The Five Princes

Work: The Five Princes from The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter

Client: Savannah College of Art and Design, Prof. Goni Montes

Description: A scene of the five princes trying to get their own tasks in order to be given a permission to get married to the bamboo princess. The stone begging bowls of the Buddha, a jewelled branch from the Horai island, the robe of the fire-rat of China, a jewel from a dragon’s neck, and a cowrie which born from swallow. Unfortunately, these five princes were all failed to get their tasks.

Comment: I wanted it has a sense of claustrophobic heaviness, yet keep the busyness of movement. Textures and line works are always fun to mess around with!

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Taketori Monogatari

Work: Taketori Monogatari; The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter

Client: Savannah College of Art and Design, Prof. Goni Montes

Description: A series of four illustrations for a story. The first illustration (which is this piece in my case) will be a conceptually visual that will intelligently describe and introduce the story. The story of “Taketori Monogatari; The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter” is basically a story of this princess from moon sent to earth, how she was found and was raised, how beautiful she was, and eventually she was taken back by her moon people later.

Comment: I really love all the beautiful patters of kimono. Some painted kimono patterns are absolutely breath-taking and actually it tells story. I took the idea of a pattern itself being a story teller, and working on motif. The first scene of “an old, childless bamboo cutter came across a mysterious, shining stalk of bamboo. After cutting it open, he found inside it a baby the size of his thumb.” is where this pattern came from. There is a scene later that she cries and looking at the moon because she knows she will be going back to the moon soon and have to say good bye to her foster parents on earth. If you felt some sort of her nostalgic feeling, then I’d be able to say that it’s successful piece!

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Love Is…

Work: Love Is…

Client: SCAD Connector

Description: To illustrate visual voice responding to LGBTQ marriage equality.

Comment: It was such a pleasure to work with my school and its magazine; especially for LGBTQ related subject matter. Also, it was such a timely subject matter “marriage equality” when I got a phone call because the week was for the Supreme Court to hear cases from Proposition 8 and DOMA. I wanted this illo to be feminine as possible and almost Greek goddess sort of feel to it. I still think marriage is supposed to be spiritual, beautiful, and ritual… not by a drive-thru sanctuary and get a blessing from a fake pastor. Do I support LGBTQ marriage equality? Of course! I want to be able to marry whoever I would fall in love with!

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Lovers’ Utopia

Work: Lovers’ Utopia

Client: Unpublished, prof. Goni Montes

Description: To create an illustration which contains several figures.

Comment: I was inspired by A Midsummer Night’s Dream. My initial thought on the color palette of this piece was really night and almost blue base. When it came almost to the end, it was too heavy and didn’t produce any happy atmosphere. You may know this feeling if you were an illustrator, sometimes colors of flat layers you chose randomly look nicer than actual colors of your piece… Well, that happened! Anyhow, I’m so happy on this piece.

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The Dutch Wife Story

Work: The Dutch Wife Story

Client: Savannah College of Art and Design, Prof. Goni Montes

Description: Create an illustration of 18×24″ contains 1) action, 2) minimum of two figures, 3) dynamic perspective.

Comment: I took this open assignment (well it was a final project for his class) as my great opportunity to expand my comfort subject matter. I have done some illustrations with little “dark” flavor like “I Want Your Heart,” and “A Missing Child,” but never illustrated such an aggressive action in it. I really thank my friends encouraged me to do this when I showed them some ideas and thumbnails. The subject matter is obviously read as a domestic violence (or could be a child abuse.) I had such a hard time trying to figure out the right perspective for the guy (or the mannequin,) and yeah I changed him from a male figure to a mannequin in the last minute. I did want to have some sort of whimsical spice in it even though the subject matter is pretty much hardcore. Anyway, I enjoyed the every moment of this creative process! Thank you Goni!

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The Attraction of Honey

Work: The Attraction of Honey

Client: Savannah College of Art and Design, Prof. Rick Lovell

Description: This is an editorial illustration for an article from Harvard Business Review Blog, Big Business Increasingly Supports Gay Rights, written by Susan McPherson and Laura Clise. The article is basically saying that how beneficial for major corporations to openly support LGBTQ rights, and attract more business into them as LGBTQ marketing. About the article, click here.

Comment: My eyes got caught the words of “attract” and “open” while I was reading the article. From there, I took some time to imagine what other words come after. “Attract – butterflies, bees, color, flowers, smell, light, moss, fish, boat, fisherman, net,,,,” or “Open – mouth, eyes, flowers, elevator, file, door, package, computer,,,,” Then I picked up some ideas from these texts. I enjoyed the process of coloring to exaggerate the perspective and the main focus of the flower!

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Work: Harley Davidson Project

Client: Harley Davidson

Description: Create a series of five iconic illustrations for Harley Davidson .

Comment: So I was asked to work for a collaborative project among other different departments in SCAD for Harley Davidson. They needed my illustrations to be in Black&White, no background, something spot-like illustrations for opening every chapter of their Harley Davidson history book (or website.) I had no idea about motorcycles, bikers, and those mechanical structures they have. Well, after huge amount of researching, I really think that every motorcycle from HD is just breathtaking, beautiful lines and presence. No wonder people love HD so much!

Angry Fags by Topher Payne

Work: Angry Fags by Topher Payne

Client: Savannah College of Art and Design, Prof. Rick Lovell

Description: A poster illustration for an event placed in Atlanta local venues.

Comment: Angry Fags by Topher Payne and directed by Justin Anderson caught my eyes when I was researching an event for a school project. I was looking for the event that certainly has a subject matter I can connect personally. Yes, I love music and food in general, and there are so many wonderful events happening in Atlanta, GA, but non of those events did not make my eyes shine like a diamond…

Then what, Angry Fags,,, Really? Are there any titles giving you a shock but giving you a little bit of giggle at the same time? So here is their story goes to…

“Cooper and Bennett are not a gay couple- just a couple of gays. When one of their friends is the victim of an assault outside a local bar, they feel helpless, frightened, and then they feel something new: pure, unfiltered rage. Angry Fags asks the question “Is anyone really afraid of gay guys?” This dark comedy explores the ideas of gay terrorism and the hypocrisy of American politics.” – 7 Stages

I went for illustrating their friend who is the victim of an assault in this poster. That is the major trigger that gives Cooper and Bennett feeling of such a various emotions. I wanted to keep vulnerability of this character has under scars from whatever assaults he got. Also wanted to keep the delicate and naive line works for contrasting to the bold handwritten texts. Hope y’all like it!

For more information of the play: 7 Stages http://www.7stages.org/angry-fags/

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I Want Your Heart

Work: I Want Your Heart, 2013

Client: Personal, Unpublished

Description: A seasonal illustration for Valentine’s Day.

Comment: I did this piece as my demo that I had to show in a class conducted by Professor Rick Lovell at SCAD-Atlanta. I literally finished this piece a day from a traditional stage to the finished piece, so it was definitely one of those moments spending your night with ridiculous amount of coffee and random performances of lip sync along with your favorite songs. Anyhow, happy Valentine’s Day to you!

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Girl On Fire

Work: Girl On Fire: Leo, 2013

Client: Savannah College of Art and Design-Atlanta, Professor Rick Lovell

Description: Create an illustration of your zodiac sign.

Comment: I was introduced some new ways to play around in Photoshop. It is always such a shocking but pleasure moment when you found out some better way to work on your creative process, and it requires much painful moment to merge a new method into your old habit. Well, I like those painful moments!

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