Remembering the Fun

One of the earliest memories of my life that I can recall was of me receiving a box of old crayons that my older sister didn't want anymore. I think anyone with a sibling knows what I'm talking about. If you're a little brother or sister, you received second-hand stuff that your older sibling outgrew. With that box of crayon, I drew a bird out of geometric shapes - quite a Boccioni-esque picture, if my memory serves me right.

While I grew a little bit older, I think at around the ages of five or six, I started drawing my favourite cartoon characters. At that time there was no internet, so I had to wait once a week for the 30 precious minutes of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to come on, and then immediately after the show I'd grab a pencil and and try to recreate Donatello and Leo on paper while the memory is still fresh.

At around seven, I started owning paperback issues and collector's cards of my most favouritest thing in the world - Dragonball! If my math is correct, 99.99999% of currently active comic book artists will tell you that they taught themselves how to draw when they grew up by copying their favourite panels of their favourite comic books obsessively and repeatedly. For me, those comic books were all the issues of Dragonball I owned. As a kid, all I needed to stay quiet and content for a couple of hours was a piece of paper and a pencil, seriously!

And lately, at the age of 26, after a long day at work, as I sit at my desk and watch TV - 'cause I'm too tired to do anything else - it occurred to me to grab a piece of paper and a pencil and try to relive those childhood memories. Picasso once said that it takes a long time to grow young - well, I'm gettin' there!

Spider-Man and Wolverine copyright belongs to Marvel, I believe. That, or the fantastic Mr. Stan Lee. Dragonball stuff copyright belongs to by personal favourite Mr. Toriyama Akira.

Chinese New Year at Chinatown!

Okay, this entry is way overdue.

Back in February I designed a logo for a friend Spencer Village, and in return he agreed to shoot a promotional video for me. So, as Chinese New Year approached, I suggested that we hit the Chinese New Year Parade in Chinatown, and he can shoot footages of me drawing the event.

I do hope you enjoy some of these belated drawings, as well as the video.

As I sat there drawing, an old man approached to talk to me. At first I thought he was just a random creepy guy, but it turned out he was a famous sculptor in China, he even has his own Wikipedia page in Chinese. He said he liked my drawings and showed me a booklet of his gigantic sculpture of Bruce Lee. We exchanged contact information and Spencer took a picture of us together.

All in all it was quite a wonderful day!

Boston Bruins Vs. Vancouver Canucks Game 7

After the success of the winter Olympics last year (click here for past blog entry), once again the excitement generated by the game of hockey returns to Vancouver with the Canucks reaching the Stanley Cup Finals. The series went into a deciding Game 7, which took place at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver on June 15th, 2011.
After a long day at work, I decided to drag my feet to downtown Vancouver for a stroll to get a dose of the hype, and made some drawings while doing so.

Just pulling out my pad and pencil and getting warmed up here.

This guy made a 7 feet tall Stanley Cup out of tin foil so he could stick his head and arms out of the holes and take pictures with people. I caught him on his cigarette break.

People watching live broadcast at the corner of Georgia and Hamilton in front of the CBC Radio building. The big dome you see in this drawing is the central branch of the Vancouver Public Library - my favouritest building in Vancouver.

Here's a slightly different view one block over.

From where they were standing the big TV screen was the size of a dot, so it was understandable that they mistook a Bruins goal for a Canucks goal.

 Yup, this guy showed up, too.

Feeling the vibe on Robson Street.

Before I headed downtown, a wise friend warned me of the possibility of a riot, so I took off at the second intermission. That, plus I was tired as a dog. I guess now that I found out there actually was a riot I sort of regret not staying a bit longer to get to see / draw it, but at the same time I feel fortunate that I got out of there early. Do you think I should've stayed for the riot?




*Edit: After finding out more about that riot, damn I'm glad I got out of there early. It is a shame that the actions of a relatively few douchebags have tainted the reputation of a beautiful city full of nice people.