Blog and Artwork updates of Singapore caricaturist, portrait artist and illustrator - Jit

Kindly note that rates quoted do not include the release of copyright ownership.
All copyright ownership resides with Portrait Workshop.

Saturday, March 31, 2007

Caricature live sketching for a birthday party

Initial engaged by the client for 1.5 hour caricature live sketching service. Then the client extended for another 1 hour, due to popular demand. It was a birthday party for his son, Joshua at Singapore Swimming Club. But didn't get to sketch him, as he was more interested in the other games at the party.



My Memory Stick or F717 digital camera started giving me this problemfrom this person onwards. Noticed the background on the left? Repeated image. The caricature part was cut and pasted on. The latter was taken by my P990 handphone.
From the image below onwards, the camera either got memory stick error, or it did not save the image captured. What's 'supergood' was that there was no error message alert. I found out when I did a preview. I gave up, and used my P990 to snap the rest of the photos.



Didn't see the person of the above 3 caricatures in photo? Yes, the images were corrupted.





His son left after being sketched. So father alone in this photo.


This boy even more 'sat'. Left while I was sketching half-way. So I did the rest based on the pencil sketch and imagination.





Her aon gone too.


Don't you think she looked like a doll, in person?

Friday, March 30, 2007

Caricature live sketching for Starhub

Long name for this event - Frontline Training & Service Quality - SQ 7th Annual Achiever Awards.
It was held at NTUC Auditorium. An hour of pre-event entertainment service.






Think this was quite a good one.
One softcopy after this guy was corrupted. Stupid memory stick error again. I didn't get an error message. When I read the memory stick on my laptop, the file was of 0bytes. Nothing saved!!! Damn!



Another softcopy corrupted. It was really a waste as this was the best caricature done. Luckily, the guest also have a photo and video taken. See if I can manage to get a copy form him.
Think it's time for me to look for a new digital camera. My friend Wilfred recommended Nikon D80. He said it was a good camera, but cost a bomb. The first thing I don't like was that it doesn't has a LCD preview before I shoot the image. But they said it was meant for professionals which should view from the viewfinder. I don't like to strain my eyes looking through a viewfinder. Maybe I should try it out at their showroom first, before making a decision.

Perspective illustration for Blue Screen Production Pte Ltd

This was the 3D job which kept me busy for the whole week, and shacked after this.
Good relief that it was finally done! And hopefully no changes....... then it will be considered job closed.
These were the visuals for ABN-Amro NRI Credit Card Launch in Asian Civilisation Museum on the 27th April 2007. Blue Screen engaged my service to create these visuals for their client.


This ballroom (River Room) was created in 3dsmax. In fact, I can go down to shoot some photos and used it as the background, modelled the cones, planters , showcase and stage in 3dsmax. That should save me quite some time. But being lazy, and also felt that I may not get the angle I want. The security guards may not allow me to wind up blinds at the door etc...... I decided to model the ballroom in 3dsmax.
What were done in Photoshop editing were the cocktail tables, the volume light effects on the stage (this will take a long time to create the effect in 3dsmax), the human silhouettes, teh artifacts, and the lantern lights hanging down from the ceiling. No point modeling this since I can cut and paste from the photos provided. All these saved me time on other parts of the project.


This is the river terrace visual. I modelled the lighted sphere, sitting platform, cushions and bolsters, plinth with lighting systems, stage for the musicians. Then the rest were all done in Photoshop.
The first part of the visual was editing the background. The photo given was in the daylight, without the tent. I tried dimming down the sky and building, but the result looked fake. I went to Google Iamge and Flickr to search for Boat Quay's night scenes. The latter was better in terms of resolution. I cut and paste in. The result was convincing. (Later, I found out that the night scene was taken along Clarke Quay river bank. Hahaha... Hack care. No one can tell after the umbrella and lighting with silhoutte pasted in.) The tent was also cut and pasted. Of course with some editing. It will take a long time to create the cloth effect at this scale, in fact impossible, taking into consideration of the tight timeframe and amount of work involved.


This was all done in 3dsmax. It was a walkway leading into the River Room, where the black part was. Quite lucky in getting this lighting effect with a few hours. The Rangoli effect on both sides of the text, within the frame was created and edited in Photoshop to use as map before putting into this scene. In fact, the client wanted the Rangoli (made of rice) for the text too. I told them that the details won't be seen at this scale. So they didn't insist on it. They will tell the client verbally instead.


This was the reception area. Quite simple as compared to the first 3 visuals above. The only 3d modeling done in this visual were the pedals in front and the frame work with the ABN-AMRO watermark behind. The spotlight in the middle. In front was the while cloth. The highlight on the cloth was done in Photoshop. So were the rest. There was an existing painting and chairs in the original photo provided. I needed to clone and wash them away. The 2 Indian Statues and Rangoli on the floor and flower decorations above the door was edited in Photoshop, with shadows added. Oh yar, the Indian pot with lights was also modelled in 3dsmax (from previous scene) and pasted in here.
P/S: These 4 visuals were posted based on the time (also priority) I finished them. In fact it should be in sequence of reception, walkway, River Room, and River Terrace.

Thursday, March 29, 2007

Busy............

Busy, busy and busy, with that 3D project.
Considered under-charged in the price, as the amount of works were much out of my expectation. No time to do other things except modeling, rendering editing etc.
I stole some time to post up while waiting for the rendering to be done, save it and use as background for the next rendering before I go to sleep.
This was my initial plan before I went bathing just now.
Looked like it won't be done soon.
Maybe I will catch some sleep first, wake up few hours later and send another view for rendering. The deadline is this Thursday night/Friday morning.
Don't like to work till such extent. No more fun......
All the caricature and portrait orders are jammed up in the queue. See how I struggle next week.
+-*!@#$%

Monday, March 26, 2007

just a quick update....

Had been busy these few days. Done some drawings and working on a 3d project. Didn't have time to post them up, but saved as drafts. You should see them pretty soon.
Besides being busy, I was feeling rather moody, especially today. So no mood to blog...... Hopefully didn't disappoint those vistors who frequent my blog these few days.

Caricature in pencil


It had been some time that I didn't draw caricature in pencil. Nothing much to say. Pretty straightforward job.

Sunday, March 25, 2007

sketches for a mosquito mascot

This was an order from US.
He search for cartoon mosquitos online and found mine as the most suitable for his mascot to be used on his forum online. He emailed me, asking for permission. However, that mosquito mascot I had done for 9 Koi Marketing belonged to that company. He didn't have the right to use it.
I proposed to redesign a new mascot for him. He will have the copyright to use it anywhere he wanted. After spme thoughts, he agreed.
His request for the mosquito was "Something with personality... maybe even an attitude? Maybe some goggles, a scarf, and a bent nose? Something cool and tough just might be marketable and well worth the investment."
These are the sketches I had come out for the first round.






He preferred body posture of Option J but eye contact of Option K.
I further developed based on his comments and came out with the following sketches with colour scheme.





These are not the final product. Waiting for his reply after getting comments from his 2 sons. So far, he likes the colour and Option B. He will use it temporary on his forum. Don't know the url yet. Will ask him and put up here later.

Some illustrations for Time Werke Pte Ltd

More illustration orders from Time Werke for his magazine on wine and watches.

This one was more like a comic strips on nosing and drinking wine. The only changes in these 3 panels were the right arm, head and wine glass.


This one focus on the watches and cufflinks on the reflected image in the mirror.

Portrait of Old E.E.Colman


Another order from the same client, after he was happy with the previous portrait I had done for him early last month. This time, the resolution of the photo he had provided was really low. I can't even see the shape of the eyes and bone structure on his face clearly. Thus can only draw based on imagination and experience. (I had told him the problem, but he still insisted it to be sketched out).I used fine lines to cross-hatch and thick pen stroke for the darker area. Absence of bold brush strokes, as the features were not sharp on the photo.

Saturday, March 24, 2007

Caricature theme - black Toyota RAV4


A farewell gift. The 2 caricatures in the drawing were the same guy, but 2 different uniform.
The RAV4 was his car, not a convertible as previous one (which was an imaginary one; Don't think there is a convertible RAV4, is it?). I had a nature background this time. The outcome was quite good.


The framed up version with the metal plate inscription.

Thursday, March 22, 2007

Caricature theme - Change Champion from PSA International


What was 'change champion'?
I had no idea too, till my client explained.
“Change Champion” – this guy is very passionate about influencing our company to change for the better, to identify new ways of doing things, to challenge the present situation so that ideas for improvement come about. That’s why he deserves to be a superhero “change champion”.
Instead of the usual posture of Superman (they wanted Supreman) flying, I had him taking off his shirt, revealing his Superman Suit, but replaced with a 'Change Champion' logo. As it was not that obvious, I added in the red cape. To make it more dynamic, I added in the star-shine effect, with a white outline to bring him out from the PSA port background with containers, crane and docks etc.

Caricature theme - 1992 Mitsubishi Lancer


Hmmm.... think this was a anniversary gift from the girl to her boyfriend, who owned a 1992 green (unique colour!) Mitsubishi Lancer , and he liked to speed. I put in the sand splashing effect to enhance the artwork.
Getting my portfolio of different cars built up now. My clients had requests for different brand and models for cars. (You can do a search on this blog to see the car models you need.) Coming up next will be Toyota Rav4 and Volkswagen Beetle in the queue, though drawn before.

Another stupid decision...

How could I believe such a person?
Never see him before. Of course never heard of him or his company too.
Don't want to mention his race, to avoid any racial discrimination accuse, but I had never seen such a person in this race. Really out of my expectation!
He called and asked me to do up some illustrations for him last Monday, saying that he will need it the next day. I asked for a 50% deposit, as confirmation of order. Asked him to transfer over to my account before I start work. That's the usual process. He said he won't have time to do it, unless I popped by his office to get the cheque from him. He said it was not a big amount. He can pay me when he collects on Tuesday. Don't know why I trusted his words. I started work. Sent him some previews and he did reply for the first email with some modifications needed. Then he disappeared, without replying my email. The handphone number he gave me was not in service. Gave me another handphone number which was not his. Called his office and can't get hold of him. Finally got hold of him, and he said proceed to render the final illustrations. When they were done, I notified him and he said he will pick them up from my gallery last Friday. Gave me the time some more. Then didn't turned up. Called him on Saturday. He told me he will pick up on Sunday, if not, will be Monday. Called him this Monday. He said he will pick up in the afternoon. Gave me the time that he will be picking up. Then he didn't turn up. No call from him. Then Tuesday and Wednesday - same case.
This morning, I called him at his office line before going to work. I proposed to him it's better I send to his office. He told me not. He will be going out, but will be coming at 2pm since he will be coming to Chinatown area.
I gave him the last chance. And how stupid of me.
I told him if he can't make it. He promised, and expected- he went back on his words. No call at all. This guy really sucks. I can't imagine working with such a person who never keep his promise. How can he work with others? How could I believe such person again and again? I emailed him twice with invoice attached. No reply from him. That busy? I don't know. But at least a short reply will really be appreciated, right? How can such a person exist in this world? Maybe my world is just too small......
I called up his office a few times. A girl picked up the phone, told me he was not in. I asked for his handphone number. She told me she had just lost all her contact number list. Huh??!!! Really funny. This kind of excuses. You mean they don't have the boss handphone number?!!!
This afternoon, after work, after sending in the final artworks to BCA, I decided to go up to his office to take a look. I was prepared to leave the illustrations there, together with the invoice, even if he was not in. Then I will write him formal letter, asking for payment. If he doesn't pay up, I will have to go to Small Claims Tribunal Court to file a claim. No U-turn!!!
I reached there, and only to find out that the address given by him was a registered address for his business. But that guy who talked to me was really polite, and said that xxxxx (sorry, my version) told him someone will be coming up to pick up a cheque. Huh??!! Did I wrong him? Anyway, I don't care. At least now I got a cheque, without his company name on it. I will bank in tomorrow. Hopefully, no problem with it. Anyway, got the cheque at least a proof of the job agreed.
I would say, I won't want to work with such person again. Even if he wanted me to do it for him again, I will need full payment before I start work. No 50% initial deposit for such person anymore. No more chance for him. He was blacklisted. Of course, he didn't know that I am that angry with him, till he read this post. Hahaha.....

The job I have done for him was saved as draft in this blog since it was done. I don't want to let him download the large version without paying for it. (Of course now you can see it, given that I had got the cheque. Scroll through this blog and you can easily guessed which job it was.)
However, as the days went by, I was getting more worried that he will not want them, as he did mention before that these were for pitching jobs. What if he used my previews I have sent him to pitch for jobs, and he didn't get it. He may end up not wanting to pay for them.
Maybe I was thinking too much.
In conclusion, the main reason I was so fed up with him was he kept giving me empty promises, and I was that stupid to trust him again and again. Of course the money he owed me for the job was important too, but not the main reason.
Phew!!! Felt better at this point. Bothering me these 2 weeks.

Finally done - BCA illustration






Finally done! Yes. Finally done, after all the hassles, hick-ups, and amendments.
I had sent in the softcopies into 4 dvd copies for them, as requested. The happiest part was submitted too, but I don't foresee government department will take less than 30 days (as agreed) to process and have the payment credited into my account.
Yes, what you saw above are different versions they wanted, with and withut labels, single or all illustrations in one.
Never mind. It was all done. The job was closed.
Now, I will just proceed onto my other jobs, while waiting for my money for this job. Heh!

Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Another golf-themed caricature


Popular theme among those rich and high position people. They like the swinging posture. Heard that they always wanted to achieve a perfect swing. Is it? Don't know.
This time, I exaggerated the the golf club, golf ball and the shoe. Hopefully the overall results looked more cartoonish, and cute too, like what I saw in the Nintendo DS Mario Golf game my son played. Did I?

Tuesday, March 20, 2007

caricatures on a client's website


Quite surprised to see my works on Yahoo Images, which they got it from one of the websites which belongs to my client. This was done in 7th Aug 2003, which I started busking for about 3 months along Orchard Road. If I remembered correctly, they were the Rafflesians (Raffles Institution/Raffles Junior College?) This was done live during the night time. I should have this copy, but not very well taken with my foolproof Panasonic camera and that dim lighting. This piece was taken from their website, but looked distorted there.
Tough time at that moment, sketched 8 of them live under dim lighting along the street, but attracted quite a crowd. Don't think I will do it again in the near future. Busking was no fun.

Monday, March 19, 2007

caricature theme - proposal


A proposal to his girlfriend, leaving a blank space in the balloon to fill in yes/no.
The dogs by the side are their dogs.
Heh, no flower and diamond ring, as specified by the guy. He only wants to stretch out his 2 arms. Hmmm.... hopefully she will say yes la.......
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