Saturday, December 11, 2010

MyPaper Singapore media coverage

Out Friday December 10th, 2010. Many thanks to O.I.C Singapore, Animax and Fourskin for the opportunity. Click on the image for larger resolution :)

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Preview: Kalkitos + OICsingapore featuring FULL MOON RESCUE by Zid

Debuting at Singapore Toys, Games & Comic Convention this weekend!


K-Fantasy: FULL MOON RESCUE by Zid
The lovely damsels are in distress and our heroes are out to save them while seeking hidden treasures. Watch out for monsters lurking around, trying to thwart your mission!


KALKITOS is a collection of rub-down transfer activity games that was hugely popular back in the 1970s. Players are given sheets of blank scenery which they can fill up wherever they like with transfer images of people, animals, objects, vehicles to create their own unique stories.


To know more, go to: http://www.kalkitos.sg/categories/k-ollaborate/
See other titles here: http://www.oicsingapore.com/wordpress/tag/kalkitos-oicsingapore/

Source: O.I.C Singapore

Sunday, December 5, 2010

Unsold O.I.C Portrait Day (December) Drawings

November drawings were sold out :) Come December however, my markers were running out of ink (and so was my luck!) - Only 3 were sold, and these are the ones I took home yesterday:

Saturday, November 27, 2010

Intipati / Pg. 9 / Work In Progress

Finally, some free time to continue the personal project.



.. And an extra sketch before bed:

Thursday, November 11, 2010

EDIT: Why I Decided To Go Solo

Edit: Due to e-mails, messages I've received (some agreed, some well, not so nice), I will remind that this is neither directed to every studio out there, nor written out of spite. This is just my opinion based on personal (past) experience. I understand that not all organization is the same. Artists, enthusiasts and studio runners please don't get rubbed in the wrong way. I sincerely apologize if you did. I know a few professionals who feel the same, but I just chose to be vocal about it and bear full responsibility for amplifying my thoughts.

While it provides income stability, a studio setting does not help - at least for me - mental stability where artistic growth is concerned. There's a price to pay for that monthly pay cheque: a goal one has to strive for in the interest of collective creative direction.

With modest amount of experience I have working in studios, no matter how many times I've heard a studio promoting to celebrate individual identity/diversity (so far), eventually the measure of how good an artist is would always boil down to either who can paint "that certain way" as realistic as possible, or, whoever renders painstakingly detailed imagery until every excruciating specifics on the subject is visible. The list goes on, but these "qualities" summarize as only technical prowess.

Eventually, it would lead to those who carry that technical skillset will have higher value in comparison to other artists. More often than not you'll see artists getting emotional and disciplinary issues start to emerge. Also, Not forgetting celebrity artists who know they're THAT good and feel that they deserve to have special treatments. Boy I'm done with that.

I don't speak for everyone. I understand those skills are important on entry level but in my very humble opinion, details and realism only bring visual stimulation so far (and I am very much sick of it). I chose not to paint in such ways because they are the very superficial qualities in comparison to seeing a hot car or a beautiful woman. (I'm not helping myself here by grouping cars and women in the same sentence)

It's also the reason why I deliberately avoided digital art magazines today. Because seriously, how many times must I see this repetitive, perpetual portrayal of chicks with big guns, chicks with mecha, chicks with dragons, chicks with chicks.... now that's actually a nice image... WAIT THAT'S BESIDE THE POINT! Moving on...

I posed this question to myself at a crossroad: Dream or ricebowl? I chose the former, and here I am now on my own, working hard to make my choice a hybrid - Dreambowl.
Edit: But who knows if in 2 years I'm living in a cardboard box I'll just have to go for interviews.

In the words of George Frederic Watts,

"I paint ideas, not things. I paint primarily because I have something to say, and since the gift of eloquent language has been since denied me, I use painting; my intention is not so much to paint pictures which shall please the eye, as to suggest great thoughts which shall speak to the imagination and to the heart and arouse all that is best and noblest in humanity."

For me, it has always been form and content. This will lead to another long discussion - it's my favourite topic in visual representation. Maybe next time but for now, I'll end this entry without being off-topic.

Saturday, October 30, 2010

Unsold O.I.C Portrait Day (October) Drawings

These were done using a ballpoint pen and Copic markers. My first Copic sprint!










Edward Cullen?!?!

Monday, October 18, 2010

Manga & Anime! Japan Contest


Photo courtesy of www.toysrevil.net

Vote for your favourite OIC Vs. Animax illustration on Animax Asia's website and stand a chance to win a trip to Japan! Supporting your favourite artists has never been this rewarding - so what are you waiting for? Vote now and Nihon e ikimasu!

Of course I'd say vote for me but I ain't getting those tickets so - DO THE RIGHT THING!

Link: http://animax-asia.com/manga-and-anime-Japan/

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Bandcamp

I've moved my music from Purevolume to Bandcamp. No more issues with player not loading this time, hopefully. And they support free downloads! Now I can even include lyrics for each song.



I integrated the look to match my website (linked under 'music' from the navigation bar) but you can also view it on its own too, at http://mohammadyazid.bandcamp.com

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

MANGA & ANIME! JAPAN

A Journey from the History to Modern Day Inspirations

OIC has been very privileged to be given the opportunity to work with Animax, Japan Creative Centre and Fourskin.
My Bleach illustration will be exhibited together with other OIC illustrators' entries.



Full event details can be found here: Japan Creative Centre

Dates
16 Oct to 12 Nov (Closed on Mon & Sun & Deepavali on 5 Nov)

Venue
Japan Creative Centre
4 Nassim Road S(258372)

Co-organisers
Japan Creative Centre
Kyoto International Manga Museum
Animax
Japan Foundation

Co-sponsors
Japan Airlines
Kinokuniya Bookstore of Singapore

Saturday, October 2, 2010

White Frames Exhibition at MAAD Market


Repost from www.oicsingapore.com

OIC is proud to unveil the artworks from all our dear friends/ supporters who have come together to celebrate OIC’s 4th anniversary with drawings and paintings.

All artworks are very compact, affordable, handdrawn, handpainted and are for sale.

Prices range from S$40 – $400, A4 size and smaller

Come and view early and reserve your favourites tomorrow from 1pm onwards! First come first serve!

White Frames is one of the many collaborations OICsingapore have initiated to celebrate its 4th year of making drawing FUN in Singapore.

Friday, October 1, 2010

Superficial



A study for a piece I'm working on called Superficial. I have begun formulating this idea in my sketchbook a while back (as a sequel to Demi Kala in Digital Symbolism series) but never got around to do it. Still very vague at this stage but hopefully in the real thing the message will get across clearly.

The execution of style and composition is in reference to my two favourite masters, Gustav Klmit and Yoshitaka Amano.

Here I'll share with you the process that took place:




Saturday, September 18, 2010

O.I.C x Noise Singapore = NOICE!



I missed out on the previous Noise session with Fleecircus due to Eid celebration in KL last week. Today, I attended rockstar Ben Qwek's character design jam and instead of doing his assignment, I drew these guys instead. From left: Our lovely Twisstii, Mindflyer being serious, and the MASTER himself!

The original sketch:

Friday, September 17, 2010

Art Block (Reprise)



It seems like it's a consistent cycle that an art slump blocks my creative flow. I have a lot to voice out (and express) but I suppose I'm not as gifted as my [fine art] contemporaries in projecting those mental images into visual composition.

Perhaps it's because I've been consistently working in the commercial side, answering to art directors and suits that I've gotten rusty to tap into that.. "zone".

In a meek attempt to unclog, I took a break from all commercial works today and screwed around with some collage. It's nothing to be proud of. In fact, I feel that I'm even more at lost with whatever it is that's going on.

Anyway, they are uploaded as means to document my process of, for lack of a smarter word, searching.