It had indeed been a wonderful 2011 and as we welcome 2012 let us expect more exciting things. So this is what we at our studio is riding on this journey toward a better year. More changes are going to take place and more exciting projects to are going to come our way and yes, it is going to be a more fruitful year!
We are in the midst of a rebranding process internally which we hope to be able to be fully set up with a new brand identity in the next few months or so. It will be a transition period for us, things might not be in proper order but please be patient with us. We hope that you would continue to support us by tuning in and we hope to inspire you with our arts and design.
To all our existing clients, thank you so much for your support throughout 2011. We will strive to serve you better. To our potential clients, we surely hope to work with you and show you how we can better your business with our visual communication creativity.
Meantime, in line with our internal rebranding exercise, this blog has been migrated to a new link at liyincreative.wordpress.com (until further notice).
This is the recent Christmas eCard design I have done for a client.
The concept is based on the meaning of Christmas – God’s begotten Son, Jesus Christ who was born into this world as God’s gift to mankind, thus the nativity scene that is subtly represented on top of the gift box ribbons. It was a joy to the world. It was a silent peaceful night where the magi followed the direction of the star in the east to where Baby Jesus was born. And angels were rejoicing.
Initial sketch of the idea.
Adaptation into the letterhead.
Have a meaningful, joyful and merry Christmas!!!
***Updated 11 December 2011*** Check out the animated version of the eCard here.
This year I was once again given the honour and opportunity to churn out a set of 22 caricatures of the pre-school students and their teachers of Amazing Kids Literacy Centre, Malaysia for their graduation day. The graduation ceremony took place last month. The caricatures were compiled and made into a graduation poster like a movie-like poster with the kids are the stars of the big day. Each graduate received a piece of the framed poster. One of the kids was awarded as the Amazing Kids of the Year and she was received a specially designed Certificate of Excellence.
The graduation poster.
Photos of the graduation day.
The teachers and the graduation poster.
Students’ caricatures hung on the strings in the centre.
A quick preview of all the 22 caricatures.
The certificate for the Amazing Kid of the Year.
Here are some of the initial rough sketches of the caricatures before they were scanned and transfered over into my iPad for tracing, inking and colour rendering.
And the printouts of the graduation poster, certificate and some of the caricatures.
The progress of making and completing the caricatures was a major leap from what was done for last year’s graduation.
Do check out the individual caricatures in my flickr.
I am on a week of holiday right now and today is my fourth day here. I am traveling alone with my Lonely Planet guidebook. It has been wonderful so far. I have visited Taichung city and currently in some highland place in Nantou called Chingjing. It can be a bit challenging for me sometimes as most information on signboard and menus are in Chinese. But most local people are friendly and helpful enough when you ask.
I am not in a mission to cover as many places possible in such short trip. Just taking my time to relax and enjoy the country before I am back to the grind again right after this break.
This is what I managed to sketch today on my iPad – a landscape of the farm just outside the hotel I am staying in Chingjing. The weather was beautiful today without the rain.
Heading off to Taipei city tomorrow.
Bye for now!
**Updated 26 November 2011**
This is the photo of me doing landscape painting with my iPad in Chingjing.
I am back from my awesome holiday trip since a few days ago and down with a flu since I will recover in no time
Sorry for the lack of updates on this blog lately. Have been busy. Lots of drawings to do, so little time, before I hit another break time again soon.
Meantime, I have set up an online store at Society 6 to have my art pieces available for purchase. Here are some of the drawings of Kolkata, India which I added into the collection. The drawings were done during my visit to the city last year.
He is one of the most influential people of people of our time. Also known as ‘The Smiling Preacher’ – Joel Osteen. There is no way that I cannot be inspired every time I listen to him speak.
Til this day I still love the old 6-colour Apple logo since the day I got my first Mac way back in my college days. Apple’s Think Different commercial once again comes to live and reminds me how I should be thinking differently as a creative professional. Hope it does the same for you too.
“This is the year of the iPad”… as the former Apple CEO said it. So this piece of caricature which I sketched of the man on my iPad 2 with Sketchbook Pro is my tribute to him.
How would I not be saddened and shocked by the news when I read the news headline “Steve Jobs Dies” today? It was hard not to as an Apple fan myself I grew up with Apple computers. Remembering those days in my college my very first computer was an Apple Macintosh Performa 6400. I had never owned or touched a computer before then. Years later I got myself the first laptop – an Apple iBook, then years later a MacBook Pro 15” and then now doing most of my work on a Macbook Air 11”. My computing device just gets smaller and lighter each time for the convenience of traveling. Never have I once thought of switching to a PC and you can almost be certain that I am Windows illiterate.
Steve Jobs, the man that I have never met or known personally but his visionary leadership quality and innovative mind was what I truly admired. As my tribute to him, I have done a quick sketch of him (‘imperfect’, though) on my iPad 2 with Adobe Ideas app.
Mr. Steve, thank you for introducing me a new, clean and exciting way to draw! You will always be remembered.
On a side note, life’s short eat more apples cos apple a day keeps the doctor away.
My first time using a vector app to paint. Just testing out the Adobe Ideas on my iPad. This is the result of a layer upon layer-of-strokes set at different colour opacity to achieve an acrylic look-alike painting. Best of all it is in vector.
I was bored of looking at the same design on my Starbucks tumbler I had been using for the past few months since April. So, I decided go a bit crazy and have some fun tweaking the Starbucks logo this time. The Starbucks mermaid had a makeover! Dressed her up like in a Superwoman outfit, put on her some make-up and turned her into a clown face, crowned her with Mini Mouse’s headgear, coloured her hair, and made her play with some of the Angry Birds cast. Hope she’s having fun!
BERSIH 2.0 rally on Saturday, 9th July 2011 in Kuala Lumpur.
This is a personal photo-account of me and my rally mates who took the courage to participate in this march to support an electoral reform in Malaysia. It was a decision we made to stand up for what we believe is right for this country and to show how much we really care for our beloved country.
We went with an upbeat spirit, taking some fun photos along the way before the rally started, to the time when we walked with the rest of fellow Malaysians from all walks of life, age groups, skin colours and different faith, to our first hand experience with tear gas and water cannons shot by the police in the streets of Kuala Lumpur as supporters shouted for reformation.
Fleeing from the stinking smoke from tear gas canisters, seeking refuge in the nearby buildings and then soaking wet in the rain as we continued the march before the second round of tear gas was fired. With tearing eyes and breathing difficulty while running away from whatever that was coming after us, I thought to myself, “Are we refugees?? Why on earth are the police and FRU doing this to people who want to march peacefully for justice?? Have we done something wrong??”.
Third round of tear gas and everyone was escaping, it was too crowded for me and my only one mate left with me to run any faster. With a wet towel soaked in salt water that I had prepared before hand, I covered my mouth and nose as tightly as I could but the tear gas was killing my eyes that I thought I was going to die as I heard some supporters were choking and coughing in pain. It was near the Chinese maternity hospital in Puduraya that we managed to escape to a higher ground on a hill and through some narrow staircase and climbed over a gate. We finally made our way safely back to where we came from.
Although I did not go with an expectation of experiencing chaos and tear gas, I am glad that I survived it all. It was certainly an unforgettable day to remember. I could have never been so proud of myself as a Malaysian as I and the rest of other Malaysians came together in unity and stand up for a cause.
I believe Bersih 2 was a huge success for Malaysians who love and care for this land. Although the rally was over, my prayer for justice in this country will continues.