Personal Works

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Personal Works

Animations

Masks

Sketches & Paintings

Animations

1: "Aw, Baby" Jinx MEME

This animated meme (a repetitive or

methodical animation backed by music of the same rhythm), features inspiration from a key character from Netflix’s hit TV series: Arcane. This project is another example of me experimenting with personalised character designs. The sole purpose of this project was to try to capture Jinx’s personality as best represented by an animal. I chose a Mainecoon cat, partly because of their long hair but also because that type of cat, like the character Jinx, might look intimidating, but deep down they are soft and gentle, reflecting Jinx’s misunderstood personality well. I added some character contrast between the child self, “Powder”, and her new, heavily traumatised personality “Jinx”, to see if these designs could translate into something wholesome like a young child. The animation is short but smooth, and I am proud to have completed my first run cycle as a result of this project.

2: "Surprise" Animatic

This is a completed Picture Music Video project featuring my feline characters inspired by Erin Hunter’s book series, Warriors Cats. This work was done to practice my animation skills, and towards the end of the video, I feel my skills have improved in terms of scene diversity and editing ability. This whole project was experimental, from the sketch-like style to using backgrounds of real-life images of forests and rivers. I tried to push myself from both a design standpoint and an artistic standpoint, and I believe that worked well.

3: "Heathens" Storyboarded Animatic

The video (above) features a storyboard animation I made to artistically represent a controversial story arc in the famous video game and television series, The Last of Us, where the writers moved their protagonist, Ellie, from ‘innocent’ to ‘vengeful’ turning her into the villain of her own story. Unlike many fans, I was intrigued by this emotionally heavy and dark narrative. As a story creator, I connected with the message TLOU story wanted to tell: “Revenge is a never-ending cycle”, particularly how Ellie’s feelings of revenge became the driving force for many of her decisions because she could not reconcile the traumas of her past. The music featured, Heathens by Twenty One Pilots, adds a lot to the dark and ominous tempo of the music, along with many of the lyrics that fit perfectly with the themes I wanted to explore in my storyboard. Namely scenes addressing Ellie and her blind rage, her mistrust of others, her detrimental mistakes and her deep mental scars caused by her life experiences.

Oftentimes, I jump straight into animating projects like this with little proper storyboarding because I'm too impatient and just want to see the finished product in front of me. This time, however, I took things slower and thought through every detail carefully. A key decision I liked was to make a small Alternate Universe (AU) where instead of humans, the characters were felines, and therefore their technology and everyday items would be adapted to make using these items easier (ie: modified saddle bags in replacement of backpacks). I specifically aimed to capture the same heavy emotions and painful expressions that the motion capture team did in TLOU2’s video game cutscenes. This was a personal goal I set for myself, going into the drawing of my storyboard as a fun challenge for myself. I think I succeeded well at that, especially in the lead up to the chorus, and the final instrumental break of the song, where the tension was highest. Another personal goal I set for myself during the creation of this project was to push myself to make more creatively diverse scenes. Many of my older works have somewhat repetitive compositions with little depth to each shot. To achieve the new shots I had not tried animating before, I used tutorials from YouTube and also took the time to study other people’s animated fight scenes. Once I have time, I aim to make this animation a properly polished PMV (picture music video) or AMV (animated music video). With that being said, I am really proud of the storyboard’s final look. I feel I exceeded my expectations for my ability to create diverse shots and angles as well as depicting a coherent story without leaving out important story elements, and I have genuinely learned a lot of new drawing techniques.

Masks

Slinkie (front)

A zombie-alien, hand-made, Halloween cat mask.

Slinkie (side: right)

A zombie-alien, hand-made, Halloween cat mask.

Slinkie (back)

A zombie-alien, hand-made, Halloween cat mask.

Slinkie (front)

A zombie-alien, hand-made, Halloween cat mask.

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The two images below are small design briefs I did for myself to place my ideas into a physical form, with many aspects of the design carried over into the final product. This mask was the first time I experimented with full faux fur ears instead of using felt, and this worked well (they are also poseable, which is a feature I’m proud to have added). In addition to this, I got to try out a new set of glow-in-the-dark paint / UV reactive paint. I used this mainly for the eyes as I felt it would add to Slinkie's unsettling and perplexing look. I followed online tutorials to assist me when I wanted to try something new, but I also drew on my pre-determined planning (such as blueprints and patterning the fur before glueing). Slinkie is, for certain, my most ambitious, unique and well-made mask, and for that, I am immensely proud of my efforts.

1. Slinkie

Mask making is one of my favourite things to do during school holidays. With each mask, I aim to make the features as realistic / proportionally accurate as possible, while still keeping the charming appearance of a cartoon character. With each mask, I try out new painting styles and special features; for example, bendy ears and glow-in-the-dark paint. The mask featured in the images to the right (and below) is a mask I named Slinkie. I made it as a part of my 2024 Halloween costume.

Nugget (front)

A ginger patchy house cat.

Nugget (left ear bent)

A ginger patchy house cat.

Nugget (both bent)

A ginger patchy house cat.

Nugget (front)

A ginger patchy house cat.

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2. Nugget

Nugget is a mask based on a ginger and white spotted cat I saw in a funny cat video compilation. The pattern looked visually interesting, and I wanted to make a character out of it. I named her Nugget because her patches reminded me of chicken nuggets. Nugget’s personality is akin to a young child, and I think I captured that well. My mask quality improved while making Nugget because I made better product choices in regards to the lining of the mask, picking more breathable fabric compared to my older works.

Seawolf (front)

A melanistic Vancouver Seawolf.

Seawolf (ears bent)

A melanistic Vancouver Seawolf.

Seawolf (back)

A melanistic Vancouver Seawolf.

Seawolf (front)

A melanistic Vancouver Seawolf.

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3. Seawolf

This mask is a recreation of the first canine mask I made. It was inspired by the Vancouver Coastal Seawolf, a unique semi-aquatic wolf subspecies. The mask above exhibits the melanistic coat variation of these wolves, which is why the patterns are dark and muddy. If I could go back, I would change the ears on this mask and make them more realistic and easier to pose. Despite that, Seawolf remains my favourite canine mask I've made so far.

Sketches & Paintings

1: "Talons of Fire" Comic Pages

Talons of Fire [pg: 1]

Talons of Fire [pg: 2]

Talons of Fire [pg: 5]

Talons of Fire [pg: 1]

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The comic panels you see to the left resulted from my “what if” moment when reading the novel Wings of Fire by Tui T. Sutherland. The author crafted a pivotal scene regarding the main villain of the book, Queen Scarlet. But this made me ask, “What would happen if things were different, and how would the story change?”. In my comic pages, I chose to replace the main character with my own, Tempest, a character with a more benevolent personality.

2: Family Tree

This watercolour painting was made as a creative play on the idea of a family tree. This piece was created using watercolours, and I used this project as a way to familiarise myself with the medium. I chose to paint each of my parents represented as trees that encapsulated their respective personalities. My father is rather tall and strong, but also seemingly immovable, so I chose an Oak tree to represent these traits. My mother can survive in challenging conditions, but she is graceful and, at the time, had long hair, so I painted her as a Willow tree.

3: Arcane Character Design Exercise

This artwork is the result of a drawing exercise I tasked myself to do to better my understanding of character design, the importance of visual details concerning story narrative, and to build on my ability to translate characters' appearance into different forms while staying true to the original story and their character traits. In the first round, I selected to draw my favourite characters from Netflix’s Arcane series as different animals, making my choices based on how each animal would complement the character's look and personality. I also made sure to make them bipedal, as I wanted to challenge the way I adapt clothes (such as shoes) to features like paws or hooves. I am pleased with how I adapted the clothing (particularly the shoes) for the characters, and also how each animal matches the personality of their characters from the series.

Vi (Violet)

Redesigned as a Grey Wolf.

Jinx (aka: Powder)

Sister to Vi, also a Grey Wolf, however, her coat is lusistic/ albino variation.

Ekko

A mountain lion (aka puma).

Vi (Violet)

Redesigned as a Grey Wolf.

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In the second round of this exercise, I challenged myself to take these same designs and redraw them as different types of dragons (ie, fire, ice). I shocked myself again with not only how alike these new drawings look compared to their official human versions, but how well they resemble my first iteration designs I made prior as well.