(Click to enlarge)
“Starry starry night,
paint your palette blue and grey…”
Updated:
Left, the edited sky. I tried my best with the shading of the sky (gradient) but no matter how I try, it still has the “lousy-resolution-look” (or banding?). Thank you frooze for the help!
Right, the flat one-colour of sky instead of with shading from light to dark.
Hehe. I still think some gradient in the sky colour is nicer (except the lousy-resolution-look spoilt it. Even though you like it, kerf, I still feel that it’s quite disappointing but I’m glad you can close an eye on that! 
). But frooze thinks the flat tone’s good enough. Which would you prefer? Both are up here, whichever you like. =)
pig
Turned out quite unexpected. Not sure what you guys think, but I quite like it (although it still has its flaws and can be further improved). I hope you think so too.
What do you think of it? I think different people will interpret this picture differently.
Below: another unexpected effect I got (while playing with the picture in photoshop) which I quite like too. So I decided in the end to include a small thumbnail. By the way, both pictures are clickable for a larger version.
pig
Filed under: Juz to share
Sometimes I like to track back to past entries and look at what we’ve got uploaded. I’d scroll through and try to recall what it was like writing the different posts, look at all the doodles, and read through all the comments left behind by our readers. Perhaps you might think that one year isn’t much (many people have had blogs for a few years or more) but it feels like a long time already. From one of the earliest doodles to my other ones today, I’d say I’ve come quite far, haven’t I? I’d like to think so. If anything, my skills has improved some (even if it isn’t drastic). And because this website is a result of efforts–I’m a very lazy person, and to keep something going is as tough as it gets–it’s especially meaningful. Especially when I read the words of encouragement. It’s heartening to know that we’ve got a readership following, even if it’s mostly made up of friends for now. I hope one day there’ll be more people (not just friends) seeing our website! ^_^ Don’t mistake me, I’m not trying to be crazily ambitious. It’s just that friends could be looking because they are friends. If strangers come across and continue to follow the blog, it’d be a plus, wouldn’t it?
But here’s a really BIGGGG thank you to all of you readers (and dear friends) who keep the readership up. Everytime I read the comments left behind, I’d be very happy and smiling myself silly the whole day–as you can see, they really make my day. Sometimes it’s even about how you guys can relate too to what I write or draw. And these comments, they keep this site going. Makes me want to make the effort to doodle and post it up. So thank You.
pig
(Click to enlarge)
I drew this because it reminds me of one night when a girl who loves swings decided to stop by a playground (one of the few traditional ones left that still has/had a sand pit) on the way back after dinner. It became an impromptu act that all her friends decided to join in, whether to play on the swings or climb the concrete playthings (whatever they’re called). As one friend pointed out, the age of all the 8 of them totalled more than 200 years old, so it was quite a sight to see when most of them joined in. It was the letting of the inner child loose for that moment to play like kids would. The photos are lost, some friends are no longer friends, and everyone has moved on along with time. The memory of that moment, though, is still beautiful.
pig
Have you ever felt like you wished you could turn back time?
Sometimes I look back in time, and wonder if certain paths I’ve taken or chosen are what I really wanted.
In secondary three, we had streaming. Students had to choose one humanity subject, Geog or History, and either English Literature or Chinese Literature. I was certain I had no interest in Geog, so History was a definite choice. Friends around me chose either History+Chinese Lit or Geog+Chinese Lit. I wasn’t keen on Chinese Literature, but in order to be in the same class as them, I wrote the choice of History+Chinese Lit. On the day that we submitted our choices and even after I submitted the form, I was still having an internal debate: whether I should follow my heart, or follow friends. On the spur of the moment, I ran after my teacher for my form and changed the combination to English Lit+History. Despite having no familiar friends (from the previous 2 years of class), despite being out of my comfort circle and having to make new friends, I never looked back. Some of the new friends I made, I never regretted knowing (and would probably regret not knowing). I think if I could turn back time, I’d turn back till that time. Because that was probably one of the few times I made a choice I Wanted.
Over the years, from then till today, I’ve made choices/decisions out of pragmatism, following the footsteps of others or born out of thinking I wanted some change/new experiences. These decisions mostly took me out of my social comforts and I got what I wanted–change. But I’m not sure it was for the best.
People say they live life with no regrets, that if they had to choose, they’d still choose the same path they took. Me? If given a choice to turn back time, I might take a different path. No, I won’t say that it’s to the extent of regretting my choices because everything I guess, happens for a reason. It’s just that I have some “what-if” curiosity to satisfy(more on that later), and once is enough. There’s particularly one path I wish Never to repeat.
On this path, I’ve met people from very different backgrounds from my own, made friends with people I never thought I’d be friends with, met people who will probably fade from my life with time, grew to like people I didn’t think I would, worked with people I never thought I would work with, learnt things I could do Without the knowledge of, and did things I never thought I ever would. It broadened my perspectives you could say. It taught me the world doesn’t revolve around mine, and not everyone spent their entire lives (up until then) just studying. Alot of people have been to alot of different routes from mine, but no matter how long or short our routes were, it all converged back to this path.
And at the base of it all, I changed. (I believe friends I made prior to this path will not appreciate the change.) As much as I met people I like–friends I have no regrets knowing (and would like to keep), there has been some really “complicated” people. People who mislead/brought you down the wrong path, people who teach you the wrong things, people who use your guilelessness against you, people you wish you’d never encountered, jerks, people who make “ignorance is bliss” a perfect reason never to know of them or their existence. (These are separate characteristics of different people i met, although there could be some with all the mentioned characteristics). I can’t help feeling that it’s all because I made the first mistake of seeking change.
Regrets, I cannot have however, because you win some and you lose some–I still made certain good friends along the way that I would otherwise not have met. Lesson learnt: not trust just about anyone or assume friends will stick up for you. Yet I’d never want to take this route again because much as I think these experiences are useful as lessons learnt to protect myself against such people (should I be so unlucky to come across more), I wouldn’t need to protect myself if I never met such people, would I? Sometimes I do wish to walk away and pretend those people never existed. Happiness and the inability to ever be truthful (because I can’t forgive nor forget) is too heavy a price to pay for knowing such “complicated” people. I hope my friends and siblings will never have the unfortunate experience of knowing them.
Perhaps I was too naive on my part. Perhaps this is a true reflection of society, just that I never knew that while I was still being, as the Chinese saying goes, a “frog in the well”. Too bad I can’t turn back time. The loss of innocence is tragic. I would much prefer the sky to be a size of the well. It’s funny how as little kids, we could derive great pleasures in simple things such as having a lollipop, sitting in those 20 cents rides or watching cartoons, yet need so much to be happy and contented as an adult.
But I digress (maybe because cowardly me wanted to use this as an outlet as an excuse to say/vent things out without consequences).
There’s always this question in my mind, (especially when I hear of friends who are doing things related to doodles/design, read about others who are strong in language), a constant what-if. What if I hadn’t cared about societal norms and pursued my interests? Where would I be then?
I loved to doodle from a young age, doodling lightly on my textbooks only to rub them away in case my mother noticed. I guess that’s where I developed the habit of drawing things lightly so as not to leave a mark on the paper when the doodles were erased. Later, I bought sketchbooks and drew whenever I felt like it, but my mother frowned upon my hobby because she felt that it wouldn’t get me a job in the future. I remember being very disappointed and resenting, yet silently agreeing with her (because Singapore is a practical society, and I’m a true-blue Singaporean) and chucking everything aside. Today, my mum says she’d be supportive if I intend to pursue my interest. I’m not sure if it’s out of a mom’s love for her kid to give her support in anything regardless of whether she approves or not.
Sometimes I really wonder to myself, if I could turn back time, would I have the courage to pursue the path of interest?
Wow. Such a long post. Sorry if it’s boring. Just felt it suited my doodle. Or my doodle suited it. =)
