Throw back Thursday...

#TBT Remembering when a friend of mine was telling me to do a zombie concept in 2009 during the #zombie craze. Laid out this piece as if you were peering out the backseat window at this fiasco. It got pretty intense to say the least...Thanks for looking. #Pencil #rendering #conceptart #HA! 

YEG Holidays...

Ain't I suppose to be on vacay for the holidays?!! This is what happens when you bring work with you home...Chiseling away at projects in between family time. 

Anatomy study...

Human torso anatomy study sculpt done in Pixelogic ZBrush...This was definitely an eye opener to see all the different muscle groups and how they worked within each other. Will have to do more studies in the near future.

Graduation ceremony...

That moment when you're standing on stage next to receive your certificate from the campus director and they call out the wrong name twice in front of hundreds of people. You think omg my parents are probably wondering wtf and you're looking at the person like, 'Wth. Really?!' And then finally the right name is called and your last name is pronounced horribly wrong. 

I went to leave my seat after receiving my certificate and I was told by the same person who said my name on stage, I had to stay for the final ceremony outta respect for my classmates. Ummm no I'm just gonna get up and go take my grad photos and leave so I can go eat some Viet food. Honestly I've never been one to follow the crowd. Like I'm gonna sit beside folks who smell of strong B O for another hr. Disgusting.

In conclusion I treated my parents out to a meal after at my favourite Viet restaurant downtown. They said that was the best Viet food they've had in a long time, reminded them of back home in Vietnam. Honestly that's good enough for me for final ceremonies lol.

Evening grind...

TA work for life drawing at #VCAD tonight, did some female studies while working...Quick 5 min sketch in HB and a 10 min study in conte. 

'Battle Of The Brush' event...

Last night was epic, 5 teams battling it out on the canvas creating an anime piece...My friend and his partner won the match, thinking about competing at the next one...

Helping Troubled Youths w/Positive Reinforcements...

Back in January I was approached by the director of the Moving The Mountain project to help with a game idea conceived by 2 youths in the program. I saw the potential and put together a team to develop a game prototype that helped troubled youths have structure and positive reinforcement in their lives. It's being tested now and it's getting some PR in Edmonton. Check it out... http://edmontonjournal.com/news/crime/welcome-to-chaos-ed-how-wallis-kendal-plans-to-move-a-mountain

Evening thought...

After all the accomplishments, certificates, recognition, lessons, diploma, rewards etc. knowing my mom is #HA!ppy with where I'm at in life is what matters the most to me #Word

Hella Sexy Dope dropping this summer...Stay tuned

Finally finished this graphic, getting ready for a summer launch for my #HellaSexyDope #Brand Designed by #HA! #Staytuned 

Thursday's Flashback...

#TBT Back in '07 I did this as a Christmas present for my parents...Vietnamese schoolgirl in the traditional ao dai. It was more an experimental style I developed for the concept. I really wanted to capture a more asian feel and look to it. It's now framed and hanging in my parents house, every time I visit I can't help but stare at the amount of time I put into it lol.

All done in prisma color pencil crayons...Thanks for looking.

A Truly Humbling Experience...

Tonight was my second class that I was aiding as a teachers assistant for this semester at VCAD.
It was Life Drawing 2 class today, so I felt pretty comfortable in the setting given I have pretty
solid drawing skills already (Only from countless hours of drawing the same thing over and over till it was only muscle memory I was developing).

I got the heads up from the instructor of what was being covered in class, so I figured id just develop a method of teaching that would suit this class as we progress. As I did my first pass in class I seen that each student had their own level of drawing, their own style in approaching the lesson, but each still went into it with a confidence that was refreshing to me as an artist. The excitement of being able to create something outta nothing...Creative energy.

I was able to go around and offer some help by pointing out any inaccuracies in their art to develop the drawing techniques introduced in class, I noticed that some students got frustrated with trying different methods so I re-evaluated my approach. I had seen that each individual had a distinct strength they were emulating in their drawing. So I worked with magnifying this and had them apply what I suggested so that they would be able to enhance their overall projection. This worked a lot better and I seen that they felt empowered to keep drawing, which made me feel really humbled.

I understand that my experiences in the past and ones like these are meant to be shared, to help the younger generation to be better then the one before...Mentorship.
But I've also seen how experiences fuel the ego to make some feel like they're superior to others, which sucks cause everyone is a genius with something. There isn't one set way to look at it really but it got me thinking to a quote by Albert Einstein, "Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by it's ability to climb a tree, it will live it's whole life believing that it is stupid." Really taking the time to really see what each person is good at, enhancing that quality and really improving the setting, I figure that's what we are all trying to do as a team, the community, and the world. Be able to offer something appeasing to the table so everybody can enjoy life.

TBT...

#TBT One of my favourites...I remember when I did this piece awhile back for an art auction at the #iHuman fundraising gala at the Edmonton Cityhall in 2012. There was a bunch of frames donated to the studio, and I found this sweet one to frame the medusa.

All done in prisma markers/pencil crayons

Thanks for looking.

'Create Art not War'

Recently finished this vector art concept for my #HA! brand, "Create art not war" was my mantra when creating this vision. Had some fun with this piece...

Evil pusheen lol...

Gf loves Pusheen so much I made her this custom tee of the  evil rendition of the character lol late bday gift worth the wait I hope #HA!

SUNday fun...

#HA!d an easy day prepping the coming workweek, had dinner with my gf and her fams to working on some #VectorArt this evening...#ConceptDevelopment #Artwork #Branding #Create 

TBT...

#TBT

Back in 2011 during the month of July in Edmonton I started this painting of Zeus after a series of events that had happened in my life, which there was a strong overwhelming obligation to complete this piece...a divine intervention I believe. Severe thunder showers, flash floodings and hail the size of golfballs reigned onto the city as I proceeded to create this concept...

As I incorporated each symbolic asset I learnt lessons in this NEW path that was illuminated before me, cause when I got to the bottom of the canvas an extreme force took over and I finished with these symbols at the bottom of the throne with each line being acknowledged with the sound of thunder getting louder and louder as I completed the last one. Hmmm I felt one with the energy that surrounded me, and there was a deep rooted understanding of who I was at that moment. There was history behind this, I kept learning this as life progressed and it wasnt until a year later that I was in a meeting with someone, I showed him this painting and he gave me insight into this symbol:

The upright triangle represents the male energy and the downward triangle represents the female energy that is within us, overlapping them creates some sorta key...A universal balance. If you do enough digging you will know that this is also known as the Star of David, the Seal of Solomon, and the Star of Lucifer.

Now this painting hangs above my workspace as a constant reminder of the creator energy that exists in the world, this universe, in you and me...I know it is something that is very powerful and attainable with understanding.

Without darkness you would not understand light...Without light you would not appreciate darkness.

#HA! Branding...

Life after school and in between contract work, Ive been able to work on my brand HA! again...Been on this creative axis lately and converting my pencil drawings into vector art. Having fun with the process, thanks for looking.

TBT...

#TBT !AH Remembering when I did this piece back when they just wrapped up the 911 tribunal on the Bush administration. I read an article in the Edmonton Journal where they had President Bush testify on stand and journalists had asked him after how he felt about doing that. He had replied, 'I enjoyed it.' My thoughts were, dude enjoyed deceiving the world for profit gains...It got me provoked to creating this piece depicting a street artist spraying 'Seek Truth' on a wall as though saying, 'Sometimes you gotta flip the perception to gain truth.' Then a lot of theories started arising from all this incident...The world changed dramatically ever since. God speed. Probably the one and only political piece I've done, I was bent on this style for a min. #HA!

Checked out the Vancouver Art Gallery today...

Super cool to check out the Italian paintings exhibit today with friends, inspiring work from the Renaissance by famous painters. Amazing detail to capture texture and material of garments, it just blows my mind the amount of detail put into these works up close to be appreciated from a distance for it to all come together. Feeling motivated...

Saturday morning reflections...

#HA! I use to think of spiders as little insects that were creepy and bothersome, but given my healthy respect on life that all things are either a sign/symbolic in nature I've learnt to see it in another light. Like the spider to its web #iAM a #Creator, a weaver of life's fate...To understand your shadow self, you nurture your creativity/patience/receptivity to life, consistently creating #NEW webs to capture your dreams. #Goodmorning #Reflections #InventoryConnections