CHA HAN!

ROUND ROBIN - the making of !

2012-02-14T15:54:00.000-08:00

From this week on, me, Daniela and Katy are going to take turns sharing some making of process for our collaberative book project, ROUND ROBIN, you can find it on our dedicated blog. please take a look! We're also curious to hear what you think about our books, please feel free to leave us a message on the post comment!

This week is my turn to start, sharing some process in the making of "Child + Web" from ROUND ROUBIN 2.

If everyone has a tune...

2012-02-10T18:08:00.000-08:00

I've been listening to this song repeatedly today, it brought up lots of memories of the Meadows. Although the poetic lyrics may be a bit sad, I couldn't bobbing my head left and right with the mellow bitter-sweet tune...then, an image slipped into my mind that, Mr.R would come to the Meadows on a fresh sunny day, put down his pouch, start to celebrate the good travel day.....

click command +

While searching for a good web version of the song,

I found the song has a claymation music video !

If everyone has a tune......

2012-01-27T16:16:00.000-08:00

Do you hear the weekend ?...

click 'command' +

If everyone has a tune......

2012-01-19T12:10:00.000-08:00

click 'command' +

ROUND ROBIN bookplate paintings

2012-01-13T13:41:00.000-08:00

Over the holiday break, we found a well wrapped paper package in a cookie tin box in the botton of a cardboard box in the deep corner of a studio...inside the wrapping, it was a stack of original book plate paintings we made for ROUND ROBIN book 1 !

the bookplate paintings were made to celebrate the release of the 1st book, and it grew into a further exploration of the worlds and charcters we created for the book ! Here is one of mine, and you'll find more from the three of us there.

Happy New Year 2012 !

2012-01-06T09:03:00.000-08:00

Happy 2012, let's start fresh !

Hope you had a great holiday break, whether it was full of fun traveling or just relaxing/recovering in your comfiest spot ! Here are some sketches from my holiday week - visiting family and traveling. I found this tea bag size sketchbook that fitted within your palm and back pocket, which turned out to be the best thing to do quick sketches during busy trips.(btw, I love train travel!)

ROUND ROBIN Book signing & Gallery opening at Rare Device

2011-11-06T16:40:00.000-08:00

Thank you everyone who made it to our event at Rare Device yesterday ! We were so happy to see everybody and to present our work from ROUND ROBIN 2 in close to orginal sized prints ( 11x14"). We'd like to thank especially to people who made it happen: Giselle at Rare Device for hosting our event, Asaki who made a beautiful window display, and also to Liz and James who helped us tremendously setting this up.

The exhibition will only be up till Tuesday, 11/08, stop by when you have a chance !

ROUND Robin at Rare Device ! This Saturday 11/05

2011-10-27T13:50:00.000-07:00

It's this Saturday, 11/05, 2 ~ 5pm, me, Daniela Strijleva, and Katy Wu will have a book signing/gallery opening for our new ROUND ROBIN 2 at Rare Device ! For the gallery exhibition, there will be some selected sequantial prints from the two ROUND ROBIN books, as well as some small original book plate painitngs from the three of us, and it will be up from 11/05~08. Also, our friend, the amazing display artist, Asaki Oda, is making the ROUND ROBIN window display at Rare Device ! it'll also be up on 11/05. Please come take a look !

ROUND ROBIN now available online !

2011-10-19T14:38:00.000-07:00

ROUND ROBIN online shop has now been moved to our new independent blog, you can find all related information and updates the blog, please click here !

Thanks ! A great weekend at APE !

2011-10-04T11:24:00.000-07:00

Thanks everyone who came visit us at APE ! We had such a wonderful weekend meeting many art/book lovers and also great artists in person! APE was such a fun feast, wasn't it ? And for us, especially rewarding and a treat, to see everyone's reaction and hear your thoughts on ROUND ROBIN, I hope you'd enjoy reading ROUND ROBIN 2 !

Thanks !

ROUND ROBIN at APE this weekend !

2011-09-26T21:41:00.000-07:00

APE is coming up this weekend ! Me, Daniel Strijleva and Katy Wu will be at table #328 presenting our newly illustrated book, ROUND ROBIN 2, along with our special prints and totes! We'll be sharing the space with Tr!ckster and many other amazing artists, much thanks to our generous host, Scott Morse. If you're in S.F. this weekend, please come by !

ROUND ROBIN 2 - Work in Progress

2011-09-21T17:56:00.000-07:00

Just 9 days before APE ! I can't wait to receive our newly printed ROUND ROBIN 2! Before you see the book in person, I'd like to share some of my work-in-progress with you.

I shall reserve the two words for this piece for now to leave you with some surprise for later. To start a Round Robin piece, I started with researching about the two given words - looking up their definitions in different dictionaries, typing them on web search and seeing what images or related things would come up.. .but, sometimes after taking in so much informations, my brain started to over think it. I had to go away from the words for a while but always kept them in mind. When getting more used to the words and the meanings, I would try in everyway to break the logic and break away from the most convenient ideas, then see what other possibilities could describe the words. Or actualy, almost counter intuitively - How to be inspired by the words. Although there were times some word was just so identifyable on its own and very attractive to just illustrate it straight as it is...

Here are some initial thumbnails and sketches

In this piece, I tried to use graphic compositions to help tell the story, as there just seemed to be an off-balance blind spot in my eyes..., I had to flip and work on the sketches front and back to make sure the shapes would be balanced in either side. Also it got tricky to be selective of how informative

the graphic shapes should be.

Got my tools ready ! I fell in love with jam jars and sardine cans !

Block in the initial composition in watercolor.

As layering in the pencils, I constantly checked in the mirror for

the reverse image to see if the value, layering, shapes were working.

Peeling off the surounding masking tape for clean edges

is always the most rewarding - finished !

...or almost ! still couldn't help to go work back in !

Well, I hope this would get you excited about ROUND ROBIN 2, and hope to see you at the Alternative Press Expo on October 1st. in SF !
Also, don't miss to check out Daniela's piece for the book !

cheers !

Here we go again....Round Robin 2 !

2011-08-26T16:17:00.000-07:00

Last year, me, Daniela Strijleva and Katy Wu had such a great time collaborating for Round Robin, we once again, are working together to make Round Robin 2 ! It'll be out in time for the Alternative Press Expo on Oct. 1st in SF.

This time, though same as the 1st book, playing the add-on word game, we now are more familiar with the logic of this "brain exercise" and trying to push the limit of our imagination. Interestingly, while working on the list for the 1st book, we had a hard time to break away from objects/nouns, it just seemed so convenient to put down the first familiar object popped into our minds... so this time, we started to go as far as possible, more adjectives, verbs, colors, feelings ~~~ ...........and the list started to go whimsical... or,... a bit too abstract. So we played the word game a several more time, push and pull of different kind of words between the three of us, finally cut down to a list of 15, where we feel it's a little more balanced, and still has a different feeling from the first book.

In the few weeks before APE, I'll be sharing some work in progress, please stay tuned !

The Meadows - tribute to Edinburgh

2011-08-16T09:04:00.000-07:00

*Still haven't figured out how to post audio on the blog, so try this -

click "command" +

Just came back from Edinburgh, Scotland, for a wedding of my dear friends, the city was as lovely as my last visit in Winter, and even more alive as ever for the Frindge festival and the lush green from summer rain.

The meadows is a park in the old town part of Edinburgh, it is literally wide and open meadows connected by trees, walking/biking paths. When in Winter, covered with snow, strolling across the Meadows was quiet, peaceful and fresh, and a great place to juggle fire at night; in Summer, whether rain or shine, it's populated with people playing golf, cricket, croquet, football( yes, succor), picnic, jogging, rehearsing plays, music..., and dogs and seagulls.. it's lush and alive !

If Everyone has a tune....

2011-07-30T18:27:00.000-07:00

If everyone has a tune......

2011-07-22T12:48:00.000-07:00

( sorry...could't find a better version of the song ..... )

Tr!ckster !

2011-07-20T13:54:00.000-07:00

If you're in San Diego for Comic Con this week, make sure you stop by TR!CKSTER too !
It's a free venue open to the public, a retail space specializing in creator-owned work, including small run and limited edition books, fine art prints, toys, clothing, and also a gallery exhibiting different shows, and hosting a series of Symposia focused on creator driven demos, discussions, and screenings.

Tr!ckster is located right across the street from the Comic Con, hosted at the San Diego Wine and Culinary Center -

200 Harbor Drive, Suite 120, San Diego, CA 92101

Our signed Round Robin book will be available in the TR!CKSTER shop, as well as the limited edition Round Robin prints from Daniela and Katy.

Also, Tr!ckster has put together a themed art book, including 48 artists contributing their takes of a Trickster god. The book is available at the shop and the originals will be up in the gallery show on Saturday. Here is my contribution to the book -

Happy 91st Ronald Searle !

2011-07-12T09:05:00.000-07:00

Mr. Searle turned 91 this year, Matt Jones had invited several artists to put together a sketchbook to wish him a happy birthday ! 

A tune to start the day

2011-07-07T09:39:00.000-07:00

It's been so sunny in the Bay Area, we even had a clear warm night for the 7/4 ! Though most time of the week I spend in an all-year long-ac windowless office, I often start the work with this tune, so to remember the sunlight and fresh cool air in the early morning.

"O N E - ひとつ" - Maverix Art Auction and Benefit For Japan Relief

2011-03-30T23:41:00.000-07:00

"It was quiet..."
Watercolor + Pencil
10" x 7"

Here is a piece I've made for the "O N E - ひとつ" benefit art auction event held by the Maverix Studios this Saturday, April 2nd. 100% of all proceeds from this auction will be donated to Artists Help Japan Fund. There will be 50+ amazing original art donated by artists from the animation and film industry, and will only be up for exhibition at the Super Frog Gallery for one day ! Silent auction starts at 7pm and ends at 9:30pm. If you're in San Francisco area this Saturday night, please do come join the fun event, seeing the art, and this will be a great chance to own an original artwork, and also contribute to a worthy cause !

Super Frog Gallery is located
in the NEW PEOPLE building at -

1746 Post St,
San Francisco, CA 94115

To see more recent updated artwork by other artist, check out Maverix's blog - http://maverixstudios.blogspot.com/

Special Edition ROUND ROBIN for Japan

2011-03-17T14:01:00.000-07:00

Thanks very much everyone who supported our efforts with Red Cross to help Japan! Thank you for your generosity!

Here are what we made -

If you wish to donate through other venues, please consider the "Artists Help Japan" fund, organized by friend and co-worker Dice Tsutsumi and the Give2Asia Organization, or Red Cross.

Artists Help Japan

2011-03-14T10:28:00.000-07:00

"On March 11, an 8.9 earthquake struck off the northeast coast of Japan near the city of Sendai. It is the most powerful earthquake they ever experienced. 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. "

Art Blocks for Ghana

2011-03-14T10:21:00.000-07:00

Here is an amazing online art auction put together by The Picture Book Project Foundation, artists in animation and illustration fields around the world were invited to make their artworks on wood blocks in the theme of "Home" and contribute them for this auction.

"The Picture Book Project Foundation presents Art Blocks for Ghana – a charity art auction of original works created by top artists within the animation and illustration community to provide boarding and education for orphaned children in Ghana, West Africa. Online art auction coming March 12-20. 2011.

* In addition, The Picture Book Project Foundation will be donating part of the proceeds from Art Blocks auction and events to help in the awareness and support Dice Tsutsumi's Artists Help Japan Earthquake & Tsunami Fund and Give2Asia.

Here is my contribution to "Art Blocks for Ghana" -

Happy Rabbit Year !

2011-02-02T22:57:00.000-08:00

2011

2011-01-20T04:40:00.000-08:00

Happy 2011 !
Hope everyone had a great holiday break, and having a great fresh start of the year ! I've been delaying on posting for my travels...due to the extreme cold weather conditions, disconection from the internet, food poison, pollution, and holiday laziness... and so on ... "f(-. _ -.);,..
but here they are, a clearing of 2010 -

After setting off from NYC, I arrived to Edinburgh, Scotland, in December, visiting my friends Alice & Andrew for a week. It was absolutley a beautiful city ! Even in the coldest Dec. winter since 1962 ( -13C ~ -3C), and with the heaviest snow ever seen in the history (!?). The sun rose low around 8:30am and set around 3:30pm, I went out sketching, but could not stay in one place ever too long.... my toes and fingers would got totally frozen! So most of the time I could only get the drawing down quickly, take a mobile photo, and finish coloring the sketches next to the heater with a cup of hot tea !

Then after the week in Edinburgh, I went on a 3 weeks trips with my friends, which you'd find out as the sketches are posted -

- Edinburgh -

- the Cameo Cinema -

- Paris Apartments -

- Rainy Sicili -

- Rome -

N.Y. - I've not gonne too far...

2010-12-05T16:11:00.000-08:00

12-02-2010
Well, I've not gone too far,...
New York was my first stop on this trip, briefly visited some lovely old friends here for 2 days 2 nights, and planned to fly out at 7:45am on 12-02. I had troubled my kindest friends who I visited and stayed with to get up at 3:30am, drive out from White Plains at 4am, we came across a car crash accident on the fwy side at 5 am, my friend helped set up the emergency flares on the fwy, then dropped me off at the airport at 5:30am, exactly 2 hrs-ish before my 7:45 am international flight ! Nice ! and sharply on time ! ... However, as I was confidently self-checking in my luggage, the airline person came over and wondered if I was going to Santo Domingo......Santo Domingo !? I'd love to visit there one day, but...I wasn't ! Read my flight schedule again, then realized, it was supposed to be "7:45PM" instead of "AM"!!... ohoo nooo ~~~ with terrible guilt, regret, and dumbfounded..... too shameful and sorry to call my friend back... I stayed at the airport for another 5 hrs waiting for the luggage storage to open, then transited to Manhattan to kill time before my actual flight at night.

Beside all the stupidities I'd made, the day actually turned out to be a great one after all ! I got to spend some time walking around the city, trying out famous burger joint, and got to sketch a little bit. Though the temperature quickly turned from cold to freezing, I end up retrieving into a cafe facing the Madison Square Park, and found a lovely view right outside of the window. How a lovely city !

" Expedition ! " ...here we go !

2010-12-05T14:56:00.000-08:00

11-31-2010
Here I go, set off onto a little expedition of mine from San Francisco ! From now to the early next year, I'll be traveling here and there visiting friends and family, exploring places I love, and places I've never been. It's a rare fortunate chance and time in my life, I got to, and better use it well ! Hopefully there will be easy wifi on the way, that I'll get to upload some sketches here !

ROUND ROBIN Available online !- Update

2010-11-09T17:31:00.000-08:00

Round Robin is NOW available on Katy Wu's blog ! We have a limited run of 300 books, all books are numbered and will be signed and sketched !

Here is another illustration I made for the book -

Quick, quick, Sketch !

2010-11-09T17:29:00.000-08:00

Took a swift 4.5 days trip to Tirol, Austria, for a family wedding a few weeks ago, we stayed with family around lake Achensee, a lake between high mountains. As we arrived at late night in the complete darkness, the second day morning view out of their apt. was especially spectacular ! It was a sudden realization of being in a perfect Austrian mountain town calendar ! the only equivalent I could relate this to was probably - waking up right in front of Half Dome in Yosemite ! but in a very sweet setting of lovely music box wooden houses with lots of colorful balcony flowers, cows and horses strolled in the green meadow, and all these surrounded by high mountains with trees started to change their colors into Autumn flame....lovely lovely... unfortunately, as usual, traveling on a family agenda with a tight schedule, I started a sketch, but never got to finish it before we left this dreamy place ! but I thought it was probably just enough to express that bit of an impression....
Also, I got to spend a few hrs in Munich before my flight back home, few hrs was definitely too quick for this amazing historical city, where every turn was a new view of architecture and time.

Round Robin & Mr.R on Gallery Nucleus !

2010-11-01T11:46:00.001-07:00

Gallery Nucleus starts to carry Round Robin on their website !

As well as a limited postcard booklets of an Expedition with Mr.R( the Raccoons), Daniela Strijleva's Collected Sketches, and Katy Wu's Tiger Bee Comics and Tiger print ! Please take a look !

So, What exactly is Round Robin about ?

2010-11-01T11:45:00.000-07:00

In this book, me, Daniela, and Katy, three of us played a word game - we each takes turn add a random word to make a list of 15 words, and each page contains 2 words that are connected to the page before and the page after. Say, p.1 => X+Y, p.2 => Y+Z, p.3 => Z+Something......and so on. The words are random, can be noun, verb or adjective..... Each artist would take turn making an illustration inspired from the 2 words given by the two other artists.

The process was very fun and challenging, as it throws you out of the comfort zone, because you probably would have never chosen those particular words yourself ! And the best and the most 'magical' thing about this is, each artist can interpret each word very differently that it's always a great surprise to see the next page !

Thanks ! A wonderful weekend at APE !

2010-10-22T12:40:00.000-07:00

Thanks everyone who came by say hi to us at APE !

We had such a great time seeing our friends and meeting new friends!

I hope you enjoy our collaborated book, Round Robin, as much as we did making it !

( we got to make some bookplates at the table !)

Thanks again everyone !

Thanks Daniela, and Anita for the photos at APE !

an Expedition with Mr.R ( the Raccoon )

2010-10-14T12:18:00.000-07:00

" In search of a dim memory from times past,

Mr. R (the Raccoon) packed up his pouch

and set off alone on an expedition.

Through fields and forests, villages and towns,

storms and sunshine, through all the seasons of the year.

He came at last to a gate

hidden behind a thicket of shrubs......"

Here is a 5 pages accordion postcard booklet made for Mr. R ( the Raccoon) ! Each illustration on the postcard follows Mr. R on his journey through four seasons of the year... This is also a little tribute to the Bay Area weather - where grass on rolling hills are yellow in summer, and heat is greater in fall....
I hope this would be a souvenir of the Bay Area, and also a friendly personal postcard to send to someone at far.

Each booklet is handcrafted, illustrations printed on watercolor paper and perforated to 5 postcards. There will be limited number available at APE this weekend, along side with Round Robin, and Daniela and Katy's beautiful books !
Our table number at APE is #330, please come on by !

ROUND ROBIN

2010-10-02T11:00:00.000-07:00

Alright ! it's now two weeks away from APE ! The illustrated book I've been working on with Daniela Strijleva and Katy Wu, now officially has a title, called, " ROUND ROBIN" !
What is it about ?? well, ...give you a little more hanger and surprise till you see the actual book in hand,... Instead of a conventional story line, our illustrations were created along with a word game. Here is a sneak peek of a finished painting I made for the book, and please also check out Daniela and Katy's blog for a glimpse of their beautiful work.

APE 2010 !

2010-09-15T17:36:00.000-07:00

APE ( the Alternative Press Expo) in San Francisco is once again coming up on Oct. 16th !
It'll be the 2nd time for me to exhibit at APE ( after 2 years...), and this time, I'm sharing a table with 2 amazing artist friends from work, Daniela Strijleva and Katy Wu. Also, for the first time, we're collaborating to make a small illustrated book, which will be coming out at APE !
More details will be posted soon, for now, I could only say, we're working feverishly to make this happen, and the collaboration process is definitely one amazing experience ... I hope you'd enjoy the book when you see it at APE !

Also, I'm brewing to put together a little postcard booklet for Mr. R ( the Raccoon), hopefully, it will also be exhibited at APE.

Here are some pictures of my work-in-progress, and meet me and my hubby's new kittens of the family - Pocky & Mikado ! ( they keep me company while painting, help chewing on my brushes and lick away the water-color paint.... What's in the paint anyway...? )

Mr. R, the Raccoon.

2010-09-01T22:48:00.000-07:00

In my previous little cottage apt, there lived 2 Raccoons in between the ceiling and the roof, Mr. & Mrs. R. (perhaps). They ran marathon at night, above the ceiling, in the wall, sometimes even cracked nuts rhythmically. In a foggy summer day, they'd come check out the whimsy peach tree in the little front yard, surely, it was a bit too bitter for their taste...... So, every once a while, Mr. R keep popping in my head, did nothing much, just unpack his travel pouch, pull out a thermos and make some tea.....

The Whimsy House

2010-08-31T17:44:00.000-07:00

A little studio loft, full of windows, settles in the middle of tree shades. It's a magical experience to wake up on the top floor bed, feeling like waking up on and between trees...My friends' family built this loft by themselves with their own hands, they named it, " the Whimsy House ".

Friday ! Last but not least... Meet Le Uyen Pham & Alex Puvilland , Artist Duo.

2008-09-12T10:05:00.000-07:00

Le Uyen and Alex is an amazing talented, creative, and powerhouse artist couple living in San Francisco. They are both wonderful people and artists who inspire me everyday.
Check out the interviews with them today on Rose la Biche!

Thursday Artist: Jay Shuster !

2008-09-11T09:50:00.000-07:00

Jay Shuster is another amazing artist I've ever met, he has in depth involved in design of Wall-E, as well as many other films.
definitely check out the interview on Rose la Biche today, and his blog, you'll see more of his beautiful works, and learn more interesting stories of his. ^_^

Wednesday: Meeting Paul Madonna

2008-09-10T10:18:00.000-07:00

Today is an interview with Paul Madonna on Rose la Biche blog.

Fun Reading Monday & Tuesday

2008-09-09T10:00:00.000-07:00

My guest-blogger-posts are now up this week on Rose la Biche blog! Starting from Monday post about a bit of my own work and ideas; then from Tuesday to Friday, each day will be interviews I made of local artists I like and am inspired from in the S.F. Bay Area.

Today, Tuesday, it'll be featuring Evah Fan and Brendan Monroe.
They are a lovely creative artists couple from Berkeley.

Here are 2 of their recent piece for their next group show "Panorama Project 3" in NYC this month.

Left - Bredan, "Wind and Current" ; Right - Evah, "Ping Pong Buff".

Thanks Evah and Brendan ! and Merci Beaucoup, Lucy, for inviting me on your blog !

Fun Reading..

2008-08-29T16:46:00.000-07:00

Lucy is a fashion designer from France and now living in San Francisco. She has an on line shop selling all her beautiful hand made women's tees and hoodies.. Also, she has a blog, called, Rose la Biche, about trend, design and travel journal. From August 18th to September 10th, she has invited 4 different artists, journalist, and dancer/choreographer from different cities to be her guest bloggers. Each person will write 5 posts about their works and artists they like and their city.
Honorably, I was invited to write on the 2nd week of September ( 6th~10th)!
at the moment I"m busy preparing the posts, and interviewing cool and inspiring artists living in the Bay area! so stay tune, I'll follow up another post soon before the posts are up.
But at the meantime, here is the link to some fun reading of the first two people - Sarah, a stop motion animator in Portland; and Delphine, a journalist in Paris.
Rose la Biche

Afterworks 3 !

2008-08-19T23:48:00.000-07:00

Finally, I've finished putting together my little short story for Afterworks 3 !
here is a sneak peak of the cover page.
and see Afterworks blog for more great preview and progress of other great stories !

the Sacred Tree 2

2008-08-01T14:08:00.001-07:00

Hoo~ another wave of busyness ! I really need to catch up with the posts ! >_<

Thanks for every wonderful message on the Totoro piece !
Thought I'd give you a little bit of the background of the piece,
if you haven't read the description on the Totoro Forest Project site already..

"the piece was made in memory of the big Cypress tree forest in Ali mountain in Taiwan. Before 1900s, the mountain was full of thousand -year-old Cypress trees. During the 50 years of Japanese colonization if Taiwan, the forest was found, and a railway was built. The majority of the forest was logged and exported. Ali mountain became a big logging source until 1970s. Today, there are only a few big frees left in the area.
The biggest tree found in the mountain was a 3,000 years old Cypress, standing 55 meters high with a circular length of 23 meters, named as the "Sacred Tree". Sadly, It was struck by lightening in the 50s, and was cut down for safety. But it still remains as the god and guardian of the forest today.
I hope this piece could remind people of the history and to not make the same mistake again, and also how precious for the rare nature left on earth today."

the figure of the big sacred tree resembles the spirit of Totoro for me - a guardian of the forest. This piece is also dedicated to people who grew up and lived through the big transition era of Taiwan history in Ali mountain. Especially to my parents who lived through the post WW2 time, and to my mom who lived in one of the major station town on the Ali mountain railway. From her, I heard many stories of Ali mountain.

To learn more about Ali mountain, click . here

For the development of the piece, I also did two character studies that are now in the Paris show.

Some Time Before ...

Some Time After ...

Totoro Forest Project !

2008-07-11T09:40:00.000-07:00

This week Totoro Forest Project is officially announced!
It is an international fund raising exhibition/auction dedicated to raise funds to save Sayama Forest, also known as Totoro Forest, in Tokyo, from urban development. It is to support the non-profit organization, " Totoro No Furusato National Fund ", established by Hayao Miyazaki himself, to preserve the forest where it inspired his film, " My Neighbor Totoro".

More than 200 internationally acclaimed artists in illustration, animation and comics fields from all over the world, donating their amazing original artwork for this benefit auction! It'll be held at Pixar Animation Studios on September 6th, 2008. Tickets will be distributed soon on the Totoro Forest Project website, and a catalog/book will also be available at the auction event!

Also, a selection of the artwork will be exhibited at the Cartoon Art Museum in San Francisco, running from September 20th to December 7th, 2008.

Check out the official "Totoro Forest Project " website to learn more about the event,
and all artwork can be preview on the website!

Wherever you are in the world, hope you can make it to the event or participate it over Internet ! ~ it'll be a great opportunity to collect great artwork from great artists! it's for a great good cause after all...! *_*

The subject given for the artists was - " What is your Totoro?"
Here is my piece for the event, it's about the Sacred Tree in Ali mountain in Taiwan.

Wall-E !

2008-06-25T15:23:00.000-07:00

Here a couple sketch from my little 10 years old cousin, Michael. I gave him a sketchbook while he was visiting S.F. a few months ago. Within a few days, he filled up his sketchbook with so many wonderful drawings and stories. I was so amazed by his imagination at his age! very inspiring ...!

and yes ! "Wall-E" is coming out in theater this Friday, June 27th, in U.S.! This is the first film I've ever worked on for 2.5 years...it was surely an unforgettable great learning experience...I hope you'll enjoy it *_* .

Check out Jay Shu's blog for more cute "fan mail and folk art " and amazing sketches!

Lunch box from Mom

2008-06-16T11:43:00.000-07:00

This is apiece inspired by my own experience when I was in elementary school...XP I was a loose minded kid who often forgot to bring her lunch box to school. My mom was busy with her work and school that time, but always managed to delivered a lunch box for me to the school security front desk. The security would loudly page my name and class number through the PA system in the whole campus, that everyone would know that I forgot my lunch box again... but then, sometimes, I'd receive the lunch box wrapped in pretty wrapping papers; and especially one time, I received the lunch box wrapped like a candy, and filled with my mom's drawings - little chimney house, flying birds, smiling sun and hearts...I was really proud of it that day *_*

Je T'aime, Mon Arbre.

2008-06-10T09:59:00.000-07:00

Another piece for the show, and also a sneak peak of the new short story for Afterworks 3.

Helmet Day

2008-06-09T14:43:00.000-07:00

Here is another painting for the June show.
It's about a news clip I read in paper when I was in Taiwan few years ago. I remember it was written that, a couple of grandpa and grandma from Taiwan countryside got stopped by the police while riding scooter, because of their " funny " looking "helmets" - rice cooker pots!
They thought that the pots should be hard enough to be helmets! .. I thought it was very innocently cute and " practical"... XP

A Group Show in Paris !

2008-06-05T13:39:00.000-07:00

I'm very excited that I'm participating a group show atGalerie Arludikin Paris with Bill Pressing, Scott Morse, and Enrico Casarosa in June!
The show will open on June 24th and will be up through the summer till September. Though unfortunately, I won't be able to make it to the opening this time,but if you're in town, please stop by the show ! and let me know what you think ^_^

Tea Time

2008-06-03T09:37:00.000-07:00

It's been a while again since my last post...shame on me...(>-<)
the past few months I've been busy working on a few personal projects, including a new short story for the "Afterworks 3", and a group show in June !... Though I don't have the exact info of the show yet, here is a sneak peak of a painting that will be in it..
and yah.. it's a series of cats painting... (=*.*=)m

I'll be posting more paintings that I've been working for the next couple weeks. cheers!

Early Bird Painters Art Show !

2008-02-22T12:08:00.000-08:00

It's been 6 months since I've gone out painting with other " Early Birds"!
and we're having a group show starting this week at the Studio Gallery!

the theme is center in our personal plein air paintings and sketches that are mostly done in the our early painting session- the 2 hr time between sunrise and 9am work to go paint around bay area. There will also be a few pieces of illustrations that are inspired by them.
Participating artists include Sharon Calahan, Jennifer Chang, Bill Cone, Mike Dutton, Jimmy Gutierrez, Noah Klocek, Robert Kondo, Ernesto Nemesio, Nick Sung, Enrico Casarosa, and Daisuke Tsutsumi.

Below is the info for the gallery and time. Studio Gallery is a petit boutique/gallery in the Polk st. neighborhood. If you're in town or around Polk st. for dinner on Sat., please stop by the reception, or the show will be up for 2 weeks *_*

Early Birds
plein air paintings & drawings
February 20th - March 9th, 2007
reception: Saturday, February 23rd, 4-8 pm

Studio Gallery
1718A Polk St. (between Washington and Clay)
San Francisco, CA 94109
415-931-3130 www.STUDIOGallerySF.com
Gallery hours: Wed-Fri 11-8, Sat-Sun 11-6, Mon-Tue by appt.

cheers!

Happy Lunar New Year !

2008-02-06T23:41:00.000-08:00

Happy Rat Year !
this is also a belayed greeting for 2008!
I've been too swamped with stuff since December to post a greeting for everyone... XP
and now, the Christmas & New Year holidays have past, and it's time for the Lunar New Year ! (- Feb 7th).

the image above is the cover of a holiday card i made this year for family and friends. Now here it is for everyone ! For the 'theme' of the card this year is about having a warm relaxing holiday, I've made some bath salt tea bags to go with the cards. It was a fun process to make them, testing the bath salts myself has surely been the best part *_* .. I hope everyone had a great holiday, and having a great one !

Growing up in Taiwan, Lunar New Year ( literary translation: Spring celebration ) has always been an important holiday for me and my family. it's like celebrating Christmas and New Year for us, and it's also an once of year time for all family get together. During this time, we have a lot of good food and lots of oranges; post up poetry phrases on the front door and all over the house hold, that are written our greetings and hopes for the new year; elder generations give red envelopes, which contains new bills, to younger generations; we pray to Buddha and our ancestors to thank them for their blessing in the past, and the coming year ... the celebration usually lasts about a week. here is a wiki link that may describe more about the holiday.

Happy New Year !

Grizzly Hill view

2007-12-03T18:24:00.000-08:00

It's been a while again since last time I post...
here is a sketch I made last week on another early morning painting session,
it's the first time I went up to the Grizzly Hill in Tilden Park,
the view on top the hill was amazingly far... I could see the ocean beyond San Francisco...

here is another sketch I made a month ago,
I was trying to use a big brush painting a small image...a very good excercise to simplify things and get the control of bush.
though I was battleing with the brush and the fast shifting sunlight at the same time... the sketch didn't came out well..(>_<)
though I thought it was a good reminder for myself, and keep me trying the approach again and agian.."f(@_@)..

Road side - Berkeley Industrial site.

2007-10-18T17:13:00.000-07:00

Another sketch from this morning early painting session.
we went to this industrial area in Berkeley.
Lots of cool looking constructions and vehicles to sketch and paint,
but I end up choosing this corner that doesn't say so much of the place...
just thought it's a funny contrast of the bush of wildly beautiful plants growing in the middle of the industrial junks..

*Also check out "www.earlybirdpainters.blogspot.com, there are many amazing painting from the day !

"Don't you say it's too early ! "...

2007-10-10T12:41:00.000-07:00

*Also, now we’ve just freshly setting up a blog to post & share our paintings:
www.earlybirdpainters.blogspot.com

Alzheimers Association Art Auction Benefit @ Maverix Studios

2007-09-27T19:12:00.000-07:00

Saturday night from 6~9pm, there will be a benefit art auction at Maverix Studios for Alzheimers Association .
Pieces are donated by artists, and many Pixar artists have put in their own personal artworks.
I'm also putting in " the Bird" drawing I've posted a while ago for the auction. Hopefully it'll make some good cause !
So if you are interested in getting great artworks in great prices and for the great cause, this is definitely the event to not miss !

Hawaii の hana

2007-09-19T14:07:00.000-07:00

Here we are, the last day at Waikiki, another bizarre oasis.
- I hope it's just a small corner of the island, like the union square of S.F. !?
Beautiful blue water and white sand at the beach. Then, seeing modern hotel concrete buildings all around, and $2.95 of a 2 cups bottle of milk, sure reminds me not being far from U.S., Taiwan, Japan, or even Vegas.
Maybe I've dreamed too much of a natural tropical island before arriving.

There has been constant showers during the day.
Transitions of sun and sudden pouring rain, sure not stopping vacationers from wearing tropical flowers on their ears,
and flowery beach sun dresses. Getting suntan may not be everybody's thing, but flowers are.
We are leaving to Kauai today, I hope for a slight different theme on the tropical island.

poor of words

2007-09-18T18:29:00.000-07:00

Describing emotions thoroughly in languages has often been a challenge for me.
Since little, I had hard time reading pass a story or phrases to find the ultimate messages behind. O_O Visioning things in my mind though seemed a lot easier... I’m guessing this is just how I am for what I do as an artist (luckily…), or maybe this is how I’m trained to be !? Or, of course, simply just lacking of writing training and knowledge… maybe writing on blog could be a practice, though it sure show the black hole in my brain shamelessly…^_-
Interestingly, my unintentional scribbles often express my unconscious mood a lot more than I realized. Sometimes when scribbles were done, they struck me awake for what I have just done or been feeling… anyway, enough of mumbling, to support my words here, here are some obvious examples of what I felt when staying up all night to do last minute packing, and couldn’t sleep during a 9am , 5 hrs flight…

yah...hmmm..., Tired..I supposed...!?

a Road Trip in Summer

2007-09-18T15:56:00.000-07:00

One of the greatest things in this summer is that I had a few chances to travel!
I love traveling to unknown places, and learn the culture, the food, the life of the people, meeting friends, and all… the travel bug in me is taking all the possible time to go as far as I can… though the meaning of “vacation” is to rest physically and mentally; a lot of times, I fulfilled the urge of curiosity of travel, and not exactly “rested” as I supposed to…but it sure does reboot my mind, and remind me the rest of the world…

Most recently, I took a Western road trip with friends in August.
6 of us rented a van, drove from S.F. to Yosemite; crossed Death Valley; to Zion Canyon; and Bryce Canyon, then to Vegas; then flew back. Though I’ve been living in Bay Area for the past 8 years, I was surprisinged to realize that I really haven’t been around much at all in California or in US! During the trip, the transition of the landscapes, vegetations, and the colors really amazed me. Never in my life had I imagined the peaceful subtle colors of Yosemite; goofy Joshua trees alongside the endless Hwy through Death Valley; the grand of Zion Canyon; and intense color transitions and alienated formation of Bryce Canyon; and of course the bizarre superficial Vegas oasis in the middle of the dessert.
Below are some little sketches I did during the trip.

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the Bird on Friday

2007-07-27T17:59:00.000-07:00

for the last Illustration Friday :Polar ...

2007-04-30T09:51:00.000-07:00

So this is for the last Illustration Friday: Polar.
it's about a Panda visiting 'the polar'....yah.. i think I just wanted to draw a panda...XP.
cheers.

the Ape weekend.

2007-04-26T17:37:00.000-07:00

Thanks for everyone who stopped by the table to say hi at Ape last weekend.
It was the first time for me to participate the event as an exhibitor,
I had a wonderful time meeting all the artists and making friends. *_*
There were 4 other artist friends sharing the table with me, Eun Ju& Jason Newhaus, Sunyeong Joh , and Richard Kim .
It was the first time experience at APE for all of us, we were all exhausted but excited through out the weekend.

Among all the comic conventions in California, APE always has the charm for me,
it seems to me that it is a smaller but more hands-on crafty, experimental, and personal comic/ art convention.
Something we don't commonly or ever see in a daily bookstore, like a off-regular-sized book or a interactive book arts...,were especially fascinating for me. Also, not only the price is more affordable to most people (^_-), just the amount of heart and effort put into each comics, artworks ,and crafts worth far more than its face price. I think for most of the people, the main goal and fun is just to make friends and sharing artworks with others...

On the last saturday morning preparing APE around 8:30 am, we were all exhausted from the intense week of preparation, and all said" this is the first and last time we're doing this....(>_<) " but by the end of the exhibition on Sunday, though we were all still and even more exhausted, we said" we got to do this again !!! ...P(*O*)q " It was definitely a great experience.

Thanks again for ones who got the kitosan Tea book, I hope you all are enjoying the tea and getting ready for a relax weekend. and if you're interested in knowing more about Kitosan, you can find it in ' Afterworks 2'; or please check back the blog once a while, I'll post more work in progress for the next story ^_-
( oh wait, ape isn't exactly gorillas..!?..XP )

and also, definitely check out Sunyeong, Eun Ju, Jason, and Richard's sites,
they all made wonderful books and stories for Ape, and great artworks to share on their sites !

Illustration Friday: Fortune.

2007-04-20T09:28:00.000-07:00

A matching left hand print. it's a smiley curve.

Just found out about Illustration Friday from Noah last week, and found I had a piece for the 'Green' subject in hand !( last post ) but... I didn't figure out this blog thing in time to post it.. But this week, I finally kinda caught the end of this bus.. XP I definitely need more practice, but it is such a great way to stimulate the imagination, and see everyone's works. Hopefully I can make more for this Illustration Friday. ^_^

Greens! the first post..

2007-04-17T16:45:00.000-07:00

" Fresh greens. has lots of vitamins and fibers. good for the eyes to look at... and. not fishy." Kitosan, chewing away a fresh plate of greens.

Kitosan is a cat. young but wanna-be serious. not knowing much yet about life, but doing the most for what it knows so far.
a childish matureness, that's how it definds itself.

***************
Finally, I made a blog. not sure what to post yet, but this should be a good start to keep track of time and thoughts.
Kitosan is a catish character I created a few years ago along with its cat friends.
It is based on a kitten me and my roomates adopted at the time, named Kite. Kite was very young but with a very serious and dog like personality. It was the first time ever I'd lived with a cat. It felt like inviting some wild animal to be your roommate. and Yap, having a cat is like making a new friend, but the kind of friends that you have the unspoken responsibility to take care of them , or say when they "allow" you to. but then, it's always nice when they are being sweet and making a cakes for you, like they care after all. So, after being scratched countlessly by Kite, I still have a good or 'interesting' impression of cats ,and remember the moments of watching traffic and people outside the window with Kite, or him making biscuits on my back. *.*

* Kitosan's story can be found in Afterworks 2.

CHA HAN!

ROUND ROBIN - the making of !

If everyone has a tune...

If everyone has a tune......

If everyone has a tune......

ROUND ROBIN bookplate paintings

Happy New Year 2012 !

ROUND ROBIN Book signing & Gallery opening at Rare Device

ROUND Robin at Rare Device ! This Saturday 11/05

ROUND ROBIN now available online !

Thanks ! A great weekend at APE !

ROUND ROBIN at APE this weekend !

ROUND ROBIN 2 - Work in Progress

Here we go again....Round Robin 2 !

The Meadows - tribute to Edinburgh

If Everyone has a tune....

If everyone has a tune......

Tr!ckster !

Happy 91st Ronald Searle !

A tune to start the day

"O N E - ひとつ" - Maverix Art Auction and Benefit For Japan Relief

Special Edition ROUND ROBIN for Japan

Artists Help Japan

Art Blocks for Ghana

Happy Rabbit Year !

2011

N.Y. - I've not gonne too far...

" Expedition ! " ...here we go !

ROUND ROBIN Available online !- Update

Quick, quick, Sketch !

Round Robin & Mr.R on Gallery Nucleus !

So, What exactly is Round Robin about ?

Thanks ! A wonderful weekend at APE !

an Expedition with Mr.R ( the Raccoon )

ROUND ROBIN

APE 2010 !

Mr. R, the Raccoon.

The Whimsy House

Friday ! Last but not least... Meet Le Uyen Pham & Alex Puvilland , Artist Duo.

Thursday Artist: Jay Shuster !

Wednesday: Meeting Paul Madonna

Fun Reading Monday & Tuesday

Fun Reading..

Afterworks 3 !

the Sacred Tree 2

Totoro Forest Project !

Wall-E !

Lunch box from Mom

Je T'aime, Mon Arbre.

Helmet Day

A Group Show in Paris !

Tea Time

Early Bird Painters Art Show !

Happy Lunar New Year !

Grizzly Hill view

Road side - Berkeley Industrial site.

"Don't you say it's too early ! "...

Alzheimers Association Art Auction Benefit @ Maverix Studios

Hawaii の hana

poor of words

a Road Trip in Summer

the Bird on Friday

for the last Illustration Friday :Polar ..*.*

the Ape weekend.

Illustration Friday: Fortune.

Greens! the first post..

for the last Illustration Friday :Polar ...