Simpsonfied

Today was another sightseeing adventure for me!

It began with Timothy Walter Burton's Specially Ticketed Exhibition at LACMA. There were literally over 700 pieces in the form of sketches, sculpts, photos, videos, etc. And it reminded me of how important every piece of work is important, right down to the smallest thumbnail or sketch.

Next up, Film Roman Inc. This studio produced many cartoons. And one of the more popular ones is The Simpsons. Not only did I get to preview this Christmas' (2011) episode, I got myself Simpsonfied by assistant Director Ricky Manginsay. If you're interested, the image is on my facebook. Ricky is a former co-worker of Philip, my former lecturer who arranged this evening's tour.

Sony sent a free software upgrade for my camera, which now includes a couple of filters to play with. Spent the afternoon trying out the different "lenses". You will see me using some of them in my future posts.

The bulk of my classes have commenced, and looking forward to the next jammed packed 10 weeks. For now, it's back to figure drawing with Karl Gnass.

A Pink Evening

I finally made it to Pink's at La Brea. My sister recommended the place to me a long time ago!

The hotdogs are not too bad. I think I prefer the veggie baja fresh with guacamoles and tomatoes! The best thing here is the very causal setting.

Next up, Erin (family friend whom I used to babysit) and I dropped by Pink Berry! If you are from Singapore and have never seen the image below before but find this familiar... you're probably thinking Berrylite. Yes, the founder of Berrylite in Singapore studied here in L.A. for 4 years. No prizes for guessing where he got the concept, name and idea for the logo from. :D

Just Pas-sing by...

And so I have arrived in Pasadena! It's been a week or so.

I will be taking a bunch of classes from a couple of schools in the vicinity. So much has happened in the last week while settling down, I figured I should just start blogging about my journey and not procrastinate.

Today, I met some interns from Imagineering for dinner. It was at Burbank's JB's and even though the session was short, at least I finally made contact with someone inside of the company. :D All this happened while at my painting class at the Animation Guild. My classmate there, who is also a Woodbury Alumni, hooked me with them - her former classmates. The connections are happening a whole lot faster than my attempt in 2007. WOW!! :D

Dinner ended, everyone had their appointments, so I decided to pop by the monthly meeting at the Animation Nation on 2006 Magnolia. Today's speaker is a true caricaturist who started from scratch. During the course of the 2.5 hour session, I was introduced to the vast array of work that spans his 19-year career which resulted in the loads of philosophies for my downloading.

My take home for the evening is to "put my stuff out for all to see". For a long time, I've kept works in the vault just because I feel I'm not ready for the world. Well, this blog (that's now connected back to Facebook... again) has been switched "on".

So here I am, sharing with the world my roller coaster adventures towards my dream...

Evening with Stephen Silver

Taking En Plein Air to greater heights!

It's been awhile... why with all work going on for my final year project and other ongoing projects... But I'm back, after a retreat away from Singapore. It is definitely refreshing!

School is done officially at Eggstory. In fact, the school's not even called Eggstory any more. Grad Show falls on Sept 9. And the strange thing is that I am not focused on that all. :O) I have already begun serving out my year long bond with Imaginative!

I'd like to begin this new phase in my life with this clip. In a way, it is a metaphor for my life - Do what you love even though what you do may not make sense (cents) to many, but it is in this uncertainty that will take you by surprise and take you to places you wouldn't have imagined! :D