Art & Punishment

New Blog!

2012-01-01T23:22:00.000-08:00

Slow updates in this blog? No problem. Started another blog with fellow artist, Paul Zimmer, where there will be DAILY updates! Check it out. =)

http://low5survive.blogspot.com/

Happy New Year everyone!

Unleaded Blog Challenge X

2011-07-06T20:29:00.000-07:00

Another blog post so soon?! World must be coming to an end! =) This is my entry to the powered armor challenge currently at Unleaded Artists blog. It is a fun diversion. I have a lot of ideas for variations of this suit. Hopefully I'll have time to explore them down the road.

Gundam RX-78-2

2011-07-03T10:12:00.000-07:00

I am a big fan of Gundam since the late 80's. In fact this blog launched with the image of "Gundam Cat" based on S-Gundam from Gundam Sentinel and my Gundam themed profile picture. =) The RX-78-2 is the very first Gundam and one of the coolest and the most popular! For fun I drew it completely from memory with a dash of stylization influenced by my two favorite Gundam artists/designers, Katoki Hajime and Kazuhisa Kondo.

Farmgirl 2010

2010-11-18T09:24:00.000-08:00

It has been awhile since I first drew Farmgirl from Dungeon Siege...

For fun here's the ninth anniversary edition. =)

Demon Toad!

2010-04-02T10:20:00.001-07:00

Here is an illustration for a friend's D&D game. It started out as a b/w sketch but I decided to go all the way with it so that I have something with more effort for the blog. =)

Gun Chick with Flashlight

2009-07-13T07:08:00.000-07:00

I was hoping to get my entry to the Unleaded Artists challenge ready but work has really been cranked up by a few notches. Rest assured it is still progressing although a lot slower than I thought. Meanwhile, here is a 30 minutes Colors doodle of a girl sneaking around in the dark. It wasn't as bad as I thought in terms of drawing smaller to fit the whole figure in such a small space but I did cheat a lot but crunching her down with her pose to maximize the real estate. =)
Well, I better get dressed and go to work. I am already quite a bit behind schedule with my current task. Aieeee!

Colors Sketch X 3

2009-06-30T09:23:00.000-07:00

Last week I was knee deep in work. This week is looking to be pretty much the same. So while I have a few minutes this morning, here are three Colors sketches that I have been playing with on and off. As I do more art with the DS, I really wished that it can do a higher resolution. Because of the low res, I keep finding myself doing portrait type art. Realistic full figure subjects are not impossible to do but those requires a lot of zooming and panning which really takes away a bit of the fun of pure creativity. In any case, when I have time again I may try to do one just to mix it up a little.

LEGO Mechanic

2009-06-18T01:15:00.000-07:00

Do you like LEGOs? I don't even pay much attention to them until my son started getting them as gifts when he was 3 or so. Since then my appreciation for this system of building blocks has steady risen. The thing that grabs me the most is the humor inherent in the mini-figure designs. Most characters are so simple but yet with small modifications they became so expressive. Since the LEGO Star Wars and Batman games came out, my son and I are addicted. We must have play these games on and off for around 2 years now and we are still not sick of them yet. LEGO Indiana Jones is still in the wrapper waiting for its turn!
The little LEGO mechanic above is my humble creation. Kyle got the idea to build him after seeing photos in a magazine of a big LEGO man built for a contest. I scrounged for pieces and I was lucky to be able to find enough to build this smaller guy. A few pieces are not quite what I wanted but I am still happy with the result. My proudest feature of this mechanic is that the wrench is removeable just like the real mini-figures. I had plans to build more accessories for him but I'll have to buy more pieces first. =)

Supreme Commander

2009-06-11T21:04:00.000-07:00

While I am digging through old art, I made this Supreme Commander image near the tail end of the project just for kicks. While the final game looked great, making the game in this style would rock!

Blast from the Past: King Arthur and the Knights of Justice

2009-06-11T00:06:00.000-07:00

This week I thought I do something different even though I have a Colors! sketch lined up. Here are three scaled up pics of a game that I worked on about 16-17 years ago! The art has to be scaled up 200% because the source resolution was pretty tiny. It was near the beginning of my career. I was 25 years old then and I was working for Manley and Associates in Issaquah, WA which later became EA Seattle. The game was based on a cartoon of the same title about a bunch of football players transported back into the past to fill in for the real King Arthur and his knights. I suppose that show was a minor hit because it spawned 4 issues of comics and an action figure line. Unfortunately I can't say the same for the SNES game that I help made. As far as I know, it sold poorly and it reviewed even worst. Too bad that I can't remember the exact words of this one harsh reviewer... To paraphase, he said playing this game was as much fun as having your eyeball taken out then have spider eggs stuffed into the socket and have the eye hole sewn back shut. Uh...okay. I swear the game was a little better than that.

Anyway, how were these amazing pieces of art made? By mouse! Pixel by pixel painted in using Deluxe Paint that's how. What a difference 16 years made. One of the texture that I recently created using Photoshop and a Cintque was a 2048 x 2048. That one texture was probably bigger than all of the art put together in that little SNES game. And lets not talk about how much better the color depth the texture had. I have the urge to go on and on but I better quit before sounding like some dad grumbling to his son about how many miles he had to walk naked in a blizzard in complete darkness...

BTW, I almost forgot. After years of searching I did find at least one guy that liked - no- LOVED the game! He even made a King Arthur and the Knights of Justice shrine! The shrine is incredible and super indepth. It made me cried a little when I discovered it. Here is the link: http://www.flyingomelette.com/koj/kojindex.html

Take a look for more awesome art and the "Cave of Glass" section is a great read because I am responsible for quite a few items there including: the mystery of "Mr. Cow", the Bates No Tell Motel, the valley of the dead art and so on... Hee hee. =)

Tottemo! Lucky Man

2009-06-04T01:36:00.001-07:00

Lucky, cookie, another blog entry! This week's image is a sketch of one of my favorite anime character, Lucky Man. Years ago I happened to catch an episode of this show, Tottemo! Lucky Man on Chinese TV. The show was a hilarious parody of Ultraman and I was hooked. Eventually I picked up the complete series on VCD while visiting Vancouver B.C.. Mostly the set collected dust until recently, I dug it up and watched it together with my son.
The main character is the most unlucky high school student of all of Japan. One day he was crushed by an alien bent on destroying Earth. On his way to the afterlife, his spirit encountered the original Lucky Man who not only brought him to life and passed on his title so that he would become the new Lucky Man. Lucky Man has Ultraman type moves including a death ray weapon but all of them are incredibly weak and slow. His real useful power is that he is very lucky. In every episode, aliens would try to kill him but instead by sheer luck, Lucky Man would defeat them and half the time not knowing what happened. It is too bad that this series was never picked up for the U.S.. It was fresh and funny as hell. In later episodes, more heroes join the cast including: Hardworking Man, Victory Man, Super Star Man, Victory Man and so on. Each has their wacky stories that were very entertaining to watch. I would highly recommend this series to everyone except that it is really hard to find and I am not sure if anyone subbed it in English. If you know Cantonese or Japanese though you may still be able to find either DVDs or VCDs of it somewhere.

Dogfight!

2009-05-28T23:24:00.000-07:00

Another week another Colors! sketch. I always liked flying wings so here is one getting shot up by enemy jets.

Play Ferry

2009-05-20T00:09:00.000-07:00

I sketched this on the DS while we were at the Alderwood Mall couple weeks ago. In total, I probably spent half-an-hour on it. This is a rare painting for me because most of the time I prefered drawing characters. At the end, I had fun painting it so I'll probably do more down the road.

Nintendo DS Wolverine!

2009-05-14T00:18:00.001-07:00

I am still out a working art tablet at home and work has been crazy busy so I was stuck for awhile. Well, finally I have an interim solution...NDS Colors! to the rescue! For over a year, even my DS was out-of-commission but I finally got it back together and bought another flash card so I can run Colors! again. Over the last week, I have been sketching with it and I am liking it a lot. So here is Wolvie and as usual, he is mad as hell. GRRR! Expect more Colors! art to come until I get my Cintque hopefully later in the year.

Woman in Power Armor

2009-03-24T12:44:00.000-07:00

I have been itchy to update the blog for a long time. Aside from been very busy at work, my Wacom tablet is no longer working. Now I have to find time after work AND stay at work to get my personal paintings done. =( For this picture, I wanted to experiment with custom brushes and a different painting technique. I am fairly pleased with the result. Hope you like it too.

Happy New Year!

2008-12-31T14:22:00.001-08:00

Happy New Year everyone! May everyone enjoy good health and the country overcome its many obstacles soon. 2008 was quite challenging for me personally. While I can't really complain considering that there are so many people less fortunate, things could have been better. I am optimistic that the new year will bring positive changes. At least, I hope I can bring this blog better quality stuff and more frequent updates! =)

Make Your Own Edward Pun!

2008-11-06T23:21:00.001-08:00

Today is my brother, Edward Pun's birthday! He is an kick-ass artist who is 10x more productive than I am with maintaining blogs. =) Ed has been doing some kick ass b-day cards stuff for the family. He made that paper Paul Frank bag for my wife's b-day to house her gift certificate and a paper iphone for my older brother. Not to be completely outdone, I decided to celebrate his b-day by making a paper doll of him. Basically I swiped a character from cubeecraft.com (awesome site!) and customize it using Ed's face and t-shirt design. Too bad I didn't take a picture of the completed doll, it was not too shabby. =) So what are you waiting for? If you have a color printer and a fan of Ed's blog, let's make an Ed Pun! (note: I missed adding too cut lines at the bottom of the face cube. To fix this, simply assemble the body as shown and align the two tabs that are sticking out to the bottom of the head. Get a marker and mark where the slits should be. Make the cuts and insert the two body tabs all the way into the head.)

Chun Li

2008-08-05T13:20:00.001-07:00

As promised, Chun Li.

Sagat!

2008-07-11T18:32:00.001-07:00

Yay! An update! I made this for the Unleaded Artists blog. I also have a half done Chun Li lying around. Maybe that'll be the next update. Stay tuned. It will come within a week. I promise! =)

Feyd Rautha

2008-04-08T23:02:00.001-07:00

Sorry for the lack of updates. Work got really busy and then I was ill for awhile. Here is Feyd from the Dune movie by David Lynch. I couldn't quite get the Sting likeness but darn it, it is close enough. =) This picture is a part of the Unleaded Artists' challenge. If you have never visit there, go there for more great Dune pieces as well as other cool pics!

Quick movie rants:
Cloverfield (**** out of 5)
I liked the movie a lot especially the visual direction. It was not as cool as its hype but when it was over, I was hungry for more.

Enchanted (** 1/2 out of 5)
Pretty cool premise but I didn't quite like the ending execution or the main actress. I am sure I am probably too old for its intended demographic though.

Pirates of the Carribbean: At World's End (** out of 5)
What a mess! The story is super convoluted and way too dark (hanging children and women anyone?) for what it is. The main characters are all unlikeable double/triple/quadruple crossers. Uggh. I foolishly bought the first two movies on Blu-ray. Now I am seriously thinking about selling them.

Happy Valentine's Day & Chinese New Year!

2008-02-14T23:49:00.000-08:00

This post is dedicated to my princess wife and my Jedi son. I love you very much! It is almost not Valentine's Day, sorry for being so late getting the picture done. I hope you like it.

For everyone, "gong hay fat choy"! May the force be with you and most importantly, I wish everyone good health throughout the year.

I am sure most of you are done with your romantic evening but if you are still in the mood, I recently watched a Korean romantic comedy that I really enjoyed. It is called, "My Sassy Girl". It was made in 2001 and it broke all kinds of box office record in many parts of Asia. I am too tired to write a brief overview but if you are remotely interested, try looking it up. I heard that there is an American remake on the way. My spider sense is tingleing because I am almost certain that Hollywood can't make it as good as the original... Another good Korean movie is, "200 Pound Beauty". Take a peek at both.

Guys movies wise, I recommend the live action movies, "Death Note" and "Death Note: the Last Name". I have never watched or heard of the manga or the anime before seeing these films but I was surprised at how good they were. The plot was pretty interesting and I especially liked the weird but cool genius detective, "L". I guess a lot of people liked him too because recently a spinoff movie, "L, Change the World" was released. I am looking forward to seeing it.

Got to sleep...ZZzzz

Colors!

2008-01-22T23:47:00.000-08:00

A co-worker introduced me to Colors!, a Nintendo DS homebrew painting program. Even though the software was extremely simplistic, it worked great and it has a brush stroke by brush stroke replay feature! I was so blown away that I had to order the hardware immediately. Anyway, that is why I had abandoned my amazon warrior painting for now. This week's post is my 2nd painting that I had done with Colors!. The painting time was about 1.5 hours without my usual Photoshop tricks such as layers, transparencies or undo's! Come to think of it, this is kind of like painting traditionally. I am semi-proud of myself for this because my 1st painting was pretty nasty and it is now in crappy paintings heaven. =)

Anyways, check out the official Colors! website and make sure you look at the gallery. Some of the pieces are unbelieveable. http://www.collectingsmiles.com/colors/
If you have Colors!, you can even download the paintings and watch the replays on the DS to learn how it was done.

Happy New Year!

2008-01-05T23:00:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year everyone. This week's update is a work-in-progress sketch of an amazon warrior. This is about an hour of doing some shading, adding foreground details/effects, on top of a pencil sketch that was done awhile ago. I'll work on this picture some more and post the progress next week.

Happy Holidays!

2007-12-25T01:55:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the highly inappropriate picture for this update. As usual I don't have too much time to plan things or execute on them so I went with painting another Conan. At least the colors are somewhat in season. Ha ha. Stretching it, I know. Before I go, wish everyone a great holiday and happy new year! May you have good health and have quality time to spend with you family.

Cammy Two

2007-12-17T00:32:00.001-08:00

It is not even Christmas and I am already missing it. Truth to be told, my favorite months all year are the last three. It's got cooler weather, chances of snow and some nice holidays to look forward to. Not to mention that I really enjoy Halloween with my son and the festive mood around Thanksgiving and Christmas. With luck there should be another update to this blog before Christmas. Meanwhile, I hope everyone enjoying these few days as much as I will. Drink a lot of eggnog and get ready for some serious partying!
This week's update is Cammy again. Not much to say except that she was done within two hours based on an older pencil sketch. For those who remembers the first colored Cammy picture from almost a year ago, that shared the same pencil sketch as the base but at that time I did a lot of modifications while I painted. This latest piece is almost a direct paint over of the sketch. Anyway, because of time, I barely cleaned it up so excuse all the warts and all. Gomanasi. =)

More Doodles

2007-12-09T21:52:00.001-08:00

Here's another assortment of doodles from the notebook. Like the last batch, these were drawn during meetings and usually reflect what I was NOT doing on the project. In this case, you can tell that my project has no school girl using a samurai sword or the little mermaid or my co-worker or a nameless girl. =)

Random Sketches

2007-12-01T23:41:00.000-08:00

This week's image is a collage of some random sketches from the notebook. Since I colored the pencils red, technically it is now a colored sketch. Haha.

I bought an import game for my PSP a month ago called, Gundam Battle Chronicle. Every chance I get, I am compelled to play it. It is awesome! You can control over 140 mobile suits from UC 0079 to UC 0089. Plug. Plug. =) Because of this, I was inspired to work on a Gundam picture for this update but after 1/2 hour, it was not going to be happen as a quickie. So maybe some other time...

Speaking of Gundam, I know it is hard to get people to understand or appreciate it but if you are remotely curious, track down Gundam 0080: A War in the Pocket. It ranks really high in my book and it requires a bare minimum of Gundam knowledge to enjoy it. The show is less about giant robots but instead about a boy losing his innocence of what war is about.

Meanwhile, here are some movies that I watched lately:

Death Proof (***out of five)
I can see why Grindhouse didn't perform that well at the theaters. Death Proof was bloody long and was way too slow for such a simple plot. I watched it over three nights and while it was enjoyable, the payoff was a bit anti-climatic.

Planet Terror (**** out of five)
I liked this movie a whole lot more. I actually watched it twice. The best was the Machette trailer!

DOA: Death or Alive (** out of five)
I know going in that this would be bad and it was. Not even cute girls and fake martial arts could rescue it.

Live Free or Die Hard (**** 1/2 out of five)
It was not as good as the first movie but it was still pretty good. Even my wife liked it!

I'm Back!

2007-11-25T02:03:00.000-08:00

Yes, it is true. Hopefully I'll be back on a semi-reasonable update schedule from now on. What can I say. Work hadn't been the smoothest and perhaps because of it, I have been feeling less than motivated to do art at home. I have been beating myself up for not updating so little by little, I started crawling back. And here we are with Spider-woman in the rain. She was the first regular comic that I bought in the early 80's and was responsible of getting me into comics. Chris Claremont was writing it and my first issue had a big revelation about Viper being the mother of Jessica Drew. For a long time, the character was unpopular and forgotten. But in last couple years, she had a comeback in the New Avengers and all I can say is - woo hoo!

This image started with a sketch that I drew 6 or so months ago. I had planned to do a Spider-woman piece for this blog but the sketch was not too exciting. Two and a half hours ago, I wanted to put something up quick so I dusted it off thinking that something lame would be better than nothing so I started working it. I am happy that it didn't turn out as bad as I originally thought. The background is a photo that I took a few years ago of a street in Chinatown. I wanted to use my photos of downtown but I had no idea where I put them. This is not exactly what I had in mind but it got across the mood that I wanted to convey. In case you are wondering, Spider-woman is kneeling on top of the hood of my wife's '97 Toyota Camry. =)

Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving and scored some Black Friday goodies!

Batman!

2007-07-24T12:54:00.000-07:00

I've been very busy at work and I am also attending to a side project that's why I have'nt been updating as much. Here is a quick Batman picture though. BTW, I added a link to Greg Onychuk's new blog. Take a look!

Unleaded Challenge 01

2007-07-10T02:48:00.001-07:00

This is my entry to the Unleaded Artists blog. I am not going to repeat my commentary of it here so feel free to pop to that blog. While you are there why not peep the other cool entries?

Pistol Girl

2007-07-02T00:49:00.000-07:00

The original is pretty small so don't think I cheaped out. This image went through quite a few iterations. It started with a meeting sketch of a portrait which looks somewhat like No.6 from BSG. I cleaned up the lines and added a bit of the body. The composition was kind of boring so I cropped the heck out of it and it was back to just a head. Several b/w versions later she started to look decent but was kind of boring so I added the bit of the arm and the pistol. Anyways, just like the freckles picture, the lack of planning also made this a quickie into a longer project than I would've liked.

Quickie Movie Reviews:

Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (** of five)

I watched this at the theater when it first came out. I pretty much hated it then and never really watched it again until now. Well, I appreciated it a little more but it was still not that great. The decision to make it a PG film really took a lot out of it.

Naked Gun Trilogy (*** of five)

I haven't watched 1 and 2 in ages and I have never seen 3 until now. Surprisingly a lot of the social commentaries are still relevant today. Seeing Leslie Neilson recently in Scary Movie 4, I thought he would be much younger in the Naked Gun movies but nope, he was pretty old back then too. He must be around 90 by now! =)

Freckles

2007-06-25T23:23:00.000-07:00

Summer is here so it is only appropriate to do a summer picture. This started out as a meeting sketch which was only just the head and a bit of the shoulders. I was going to add a lot more freckles but at the end I was too lazy and I have spent way too much time on this as is. I think I have over painted it as compared to the original pencils, I feel that it lost a bit of the "life". Another problem with this image was trying to get the warmth and the lighting just right. The actual coloring would've been easier but I started this painting without much planning so I paid the price with painting and repainting. Oh well. Better luck next time.

Quickie Movie Reviews:
Benji Off the Leash (0 out of 5 stars)
This is supposed to be a kids movie but it turned out to be more like a reality show. There was a puppy that was tossed like a ball across a room and left to die. A over breeded dog was kept near death for the majority of the movie. A mom and kid got verbal and physical abuse from daddy. Man, it was heavy. Good thing Kyle didn't quite comprehended what was going on. I would've stopped the tape but while it was really dark but I can't believe that the bad stuff kept on coming. At the end of this family film, the father went to jail and the future of the family was far from certain. And the final rub? Benji was not in the movie. So dog picked up a contract to become the next Benji. Arrrgggh. Worst-movie-ever.

Afro Samurai (4 out of 5 stars)
Here is a very cool anime that seemingly came from nowhere. Great style+bloody mayhem+Samuel L. Jackson+wacky but yet cool story = a must watch film. The regular DVD costs $15 at Best Buy with a Director's Cut version at $25.

Breach (3 out of 5 stars)
Based on a true story of the worst security breach in the history of the US. I thought it was pretty entertaining stuff. There is hardly any action but it kept me interested the whole way through and I even watched some of the special features because I wanted more.

Whiteout

2007-06-20T02:24:00.000-07:00

Yuck! Looking back on the Samara sketch, I now realized that she is stretched badly. That's what you get for not sleeping enough, folks. One of these days I'll fix her up. Meanwhile, here is a doodle that I started at lunch and wrapped up an hour ago. It began as an older quick Photoshop sketch for an abandoned project. I kept playing around with it and added the stuff below the neckline and then a blown out effect. I had fun making it. BTW, Mr. Chandana Ekanayake's link now points to his blog instead of his other site so please peep it!

Samara

2007-06-15T02:36:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite movie is The Ring. I think this remake of the Japanese original was done right. Naomi Watts was awesome in it and so was the art direction. Chances are most people have watched it. If not, take a peek soon, you won't regret it. As for the sequel, Ring Two, I'll pretend it never existed. This image is Samara just finished crawling out of the TV set to claim another victim. The sketch was done last year and was intended for this blog. However, the pencil wasn't that creepy or cool so I shelved it until now. I am kind of happy how this turned out especially of how little time I spent on it.

Cyclops

2007-06-13T02:20:00.000-07:00

Quick colored version of a Cyclops sketch from last year. I wished I could spend more time on this one but I will not be able to function tomorrow if I keep this late night drawing up. Can't say it is not fun because it is. ZZzzz...

Conan

2007-06-12T02:14:00.000-07:00

Here is a quick sketch of Conan after chopping Thulsa Doom's head off. Conan the Barbarian is one of my favorite movies. Too bad there will probably be no more sequels with Arnold. =(

Death from Above

2007-06-10T03:35:00.000-07:00

New art as promised. I am not going to write anything about this image except that it was quite quick and I was feeling experimental. It is way too late and I will regret staying up in the morning. =(

Super quick movies reviews:
Children of Men
Awesome art direction and fight sequences. Mind blowing continuous shots. Grim stuff though.
Hot Shots
Yes, it is old. And it is still bad. Not funny but still better than...
Epic Movie
One word. Arrgh!
Slither
Purposely campy and fun. Outrageous monsters.
2010
Love this movie. Must have watched this 10 billion times.
Deja Vu
Watched it cold and liked it. Science is nonsense but a decent premise for an action/thriller.

Final Joker Design!

2007-05-28T22:49:00.000-07:00

Holy lunatic, Batman! Last week a photo of the Joker from the upcoming Batman movie was released. A bunch of co-workers thought the new Joker was nicely done. I wasn't so sure. The guy just looked like a mime on a bad day. To my surprise, the studio released a 2nd photo today and this is supposedly to be the final look. Oh, man! There is only one word to describe it, AWESOME!

Looking back on my Spiderman 3 prediction, I think I was dead-on. I got lucky and had the opportunity to watched the movie with Sophia. Going in, I don't have too much expectations. A lot of people liked the first and second one a lot but I had never been too big of a fan. Watching 3 with an open mind, I was enjoying it until the 2nd half. Sure enough, they had to juggle too many characters and suddenly there weren't enough time to properly tell the story even though the movie was pretty long. Unlike 1 and 2, this movie was pretty cheezy and a lot of stuff happening were just plain contrived. It seems that the director just lost interest of the franchise and wanted every single thread to be resolved for the next guy take the rein.

Lastly, sorry for the lack of new art. I was out on vacation and when I got back, work was somewhat hellish. Things should go back to normal soon. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

Bad Girls

2007-04-26T01:55:00.000-07:00

Couple more toy photos. Top: McFarlane's Species toy. Bottom: Moby Toys's Jill Valentine from Resident Evil.

Movie Reviews:

Garfield: The Tale of Two Cats (* of 5 stars)

The first one was bad but this one is even worst. In recent memory this movie and Star Trek: Insurrection are the only two movies that actually put me to sleep. The CG is quite respectable at times but Garfield is only so-so funny even in the comic strips. For a feature length movie, his antics got tired in minutes.

Jason X (** of 5 stars)

Going in I know it would be stupid but man, it was stupid. I am giving this movie one extra star because Garfield really pissed me off. Compared it to Jason, Jason was a much more entertaining movie. I was never a fan so I watched very few Jason films but I am pretty sure that the series had ran its course. Jason was virtually indestructible/unkillable so there was no point with the story whatsoever. And for a slasher film, it wasn't that that gross either. If not for the lame nudity near the end, the movie could have been a PG-13.

What's up doc?

2007-04-22T00:13:00.000-07:00

Hi bloggers. I thought I take a break from my usual sketchy crap to bring you some photographic crap. Today's photo punishment is Dr. Evil and his shaved cat! As most of you know I collect a few action figures. =) Every now and then I get the photo bug and screw around taking pictures of some of the toys. I am not a typical collector as collecting for profit is a poor investment. While I was growing up. I always dreamt of all kinds of toys but we could never afford them. Now that I can buy them, I tend to over do it. Honestly I am almost done. Little Kyle is growing up and my storage around the house is maxed out. Now the toy really has to kick ass before I would consider buying them or they must be super cheap.

Here are some items that I don't mind having but I really shouldn't even try getting:
1) 3 feet tall, fist launching Mazinger Z from the 70's: That's one of the Shogun Warriors here in the USA. The one with the helicopter on the head. This guy is on my "before I die list" but it is extremely hard to find and probably cost a spleen.
2) Soul of Chogokin Gunbuster: This puppy is amazing. You who knows, knows what I am talking about. Unfortunately it is big and will take a two months allowance. Ouch.
3) G-System S-Gundam 1/35 bust: If you are a Gundam fan you must get into Gundam Sentinel.
4) David Bowman figure: I don't even know who made it or if it was ever a general released toy. It was in a photo of a Game Informer magazine of one of the EA's Studios. Looks to be a 12" figure in the space suit. It looks great!
5) Soul of Chogokin Gaiking: I hope I got the name right. This is the dragon robot that the head can transform into a giant robot. It was one of my favorites when I was a kid. The toy was released years ago. I think it was prized up there with Gunbuster. Probably even more now. =(

5 Years ago...

2007-04-16T22:36:00.000-07:00

Here is a card illustration I did for my dad's Father's Day. How time flies. I am 20 more pounds heavier with 60% less hair. Kyle is 4 years + old and Sophia is now a full time mom instead of an accounting clerk. All is good still and if I draw us again, I would still have a thumbs up. Hope you guys out there are the same.

Instead of my usual lame movie reviews, here is my upcoming movies predictions:

Spiderman 3: I saw some good advance reviews but I still stick to my guns by saying that there are two many bloody villians for one movie. Also the CG Spidey is looking too CG-ish for my book. My prediction? 2 stars out of 5.

Transformers: The trailers did not impress me. In fact couple robot shots looked really rubbery. Optimus Prime now has flames on his fenders. Uggh! 2 out of 5.

Harry Potter: Now that's a much better trailer. I've never read the books but I am really looking forward for this one. 4 out of 5 stars.

Iron Man: I don't see how this could be good. The gray suit looked nice but how does this supposed to walk? Mandarin? Come on! 1 out of 5 stars.

Superman + Wonder Woman part 2

2007-04-02T22:18:00.000-07:00

Gasp of horror! Another post so soon??! =)
Here is another version of Superman that I liked much better. It is influenced by the 2nd "Red Son" action figure of the character. The Wonder Woman is the original pencils for the colored version that was posted awhile ago. I think the two characters look good together. Next up: A color picture of me and wifey Sophia from 4 years ago!

Superman and the CRAZY woman

2007-04-01T23:20:00.000-07:00

Hi all. Just what the title say, this is a composite of two random sketches. Superman was done last fall during the last months of Supreme Commander. At the time I liked the drawing. Looking back he has a Jim Lee styled face which I don't care for. Crazy woman is rather recent. I was inspired by Simon Bisley all of a sudden to draw a wacked out chick firing a giant weapon. She was supposed to be firing wildly with her breasts bouncing in odd angles. I eventually spent too long on the face and lost all momentum to finish the sketch as intended.

Quickie Movie Reviews:

Stranger than Fiction (** of five stars)

I don't know what to make of the film. It is not that funny and it does not seem like a drama. It has a message but it wasn't too compelling. The CG graphics is pretty nifty though.

Ultimate Avengers 2 (** of five stars)

Before I read the Ultimates comics I thought Ultimate Avengers 1 was pretty good. Now that I can compare between the book to the film, the first movie was toned down way too much from the original concept. The 2nd film is much like the first one in water downed-ness and it introduced the Black Panther. It started alright but it eventually don't have the guts to make it really interesting/more adult. I suppose I am not the target audience. =(

Sunday Morning Post

2007-03-25T02:51:00.000-07:00

It is Sunday morning and here is another post. Here are a bunch more sketches that I drew during meetings that are slapped together to form a somewhat thematic image. Once again my subjects are X-Men related with an odd Elektra thrown in to stand-in for Psylocke. I am hating myself for doing so much fan art and not drawing my own creations. On the other hand, drawing established characters are much faster and satisfying at the same time. When my schedule is more freed up, I will do more original stuff. I promise.

Speaking of a promise, here is another bunch of meaningless movie reviews:

The Prestige (*** out of five)

I just watched this 1/2 hour ago. It is a good movie but one that I probably want to watch for a long time. I am surprised that I was able to guess how the movie will end mid way through. The themes are great but overall my shallow self didn't quite enjoy the dark tone or the unhappy ending. Yeah, I suck.

Casino Royale (**** out of five)

This is one of the best James Bond movie. Daniel Craig is an awesome Bond and I really digged the realistic, gritty tone. I would love the movie more except that I was watching it really late with virtually no sound but with close caption on.

The Holiday (*** out of five)

It was chick flicks night. Kate Winslet with english accent= 1 star. I like Jack Black= 1 star. The movie wasn't bad = the other star. Carmen Diez was also in it but somehow she is not as good looking as I remember her from Something About Mary.

Peter Pan (** out of five)

I haven't watched this one since forever so I had almost no memory of what this movie was all about. And I had thought that Peter Pan would be so nice and wholesome as most of the Disney cartoons. Watching it now surpised the sh*t out of me. There are many attempted murders, an actual murder, racist dialogue (and songs), a not-so nice Tinker Bell who is the spokesman for many Disney products, as well as some sexist content! Wowsers.

Happy Chinese New Year!

2007-03-11T23:49:00.000-07:00

Hello again. Chinese New Year was over couple weeks ago but hey, happy new year anyways. I wish everyone "kung hey fat choy" and most importantly good health.
The latest picture are two X-men. This image was actually made from two separate drawings. I had intended to color them up but I got lazy. =(
Cyclops is not really my favorite but I felt like drawing him. Wolverine is really cool and is a blast to draw. I tried to make him short because he is supposed to be. Everyone seems to draw him like a normal dude which really pissed me off. Grrr! Snikt!
Why all the comic book stuff on my blog lately? Well I have been going to the library and to my surprise they have all kinds of comics that you can checkout. Since I am usually low on allowance money, this worked out just fine. I was able to keep up with all the latest trade paperbacks from Marvel and some from DC. There were a lot of good reads but there were also some trash. My favorite was the Ultimates. If you haven't seen it, pick up a copy, you won't regret it!
I was going to do my usual trashy movies review but I don't have time tonight. Expect it for next time. Ciao!

Hulk

2007-01-11T01:29:00.000-08:00

What wacky weather. I didn't think I would update the blog so soon but because of the snow this afternoon, I am stuck at work. It actually worked out just fine. I managed to have a lot of time to catch up on work stuff as well as having some playtime to make this Hulk image. I also started this months ago but had to drop it due to work. Originally there is a girl on Hulk's back but looking at the image now, I realize that the picture is stronger without her. I was going to color the image but I figured that I better sleep soon or I'll be a zombie tomorrow as I will still be stuck because of the ice.

I watched a new movie today. Beerfest. A stupid movie but it has its charms. My review? Two out of five stars. Okay, I better snooze or lose. ZZzzzzz...

Wonder Woman

2007-01-09T23:51:00.000-08:00

Here is the latest. I started on Wonder Woman couple months back and was intended to be a quick follow-up to Cammy but my project suddenly switched to crunch mode so this was side tracked until now. My latest project has recently started to crunch so the next update will probably be a pencil sketch. =(

I have been playing an actual game on the PSP and I am proud that I even beat it! The game is, Dungeon Siege: The Throne of Agony. The game is simple but fun. I didn't think I would like it but I could put it down. The 2D movies were done extremely well and it was quite refreshing to see.

I still have yet to finish Phoenix Wright for the DS. The first four chapters were great but the last one didn't excite me as much since they resorted to some really lame "puzzles". A sequel is coming out soon so I might just finish for the sake of finishing it.

Edward Pun. Yes you. Play Silent Hill 2. Go!

One item was crossed off my list of stuff to buy before I die. I snagged a "G-Commander" resin kit off of ebay. It was beautiful. The kit will probably sit in the box that it came with for the next twenty years since putting it together and painting it is not on my beforeI die list. Oh well. I am crazy.

Lastly, here is a continuation of my movie reviews:

Snakes on a Plane (*** out of five)
I liked it although the movie seemed to lose steam near the end. The gore was not too bad and not too mild.

Descent (** outof five)
IGN said that it is really good but I am not impressed. The ending is lame IMO. The creatures were pretty creepy.

Masked Rider: The First (** out of five)
This is an import that I picked up in Canada. With all the continunity problems and the lackluster storytelling, this movie is still way above a Uwe Boll production. If you are a Masked Rider fan and if you can get a subtitled copy, it is worth a look.

Z Gundam: A New Translation: Movies I to III (** out of five)
Nobody I know likes Gundam so I don't even know why I am writing about this. Next.

The Perfect Man (*** out of five)
Yes, it is a Hilary Duff movie. I liked it. So there. =P

Mulan (*** out of five)
I have been avoiding this movie for awhile but I was surprised at how good it is. Disney torqued the original story quite a bit and the dragon with Eddie Murphy is bizzare. Otherwise, even little Kyle likes it.

Barnyard (** out of five)
The story is a parent's nightmare. It is about kids going wild and got positive reinforced for it! It is enjoyable but I don't want Kyle to behave like any of the animals in the film especially the donkey.

Cammy!

2006-11-21T00:37:00.000-08:00

Finally, here is a new piece of art! There are so many Cammy fan art around so I decided to add to the pile. Since my last post, I have been sketching quite a bit but work kept me from scanning any in yet. This image was based upon a very old pencil sketch but at the end, only 10% of the original remained. Next week will be pretty busy for me because my boy, Kyle will be 4 years old. Between things, I'll try updating this blog more often. If I don't, have a great Thanksgiving everyone!

If you are like me and you have a love for bad movies that sometimes, in a blue moon, turn out to be good, read the reviews below and rent one of these if you haven't done so already.

Punisher's Trash Cinema Review:
Final Destination 3 (*** out of five)
-This movie was hyped up quite a bit by IGN so I decided to take a look. I didn't think it was that cool but the DVD is worth mentioning because you can decide the fate of many of the characters. The DVD let you choose whether this character will do this or that. And based on your choice, the film branching to show you the consequences via angles. This one is worth a rental.

Transformers the Movie - 20th Anniversary Edition (*** out of five)
-I bought the old release of this film last year and it was full screen. This new release is widescreen and restored. The picture is awesome but the story is still to sell toys. There are a lot of extras including a trivial track which is pretty good. The story is pretty dark and many robots die. That is why I kept an interest to it all these years. I hope the live action movie doesn't suck.

Don't Close Your Eyes (Hong Kong flick - ** out of five)
-Blockbuster gets the weirdest HK movies sometimes. This one pretty much sucked hard. It is about a ruthless criminal who died coming back as a ghost to take revenge on the cop that killed him. The cop happened to have the ability to see ghosts and he is by coincidence transferred to a haunted police station. Urgh. The budget is so low that even though the cop can see ghosts, they don't show you what he sees most of the time. You get a lot of reaction shots of him looking scared so you would assume that he is seeing something gross. =(

Happy Birthdays!

2006-10-11T23:18:00.000-07:00

Another post, another old pic. This one is fitting though because, this month and the next are packed with birthdays. My parents' b-days are one day apart and it was yesterday and tomorrow. Love you, mom and dad! My wife's is the 30th. Ed, the head's (my bro) is on Nov 6th- the same day as my project's milestone. =( My son, Kyle is turning four(!) on Nov 28th! Whew!

Haven't done this for awhile so here are reviews of what I recently watched:

X-Men 3
I give it 3 out of 5 stars. Great action but this movie would really benefit if it is rated R. Sure it is not the same as the comic but I think that is fine.

Disney's The Black Hole
I give it 2 out of 5 stars. The 2 stars came from the great ship design. 'nuff said.

The Little Mermaid
I haven't watch it since it was released at the theaters. Man, I am so old. I was scaried that it would not hold up after all these years but it was just as fun as I remembered it. The story is really simple and the romance is rather shallow. Oh well. Still loved it. 4 out of 5! It is my blog so there! =)

Psylocke

2006-09-19T23:47:00.000-07:00

That was a close call. I tried several times to update this blog but had completely forgotten the damn user name and password. I almost decided to give up. Guess when you hit the big 4-0, memory is the first to go. Psylocke has always been a favorite of mine. I don't really follow X-men so I am just attracted to British ninja chicks. This is a fun sketch that I did years ago but was never finished. Enjoy!

Three Tough Guys!

2006-06-30T18:31:00.000-07:00

Been super busy. Here is another set of meeting sketches. Meet Hulk, Thulsa Doom and Ethan Hunt!

Barbarian

2006-06-03T09:37:00.000-07:00

Not much to say. Just a fun sketch.

Sumiko

2006-05-29T23:24:00.000-07:00

I have a few new meeting sketches but it will be a little while until I have time to post them. Meanwhile, here is another old picture. This is Sumiko, a character in "Melinda the Fox" comic. Sumiko is Mel's high school pal in Japan and is a frequent victim of ninja attacks. Her father is a brilliant scientist called, Cheese. Why Cheese? The man is always grinning like the Joker!

Meeting Sketches

2006-05-22T13:20:00.000-07:00

Yes its true! I made an update! This is a collage of sketches that I made during meetings. When I collected more, I'll put them up.

Quick movie reviews:
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (***1/2)
Holy art direction, Batman!

Serenity (****)
No previous Firefly experience and the trailer looked like shit but this movie rocked!

New Police Story (***)
This is not your typical Jackie Chan movie and that's why it is good. Lot's of deaths. It reminds me of the new Battlestar Galactica series where the main guys get their butt handed over to the Cylons.
Kung Fu Majong 2(**)
A comedy made for Hong Kong viewers only. Majong experience a big plus. 99% of the population should avoid this one.

Play It Live...Play It Loud!

2006-03-17T08:54:00.000-08:00

Some of you may remember this - Dr Jam! I don't know if this ever gotten published as the product was developed near the final days of the company.This is my first game box art from my first gaming gig at Azeroth. At the time I was using Deluxe Paint and this was considered pretty darn hi-res. But it really couldn't have been more than 1600x1200. This actually was a mockup and I've lost the original somehow. At least I am lucky that I found a program that can read and convert .lbm's.

Punisher Movie Reviews:
Doom (* )
-What happened?! Somebody make a proper space marine in hell movie not this genetic crap again. The only thing that I like was the "nano walls".
The Stand TV mini-series Ep1 and 2 (** )
-If this is faithful to the book, I am glad that I didn't buy it. Yes, lots of character development stuff but the plot moves at a snail's pace. I've only watched HALF of the mini-series and it was like watching paint dry.
Feels Like Heaven (**** )
-This is a chick flick but in contrast to the above films, this was way more entertaining so it got another 1 or 2 bonus stars.

Stare At My Belly Button!

2006-02-26T02:51:00.000-08:00

Yup. It has come to this. Too much work = very little time to sketch. At least I took the bloody photo! That's a repaint of Warrior Lilith from McFarlane Toys. She was in the clearance rack for $3.75 at Sam Goody in Supermall. I was trying to quit buying action figures but she was too cheap to resist. As punishment, that store and many other Sam Goodys and Suncoasts in the state are now closing. And so my major suppliers of cheap toys will be gone forever. Boo-hoo-hoo...

Movies I recently watched:
Initial D (Live action version) **** - I liked this movie a lot. No good reason except that I think it is another sign of mid-life crisis. It was mainly about Japanese kids racing around in their 80's cars.
March of the Penguins ** - Hyped as a great family film which was not true at all. It was quite dark and sad. What was even sadder was that I bought this flick with real money. D'oh!
Gundam: Char's Counterattack ****- late 80's Gundam movie which I loved even without English or subtitles. This English version DVD finally told the whole story and it is still plenty good. All of you watch as much Gundam as possible. NOW!

Quick Sketch

2006-02-11T00:07:00.000-08:00

As promised, here is a super quick sketch. Nothing fancy here just a few minutes with a super crippled version of Photoshop. Work was hell this week and I am looking forward for the weekend to wind down. I am too tired to write anything interesting at this point so I am calling it a night. Good night everyone. ZZZZzzzzz...

Bang! Bang!

2006-02-06T23:13:00.000-08:00

Wow, my one week vacation zipped by just like that! Work was pretty crazy and from the look of it, I won't have much time to do as much doodle as I hoped. Well, I will try whenever I can so I am optimistic that I'll still have a new piece of art before the week is over. The above image is another early 90's doodle done for a friend of mine. I don't even remember if he requested it or if I just decided to draw a psycho chick. For my skills back then, I was kind of pleased with the final product. I think the inspiration came from an indie b/w comic called, Faust. I don't even remember the artist's name now but the book was about a Wolverine type anti-hero that gutted people like fish in every issue. It was awesome!

Now for something completely different, I saw a bunch of movies recently but none of them were what most would call great cinema. My movie tastes are pretty much in the gutter so for those who goes for bottom feeding films like me, here are some reviews (5 stars= great! One star=piss poor):

Red Eye (*** )
I was pleasantly surprised by this movie. I don't think much of Wes Craven but this was somewhat decent.

Flightplan (** )
Film of a really crazy mom trying to find her daughter. Man, I wanted to smack her. Also the plot had holes the size of Alabama.

Freddy vs Jason (*** )
Could be much worst and everything was super silly. I went in expecting the holocaust but it was far from that if you had your brain shifted to neutral.

The Butterfly Effect (**** )
It is not quite Donnie Darko but entertaining nevertheless. The plot was not too pausible if you think about it too much and I preferred the theatrical (Hollywood) ending. I was bored so I also listened to the commentary track and the additional info on the how's and why's made the film even better.

The 40 Year Old Virgin (*** )
It wasn't that funny. It was rude and crude in places. I typed in 3 stars and now I think it really should be two.

My Digital Self

2006-02-05T19:59:00.000-08:00

I'll look like this if I am in the Matrix. I just want to post this to get my portrait up. Nothing to see here. Move along.

"Blast from the Past" Week: McDonald's Truck

2006-02-03T11:15:00.000-08:00

This puppy is a space rig that could haul 4 massive cargo trailers at once. I wish that I had more time to flesh it out more but I was too impatient and moved on. It would probably be fairly easy to do a 3D version of this.

Hey here's a question for you guys. How can I add my portrait? It seems the only way to do so is to have another site and then use its URL to post my portrait. Is that true? I have even signed up to that "Hello" thing but I couldn't figure out how to get it to give me an URL. Thanks in advance.

"Blast from the Past" Week: Hyperspace Chase

2006-02-02T00:37:00.000-08:00

This is another concept from that ill-fated space RPG. I always liked F1 cars so it was fun to try out making a space version of one. Originally the car had no background but when I was looking for a new job I thought adding a background would beef it up. Unfortunately my interview was only hours away and my color pencil skills were quite weak so the BG didn't really add that much to it. Luckily I got the job anyways!

"Blast from the Past" Week: Pigs in Space

2006-01-31T22:23:00.000-08:00

Whoa! Here is another image for the five of you who may still be tuned-in to this blog. This cop car/spaceship was one of a series of concepts that were done around 1992/3-ish for a game proposal. The idea was a lighthearted space RPG on the SNES. I was greatly influenced by Ron Cobb, an awesome conceptual artist whom's credits included "Conan the Barbarian" and the first "Alien" movie. His designs were not only beautiful but functionally realistic as well. If you have the time, compare the space ships/hardware designs of Alien to Aliens and you will see how much James Cameron's concept artists dropped the ball.

"Blast From the Past" Week: Super Celica

2006-01-29T14:02:00.000-08:00

It is the first day of the Chinese New Year so "Gong Hay Fat Choy!" I hope everyone, good luck and most importantly good health.

It's raining, my son is watching Casper the Movie starring Hillary Duff so I have a few minutes to kill before I have to leave the house. My Photoshop is not working so Cat Gundam and new work have to wait awhile. I wanted to keep posting regularly so the next few days I am going to post some old stuff from the late 80's and early 90's. Here is the first:

This Super Celica pic was originally done in 1991 for comic book, Mega-Tokyo High School. This is the main heroine's car. I drove a brown 1977 Celica Liftback at the time. It has 4 cyclinders and it can't go very fast without the frontend lifting up. At 90 mph, it would almost lift-off and flip!

Anyway, it was because of the mechanical deficiencies of the car that caused me to fantasize about rebuilding it to modern specs. Even back then in 1991 I thought the new car designs were lacking character compared to the older cars. I loved the Shelby Mustangs from the 60's and the 77' Celica was inspired from them. It would be awesome to have the latest technology married with older body designs. Fast-forwarding to 2006, it is interesting to see that we have some very successful retro designs done of the Mustang and the Ford GT40! And I think a few other detroit cars are going to get the retro treatment. Am I a visionary or what? =)

Cat Gundam, Launch!

2006-01-26T13:15:00.000-08:00

Too much work = very little time to doodle. I was going to post a more completed picture but that has to wait. Here is the pencil scan:

For gundam fans, this is loosely based on the S-Gundam from Gundam Sentinel. This booster version of the S-Gundam has no legs but instead 4 monster boosters were strapped on for crazy speeds.

Why a cat? I was orginally going to post this art for another art site. Their theme for this week is cats. I like cats but cats+gundam = even cooler! =)

I'll see what kind of spare time I get this weekend. I may start working on a grayscale version of this. If it works out I'll do a full color version. Stay tuned...

Welcome World!

2006-01-25T12:50:00.000-08:00

Wow! This is my first blog! I am so web challenged that this is a major accomplishment for me. I would like to spend a few sentences to say thanks to a few people.

John Gronquist - Thanks for making this possible and pushed me by showing me how to do this web thing. You are the man!
Joe Kresoja - Thanks for not making the images on your site bigger so that I am always compelled to make my own site with big-a$$ pictures. Well, my pics are not up but hey, my blog is up! One small step for web-kind but a huge step for Kevin Pun. Bwa-ha-ha.
Mom, Dad, Sophia and Kyle - Hi guys! My blog is up! Wooo!
Dave Handy - Are you still alive? Hey dude, give me a call sometime.
Pat Hickey - ditto.

Okay with that out of the way, my next post will...(drumroll please) a piece of art for your artistic punishment pleasure.