Computer Hell

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I just spent all night taking apart my computer, replacing the motherboard, cpu and ram, and putting it all back together. I just booted it up -- I don't remember the last time I was so happy to see the Windows logo =P

I tried to capture my state of mind in digital sketch form... lalala.

okay, 'night!

"Summer Cloud Forest"

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"Summer Cloud Forest" - ink and watercolor on paper - 9" x 7"

Trying some new things, mixing different elements of doodling and painting together... I like the result =). Good times, good times.

Too bad the picture came out a bit dark, the red highlights of the mountains are much more vibrant than shown here...

Ah well, good enough.

'night!

Giant Robot - Game Over / Continue?

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The Giant Robot Game Over/Continue show opened last night. The turnout was ridiculous -- at times it was so packed in there that the only recourse was to shuffle around a few inches at a time. It was awesome that so many people were exposed to my artwork, hopefully they enjoyed it -

Gobs of people from the Game Developers Conference came to the show-- They may have been drawn by the collaboration between Attract Mode and Giant Robot to create art inspired games... and the games themselves were tons of fun, hopefully they'll still be around to play for the next month. (you can find out more about this collaboration here)

I was only able to take a few crappy pictures with my phone, but you can get the basic picture.


My work up on the wall --


people checking my work out up on the wall


My buddy Joe To had this awesome piece up -- Tons of people took pictures of it with their cell phones (including me). Definitely check his work out! Here's a link to an interview he did with Giant Robot last month, and his art site is here.

If you're in the Bay Area for the next month, definitely go check it out. Lots of good work up =).

The folks at Giant Robot SF just uploaded a set of pictures from the opening night here. Check it out!

"In the Woods"

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"In the Woods" - ink and watercolor on paper - 9" x 7"

Forest creatures and the trees they belong to... and vice versa =)

Sorry for no post yesterday, fell asleep on the couch again before I could finish anything postable =P. Hopefully this one makes up for it! Trying some new things for the trees... definitely something to explore more in future pieces.

Other than that, I'm really excited for the art show at Giant Robot SF tomorrow! If you're in the San Francisco Bay Area, definitely go check it out -- you can find out more details here.

'night all!

Notebook doodle

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No new paintings tonight, but just thought I'd share some doodles. The bag was done a while ago with a fabric marker, the notebook more recently with a pilot razor point...

Keeps me occupied =)

'night!
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Yay, back home in SF!

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Austin was great! But it's good to be back home... Another few days in Texas would have killed me =P

Time to return to normalcy though. Hopefully will be posting more nightly paintings again soon!

My uncle the artist

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So did I mention that my uncle is a famous artist? He's won awards, written books, curated shows, exhibited around the world, and is hosting me for this weekend I'm in Houston. His name is Charles Liu, and his work looks something like this:


Returning Home at Night, 21 5/8"x30 1/8", Ink

You can check the rest of his work out here: http://cliu.chinesewebcenter.net/ink-1.htm

His ink and watercolor paintings form a fusion of traditional Chinese "shan sui" (mountain & water) paintings -- with a modern aesthetic. I've always wanted to hear what he thought about my work... and at the same time have been terrified as to what his thoughts may be. It turns out he's happy with the direction I'm going, and that my Chinese American upbringing has brought about an interesting fusing of different themes...

It's obvious by looking at his work that I've got a long, long way to go... but it's always heartening to hear that =).

I managed to wrangle a few weeks of art lessons from him when I was very young, and after almost fifteen years we sat down for another lesson today. I was especially curious about techniques with ink and rice paper -- for while I had gone to Chinese school as a kid, I had never taken any traditional Chinese painting classes.

So yeah, painting with ink on rice paper is HARD.

Here's my sad, sad piece.


Don't look at it too long, you'll start laughing and I'll start crying. Scroll back up and look at my uncle's work some more =)

It's cool though, I definitely want to experiment more with the texture and qualities of rice paper. It's tough to get a hang of, but it's definitely a technique I want in my toolbox for the future!

Alright, 'night all --

"Small World"

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Another sketch post from the road... now in Houston visiting relatives!

Tomorrow will hopefully have something more colorful and fun to post =) When I was a kid I took art lessons from this uncle, and I think we're going to have a painting working session tomorrow... Pretty awesome =).


"Small World" - ink in sketchbook
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Stayed in my hotel to work tonight, didn't get to go out to see bands.

Oh well, at least my liver is happy...?

"Austin Coaster 3"

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Another coaster brought to you from the bars of Austin, Texas. This took forever, since I was obsessed with filling the entire thing.

Looks pretty cool though!

'night =)



In case you were curious, this coaster was for Bass Pale Ale. Triangle coasters. Neat!

Austin Notes - SXSW

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When taking notes at a tech conference, the sketch to note ratio is inversely proportional to the usefulness of the content. This particular panel I didn't find very enlightening at all. =P



In other news, Giant Robot created a Facebook event for the show next week! If you've got Facebook, please RSVP by visiting here.

Giant Robot "Game Over" - DATE CORRECTION!

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So it turns out the date of the Giant Robot show is Friday, March 27th, not Saturday as previously advertised. Update your calendars, in case you were planning on coming =)

Here are the complete show details again:

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Game Over/Continue? at GRSF,
March 27, 2009 - April 15, 2009

Reception: Friday, March 27,
6:30 pm - 10:00 pm
GRSF
618 Shrader Street
San Francisco, CA 94117
gr-sf.com
415-876-4773

Austin Coaster 2

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Another night, another coaster =).

Giant Robot "Game Over" - show details!

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*CORRECTION* the show is actually on Friday, March 27th

Hallo

I have a show coming up in two weeks. If you happen to be in the San Francisco area, make sure to stop by Giant Robot in the Haight on March 27th. The Game Developers conference is in town, which means Giant Robot SF is having their second annual "Game Over" show. It's a video games themed show, with tons of artists exhibiting work. I was fortunate enough to make it onto the list, and will be showing four pieces. (here's a sneak peek in case you haven't seen my earlier posts)

Show Details:
Game Over/Continue? at GRSF, March 27, 2009 - April 15, 2009
Reception: Friday, March 27, 6:30 pm - 10:00 pm
GRSF
618 Shrader Street
San Francisco, CA 94117
gr-sf.com
415-876-4773

---

mmm, and here's a sketch I did on a coaster at a bar.



k, bye =).

Gelaskins new design: "Depths" !

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The guys over at Gelaskins added another of my pieces to their library of skins. Here's a snip from their newsletter:



Click through for the rest of the story --
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No big update today. Still in computer fixing hell =(.

Here's a crappy phone camera picture of a doodle I did on my trip to DC though.

Ta da!

Giant Robot - "Game Over" show pieces

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Alrighty, so these guys are ready to hang. Just need to get some hi res scans of them, and they're ready for their big show!





In other news, operation "fix my shit computer" is not going so well. I do have a plan of attack for tomorrow, so I need to get some supplies and then we'll see what I can salvage... Thanks everyone who's given advice and help in my time of need!

'Night

"Space Invaders Apocalypse"

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"Space Invaders Apocalypse" - acrylic, ink and watercolor on board - 10" x 8 "

Here's the finished piece! I'll probably look the four 'Apocalypse' paintings over and see what else I can tweak before dropping them off at Giant Robot... For now though, this is where they are at.

The colors are off, sorry. It's a bit greener and lusher looking. I'll try to color correct and update the picture when I get a chance.

Ugh, sorry there are no progress pictures. My computer decided that today was a good day to die, so I'm blogging on my backup laptop. Sigh. I REALLY hope that I can revive my computer long enough to get my vital files and artwork off... I don't even want to think about what will happen if I can't =(.

Anyway, 'night everyone!

Space Invaders Apocalypse - WIP

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Here's the beginnings of the fourth and final piece for the Giant Robot show, "Game Over 2". Space Invaders!

Process pics below... Come back to see the finished piece tomorrow night =)


"Space Invaders Apocalypse"- WIP 1 - acrylic, ink and watercolor on board - 10" x 8 "


"Space Invaders Apocalypse"- WIP 2 - acrylic, ink and watercolor on board - 10" x 8 "


"Space Invaders Apocalypse"- WIP 3 - acrylic, ink and watercolor on board - 10" x 8 "

Mario Apocalypse

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"Mario Apocalypse" - acrylic, ink and watercolor on board - 10" x 8 "

So I ended up restarting this piece =). I think I like it better with the Piranha Plant as the bad guy instead of the Chain Chomp. A little less mutant, a little more recognizable. Also, more fun to make evil, hehe.

Same premise as before:
What if the world had depended on Mario to protect it? And what if Mario had lost?

Here are some process pics:







Panoply - flyer design

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"Panoply flyer" - digital media

Here's a poster design I did for a friend on the Arts Student Council at Columbia University. If you live in New York, definitely go check it out next week! Should be fun =)

Mario Apocalypse WIP

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"Mario Apocalypse" - WIP - acrylic, ink and watercolor on board - 10" x 8"

The green washes weren't working out, so I started a new piece. Here we have the beginnings of a post apocalyptic Super Mario world, with our old friend Chomper.

'night!

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* Upon seeing this the next morning, I wonder if I made the Chomper a bit too mutant. Hmmmm.... may need to try again...

Green - WIP

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Green WIP - watercolor and acrylic on board - 10" x 8"

Extra points if you know what video game this bad guy is from!

Painting failure

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"suck at life man" - dry erase marker

Well, tonight was a total failure. Wasted the whole night on a painting that I completely hated. Ugh... just one of those nights. Hopefully will have something better tomorrow =/.

...and I'm back!

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Green wash - WIP - acrylic and watercolor on board - 10" x 8"

Ack, fell asleep between washes again. I'll just post this really quick before going back to bed. Not much to say, just beginning another piece for the Game Over 2 show...

Had more to say I think, but my head is all cotton. 'Night!