Yup, that’s me on Etsy’s Virtual Lab giving a talk to a lot of people all over the world!

... are filled with lots of work, art and fun (not necessarily in that order) so much so, that I find it difficult to even devote one day in a week to update my personal blog.

I’ve written down my accomplishments so far in my little red book, which is a little too much to get into right now on the blog. I’m only half-way through 2009 and it’s been a fantastic journey so far. There’s just so many things to explore, to see and to do; so many experiences to soak in, and so many people to meet.

I’m just afraid I won’t have enough time to do everything.

I wrote up two articles that might be of interest: 9 tips to be more creative and Creativity, Competition & Copycats. These were done as a recap to my Etsy Virtual Labs where I talked about creativity two months ago.

And oh, there’s also another project in the works: The Good to Know project : a monthly zine on advice + inspiration from artists/illustrators/designers on creativity, business and life. I’m loving this one!

Oh, so many things to do!

See my entry for Art House Co-op’s 2009 sketchbook project here.

That’s not all what I’ve been up to, of course, but that will have to do for now. Once I get a good chunk of time to decide what I am going to do with this space here you’ll be the first to know!

Watercolor + ink on watercolor paper.

I’ve forgotten how much lines mean to me. More to come.

Well, I haven’t updated the blog in a few weeks (and a few weeks prior to that too.) So oops.

I’ve been busy putting a few things together and wrapping up ends and bits, so that unexpectedly took up a lot of time. What I did do was draw up quite a storm, and I’ve added this short story called Lost in my Etsy shop. It’s nothing too fancy — it’s in black and white — and it all started as an exercise in drawing one spread, which lead to another, and another, and pretty soon I had a very short story on my hands.

Call it a little inspiration zine if you’d like, because that’s what I had in mind when I was doodling around the idea. :)

I’ve also completed a few mini gouache paintings that was also a fun exercise, and I was so happy to explore the medium that I wonder why I didn’t discover it earlier!

The idea of imperfection is new to me.

I thought the idea of filling up a page was so that it would make full use of space; that you should cram as much as you can into that white paper to make a statement. I thought that was the way to go.

Up until now.

I can see almost everyone around me making things to look perfect, or to achieve flawlessness. I too, am guilty of that as I am also a little perfectionist at heart. But how do perfectionists learn to be imperfect? To revel in the beauty of impermanence and of the beauty in flaws?

Do you sabotage your perfect work in order to make it look imperfect? Rearrange ideals and notions to make it “wrong”?

So many things can be said without taking up an entire sheet, and I’m not sure if I know the right words.

Try as hard as I might, I can’t stop drawing things that are considered cute.

I want my style to be edgier and crazy, but I end up with Mr Alligator Hat Salesman here most of the time instead. Sigh.

Perhaps I should just embrace it?

Yum in a can, pencil on paper + Photoshop

Apparently I can just have fun and not think too hard about the subjects for each Illustration Friday entry.

This was fun!

I love the new nibs that I bought from a local art shop. It’s very, very rare to find them — they are very old, and came all the way from England. They have etchings on them that says “Kingsley Inks Wells & Co”, with numbers that I can’t really make out.

I spent a few hours engrossed with them — dipping them into drawing ink that I got from Japan (really beautiful black, waterproof ink). I covered about 5 pages in my sketchbook and my journal.

I am in love with how organic the lines are — and how it’s easier to control than brushes. From now on, these will be my main mode of inking. And it’s hard to describe, but when I held the pen in my hand, I had this feeling that the phantom tool that I had long searched for had finally become real.

Go now if you haven’t!

GO!

A fruitful evening indeed.

A signed, limited edition (of 55 pieces) Gocco print of my previous illustration. Paper size is A5, printed on acid-free, 200gm paper.

Update
You can purchase one over on my Etsy shop!