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 Been quite a large spacing since my last post... yet again! Although truth be told, I usually like posting with a scribble instead of without. And I mean, after that awesome Contiki trip to New Zealand I had, there's nothing better to do than to blow off the dust off my tablet and get my artistic flair up to scratch again. Ah, and I suppose everybody is either having or had a nice little Christmas. ♥ I need a job - I really want to go on another trip at the end of next year! Ah. Mind-fart. Peace.
 Paid Niko's Paintchat a revisit after an extended absence from the place. It was good to draw without the CTRL + Z safety net again, good practice. Getting the drawing hand back into the groove as well. I want to make an effort to stay super-consistent this time 'round! So many things to do! :D Peace.
 And that's it. I'm done. Hopefully that should have been my last examination ever! Didn't exactly finish gracefully, but nonetheless, I'm quite happy to have survived this many years of battering to make it this far. All being well, I will be officially graduating early next year some time. Ah. Well it is late, and I think I have work tomorrow so I'll save the thoughts. But tonight's effort was a bit new: speed painting entirely in Alchemy! Well, mostly anyway - it was a nifty idea. Post-processing in elements ensued shortly after. :) Peace.
 Waiting two days from this very point in time until my final exam for university to complete my undergraduate degree. It has been a long road indeed. In other art news, I've decided to fire up Alchemy again as my main tool for artistic madness now. I want to also get back into painting solid characters and scenery. Line art doesn't really entertain or prove as much of as a challenge as it used to. Life after education huh, I still have to work on that. Peace.
 Thesis liberation day was yesterday, and it saw closure to one of the most epic chapters I've ever experienced thus far. It feels great to be out of the madness and unrelenting slavery. But of course, not everything is done just yet, I have one exam, in about a weeks time. Compared to my thesis, this will hopefully be child's play. And so, with some free time on my hands again, back to habitual routines I go. How's that for a quick speed paint having not touched my tablet for two-three months or so? :) Peace.
I sincerely apologise to everyone who continue to muster up the effort to ruffle through my blog only to discover I have not posted an update. My thesis is consuming me both mentally and physically - I have been averaging six hours of sleep over the last few weeks. Even at this very point in time, I have my document opened on my other screen, trying my hardest to concentrate. Though a bit self-imposed, this is perhaps the most extraordinary effort I'm going have to pull off in a long-long-long time. And even at the end of the tunnel, I will not be satisfied once it is done, because during this entire year I have accumulated and fostered an unnatural amount hatred for a certain person, and I demand retribution.And to those whom I haven't been corresponding to lately, I hope your endeavours are well. 17 days left, aiming to write 50 pages for this beast... No time for idle chatter. Peace.
 Back at university and into the second week, starting to feel the fiery wrath of impending doom again. I haven't churned out any sketches let alone touch my tablet for the last week or so - justifying my rather later than usual scheduled sleep time for tonight's effort. Er. Also I'd like to take a minute to express foul words because I can't stop playing on my DS lately (Yes, I've finished Heroes Of Mana - that was long gone). Somebody needs to put a plug in my motivation sink. Peace.
 I surely must be doing something wrong. Committing almost half my day being awake to thesis and not getting anywhere is starting to become a problem. Hair ripping, yes. Desk bashing, yes. And sure enough I think I might be verging on the brink of insanity. But despite all that, here's this week's late night effort at Niko's. Been drawing an awful lot of characters over my standard set of mecha lately... What's with that. Oh. Just before I forget. I finished FFIV on the DS a while back but I didn't report. Anyhow, that end boss is definitely by far, one of the most nail biting end bosses I've faced in RPG gaming history. But it could be because I wasn't grinding as much as I do in other RPGs I've played. But seriously, I actually had to consume elixirs and megaelixirs, which I usually stay off. Oh well, now on to Heroes Of Mana - which struck me as a nice game concept, but please Square-Enix, what's the deal with the spastic four-year-old pathfinding! Peace.
 My new Sony Ericsson z750i phone I managed to buy online and received recently. Not exactly an expensive high-tech gadgety phone or anything like that. I got it mainly because its quadband (GSM/3G) and because it looks rather sleek (yes I am a bit superficial there). Thinking about playing around with the firmware though - didn't realize Telstra manifested itself on this phone despite being unlocked. Sleep... sleep. Peace.
  Well, it's mid-semester break obviously, and I think I'm taking it a bit too lax. Should be getting hyped on my thesis again in the coming days - should probably get that professional practicum report written up as well. Anyhow, tonight (today's) first edition was a miniature collaboration with a new found artist buddy also hailing from Australia. Could do with more Aussies at Niko's I think! The latter is obviously my dose of machinery for the week. That aside, the only other news I was rather confused to hear was the passing of Michael Jackson. Though he may have had a few awkward moments along life, he was a legend in his field of music I think, and always will be -respect for the man. Peace.
 And that's the last exam for semester one complete today (er, yesterday). Now if my insomnia magically disappears I'll be back to square one. Peace.
 Some late night mischief with Merv, bragging on and on about how cool old 80's style police series were. The theory was that putting a pair of aviator sunnies on anything makes it instantly cooler! On that lighter note, here's a link: 西部警察Anyway, trying to get more than 3 hours sleep tonight! Being a bit ambitious I know, but alas, the last week or so I've been dreaded with insomnia for some reason. I wish I could just pass out in slumber. @_@ Victory (?) march towards end of exams this Friday. Peace.
 Seven days to study for my last exam - a bit excessive. Could have done with some extra days on the one I just had yesterday. Oh well, no use pondering about that now! Latest addition is dedicated to Leaf, because he smells. Peace.
  Title says it all - Alchemy. Been sidetracked off study since I discovered this nifty experimental drawing program. At first glance, I literally opened the program and started scribbling, surprising myself in the process. It's not built to produce finished artwork per se... but there's no reason why you can't make a finished piece straight from Alchemy alone. However, the concept of the program seems geared towards smacking down shapes and having your brain derive inspiration instead - which it does really well! So kiss good bye to all those art block days, go have a try! http://al.chemy.org/By the way, it took a total of three whole minutes to draw both those demos I posted above (minus post-processing in elements). Anyway, four days till first exam. @_@ Peace.
 Fast-forwarding a bit, it's exam season... hurray! That means doing things that I like doing instead of studying, right? It's a very notorious habit after all. Just paid Niko's a visit today and found out I had to re-register my account because of a new redesign of some sort. Leafie-boy told me he was hanging around lately. Anyway, tonight's effort has put me back schedule for tomorrow's... uh, today's study. Peace.
  Everybody should have guessed by now that extended periods of dry blogging equals some sort of strife. Yes, strife, plenty of it - but less so right now. Now let's see... the worst of the assignment onslaught is over, leaving exams just two weeks around the course, yikes! Not only that, but my thesis is not coming along quite as expected either, with lots of holes opening up from my initial thoughts of the end product. Argh? But anyway, the first speed paint I did a while back around my birthday (wow, and it was so uneventful turning twenty-two too!) and the latter was tonight's effort. End of year havoc? New Zealand Contiki - Hell yes! Peace.
 I just realized that I haven't touched my Japanese study notes for a long-long while now. I should probably pick them up to refresh and add some stuff to my ever-limited conversation knowledge bank. Anyway, I've regressed a bit, to the "Nah, I can do it later" phase of motivation as far as university goes. Despite that, things seem to be in relative order. Preparation for an end of year trip is still near nothing. I should really make up my mind on where I want to go and if I want to see the sights with travel buddies. But I have the feeling it will piece itself together soon - some inspiration thanks to Calin. Hmm. And I'm reminded that it's that time of year again almost. Peace.
 Brief respite from thesis research to finish off a little picture which pretty much sums up how I'm feeling at the moment. I don't know whether to blame myself for choosing the project in the first place or to throw the cards on my supervisor's table and call him the useless and pompous snob whose reluctantly offering any helpful advice. It's supposed to be mid-semester study break next week, but I'm probably going to be buried under the immense mound of thesis work anyway. I'm generalizing when I say this, or perhaps it's just my personal grudge against my supervisor, but it seems individuals who've attained some sort of higher-up status in academia are all pretentious. Sure, they give you the idea for the project you're supposed to research, but in the end, they'll just label it their work and say you're just a work-horse for pulling it off. I'll refrain from verbosely using chained slurs of derogatory words, but readers would probably understand my grief at this point. Well, let's just hope karma works. Peace.
 I actually did this a few days back at Niko's, just forgot to upload it during that night. Thesis proposal progress is still pretty much zero. Seeing as though its due next week as well, I'm not going to be sleeping much in the coming week. However some good news, I managed to get a simple perspective transform calibration program running using the OpenCV library. At least my supervisor won't look that bored this week when I present this to him. Peace.
 Damn. I stayed up real late for this one huh. But it's been a while, so that justifies it. :) Peace.
 Unusual time of day to be submitting I know. But I figure I should really get down to some serious work tonight. Trying anyway. Thesis proposal is not far off... Peace.
 Zombified. Weekends are for sleeping in. マジ眠たい～ （.＿.） Peace.
 I... accidentally unloaded my wallet a rather hefty bit today. Just stocking up on some 'essential' items. Peace.
 Thus ends another night, and almost another week. For those who haven't noticed, the recent mecha sketch submissions are pretty much "Part II" to my random archives of mecha. Peace.
Alrighty, some news first off. I decided to shutdown my art group due to the fact it was not being actively used. Until I perhaps find a need for it again, it will lie dormant as it should. So that being said, I'm porting over my Reset The World concept series to my blog here. For those who haven't seen what its about on over at the art group previously, it's pretty much a more organised connection of illustrations that I will be producing, with some story-like substance behind. Most of the concepts will be mecha/machine based so don't expect any fancy human characters. :) Here's my original first contribution to the series, the VL-hk01m:  And one I just finished today, the TRB-ep08m:  And stepping back into normal everyday life for a moment... I consume too much energy drink for my own good. Peace.
 The funny thing is, I feel like I have so much spare time on my hands. And so with that oblivious thought I decided to freshen up the blog a little. To top it off, I've decided that Adobe Elements is a worthy stripped down version of Photoshop and can equally deliver (as far as painting goes anyway). So I'll be starting a new speed paint section with the blobs of paint I throw frantically over the blank canvas when I'm frustrated. I lack motivation in a certain area however... Peace.
 It's almost like its become an easy ritual now, but I should really stop... I have lots of work to do... right? Peace.
 Got a preliminary mission briefing on my final year project today, I'm mildly panicking already at this stage because it seems like an immense task - hopefully I'll find solace. Other than that, I should be focusing on university work rather than doodling to my heart's content still. I'm starting to become impressed recently with my character scribbles. Maybe it's a sign I shouldn't be an engineer after all... Peace.
 Ah, time has passed me by too fast. Final year of university starts tomorrow. Asides from the fact I have a thesis this time around on my head, I'm looking forward to it. Peace.
  Letting loose some new styles lately, here's some dump. Peace.
   Off-loading some sketches done using Colors! on my DS. The first of these I just finished today on the train. It's hard to judge where your pen nib is actually touching the canvas, and the calibration tool doesn't really help either. But after a few tries you'd get the hang of it. Last day at work tomorrow, then I get a week off before university starts again! Peace.
 Last weekend's Wai-Con '09 was quite epic, with attendance pretty much doubling what it was the previous convention. I opted to be a volunteer this time, and turned out helping out was pretty fun after all! There was plenty of glitz and glamour around the wonderful cosplayers along with some interesting things on display. Met lots of people, dispensed heaps of hugs, it was one tiring weekend! Anyway, its close to university season starting again, which comes as an unexpected relief - work was starting to cut into my sanity. Guess the art is still near zero after all eh... Let's see how things go anyway. Peace.
 Ah, finding time amongst life and procrastination is hard indeed. It's the same rigmarole on weekdays with the summer work, nothing worth mentioning. Asides from that, I'm looking forward to WAI-Con '09 coming up next week, should be fun! But here we go, fresh off the press and motivation! Peace.
So it's 2009. Back from Japan. Start work soon. Final year in university. Short enough? No! Peace.
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