My Mini Tree House

Home is Where the Mind is

2012-01-02T19:30:00.008+11:00

Happy 2012, everyone! I'm going to start the new year with a drawing that was done for the Drawing Dreams Foundation's upcoming charity auction.

It'll be will be held at the Society of Illustrators, NYC on January 19th. Proceeds from the auction will go towards purchasing wholesale art supplies to hospitalized children.

I'll post more details about the event soon.

Title: Home is Where the Mind is
Medium: Pencil on Arches Paper
Size: 20 x 25 cm (including the frame)

and here's some of the early sketches photo

I'll share some of my personal 2011 highlights on my next post :) For now, I hope you enjoy the drawing :)

Happy Holidays

2011-12-29T12:04:00.009+11:00

Whoops! I thought I've posted this here.. I must be dreaming.

Hope 2011 has been a wonderful year to you :) I'll see you back here in 2012! :D

Mr. B

2011-12-21T20:49:00.012+11:00

Once upon a time,
there was a bear
who loved telling stories
with his songs...

Happy holidays to all of you! Thanks for the visits, all the support and comments this year :) I truly appreciate it :D

NB: For those who missed it, I did an interview at Sombras Blancas' blog :)

Kinokuniya Illustration Series - Part 2

2011-12-08T21:09:00.006+11:00

Hi all,
Thank you for the positive responses on the previous post (through emails and comments in this blog) :) I really appreciate it. Here are several clearer images of the characters. You can view the full series in my website: http://www.charlessantoso.com/

Enjoy :)

Kinokuniya Illustration Series - Part 1

2011-11-28T22:10:00.003+11:00

Hi all,
Here are some photos that I took last weekend at the Kinokuniya book store (Sydney, Australia). Hope you like them. It's pretty unreal to finally seeing all the illustrations up there. This book store is one of my favourite hangout place.. so I'm really honoured to be able to work with them :)

I'll post the individual illustrations soon, also some unused options for the catalogue cover :)

Kinokuniya Catalogue Cover

2011-11-21T23:19:00.007+11:00

Wow.. it's been almost 3 weeks since I posted last time. I have several WIPs happening but haven't got time to finish them due to my work commitment. I hope I can upload more soon though :)

While waiting, let me show you the new series that I've just finished. Kinokuniya bookstore in Sydney (where I had my solo exhibition) asked me to illustrate their x-mas catalogue's cover. After some initial discussions, the idea then grew to something bigger.. they wanted me to provide them with a series of illustrations to create a theme for the exterior and interior of the shop. After I gave them several options.. they were suggesting that they love to revisit the wonderland theme. The first idea was to reuse some of the images from my exhibition.. but I ended up suggesting that I should create a new series for them (I couldn't resist).

So, let's start with the cover for today. I'll upload more images and photos from the shop later.

The catalogue cover is printed on a matte paper and has a nice 'shiny' cello-glaze finish on the rabbit hole part. :)

Hope you enjoy :)

Exile

2011-11-02T00:44:00.001+11:00

I think there's a story somewhere here :) Enjoy.

Small Horn & Big Horns

2011-10-24T23:11:00.005+11:00

An image to keep up with the spirit of Halloween :)

Let me introduce you to Small Horn & Big Horns.. they're best buddies.

Nomes - evil gnomes

2011-10-20T16:56:00.011+11:00

Ben Wood is currently doing a month worth of OZ characters (Oztober). He said to me today "You should do an Oztober pic!!". So, I did a quick search of all the characters in that world and decided to create these 'Nomes' thingy. Apparently they're evil and grey.. so here you go.. :) They can see in the dark pretty well, hence the glowing eyes (like a cat).

On second note, I've uploaded the Tiger sculpt turntable to Vimeo. Some of you might have seen this already, but I thought I should post this up just incase. 3D Sculpt was done by the awesome Paul Braddock. :)

Tiger! from Charles Santoso on Vimeo.

We're planning to do a 3D print and make this guy into a real figurine. :D

75 Peters Show

2011-10-19T00:10:00.006+11:00

Hi all,
I was invited to be a part of '75 Peters' group show in Brisbane, Australia. It's an honour to be a part of this charity show along side of some wonderful artists from all around the world. All of us were asked to do a portrait of the iconic British architect, Sir Peter Cook.

Here is my contribution:

medium: digital

All 75 artworks from the show will be auctioned online and all proceeds from art sales will go directly to the charity Architecture for Humanity.

Here's the link to the site to get more details about the show & auction:
http://theadamandeveprojects.com/75peters

For Steve

2011-10-07T01:41:00.006+11:00

A quick digital painting for today.

RIP Steve Jobs (1955-2011) :'(

I'll never forget this speech from him.. it changed my life.

'Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish' - Steve Jobs

OINK!

2011-09-26T14:17:00.006+10:00

Hi all,
I'm hoping to post images regularly again :) For now, I'm starting with a simple one. Just trying out more blocky and simple shapes. OINK!

What do you think? :)

How to purchase my artbook

2011-09-18T17:59:00.019+10:00

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
UPDATE: All books are Sold Out! Please send me emails if you still want to purchase it. I might order some more copies if there's enough interest :) Thank you!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hi guys,
Since I only have less than 20 copies of my artbook left (40 pages - softcover artbook), I've decided to sell these "manually".

The price of the book:
$25 USD (including shipping & handling cost within Australia)
$30 USD (including shipping & handling cost to everywhere else in the world)

Please send an email to: charlessantoso(at)gmail.com if you're interested in purchasing. I'll send you a reply with information on how can pay (through paypal).. First come, first served :)

NB: The book will be signed and come with a little sketch on the first page.

Thanks in advance for the support. :)

Here's a preview of the book from my previous post, just incase if you haven't seen it.

Wonderland Show - Video

2011-09-15T21:35:00.008+10:00

Hi guys,
As promised, here's the video of the Wonderland Show for those who've missed it or wasn't able to visit Sydney to see it in person :) Would love to hear your opinions about it - for a better view, please watch it in full screen or go to vimeo's link to view the HD version :).

"The story involved a boy who saw a girl jumping into a rabbit hole and decided to follow her."

Wonderland Show - Charles Santoso from Charles Santoso on Vimeo.

I'm also planning to sell some of the works online for a limited time. I'll put up the details here around next week. Please send me an email if you have any specific one that you would like to purchase.

Enjoy :)

More photos from 'Wonderland' Show

2011-09-06T23:18:00.006+10:00

Hi guys,
Here are some more photos of the solo show - currently on at Kinokuniya Bookstore, Sydney, Australia (30th August - 12th September 2011). I'll post a video of the whole thing next week.. and after that, I promise to be back in posting images instead of just keep talking about the show :)

numbering each drawing

Drink - Me

more drawings

Thanks for coming, folks! :D

artbook signing & sketching

On second note, my new website is finally up and running. I'll keep updating it with more images soon. The address is http://www.charlessantoso.com/ . Please take a peek :) .. would love to know what do you think about it :)

Hope you enjoy!

PS: Special thanks to Patrick Awa & Winni for sending out some warm gifts for the show (the 2 amazing greeneries on the table were coming from them). :D :)

Artbook Giveaway Winners! :)

2011-09-03T12:51:00.000+10:00

Hi guys,
I'm still overwhelmed by the extraordinaire responses on the event :) I'm really touched by the positive replies. It's great to know you a bit more. So.. THANK YOU! :D

It's time to announce the winners! I write down all the names, shuffle it down in my trustee hat and get the 2 pieces out of it.. and 2 lucky winners are: BEN BASSO & PHILL! Congrats, guys! Please send me your shipping address to my email (charlessantoso(at)gmail.com) and I'll post the book (sketched and signed) soon. :D

The other news is the 'Wonderland' solo show.. It's currently on at Kinokuniya Bookstore, Sydney, Australia (30th August - 12th September 2011) :) It's been a really great experience so far.. I appreciate all great support and positive responses from people in person and online. I'll post more photos of the event soon. :) If you're in Sydney, please pop by and say hello if you see me there :) More details on the event can be found HERE and HERE

Solo Show & Artbook Giveaway!

2011-08-09T22:44:00.000+10:00

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
UPDATE (03/09/11): The Entry to the artbook Giveaway is now closed :) Posting the winners soon!

UPDATE (12/08/11): WOAH! I'm so blown away by people's responses from all around the world. Thanks so much for the support, guys! As a token of appreciation, I'll be giving away 2 copies of my book instead!! :)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> 'Wonderland' Solo Show Facebook event page: HERE :)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hi all,
I’m really excited to finally announce my solo show at the end of August. It’ll be held at Kinokuniya bookstore in Sydney, Australia. The show will feature all new original drawings and paintings from my personal take on Wonderland. The story will involve a boy who saw a girl jumping into a rabbit hole and decided to follow her.

Below is the invite with the dates and details of the show. You’re all invited to come! For those who live far away, I’ll post photos of the exhibition later. I would be most grateful if you can all share this with with your friends, families, acquaintances and even strangers :)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The second news is an ARTBOOK GIVEAWAY! I'll be giving one of my artbook (40 pages - softcover), signed and with a little sketch on the first page. Anyone local or international are welcome.

Several small things that you need to do for your chance to win:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Please follow my blog if you haven’t already done so - you can find the 'follow' box on the right hand corner (if you have, thank you!)

2. Leave a comment in this post and let me know where you’re from and how you'd describe my works in one word (or one sentence if you'd prefer) :) I would love to know you guys a bit more.

3. And.. that’s it :) I’ll randomly select a person from this post's comment box and announce the winner here on the 3rd September 2011.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

I really appreciate the warm support that you guys have given me so far. Please kindly share this giveaway event on your facebook, google+, twitter, blog, etc if you could. Thank you! :)

On a side note, I’ve created a new facebook page, it would be great if you could 'like' it.

Uhms

2011-08-02T15:42:00.001+10:00

Starting a series of 'Uhm' drawings. I'll add a new image everyday (update: I have to stop for now, sorry folks :)) within this post.. so please check back every now and then if you like it :)

Would be interested to hear what do you think about this.. do you like it? weirded out by it? curious? confused? etc :)

At my end, I'm still busy finishing my solo show drawings. I'm planning to post the invite here in a couple of days time. :)

Female Warrior BW - WIP

2011-07-22T21:50:00.000+10:00

Hi all,
Something different from what I usually post. Hope you like it though :) It's still pretty much a WIP, so some stuff may change later. I'm planning to do a full colour digital painting for this one in the future... but for now please excuse me, as I have to finish more drawings for my solo show. :)

Thinking of You, Japan

2011-07-15T21:41:00.000+10:00

Hi all,
All my time is currently occupied with my day job and my preparation for my solo show. Still so many drawings to finish with so little time. Wish me luck.

Here's a drawing that I did few days after the massive Japan earthquake.. quite a while ago but I still pretty much thinking about it even now. Hope things are getting better in there.

I'll keep you posted about the event on closer date. You can follow me on Twitter to get updates on the WIP drawings too :)

Title: Thinking of You, Japan
Medium: Pencil on Arches paper

Hope you enjoy. :)

Companion

2011-07-04T23:23:00.000+10:00

Hi all,
Things have been really hectic after my US trip - all good though :) Here's a really late submission to Gallery Nucleus' Harry Potter Tribute. I wasn't able to send the piece on time for the physical exhibition so the original will stay in my place for now :)

I'm posting the digital sketch for you guys too - as I'm still liking it.. I feel that there always something in the sketch that got lost in the process of finishing the piece. Do you have the same feeling when you create your work too? :)

Title: Companion
Medium: Pencil on Moleskin sketchbook paper
Dimensions: 10cm x 15cm

UPDATE: Original work is no longer available. It's going to a new home soon. Thanks for those who've emailed me regarding this piece :)

PS: I'll try to post some kind of report about my US trip, hopefully soon. Also, I'm having a solo exhibition at the end of August - in Sydney, Australia. I'm currently finishing a couple of early pieces. Hope to share with you guys at some point - there're some low-res photos of the progress if you want to have a look. I've been posting them through my twitter: http://yfrog.com/h44cvggj :) Details regarding the show will be up in a couple of weeks time.

Pair...

2011-06-21T14:48:00.000+10:00

Hi all,
I'm still alive and kicking here :) I just finished an intensive week of painting workshop at Amherst, Massachusetts. It was a really great experience.. learnt a lot.. and most importantly, I met some of the most wonderful people. Definitely a memory that I'll keep dearly in my heart. Below is a small drawing that I did for one of the faculty there (this one was for the amazing Julie Bell) :)

Hope everything is going well with you all. I was learning oil painting and will try paint more with the medium in the future.. I'll post something new hopefully soon :)

Claustrophobic Elmo

2011-05-24T12:27:00.000+10:00

A quick digital paint for Austin Madison's Chades Challenge. The topic is: CLAUSTROPHOBIC ELMO IN AN ELEVATOR FULL OF TROLLS.

Quite a literal one this time but I hope you like it :)

Shy

2011-05-20T14:20:00.001+10:00

What do you see? :)

Care no More

2011-05-14T09:09:00.000+10:00

I combined the 'Three Wise Monkeys' stances.. and this is what I get. As some of you might know, this is a rendered version of my previous sketch.

Hope you're not in this kind of feeling right now. :)

Enjoy :)

Monkees!

2011-05-02T23:42:00.000+10:00

One day, suddenly I thought.. "I wanna draw Monkeys".. and I did.. OOkk oook! :)

Hope you enjoy.

Fishing boy 02

2011-05-01T22:10:00.000+10:00

Some more fishing boy images :) Thank you for the positive response on the previous post.

Btw, I always open to any thoughts, suggestions and feedback.. if you have any, feel free to share it. Always happy to hear them. :)

Fishing boy 01

2011-04-28T18:31:00.000+10:00

As what I've promised myself on my twitter - to draw more human, apart from my bus sketching. Here's the fishing boy... just getting into drawing people properly again and also opened my Norman Rockwell book again.. I love his work (who doesn't.. :))!

Hope you like him :)

A Good Mom (Red Panda version)

2011-04-20T09:33:00.001+10:00

Did this for 'Share One Planet' contest. Took Red Pandas as my subject and tried to potray them in a simple, everyday situation :)

Title: A Good Mom
"It is important for red panda cubs to play outside regularly. When they're tired and falling asleep, Red Panda Mom will bring them closer to protect them from danger and colds. A good natured mom indeed."

Enjoy :)

NB: This might be a bit subtle but I put the 'tree/brances' without leaves (background), as a metaphor of their danger of extinction (I hope it won't happen though).

Clouds...

2011-04-18T18:12:00.000+10:00

I enjoy looking at clouds and seeing different shapes in it. I know it's a cliche.. but I still love it :) Do you still do it these days?

Hope to post stuff regularly again :) Stay tuned, guys!

Iggy

2011-04-07T17:52:00.000+10:00

Meet.. Iggy :P

I hope you like him :)

Woofie and the Bird

2011-03-31T01:49:00.000+11:00

Woofies always looked as if they're thinking too much.. maybe they are.. :P

As usual, pencil and a bit of digital :)

Golden Frog Prince

2011-03-27T22:35:00.000+11:00

Another weird dream of mine..

Black-White-Red boy

2011-03-22T09:46:00.000+11:00

Hi all. I'm trying out a style :)

What do you think? :)

Note: I'm in the process of making a couple of pencil rendering images to support Dice Tsutsumi "Artists Help Japan". I'm planning to sell it through this blog.. via paypal. Stay tuned. :)

Thank you! :)

2011-03-13T22:29:00.000+11:00

I made this image as a way for me to say thank you to everyone who visit this blog of mine. Extra thank you for those who keep leaving comments here! I truly appreciate it :)

The Woofie is looking confuse, not because he's not happy.. but he's just not used to all the attentions he received recently. :D Also.. he's still upset about the earthquake in Japan.. :(

Enjoy! :D

Note: Artists Help Japan Earthquake & Tsunami Fund is responding to the immediate needs of survivors as well as short-term to long-term recovery projects undertaken by the affected communities.

Dice Tsutsumi has partnered with Give2Asia, which has a local team based in Tokyo to assess the current situation in Japan and to obtain more information on the needs of survivors. Give2Asia helped animation industry famous Totoro Forest Project efficiently send fund to Japan and has a great reputation when it comes to humanitarian efforts in Asia.

Please go to his site for information about how you can help out.

Please calm down, Earth

2011-03-11T21:09:00.000+11:00

My thought and heart go to people of Japan today :(... I wish the Woofies are successfully calming the earth with whatever methods that they can use (currently they're hugging the earth to calm it down).

If you're in Japan or you have relatives and friends there.. I hope they're all ok. Stay safe and take care, guys.

The Woofies

2011-03-07T00:26:00.000+11:00

I call them 'The Woofies'. They walked around in my dream last night.

Hope you like them :)

Om nom noms

2011-02-27T22:31:00.000+11:00

Hi guys,
It's been a while since my last post... but here I am, still alive, drawing and kicking! :-) This is something that I had quite a while ago as a sketch and finally decided to finish it.

Om nom noms!

Hope you like it :)

Four Seasons

2011-02-15T02:48:00.000+11:00

Hi all,
Just want to share the holiday card that I did for 2011 new year :)

Things are quite hectic these days but I'll try my best to keep this blog as active as as I can. I really appreciate the visits and comments from you guys. They keep me motivated to push myself harder and post more stuff. Thanks! :)

Enjoy!

Rabbits.. Rabbits..

2011-02-06T22:19:00.000+11:00

To keep up with my yearly routine.. here are some drawings to celebrate the current rabbit year.

Rabbit family:

and some rabbit character sketches:

Hope you enjoy :)

Foxboy and Savanna

2011-01-31T21:32:00.000+11:00

Hi all,
Here's a random thing that I did few days ago. I called it.. Foxboy.

And another thing is this.. A few months ago Mike Boldt invited me to give a contribution to a great children book project called "The ABC's of Northern Ghana". There are some super talented artists contributing to this project. I'm so thrilled and honoured be a part of this. Go and check some of the progress and finished images in the blog! Thanks, Mike! :)

My letter was "S" for Savanna:

The pencil:

End of Tiger Year

2011-01-25T00:26:00.000+11:00

It's almost the end of the Tiger Year. I did this one as a bid farewell to a great and memorable year for me.

Hope you enjoy. :)

Some sketches...

2011-01-18T22:27:00.000+11:00

Some sketches and ideas :)

Playing around with markers.

I'm planning to create a series on this 'Noodle' subject...

Hope your January is going great so far!

Liliput Warriors

2011-01-13T23:44:00.000+11:00

Introducing.. the Liliput Warriors! They're tiny.. but they can kick some serious ass. :)

Enjoy!

A Good Mom

2011-01-09T14:49:00.000+11:00

Hi guys,
Hope you have a great 2011 so far. I'm back to my usual pencil and digital combined piece this time. I do still practice my watercolors and will hopefully upload something in the near future. :)

A light one for the start of the 2011. Hope you enjoy!

Title: A Good Mom
Medium: Pencil & Digital

Let's start 2011 with ...

2010-12-31T22:45:00.002+11:00

A failed attempt to use watercolour properly! XD

I bought 2 bottles of liquid watercolours 3 days ago and just had a chance to try it few hours ago. In my head I was imagining a beautiful sepia illustration as a finished result (btw.. the 2 colours that I bought was yellow (orange-ish) and dark brown).. but it ended with a crazy ugly result.. As an attempt to fix my failure, I quickly scanned and brought the abominable work into photoshop and patched it to death.. in the end I wasn't too happy with it (I even signed it as my first 2011 work.. blargh).

So.. anyway.. I'm uploading this image as the start of my 2011.. I hope by the end of 2011, I can make a decent improvement with this crazy medium - and my overall work.

and yes.. he's the Red Croc from my previous posts. He'll be back :D

Medium: Watercolour & lots of digital manipulations..

I hope you have a fantastic new year! Happy 2011! :D

Christmas Dream

2010-12-22T12:49:00.001+11:00

Hi all,
Thank you so much for the visit and all the support this year! :) I really appreciate it.

I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas, Happy Holiday and Happy New Year! Hope things will be more wonderful next year for all of us! :D

Note: I've put a secret thing in this one.. can you find what is it? :) Have fun!

Cycling Forward

2010-12-12T18:49:00.000+11:00

Hi all,
A week of letting my mind go was fun. This image is marking the end of my short 'daily weirdness' era :) I'll focus back on some images with more stories behind them - although I can't promise that I won't draw some 'weird' stuff every now and then. :)

Thanks so much for the positive responses on the daily weirdness, guys. Really appreciate it.

Title: Cycling Forward
Medium: Pencil - with a bit of digital enhancements

Enjoy :)

Listening to my Dream

2010-12-06T17:32:00.000+11:00

UPDATE: 11/12/2010
This is what happen if I just listen to my dream and not caring about reality..

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Camouflage - 11/12/2010

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sasquatch - 10/12/2010

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Three Wise Monkeys - they care no more.. :P

Daily weirdness - 9/12/2010

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Here's today's weirdness (8/12/2010) - Block Head:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Here's today's weirdness (7/12/2010) - Fox Prince:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Title: Can't even think of any title for this haha - you can decide
Medium: Pen & a bit of digital
(6/12/2010)

I do hope you enjoy :)

Cultural Exchange

2010-12-06T06:02:00.000+11:00

... between Marcopolo and Kublai Kahn. I think the idea is not coming across too clearly with this one - a bit too complicated. What do you think the story is about? :)

Topic: a "photo" from Marco Polo's journey from Italy to Asia

Title: Cultural Exchange

Note: I wonder why people hardly smile in the old photographs, they all looked so serious - this came across when I did a bit research about it.. Hence the seriousness in both characters in this 'photo'. :P

A Positive Result

2010-11-28T19:33:00.000+11:00

Hi all,
Here's my contribution to a charity auction that my friend/colleague, Paul Braddock will run to support 'Cure Cancer Australia' Foundation. Paul is an amazing modeler and he can paint too :D Check out his blog - I'll ask him to post more of his cool design. Since his support will have something to do with Peru travel.. I thought a Llama family will be quite a fun thing to do. :)

Title: A Positive Result
Medium: Pencil on Arches Watercolor paper

I will post more regarding the online auction when I have more info about it.

I hope you enjoy :)

Hungry Plants

2010-11-17T20:45:00.000+11:00

This is my art trade with the awesome Betsy Bauer :)

We came up with 'Hungry Plants' as a topic. So.. I drew a pack of hungry plants.. :)

Here's a pencil drawing with some digital coloring and enhancement.

and here's the photo of the original pencil drawing:

Enjoy :)

---------------------------------------------------------------
Also, there's only a couple more weeks before the print sale ends - it will end on the 1st December. There are 7 prints that you can choose from and shipping is free worldwide :) You can purchase the print HERE.
---------------------------------------------------------------

Goodbye and Welcome

2010-11-08T18:47:00.000+11:00

Hi all,
now.. this is a quite personal piece for me.. It started with a topic from Sketchoholic..'Ghosts' (Daniela Strijleva interview's contest). I was going to create something comedic before but all of sudden memories of my granma came back to me. She passed away quite a while ago but I still remember how devastated i was that time. I tried to pour all my emotion into this one.. which resulted in a really depressing weekend. It was really exhausting both mentally and physically when I did this drawing - the sad music that I listened was making it worse too. I'm glad to be able to finish it - it's quite a relieve in the end. I miss both my granpa and granma.. I wish that they're both in peace and happy somewhere .. sniff..

I put some symbolism in this piece too. It's subtle.. so some of you might see it and some of you might not.. but it's okay, it's all up to your interpretation in the end :)

Title: Goodbye and Welcome
Medium: Pencil and Digital

Original pencil:

Live your life to the fullest, guys :)

Next post will be a happier one! I promise! :D

PS: Found out that I've won! I'm super stoked! Thank you to Daniela Strijleva and of course Bobby Chiu for hosting the event. I look forward to watching the interview video soon :)

Sketchbook pages & New Artist Sketchbooks site

2010-11-01T21:10:00.000+11:00

Hi all,
Sorry for the delay on the Croc story.. it is actually harder than I thought to flesh out the story properly. The middle part is always the hardest bits I guess. It'll be back soon though :)

For now, I hope you'll okay with some pages from my mini sketchbook - I draw these small faces on the bus on the way to work.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Also, check the new Artist Sketchbooks site. You can find some digital artist sketchbooks also order some artists' physical books! :D Some cool stuff in there.

You can find my page HERE :) I'll be grateful if you can support me by clicking the 'Like' button :) Thank you in advance!

Happy Halloween!

2010-10-27T23:13:00.000+11:00

I don't normally do a halloween image, but this year I though it would be fun to do one. So here you go :)

Will be back with more art for the red croc story soon :)

Some more Crocs...

2010-10-24T18:12:00.000+11:00

PART 03

Ok, so.. let me introduce you to Kyle (name will change later I think).. the Red Crocodile. He's Grumpy and not happy..

I think I get to the point where I have to move on to other characters.. I'll come back to him later and decide where I wanna go with the design. I'm quite happy with the stumpy shape so far. Will have to explore a bit more though.

I'm still planning to do my usual pencil drawing for the final illustrations, but it's always good to let myself free in the beginning of the process :)

some silhouettes:

and some more pencil, pen & ink sketches:

I hope you enjoy. I'll post another character soon - promise it won't be a croc. :)

More Crocs...

2010-10-21T23:04:00.000+11:00

PART 02

I hope you don't mind seeing lots of crocodile sketches.. more to come later. Currently still in the experimentation phase..

I'm just wondering.. should I spill the whole story straight away or should I uncover it bit by bit? Still deciding what'll be better. What do you think?

Crocs...

2010-10-20T20:41:00.000+11:00

PART 01

Hi all,
I've decided to start a personal project and document the 'journey' here. The plan is to have somekind of a children book at the end of this process. I have no experience in creating a proper children book before, so any suggestions in the process will be greatly appreciated.

I'll try to post most of my progress here.. so you'll get to see -some that I considered- successful and also some crap drawings/design. :) I'll have the basic story ready and brew it further as I post more.

First.. let's drop my first design experimentation on the first character - let's call him Mr.Croc for now (I'll drop the proper name later). These are really quick sketches to explore and get the feeling of the character - still not happy with any of these.. I will try some other styles and see what works best for the story.

A Boy & A Girl - and some prints for sale :)

2010-10-13T00:35:00.001+11:00

Hi all,
The awesome Jerrod Maruyama was really kind to inviting me to submit a contribution piece for the Pixar Times blog. I had this idea for something else before but I think it fit right into the topic :) I hope you like it.

My usual curiosity.. what do you think the story is about? :)

Title: A Boy and A Girl
Medium: Pencil & Digital

the original pencil drawing:

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Also, some of you might already know about this but I'll mention this again.. I finally have my first prints for sale! They're limited to 25 prints and the prints will only be online until the 1st December 2010.

A big thank you goes to Imaginism Studios and Sketchoholic for hosting and producing these prints. The profit will go towards supporting the sketchoholic community and of course.. me :)

You can find the prints here. There are 7 prints in total.

Really excited about this. Hope you like them. :)

Best,
Charles

A Tribute...

2010-10-05T19:40:00.001+11:00

Hi all,
Here's a humble tribute to one of the greatest comic strip/story ever - Calvin & Hobbes! I really love Calvin and Hobbes.. to me, the characters and story are just pure genius! Would love to hear your opinion about it :) What do you like about Calvin and Hobbes?

This image was also done for a contest at Superpunch blog - eventhough I'm not actually eligible for it (only for US citizen).. but couldn't pass a reason for drawing these 2 characters. In the end, the guy at superpunch was kind enough to post it on the blog. Thanks, John!

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Regarding my interview & contest at sketchoholic... I was having such a great time. Bobby Chiu was an awesome interviewer - Thanks, Bobby! I have to admit that everything was a bit blurry after I finished haha. Can't seems to remember what I talked about on the interview. I just hope I wasn't blabbering too much about non-related stuff.

Congrats to Peter Chan (for winning the pencil drawing) and Greig Rapson (for winning the Corel Painter 11)! Really awesome job!

Peter Chan's entry

Greig Rapson's entry

Also, thank you so much for those who've submitted your entries. Lots of really really awesome and creative works. 96 beautiful entries in total! What more can I asked for. :) woah!

Live Interview and Original Pencil Drawing

2010-09-26T12:31:00.000+10:00

Hi guys,
The super talented Bobby Chiu will interview me LIVE on the Sketchoholic site. I'm really honoured and stoked about this. I don't have many experience with interviews.. so I'm a bit nervous about it but I'll try my best to share some of my thoughts with you guys. :) It'll be fun!

It'll happen on the Friday 1st October 2010 (America/New_York time) at 19:00:00 - which converts to Saturday 2nd October 2010 (Australia/Sydney time) 09:00:00 (day light saving).

In the tradition of Sketchoholic interview, there is a contest that's coming along with it. The topic for my contest is "Nocturnal". Obviously, it somehow related to the recently released "Legend of the Guardians" movie. Please don't feel that you need to draw/paint/sculpt owls though :)

The winner will get my original pencil drawing and also a free copy of Corel® Painter™ 11!

and here's the drawing:

Title: Nocturnal
Size: 20x23 cm (total with white border)
Medium: Pencil on Arches paper

This pencil drawing is dedicated to all of you who have worked hard to think and hatch ideas, stories and all other positive things and keep doing what they love to do :)

The real thing :)

Details:

Hope you can have fun with the topic. I really look forward to checking your submissions. :)

For more details, please visit SKETCHOHOLIC site.

PS: I'll be grateful if you can also help me spread the word about this event :) Thank you in advance.

"Lazy Bones"

2010-09-25T22:03:00.001+10:00

Hi all,
Another submission for sketchoholic. The topic is: Lazy Bones.

Title: That guy? His name is "Lazy Bones"

Tried to be a little bit looser than usual for this one :) Hope you like it.

You Jump.. I Fly..

2010-09-22T21:54:00.000+10:00

A submission for the Intensity Club at Sketchoholic. The topic was 'Animal Bionic'. :)

Title: You Jump.. I Fly..

PS: 'Legend of the Guardians' movie is coming out really soon. I'm really excited about it - I hope you are too. I'll post some of my concept art for it in the near future :)

Dream Bird

2010-09-17T16:20:00.000+10:00

A bird that visited my head in between my sleep and wake-up time.. Ngg-Waa Ng-Waaa! that's how he sounded..

Street Fashion

2010-09-14T14:02:00.000+10:00

Apologise for the long absent... I just got back from my 2 weeks holiday trip to Japan. I'll post some photos of interesting stuff that I've found there later. Received so much inspirations from that place! woah!

For now, here a new digital piece to keep this blog going. :)

Title: Street Fashion

Hope you enjoy!

A Proud Owl

2010-08-20T15:28:00.001+10:00

He comes from a royal owl family :) Hope you like it.

Medium: Digital

Dragon's Nightmare

2010-08-16T09:20:00.000+10:00

Hi all,
A new one from me for the usual Sketchoholic contest (this time.. it's Chris Sanders!!) :) The theme on this one is 'Nightmares'. Technically it was a bit of a struggle with this image. The first idea was to have the dream in 'Ukiyo-e' style, but I ran out of time.. I also had to tweak the value quite a bit digitally. I hope the message/idea still come across clearly though.

I'm interested to hear what you think the story in this image is. Some people came up with some interesting ones when I asked them. :)

Title: Dragon's Nightmare
Medium: Pencil and Digital

Hope you enjoy! :D

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Some progress images - not all of them, since most of the sketches were quite scribbly:

I Heart Laputa

2010-08-09T00:15:00.000+10:00

I always have a soft spot for Laputa. It's pretty much my favourite anime when I was a kid. It was the first Ghibli Studio movie that i watched.. long before Totoro (I watched Totoro when I was around 16 yo). I think I watched Laputa when I was 8 or something.. on Beta.. and I was really impressed and totally in love with the characters, story and music! and it stuck in my head for a long time.. I even had a sudden dream about the music one day when I was around 18 yo. I recently watched it again on DVD after almost 15 years of refraining myself to - because I was afraid it might ruin my childhood memory. To my relief.. the movie still looks and feels so good!! I love it even more now! :D

So I can't help but to do another piece for Dice Tsutsumi's contest.. this time.. it's Laputa!

Title: Laputa
Medium: Pencil & Digital

Enjoy :)

NB: Have most of you watched the movie already? If not.. please watch it! Recommended :D

I heart Doraemon!

2010-08-05T22:19:00.001+10:00

Hi all,
This is a submission for yet another Sketchoholic contest :) It's one of my favourite anime show when I was a kid. I read both manga and watch the anime on TV. Still loving it even until now. Simple, charming and educational.. genius! So.. here we go....my version of DORAEMON (not much different, because the original is soo cool!)!! Bamboo-Copterrr!!! :D

Title: I Heart Doraemon
Medium: Pencil & Digital

The original pencil:

The digital rough layout:

Hope you like it! :)

Traps

2010-07-29T01:43:00.000+10:00

My submission to another challenge on Sketchoholic. My software crashed 3 times when I did this one -_-" I don't know why... aw well..

Most importantly.. do you think the story is clear? What do you see? :D

Title: Traps

Hope you enjoy!

Family Stack

2010-07-18T19:00:00.000+10:00

Saw a guy holding his kid on his back the other day, which led to this painting. :) Hope you enjoy!

Wall Street Cyclops

2010-07-08T15:53:00.000+10:00

I did these for another Sketchoholic contest. :)

The Theme is: Wall Street Cyclops

Medium: Digital

Medium: Pencil & Digital

Mr. Hedgehog Head

2010-07-03T02:47:00.000+10:00

This one is quite freaky I know :P A quick one for 'Mr. "Blank" Head' contest.

Toy Story 3 was BEAUTIFUL! Congrats to the Pixarians.. you've done it again! :D Thank you for making such a wonderful movie.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NEWS: I'll be giving away 5 free copies of my Iphone app (via promotional codes). Let me know (just leave a comment in this post) if you're interested :) One thing is, you have to own a US iTunes account to claim the promo code (dunno why, but that how it works) - If you don't have it, you can create a new account in the US itunes store to claim it :).

UPDATE: all promo codes are gone.. Thanks for the interest, guys :)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Some News!

2010-06-28T23:22:00.000+10:00

Hi guys,
I hope everything is going well wherever you are. I've several exciting things that I want to share with you all :D

Let's start with my submission to Derek Thompson contest on Sketchoholic. The theme is 'Godzilla'.

Title: Godzilla VS Ghidorah
Medium: Pencil and digital touch up

Here's the digital rough sketch for it (I still think there was something lost when I translated it to pencil rendering..)

Another news is my Iphone/Ipod touch/Ipad app! It's finally released!! I'm so excited about this. :) It's a compilation of 'enhanced versions' of my works and also never-seen-before artworks - 34 pages in total. :) If you're interested in purchasing, you can go here or the link on the right side bar. A big thank you to Bobby Chiu and imaginism family for making it happen!

The last news for today is The Legend of Guardians movie! The 2nd trailer for it is finally out. I was really lucky to be a part of the movie's art department. I look forward to seeing it in the cinema in a few months time :)

I hope you enjoy! :)

Update: I won! wow.. :) super excited! Some really nice entries this time around. I'm really humbly grateful to be able to win this one. Thank you to people who've supported me and of course Derek Thompson and Bobby Chiu for the great interview! Check out Derek Thompson's blog here. Really awesome stuff there!

New Sketchbook

2010-06-23T00:59:00.000+10:00

Hi all,
As some of you might now, I've lost my mini sketchbook a week ago. I might've dropped it on the bus, cafe or even bookshop somewhere. i was a bit upset about it since it was half filled and contains several ideas for my future illustrations.. drat! Anyway.. I guess it's time to move on and fill another sketchbook :) I hope someone is giving my missing sketchbook a new nice place to stay.

Some first scribbles in my new mini sketchbook. Medium: Pen - the grey tone was digitally added.

Note to self: Never.. ever.. put a sketchbook in your jacket's pocket again.

Minis 01

2010-06-14T20:01:00.000+10:00

In the future I'll try to make less and less digital retouch for this kind of work :) Until I find the comfortable medium for colour (I'm thinking watercolour right now).. I'll stick with digital for a while.

Medium: Pencil rendering & some digital retouch

Hope you like it.

Duo

2010-06-07T23:08:00.001+10:00

Pencil, Blue Col-Erase & a bit of digital

Wanted!!

2010-06-05T22:53:00.000+10:00

Remember this character? He (and his 'dog') is the most wanted person/creature in the whole wide imaginary wild west world :P Hope you like it. C&C are more than welcome :)

PS: This is also an entry to Parkablogs' 'Unusual Cowboys' contest.

Are you feeling simple?

2010-06-01T23:15:00.000+10:00

Granny's got a gun..

2010-05-30T09:47:00.000+10:00

Granny's got a gun
Her dog day's just begun
Now everybody is on the run ...

and you might now the rest of the song :P
Hope you are enjoying your day today :D

Offering

2010-05-28T01:59:00.000+10:00

I started this image a while ago and was in my WIP folder collecting 'dust'. Finally managed to finish it today :) Hope you like it.

Dream...

2010-05-27T00:51:00.000+10:00

Pencil and digital :)

Umbrella Girl

2010-05-24T23:31:00.000+10:00

I went back to pencil and paper :)

Some New Old stuff

2010-05-15T14:16:00.000+10:00

Some Sketchoholic submissions - updated them a bit. :)

Theme: Big Arm VS Big Head

Theme: Animal Amputee

Don't Shoot

2010-05-07T06:19:00.001+10:00

A last minute submission for the same contest as the previous post.. :)

Title: Don't Shoot

Note: Updated and zinged up the colours :)

Rotten Tourist

2010-05-06T00:10:00.000+10:00

Hi all,
Here is my submission for Micheal Defeo's contest at Sketchoholic. It's probably the most complex thing that I've ever done in term of composition... phew.. I hope it shows. Any feedback are welcome. What do you see in the story.. Do you think it's clear?

The theme this time is a 'Classical Sculpture'.

Wish me luck! :)

Update: Slightly adjusted the line colour of the family group in the bg. It was a tiny bit too dark before..

Update 2: Played with the colour and saturation a bit more to pop the main guy and statue from the background - just a tiny bit.. but i hope it helps. This image is a tricky one.. Thanks, Carrie :)

The Untold Story

2010-04-29T21:43:00.000+10:00

Hi guys,
Here's an illustration for a contest at ParkaBlogs (a great book review blog). The theme for this one is 'Animals in Competitive Sports'.

Title: The Untold Story

A Girl holding a Sword..

2010-04-29T15:15:00.000+10:00

Swing! :)

Heavenly Tears

2010-04-21T23:07:00.000+10:00

A submission for Alberto Ruiz's Sketchoholic contest.

Something that's quite different from what I usually draw... hmm... What do you think?

Note: Tweaked the colours a bit to push the 'retro' feeling more. :)

Firefox

2010-04-20T20:43:00.000+10:00

He just sprung out of my head.. :P

Epic Fail & Cliché

2010-04-16T14:46:00.001+10:00

Title: EPIC FAIL

anddd.. let me introduce you to... Cliché (yes, that's his name)!

Hope you like them :)

UPDATE: EPIC FAIL images are in higher sizes now :)

Monoclops, Biclops & Triclops

2010-04-14T22:46:00.001+10:00

I was going to render these guys as flat 2d with a bit of textures but in the process I got carried away and turned them to this.

Silhouette

2010-04-10T00:23:00.001+10:00

Did this for the usual Chiustream challenge. The topic was 'Amphibian'. I didn't want to just create a frog/newt image, so I went with something different. The idea was a dancing lady that created a 'frog Silhouette' (squint your eyes please :P), which attracted several frogs and tadpoles. In the end I think the idea and execution can be stronger.. gotta try better next time! :)

Title: Silhouette

Miss Goth Dragon

2010-04-01T15:56:00.000+11:00

This one can fly! :D Goth Dragooonnn!!

How to Draw your Dragon

2010-03-31T22:59:00.000+11:00

My dragon can't fly :( .. Ehem.. :P

The 4 Fast hands & Mini Greek Hints

2010-03-27T17:38:00.001+11:00

He's fast.. no one ever beat him in a quickdraw!

Hints for my previous illustration :P I bet you didn't get the Taurus Horns. Pretty random I know.

Mini Greek & the 12 Zodiacs

2010-03-25T02:23:00.001+11:00

For another Chiustream challenge. Topic: A Classical City on the Water.

What do you see in this image? There are some hidden stuff in there :P

Title: Mini Greek & the 12 Zodiacs

Hope you like it. I'll point out the hidden shapes next week. :)

2 eye balls please!

2010-03-17T22:19:00.000+11:00

Something for another ChiuStream challenge. The topic this time is: Eyes.

Really rough idea:

Sketch:

Linework:

Final (not anymore :P):

Any feedback are welcome - what story do you see in this image? (I'm curious).

Saw the image again this morning and cringe.. still so much things to learn.. Here's a bit of fix. :) I'll leave the previous version here as comparison and future note to self :)

Final:

PS: Thanks to Chris Georgiou, Kim Taylor and Piya (and others :D) for the feedback so far :D

UPDATE: I won an oil painting by Thomas Fluharty!! Oh geezz!!! Can't believe it! Thank you so much for the support, guys.. especially to Bobby Chiu and Thomas! :D *jumping around and screaming*

Some kind of a 'Tiger Owl' Creature

2010-03-14T01:56:00.000+11:00

This was supposed to be a submission for today's Chiustream. Unfortunately, my internet browser crashed 4 mins before the final submission time and.. >:( oh well.. :) I polished it a bit more afterward. Hope you like it. :) The theme was: 'Creepy Cute'

And an attempt on more flat graphical character designs. Will do more of this in the future. :)

I don't know who he is..

2010-03-11T21:54:00.000+11:00

But I know that he delivers flowers and plants.. :)