D.I.Y. Felt Chocolates

Okay, I know this post is really late but I finally finished design and my portfolio. This is the birthday present I made to give to NP. Took me 4 hours to finish and I didn't get to go to bed until 2am!! Really proud of them... so cute~ XD!!! Cant eat them though... *drool...*

Something Random

Walking down the street the other day, suddenly a tremendous force pulled my attention towards a bunch of promo posters plastered to the side of the path. This is what my eyes encountered.

Man, imagine that staring at you from a dark alley way in the middle of the night....Then i thought, why... doesn't that person look awfully like KT? Excluding the glasses, the earphones, the dark skin and the fact that it's a man... XD

Life Drawing

Been on a mind blank but after Queen Leahs' command decide to post a post :D

~ Forgot where I saw this but omg that is so cute~ Housewarming pressie maybe? After I move into my brand spanking new studio design apartment with clapclap lights and beauty 'n' the beast-type library (full of manga) yea.... :D

~It's called wheel of fortune~ look up 'introvertevent' on deviant

Currently trying (but failing) to save up for a camera (and tablet and maybe-lightbox) but proving difficult with heavy wallet-bleed-out at the Gordon Harris and from my unsatible hunger for food food and more food. I keep saying to people I'm doing design, not art, because visual arts denote Vangogh-crazy-psychotic-cuttingOfTheEar-dieYoungAndPoor (Sorry Andrew LOL Jk).YET here I am spending a fortune on my paintbrushes, ink, dip-pens, artists soap and admiring allTooExpensive(butSparkly) watercolour solvents and that prettyButTotallyRipOff lightbox on the high shelves.
Speaking of art - to satisfy all your curiousities of lifedrawing (tis finally over btw)~ i give you a (tantilising) peek ;) nosebleeds at the ready Lisa and Nat.

~Was it disappointing? I apologise ~ heres more:

I hope you are all satisfied and will stop asking whether it looked/smelled/tasted good~

Photos One Day Two

I'm pretty sure that we are going to hear a lot about semi permanent in the next couple of posts, but who cares? Because this year's semi permanent was fre-ken AWESOME. It was so awesome that I think the the word "inspirational" should be officially replaced by "semi-permanent 09". The person that really got me "semi-permanent 09" was yesterday's first speaker - James Jean (BTW Jean is an Asian, just thought i might clear that up a bit. Asian Pride) not that his work was better than the others or anything (cos all of their work was just fre-ken AWESOME). But the moment he flipped to the slides of his sketch book, I was totally "semi-permanent 09". For me in the past, the idea of a sketch was such a hassle. Despite the many attempts by my teachers trying to force the idea upon me. It probably got to a point where they would rather "eat slugs" than repeating themselves for the gazillionth time. I thought it was always such a pain to carry it around. I really just prefer doodling on whatever I have in front of me. Then along came Jean, Bam! the laziness was gone. Here are some of his works:

Did I even need to mention that David Carson got me "semi permanent 09" too? Motivated by a legend. Again, it was not from his designs and achievements. 'Cos I'm sure if you are a design student, "David Carson" was just another person you were told to stalk. No, nothing "fancy" like that .It was his everyday photographs, his way of capturing things that interested him. The beaches, airport signs, a cord dangling from the ceiling, the banana and coffee cup placed in his car, faded breakfast adds etc etc. I guess this was his way of keeping a sketch book and it was FANTASTIC FULL STOP.

The works of Studio aka. What can I say. Totally "semi permanent 09." My favourite was the comercial "SING UP tone". Love it so much, if it was tangible, I will go up and hug it.

Finale, almost all of them together on stage. Almost... we are missing a quarter. Oh well. we are designers, just don't expect us to be punctual.

A Walk in the Park

Unlike most Friday mornings where i would usually sleep in for the day (since i have the day off), today i woke up "extra" early. Why extra early? because today is the day we will be going to the Auckland museum for the first time in....? well...a long time. Why the museum? because we had an epiphany yesterday (after weeks in denial): one of out major assessments would be semi due in the next week and we still haven't acquired any first hand research. Headache. Ouch.

But before that, we took a nice loooong walk pass the design building, through the archy block, along the OGGB, across the motorway and up the domain (and that's not including a 45min ride on the bus to the city center)

*Apologise in advance for the lack of detail in the captions. I'm hungry, so ill make this post a fast one ^ _______ ^*
 

OGGB aka the UoA business building

victorian house across the road from the OGGB

guess who?

street light in the Domain

some tree branches...some flowers...

tadaaaaa Auckland war memorial museum

museum ceiling

1866 street in Auckland exhibit

chocolate chess mmmmmmm but no. its not part of an exhibit. I wish it was though...

I would love to stay and chat guys but I have to help out in the kitchen now

until next time!

*Boom* a cloud of smoke [exit through the trap door]

Scent of Spring

How long are you prepared to wait in line for a MASSIVE sale of branded perfumes (and electronics)? For me? not long for sure. However we had no choice but to enter that god forsaken place cos we paid 6 bucks to park our car at the venue. For three hours, I observed determined bargain hunters putting bottles and bottles of Gucci, Elizabeth Arden, Bvlgari, Calvin Klein etc in theirs little plastic buckets. Sigh.......I mean, since I'm already here and would never like to find myself in this kinda situation again... why not??? So I bought a bottle of Juicy Couture. Its this really really nice fragrance. Before, I could only stare at it from a distance in the shops cos it was so damn expensive. but now I own it hahahahahahaha *evil laugh* take that! and that! bloody retailers. ^__________^

Yesterday, I stayed up till 2 in the morning to read this book. So obviously in my opinion it was a good book. ^______^ All about the snobbish lives of the upper class New Yorkers told through the eyes of an average middle class women stuck in a loveless marriage to a wealthy husband.

BLEACH vs NARUTO

BLEACH vs NARUTO

(Anime Comparison)

SPOILER WARNING

Nothing says ain't-got-nothing-to-do more than ranting about an anime.

And i'm ranting about two. Rather thoroughly too.

You get the picture.

So get a cushion that your ass is familiar with (if in doubt, check the mold of your ass), grab some popcorn and.. pfft what am i saying, you are all designers. As if you could afford such luxuries.

Anyway here goes.

Immersion / Setting

Bleach:

The world of bleach pretty much consists of the real world, Soul Society (a heaven-like dimension), and Hueco Mundo (the spiritual home of the hollows). These realms however, have just about as much depth as the flat of my ass. Don't get me wrong, the imagination in some of the architecture and design are quite impressive, but after a few hundred episodes u begin to feel there is something wrong. ALL action occuring in the real world (and there is a lot) happens in a little region called karakura town. Wanna' know why?

Well i don't know.

We as an audience feel like there is no other human city APART from that little town which by now should look like chernobyl with the number of times its been attacked/invaded. Oh yeah, and i suppose the ignorant citizens still live their lives completely unaware of anything particularly unusual despite roads being wrecked and buildings being 'spontaneously' demolished once every two days. Then there's soul society. You never see shinigami actually going out and doing their jobs in the real world (pfft lazy asswipes). All they do is train/lie around/drink/play poker/repeat. Even the captains who contain such staggering power just stick around waiting in case some rebel captain decides to decimate their world *cough*. All in all, there simply isn't enough shown happening beyond the main characters and plotline, and therfore doesn't feel like a living breathing world. Not to mention after 300 episodes you'd think you would see ichigo do something OTHER than fight. (The only times you do is when they're PLANNING for a fight -_-). Tite Kubo did try to remedy some of this during random flashbacks in the manga though, but it wasn't expanded upon enough. Huge setting flaws such as souls growing older when it was blatantly stated as impossible, and seemingly empty and pointless buildings waiting around to be destroyed during the fight between kenpachi and kurosaki don't help either.

Naruto:

The world of naruto seems to contrast that of bleach in many ways. Konoha is the home of the story's protaganists and features a wealth of aspects that make it feel like it could actually be physically recreated in real life. There are shops, bbq houses, ramen noodle bars, ninja academies, and much more. Here in between missions, characters are seen here recuperating for the coming task, training, or even simply socialising. Most of the different villages belonging to the different countries are even touched upon at least a couple of times. More importantly, the characters have actual personalities that aren't toiletpaper-thin like bleach's and/or revolve solely around combat. They're many flashback episodes portraying the childhood of naruto and his friends which all contribute to that. Even beyond the plotlines of the main characters, other village's ninjas can be seen in action such as during the defense of Konoha and a couple of other random clashes. Naruto's combat locations ranging all around the ninja world and the myriad of opposing factions in existance all essentially adds flavour and diversity to the world.

Winner: Naruto

Plot

Bleach:

For the first few episodes, bleach's plot would be best described as 'yeaaaa..meh'. Average. The white kid. But as you go further and further into the series, the plot turns into quite the epic tale. From battles between shinigami and ichigo, to the appearance of the arrancar, Tite Kubo has devised many interesting and exciting plot turns. Not to mention, the betrayal of Aizen can be arguably marked as one of the greatest and most surprising twists to any anime storyline. However, this can be sometimes hindered by some incredibly dull battles that tbh, no one cares about unless you're a soccer mom waiting to pick your kid up from school. The audience merely sees as the developers buying time to create the juicy stuff, which is fair enough i s'pose. Bleach does also borrow a few tips from DBZ, and with it, a few of its flaws. The whole concept of ichigo gaining bankai made me pee my pants with glee. (as im sure it did with you too you hypocritical liar shaking your head.) As did him learning to use his hollow mask. But after a while u sorta wonder if it's turning into a big power struggle in the most literal sense. Protaganist 1 gets stronger. antagonist 1 gets stronger. protaganist 1 pumps himself with spirit steroids and gets even stronger. antagonist 1 then pu.. yeah you get my point. But usually it works, so thats ok. There are also occassional times when battles do a DBZ on me and take five episodes just to show a ten min fight but fortunately it doesn't happen too often. All in all, bleach with a few exceptions here and there, boasts a strong and addictive storyline.

Naruto (including Shippuden):

Naruto is a little harder to pick up than Bleach but is no less of a competitor in this arena. This series is pumped full with complex and intricate turns and twists, but each one is not really as ballsdroppingfromsacks as a couple that Bleach has. Rather, it has a consistently strong and focused plot that doesn't vigorously excite as much as Bleach does, but doesn't truly have any 'boring' segments either which more than makes up for it. However, there are some aspects of the storyline that does sorta make you twitch. First of all, i am utterly convinced Naruto is gay and is in love with Sasuke. Secondly, if that Yukimaru kid says 'Where is my home', 'is my home where people think of me' or any more nonsense like that one more time, I swear i'll slap him so hard, he'll finally decide to get a flippin' haircut and grow some balls. Now how's THAT for irony. Honestly writer of Naruto whoever your name is, if you're trying to portray a theme then JUST SAY IT AND BE DONE WITH IT. A retarded ladyboy saying a single line more times than I could count with the hairs on my head isn't the way to go. And neither are Naruto's never ending rants about how much he won't give up on Sasuke (and his secret lust for him). But anyway, aside from the childish flaws - a superb and unique story.

Winner: Draw.

Fighting

Bleach

Lets just say Bleach is just about everything a hardcore action manga fan needs. The fighting is sleek, well-drawn in its simplicity(most of the time), and just adrenaline-pumpin'. Unless during minor battles that no one gives a rat's ass about (Refer to story section).Though not known to be Mr. Ambitious in the originality department, it contains your recommended daily dose of uber-powered sword/magic/laser beamy thing battles with enough powering up to almost rival DBZ's ridiculous drug-promoting.

Almost.

Naruto

Highly creative in terms of action sequences, Naruto pretty much takes your typical ninja scenarios and adds depth and originality to it by a margin of a hundred. In a Pokemon-esque style, tactics and wit usually wins the battle here rather than straight-up Bleach styled brawl. But because so many diff moves and fighting styles are in motion, some of the combat scenes take rather long (as the characters have to proclaim for the 10000th time about their techniques and what it does so the little kids don't lose track) and therefore loses the orgasm of excitement that is generally existant in Bleach. Still, it works.

Winner: Your mum. I mean, draw.

Villains

I figured, hell, this component deserves its own damn category.

Bleach

As far as I've seen Bleach has the greatest collection of villains in the anime/manga realm. Every major (by that I mean the captains at one point, arrancar, and the rebel captains) enemy is so damn cool and stylish in his/her own respect. Furthermore, Kubo wisely made them all intensely powerful (well the first time you meet them anyway) so that you can't help but be in utter awe of their awesome evilness as you go on slitting your wrists in their honour. Not much more I can say except three words: Captains. Espada. Aizen.

'Nuff said.

Naruto

I have mixed feelings regarding Naruto's villains... To be completely honest, for the most part, the majority of the villains that comes to mind are either: 1.) Unlikeable pricks 2.) Weak. 3.) A well-rounded combo of both. Garaa was one of the few villains of awesomeness.. esp with his tragic background and all.. And I suppose Itachi is sorta cool except we don't actually see much of what he does (in terms of anime, not manga) so not much opinion there. But let me say one thing: orochimaru is NOT cool. Hes not even that strong. Oooo he can shoot snakes out of his arms. Well guess what, that merely reminded me of a friend of mine being able to shoot milk out of his damn nose. And all he is, is pretty much a pedo old man who is in serious need of some sunshine, and has enough strange implants/transformations in his body to challenge robocop

Winner: Bleach.

Conclusion: Draw.

Ha yes I know. We're back at square one. Shame. And its prob five times longer than any other post on this blog. You got trixxed. Kk thx bye.

Sunset Silhouettes

I wish the holidays could just hurry up and come! So sick of being stuck at home in front of a "much too small" desk, staring your eyes out at pages and pages of massive blank sheets and living through the painful process of producing "life changing" creations under a dim yellow lamp light while feasting on sesame crackers.

Couple days ago, while I was busy contemplating on a way to solve my creative process problems, I received a call from XYZ saying that she too was stuck, "for the love of all things holy" I'm not alone! We decided to ask the sea for some inspiration... Caught this magnificent image down by the beach at sunset

Winter silhouette

Summer Days in Winter

Quick Post-12 Shot Narrative in chronological order using a disposable camera ( not all of the photos are here cos some of them aren't that clear) enjoy!
 

LOOOOONG WEEKS

Been stuck in school from around 9am to 6pm every night this week doing assignments. The past two weeks has been chaotic, ever since the beginning of the second part of semester one we've been bombarded with assignments. It's like being shot mentally in the head multiple times with hard case metal bullets that erupt in your brain. Finally finished a demanding assignment this morning. Tired as hell (had to wake up at 6:15 to catch the bloody ferry, nearlly missed it by half a nanosecond...) and it feels like I haven't slept for two days. One down, Four to go and more to come...

Today in creative process we were told to write down all our ideas on post-its, and because 1) ideas don't come that easily b) not everyone was fully awake and 3) people were feeling a bit "ERRrrrrrrrrrrrr" from the previous assignment. This is what actually happened to the post-its...

Yup, we origamied it. These were the only two survivors in a group of 10. I took them home and the rest went in the bin... there were three boats, a sunflower, pants and shirt, heart with wings, a box, a lily? and some errr...ummm...folds and creases?
 

The Metaphoric Portrait of Micheal Angelo and Titian

Nostalgic May

As we step into the autumn chills of may I am reminded of
lasts years' memories
like last year's diary or the old
sketchbook.
the notes you used to pass in class.

last years' complaints and enduring long, painful sessions
or a Thursday afternoon'
or a Monday morning's bout of last-minute-homework-copying-because-you-been-out-too-late;  
those crack up moments when you say something inappropriate when the class goes quiet.
the icecream sandwiches.
exchanging exasperated looks when the teacher forgets, again, she has repeated the same content 3 times
4 times, you dont remember.
the collective gasp of inspiration or understanding when you learn how to solve standard deviation.
now all those things i can onli reminisice and wish
I could relive those days.
 
~i blame chaser for triggering this nostalgia- for showing me this:~the leaver's video~ 

"Life is too important to be taken seriously."
                                        - anonymous

 mass production of raspberry cream cheese muffins~ :B spread da loveeee~

~Mainly because I didn't want to do my typeface analysis~~~ and that the philadelphia was expiring~ NOMNOMNOM
~ The hungry season (winter) is approaching. Need to stock up on choc and pocky for those long waits at the bus stop (now i miss those cadbury fundrasing choc at macleans~~ mintchip n caramello~~~)

Introducing... Pretty Britty!

She's so gorgeous!
Sadly, Owner left her all alone in the studio for a whole night. How cruel!
What an interesting day! Lisa and I saved Pretty Britty from the clutches of evil and returned her to her Owner.
Our reward... NOTHING...

Rebellious Gavin

Finally! Some sunlight! Though lasted for a couple of seconds and then BAM! Its gone. Happy moments come and go, but I did mange to captured SOMEONE being rebellious...

What? what just happened?? Did something just flash at me??Oh mannnnn its cloudy again!

WHERE IS MY FOOD?? *sniff sniff*

D.I.Y. Nylon Stocking Flowers

Something nice and beautiful to share to everyone~ 
Super easy to make and it looks pretty good~
Top left: This was a present I made in 2007 for Zelda. In return she gave me one of her wonderful artworks!