Misery Loves Company

Watched The Dark Knight last Thursday, and I gotta say it's the best Joker interpretation I've ever watched, and possibly one of the best super hero movies I've watched so far (aside from Iron Man this year). The story itself was very well told (from plots to characters), and it leaves you with some feeling of depression.

Rest in Peace, Heath Ledger.

Srikandi

Back in the old days, Srikandi is a title given to female warriors who are well versed in the craft of Pencak Silat, a form of martial arts that is popular among Malay folks (originating from Indonesia, which then spread into neighbouring islands). It is more on the offensive side, since it was developed for war. It ranges from hand-to-hand combat, to an assortment of exotic weapons. The most popular choice of course is the keris.

In fact, there are many disciplines to Silat, and I recall a few that is especially designed for women (I remember my brother telling me the story of a princess/a woman who created the craft, and challenged that no man shall marry her unless if he could take her down. No man could).

As far as I can say, it is a serious art, especially if mixed with black magic, mainly Dabus. Nothing good can come from that (My cousin had this experience once - he got thrown across the ring by a single punch, and some of his ribs were broken during a Silat competition while sparring with a very peculiar opponent).

As for the deer creature, well... before religion, there was animism.

Now and Then

I did this a while ago for a friend's interview earlier this year. I don't know if it's up at all since I had a hard time accessing her website. She asked me to draw how I was during my uni days and my working life.

Ink on paper, coloured in Adobe Photoshop.
BG texture is from ro-stock
Custom Photoshop brush splatter patterns are from Brusheezy

This is how I spent my days as an animation student in Multimedia University. It wasn't that bad, until I entered final year. Aah... the long nights of technological horror, strict lecturers, and adrenaline rush...

My days as a production artist may sometimes be cramped with office or freelance jobs, but I still enjoy them anyway

MARVEL TRYOUTS

Some quick sketches of Marvel characters, on 3X5 inches of paper.

DnD CHARACTER

It's been a while since my last update, but here is a quickie I did some time ago.

I sometimes play Dungeons & Dragons with my colleagues once a week after work. Here is my character, Eerom, named notably for her black hair. She qualifies as a half-elf, since both of her parents are half-elves. As a result, her right eye is green whereas the other is light brown, her ears are less pronounced, and she stands at 5'4".

Character class: FIGHTER
Weaponry: 2 dwarven axes and a short bow
Armory: chain mail and leather.
She has yet to upgrade from level two (I'm horrible at throwing dice).

Eerom's life story is a dull one; she was raised by her elven grandmother (who was raised by humans, thus diluting certain elven etiquettes or approach to certain things), and they both shared a strained relationship until her grandmother kicked her out (Eerom doesn't know whether it was because she set the curtains on fire, or because she was caught flirting with grandma's boyfriend).

Eerom never knew who her parents are (grandma refuses to mention her mother's name), and neither does Eerom care. All she knew was that her mother ran away from home, met up with her father, and a year later grandma found little Eerom dumped at her doorstep with a single letter which read: "Congrats! You're a grandma! Her daddy's half-elf by the way."

The next 21 years were hell for grandma since Eerom does not inherit much elven grace. She's lousy when it comes to housework, and their family business of crockeries have suffered greatly while under her watch. It was then decided that she has a knack for destruction, something she might inherit from her deceased human grandfather who was a barbarian (grandma fondly remembers him being macho). Unbeknown to her, she might inherit the talent from her biological father who might happen to be a fighter as well.

Not long after she got booted out of her grandmother's home, she joined her current traveling companions by stalking the group's conveniently attractive ranger... whose true love is gold (She was ready to get drunk in the town bar, until she saw him. She then used the money for the beer to buy armor and weapons instead so she could tag along. It took a while before everyone slowly noticed her). This is due to the fact that she has an unhealthy streak of infatuation/obsession/attraction towards pretty things, whether it has a pulse or not.

As far as Eerom's concerned, she would tail them around until another "pretty thing" shows up for her to follow...

Pencil and ink on paper, coloured in photoshop.

FIGURE SKETCHES AGAIN

Doodles from my sketch book.

The Freelancer's Guide to Charging Projects

What I read today:
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How to charge a Project? The Freelancer's Rate Card
Written by: Lee Yow Chuan (financial planner)
Affiliate of www.Meshio.com
(This article is from artsentral.com)
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...I need to readjust my lifestyle. It doesn't help with the rise of petrol price and everything else.