's quite hard to me to decide what I should draw this week because the topic is "ferocious". Honestly I couldn't think any until I suddenly remembered about my final project - the paper I should write to complete my senior year in campus. Yes, it's about the bird flu, one of the most ferocious diseases caused by H5N1 virus and has been haunted mostly in Asia for years. Enough said. So I drew this, when the H5N1 virus infect a cock and this cock spread the disease to the boy. Poor boy.
Media: A4 HVS 180 gsm, Tools: Pencil color, Photoshop.

27.9.11

Another Alice's in Progress

Lately I've been thinking to finish my never-ending-yet Alice's picture. Yeah, I made it using my pen like months ago and scanned it so I can finish it with my Photoshop. But I stuck for a while, you know, artistic block thing. I hope I could finish this picture before my job training (yes, I'm not an unemployed anymore!lol) is began.
an unfinished Alice's picture.
No wonder I've got no time to make something artsy because I spend my time mostly by playing some PC  games and of course, blog-walking.

Anyway, I found about this indie-pop band, not really a new band, but it's the first time I heard their songs and totally in love. Here's The Perishers, from Sweden. Sway and Pills are my favorite. I repeat it over and over again and still in love.

24.9.11

Depression turns into doodles

This is kind of funny story (like the title of the movie itself), because when a 16 years old boy admitted that he was depressed and asked to get into a kinda mental hospital, he finally knew what his big potential was, doodling. So the story, in short, is about that boy, who's so depressed so he tried to commit suicide. The problem is, that boy didn't really understand what exactly his problem. He didn't know what really bothered him so he was depressed. He said it was about her girl crush, who was stolen by his own bestfriend. But in the other chance, he said it was about his confusion to get or not to a summer school (sorta) which was said will decide how his future is gonna be. FYI, this movie is based on a novel by Ned Vizzini with the same title.
This image borrowed from the IMDB website.
I won't talk too much about the story but it gave a kinda nostalgic feeling. Back then, I was only 16 and also a little depressed, because I didn't know how to decide which college did I had to enter. You know I love drawing. I love arts, very much. But there are not many parents approve their kids who want to enter that kind of college. Neither is mine. They said, being an artist won't make you rich. I gave up that time. So here I am, suddenly realized that I am graduated from chemistry department (I don't remember exactly who told me to choose this department?) and a little regret about how things happened.

What I learn from this irreversible moment is, you have choices, but when you feel like you make a wrong decision, it'll be up to you whether to give up with many regrets, or survive and try to chase your it-should-be-chosen-back-then dream from the very beginning. It'll never be too late to start anything over - you still own your life after all.

Here are some artworks - doodles - the boy from the film has made. They are very adorable.
He used water color and pencil. Finally I learn how to color your doodles by using water color lol. I made an update for this post, you know I was very curious about this man behind the gorgeous artwork, and so I found this blog, thanks to her I finally found that Brian Ducker is the masterpiece! So adorable pieces.

20.9.11

Mesmerized

Snow White: Magic mirror on the wall, uhm.. who is the fairest one of all?
Magic Mirror
: Famed is thy beauty, Majesty. But hold, a lovely maid I see. Rags cannot hide her gentle grace. Alas, she is more fair than thee.
Snow White
: Good for her! Reveal her name.
Magic Mirror
: Lips red as the rose. Hair black as ebony. Skin white as snow.
Snow White
: Snow White! I mean, ..me? ...

Magic Miror said she was the fairest one of all.
And she's totally mesmerized - by her own reflection.
Media: A3 HVS 150 gsm
Tools: HB pencil, water-color pencil, water color, Adobe Photoshop CS2 (lighting and texture adjustment)

19.9.11

Picture from my Junior High School

When I was in junior high school, I used to make pictures using my pastel color. But sometimes I used my pencil color and really enjoyed it, even until now. So back then I used to switch my habit from pastel-type to color pencil-type. By the way, since we got no yearbook of our alma mater, and our together photos were always incomplete in member, it's my initiative that we made our self-album, by hand-made and put our name into each drawing. They were made using my pencil color. So, here they are:

Boys got their poses.
Girls from my class.
Not quite alike with the truth since it was made in cartoon-ic style, but they were quite happy to see it. I put my close friends on the front. And if you're curious why was there a pict with stroke on it, in the second picture above, it was because I had a fight with her at the moment. But I've older now so when we accidentally met yesterday, we pretended that nothing happened back then and we had a light chit-chat. I mean, it's been 7 years so it'll be better if we pretend that there was nothing. Beside, I have forgiven her, so I think the case is closed then.

18.9.11

Unhidden Artworks in a Hidden Object Game

I love hidden object games, especially the ones provided from the Big Fish game company and others - yeah, Gamehouses. I play like, tons of hidden object games, and most of them are very addictive. Okay, some people maybe don't like playing a game in which they have to stare so much at the screen to find the objects on the list so their eyes might hurt and a little headache. Or they say it's boring. But different person has different fondness, and I'm a big fan of this kind of game. It's because, I love puzzles and most importantly, I love the artworks which can be seen on the game. They painted the scenery manually and then re-touched it digitally. So stunning. You know, I envy for every artist who's able to make a beautiful game's scenery like that.

Well, these are some of my favorite hidden object games all the time, with emphasize on their artsy scenery in the snapshots. Note that the list isn't ordered, it's just numbered:

1

I'm a big fan of Alice in Wonderland stuff, so to be able to play a game with Alice in it, it's a huge pleasure. The scenery is pretty whimsical with anime-like characters in it.
Alice in Wonderland.
2

The main character is Mortimer Beckett, we won't only find object in the list but also solve the puzzles. Pretty interesting.
Mortimer Beckett
3

I love horrors, so this one is pretty lovely for me.
Deadtime stories.
4

I watched the Johnny Depp's version of movie and totally frightened. Headless ghosts are always the creepiest ever.
Sleepy Hollow
5

This is a very interactive hidden object game, and the artworks is very whimsical, with fairy-tales feeling on it.
Dream chronicles
6

So girly and since I love anything about wedding, so I love it. The artworks here is very beautiful.
7

The characters are made in 3D, so it's quite lively. The artworks is very retro because the game story took place in a haunted (or vampire-ed) manor.
Vampireville
8

I must say that THIS is the most amazing hidden object game I've ever played. I always love the whimsical, creepy, with a twist artworks there. And if you happen to know, this game is one of the famous Mystery Case Files Series. I've played Madame fate, Mystery of Ravenhearst Manor, etc. And still crave for more. Ah maybe I should blab about them later.
Madame Fate
So, what's yours?

17.9.11

My Wimpy Present

Remember about my review about Diary of A Wimpy Kid books series on my late post? It was written in Bahasa Indonesia and actually, I posted it so I was involved in a quiz to win a copy of Diary of A Wimpy Kid number 5. It's a newly translatted book, (not so new internationally) and I am a big fan of the author, Jeff Kinney. Good news is, I was win and today the book has arrived safely in my house. So excited to start to read it. Maybe I'll make another review once I finished the book. Thanks Atria Publisher!

My book is arrived! Horray
Can't wait to start reading..

16.9.11

Wedding Awards

Lately I've been busy making gifts for my newly weds fellows. Since they are my classmates back in our high school and we're only 17 (plus 7 who didn't graduate together), everyone aggreed to make some kind of certificate along with the wedding present. And guess what, I always take the task because all of my friends are busy doing their own business (some with works, others with college stuffs, others with laziness things :p). I wonder who'll make this certificate for me when I get married? Most importantly, what number is my rank at that time (since I'm only 21 right now)? Haha, well check these out:

For Yani.
For Indah.
The first one was made by hand illustration technique, colored and modified using Photoshop 7, and finalized with Corel Draw 12 (for the best printing result). The rest was made fully using my Corel Draw 12 programs. Forgive me for the small fonts because we plan to print it on A3 big photo paper. Besides, it was written in Sundanese languages lol. I still haven't got everything printed yet, maybe I'll do it tomorrow. Digital drawing always need plenty efforts you know, and right now I'm so tired. So next time I'll post the snapshots and the printed pics. I hope they'll happy to receive those gifts.

14.9.11

When a Wimpy Kid writes Diary

Pertama nyari buku ini gara-gara sempat nonton filmnya yang dibintangi Zacchary Gordon dan Devon Bostick, dengan judul sama: "Diary of A Wimpy Kid" (psst, film ke-2-nya udah rilis loh) Nah kalau kamu lihat grafisnya yang oke banget, plus kartun-kartun lucu yang disisipkan di banyak adegan, pasti kamu bakal sangat penasaran, seperti apa bukunya? Jadi aku pun segera browsing di internet dan thanks to Atria, ternyata buku tersebut udah ada versi bahasa Indonesia-nya (which is cheaper dibanding buku impor :P). Singkat cerita, aku coba-coba beli satu jilid di toko buku dan you know what, sampai sekarang aku ketagihan baca buku ini. Terakhir lihat sih buku ini yang totalnya ada 6 edisi, sudah terbit sampai jilid 5 dalam bahasa Indonesia.
Diary of A Wimpy Kid Movie Cover 1 + 2.

Oke jadi ceritanya, Greg Heffley (si wimpy kid) sedang berusaha beradaptasi dengan lingkungan sekolah barunya, dimana banyak remaja tanggung dengan tingkat pertumbuhan yang berbeda (Greg menyebut teman-temannya yang sudah akil balig dengan 'gorila') harus bersama-sama dalam satu tingkatan sekolah, SMP. Dalam usaha beradaptasi tersebut, Greg melakukan segala cara agar dia bisa survive termasuk dengan mencoba jadi yang populer di antara teman-temannya. Dari mulai mencalonkan diri sebagai bendahara OSIS, jadi bintang gulat, kartunis sampai masuk jadi anggota polisi sekolah, semuanya dia coba. Kamu bakal merasa geli membaca (dan melihat) cara Greg mewujudkan impiannya itu. Soalnya Greg itu tipikal egois dan merasa dia selalu benar, jadi lucu aja membaca segala alasan dia untuk ngeles dari kesalahan yang dia buat.

Secara umum, tiap buku serial Wimpy Kid ini menceritakan masalah Greg si tokoh utama dengan salah satu tokoh lain di sekitarnya (yang menjadi inti cerita). So, dari ketiga buku yang sudah aku punya, berikut adalah ringkasan per bukunya (spoiler alert):
Buku ane gan!
1. Diary si Bocah Tengil 1
Greg vs. Rowley
Di buku ini Greg yang sedang berusaha jadi populer, bermasalah dengan Rowley, sahabat Greg yang menurutnya sama sekali tidak keren. Pembaca akan dibuat sebal dengan tingkah Greg yang sama sekali gak punya rasa bersalah walaupun sudah membuat Rowley rugi. Tapi di akhir cerita, kita bakal jatuh cinta lagi pada Greg karena dengan caranya sendiri (yang penuh rasa 'ngeles'), dia bisa berbaikan dengan Rowley.





2. Diary si Bocah Tengil 2: Rodrick yang semena-mena
Greg vs. Rodrick
Sesuai judulnya, di buku ini fokus berada pada Greg dan Rodrick, kakaknya yang super jahil dan acuh tak acuh. Jadi di sini Rodrick memegang satu rahasia besar Greg yang dia jadikan alat buat menjadikan Greg sebagai bulan-bulanan. Apakah rahasia besar itu? Gak seru dong kalau aku kasihtau, yang jelas nantinya rahasia ini justru malah membuat Greg jadi salah satu siswa populer di sekolahnya, yang meleset dari dugaan Rodrick.





3. Diary si Bocah Tengil 3: Usaha Terakhir
Greg vs. Dad
Ini tentang Greg dan ayahnya. Ayah Greg ini super ketat dalam membuat Greg jadi anak yang sporty alias tukang olahraga. Padahal tau sendiri kalau Greg itu hobinya malas-malasan dan banyak alasan kalau disuruh apa-apa (mirip kita ya, hehe). Nah suatu hari ayah Greg memasukkan Greg ke dalam klub sepak bola yang bukannya membuat si ayah bangga tapi malah mempermalukan mereka berdua. Itulah kenapa Greg dan ayahnya sempat diam-diaman selama beberapa lama. Apa yang dilakukan Greg untuk berbaikan dengan ayahnya? Well, baca saja bukunya.




Hmm.. jilid ke-4 dan ke-5 aku belum sempat beli nih. Tapi aku bener-bener akan beli seandainya ada waktu. Orang bilang, picture speaks thousand words, so buat kamu yang lebih suka liat gambar daripada tulisan tapi males baca komik yang alurnya ribet, mendingan baca buku ini dan kamu akan ketagihan.
Beli di mana?

Red-hood in Wonderland

This is what I made in the previous week. It is something when Red-hood lost in Wonderland.
Lost in the Wonderland.
This red-hooded girl didn't wear her 'hood' so everyone in Wonderland curious, "is that Alice? But why don't she wear her blue dress?". Something like that. Oh I don't know why I put that cat and raccoon on the Red-hooded girl, perhaps it just some accessories? :D

Anyway, I still learn to make a good water-colored picture. I never knew before that using this technique gives me so much fun. So, I'll try it better next time.

13.9.11

Jump to The Reality

IF's theme this week is about "boundaries". So I decided to draw something related to my own (or everyone elses have) boundaries: the one between dream and reality. Sometimes we choose to live our dream (literally dream) so we forget to wake up and make that dream come true. After all, we need the reality to live that dream.

Owl City said on his twitter account:

"Reality is a nice place but I wouldn't want to live there".

But there's no life without the reality. That's what I thought.

Jump to the reality.
Media: HVS 160 gsm
Tools: HB Pencil, Markers, Ink
Finishing: Brightness-Contrast adjustment w/ Photoshop CS2.

12.9.11

Owl to Blab

I mentioned earlier that I want an owl for a pet. Why owl? Because they are so iconic. You can find so much shops or alias with owl on their logo. But you know, owl is a prey bird! They eat another animals (smaller ones) and a great predator. Pretty much like a cat. Also, Sebi, my previous cat somehow looks like an owl. She has big eyes with black bold eyeliner on it. Uhm..I think cats and owls do have a lot in common. They are great in hunting and so quiet when doing it.

Owls

Click here to getImages &

But how could I hug or snuggle them like I used to do to my cats? Uh, surely I have to think again about this.

Well, anyway, since I haven't got any owl yet, I Google-ed some owl pictures and pick one to draw. Not quite satisfied with the result (as every-artist always say, they're all perfectionists) but here is the best I can do for now.

Mr. Owl

I used water color in an A3 sketch book paper. The picture was taken by my camera cell-phone and the final pict was touched by Photoshop CS2 (I adjusted the lighting and texture to get a finer color).

11.9.11

Bye Sebi!

Did I mention that Sebi, my pregnant cat, has already passed away? Well I'm still coping, die trying, I must say. But you know, life goes on. It still gives me a chill and traumatic experience to seek another pets but I guess I want an owl, or owlett for my next pet. I don't know how many years you could spend with an owl, as pets have less age than us human. And I don't really like to lose 'em, like what happened to that Sebi. But I am a pet lover kind, so I want to adopt some more. Maybe I'll blab about this owl thing later.

Sigh.

By the way, this is the last Sebi's picture I took before her leave.
Sebi's last pic.:(

I don't know why she pulled her own daughter (the one she bites on her neck) like the kid was a newly born baby. That was sad. I think Sebi thought that the kitten has born as that big daughter since her babies didn't come out. :(. Why couldn't she remember how old her daughter was?

Sebi's daughter. Her name is Saechan, 8 months old and IS pregnant,too.
I hope Saechan doesn't have to experience the very same thing like Sebi had. This is her first pregnancy and I wish she give her babies birth safely.

So, goodbye Sebi. Thanks for being my cat for past 2 years, and always with me while I was down. I will never forget you. :')
Sebi.

8.9.11

Pray for Sebi

Sebi is my cat. She's 3 years old and now she's pregnant. I think she has 5 or 6 kittens in her uterus but due to her oldness, she has difficulties to give birth her babies.

Sebi in action part 1
Sebi in action part 2
Several weeks ago, I made her picture while she was sleeping on the chair (as she used to do everyday) and it was quite good. Here's the pict and the drawing.
Sebi sleeping style
My drawing for Sebi
Not mentioning about the drawing but..what I want to say now is,

Please help me pray for Sebi.

She's old but I think she doesn't have to suffer this pain because of difficulties in giving birth her babies. No wonder, if her time has to come today or tomorrow or whenever, I'll try to cope. I couldn't be more sad. She's old. Her suffering is so unbearable. It reminds me of my previous cat, Echie, who's also died because of pregnancy. Right now she's sleeping on her birthing box, try to give birth the babies although she hasn't succeed yet. Uh, I can't write more. I'm too sad right now. Pray for Sebi. :'(

7.9.11

Menggambar itu Kebebasan!

Beberapa waktu lalu aku buka kaskus dan menemukan thread ini. Sebenernya gak ada yang salah dengan itu sih, cuma menurut aku, pengajaran tersebut sangat mendikte. Bagaimana mungkin seorang anak di seluruh Indonesia punya pikiran untuk menggambar benda-benda (atau peamandangan) yang sama dari Sabang sampai Merauke kalau gak dilatarbelakangi sama guru yang mengajar mereka? Terus terang waktu kecil aku diajari menggambar benda seperti itu dan well itu sangat menggangguku. Tapi semua temanku menggambar itu sehingga aku berpikir bahwa kalau ingin dapat nilai menggambar yang bagus, ya harus menggambar yang seperti itu. Gambar apakah itu?

Coba lihat di bawah:
Gambar buatan anak-anak Indonesia. Dipinjam dari thread mas rumondor - kaskus.
Aku gak tau sih apakah zaman sekarang anak-anak masih dibiarkan menggambar hal yang kayak di atas tapi zaman dulu (taun 90an) kami semua seperti itu. Okelah mungkin zaman sekarang sudah berubah (kalau ada yang bisa ngasitau gambar apa yang banyak dibikin anak-anak zaman sekarang, please let me know :)) tapi kemudian aku dapat pengalaman lain lagi. Masalah teknik dan pewarna yang dipake buat menggambar.

Beberapa waktu lalu aku sempat main ke toko buku untuk beli beberapa alat gambar baru dan kebetulan aku mendengar percakapan ibu dan anak yang lagi belanja pewarna juga. Waktu itu aku sedang milih-milih pensil warna (this is the most comfortable technique buatku). Nah kebetulan ada anak SMP ngeliatain aku terus dia tertarik juga pengen beli pensil warna. Nah apa yang dibilang ibunya? Ibunya bilang:

"Ngapain beli pensil warna? Kan kamu bukan anak SD!"

Speechless.

Emang kenapa kalau kita suka ngegambar pake pensil warna?

Satu pengalaman lagi terjadi sama adikku sendiri yang sekarang kelas 3 SMA. Kebetulan dia ada pelajaran seni rupa dan sebentar lagi dia harus nyerahin tugas ngegambar. Gurunya membebaskan para murid untuk pake teknik apa aja. Tapi pas adikku nanya apa boleh mereka pake spidol buat ngewarna? Eh si guru itu bilang:

"Jangan pake spidol, kayak anak TK aja".

Hmm sebenernya anak TK jarang yang bisa gambar dengan rapih pake spidol. Setau aku anak TK paling banyak pake krayon atau pastel.

Yang bikin aku terganggu adalah, bagaimana mereka bisa berkomentar seperti itu pada pilihan yang dibuat seorang anak? Toh kalau misalnya seorang anak yang sejak TK terbiasa menggambar dengan pensil warna, sepuluh taun kemudian hasil gambarnya gak mungkin selevel pas dia masih TK kan. Seseorang pasti akan berkembang seiring waktu dan pengalaman walaupun dia terus-terusan menggunakan teknik yang sama.
Gambar ini dibuat oleh Artaksiniya, seorang fashion illustrator profesional dan percaya gak, dia pake SPIDOL (dengan beberapa modifikasi tambahan)! (sama sekali bukan level anak TK).

Amalia K, seorang illustrator dan desainer yang membuat gambar ini dengan PENSIL WARNA. It's beautiful dan sama sekali bukan level anak SD.
Okelah memang kalau yang namanya sekolah, murid diajarkan untuk selalu mencoba hal baru. Misalnya kalau waktu SD kita boleh pake spidol atau pensil warna, ketika SMP maka kita harus berani pake cat air atau cat minyak, dsb. Tapi tetap saja, menurutku komentar dari orang tua/guru yang seperti dicontohkan di percakapan di atas adalah sesuatu yang merusak mental. Bukannya jadi berani nyoba hal baru, seorang anak mungkin akan malah jadi takut "out of the box". Trust me, I know the feeling.

Pada akhirnya, bagaimanapun kebebasan dalam mengekspresikan diri dalam seni itu bukanlah sesuatu yang bisa didikte, terlebih dalam pelajaran. Pada akhirnya si anak/murid akan menjadi takut untuk berekspresi. Dia akan selalu cari aman dan menggambar sesuatu yang memang diinginkan orang harus dia gambar. Seperti gambar dua gunung itu misalnya. Jadi mulai sekarang, sebaiknya berpikir panjanglah sebelum anda memberikan komentar pedas pada pilihan seorang anak dalam memilih pewarna atau teknik menggambar. Hormatilah pilihan mereka, kritiklah mereka dengan kritik yang membangun dan ingatkan mereka betapa berharganya keberanian mencoba hal baru (misalnya masalah pewarna tadi) tanpa menjatuhkan mental mereka. Meskipun mereka mungkin tidak akan jadi pelukis nantinya, bukan sesuatu yang salah untuk membiarkan mereka berekspresi sesuai apa yang mereka sukai saat ini 'kan.

Uhm..sebenernya aku tidak mendapat pendidikan yang proper dalam hal seni rupa, menggambar, dsb. Tapi aku seorang penikmat gambar. Jadi jika ada yang salah, ini cuma opini saja kok. What do you think? :)

3.9.11

Moon Walk

This girl tried to walk on the moon path. Is it a night? Or day? Or dawn? Not really sure, I guess I've got problems to picture the time in this drawing. I also tried to color with water color. This was hard and the resulting drawing wasn't looking so good.
A moon walk wanderer
The sky pictured as the drawing is set on night but the ground looks too light as the day. My bad.

1.9.11

Illustration Friday: (A Failed) Disguise

Whoa..this is my first post of Illustration Friday. I'm a lack of skill but you know, I've tried. This week topic is "disguise". So I decided to draw this: A fail disguise. The fairies tried so hard to be invisible and unnoticeable but Mr. Genius just could see them without even sure about his vision.

A failed disguise.

I used 2B pencil to sketch and then color it with pencil color. The finishing was done by some filtering and layer modifications using photoshop.