Here’s a picture to keep the “A sketch a day” going.

Well, time to get into habbit of sketching everyday. This idea was originally from e1n from http://e1n.deviantart.com/. I guess this would benefit me being all problematic like not having a scanner, not having a tablet, not being able to color well, and finally, not skilled enough.

Well, I guess I should start off with the 1st sketch. Here it is. Based on a cosplayer who did Tifa from Final Fantasy 7: Advent Children

Oh, I usually sketch on the large amount of company paper I have near my computer. On the small corner is a failed attempt at sketching Faust from Guilty Gear XX. Gotta work on details!

After 3 grueling, procrastinating days…finally I’m done with my first ever colored deviation. Dang….still could use more work on background, shadings and lightings. It’s tough when you have no clue if the color you are using suits the particular part.

Oh well….here’s the uncolored version. Looks kinda rushed.

And this is the colored version….

Gotta start the colors. Life without colors are, pretty much, ugly. With colors, one could easily identify things. Take for example, the color blue. Almost everyone would easily identify the color blue as oceans or the sky. I, for one, do not see blue as either the ocean or the sky. My world is full of whacky ideas but colors ain’t one of them.

Ideas come and go like how the seasons change. Colors…well, let’s just say that the idea of colors never entered the picture to begin with…if ya know what I’m sayin. I can easily identify the main colors such as Red, Blue, Yellow, Black, and White. When you deviate from the main ones(in these cases, the main colors are known as the parent colors), you’d get green, brown, turqoise, and so on. Those are the end results of mixing with two or more main colors.

Now, the problem with my eyes are that they do not recognise the color mixtures well. What appears to be Maroon or Jade to others, appear to be Red and Green respectively in my eyes. Yeah, I’m considered somewhat color blind. Not only that, but it applies to my strokes as well. Coloring isn’t my forte. I’ve been cursed with this disability since I was young but that will change eventually.

I’m starting a project that will include colors and a backgrounds. Hopefully I could deliver what I envisioned well. Obviously, that project has nothing to do with silhouettes. Also, I’m currently watching the American TV drama series “Dexter”. Hope to be updating this soon! I might post some unfinished materials on this site before uploading it onto deviantART.

Evangelion. A title that almost every otaku knows of. A story of 11 year olds trying to save the world in a huge robot, combating aliens called as “Angels”. Yet, for a bunch of 11 year olds, they’re rather built for their age. Japanese…

Yesterday, Charles passed me a few pictures of a cosplayer called Kipi. 1 triggered an idea.

Kipi as Asuka Langley

Obviously the pose could use more work. Too much skin makes the picture rather bland(for me) so I decided to add some clothing on to the image I needed to draw. I quickly sketched a suitable pose. I decided to use the similar pose I drew for my previous picture:

But of course, if I’m re-using the same pose again it’ll blow the whole purpose of me conjuring a new image. This calls for some further thinking of how can I slightly modify this pose? It occured to me while I was out smoking when I saw a cat stretching. A taunting pose, one that smacks his/her rear to agitate someone.

Here’s the finished product:

It was hot as hell today, even though I’ve had an air-conditioner on throughout the entire afternoon! Since I had some leftover pasta sauce, I decided that would be my dinner. Obviously the sauce won’t do by itself! It needs some sort of additive….like bacon…

I started off with searing off some bacon on a hot pan while a pot of boiling water was blanching off the pasta. Once the bacon were crispy enough, I poured in the pasta sauce, along with some whipping cream, chinese parsley, and water. The flame by now was pretty low ‘cuz I don’t wanna burn my sauce and making it dry. Once the pasta was completely blanched, I drained them and added them into the sauce. Give them a little stir and added some parmesan cheese. Then, I adjusted the seasoning. Here’s what the final outcome look like:

Bowl of pasta+bacon+funkeh sauce

Heh, I was pretty darn hungry that time since it was indeed my first meal of the day. I gobbled it down and before I knew it…30 minutes has passed…and this was left..

Half way through

Whoa…who would’ve thought that I was having a tough time finish eating it…Guess I overestimated myself…time to do a final spurt! I took a minute burping off the excess air in my tummy. I also whooped out a can of Winter Melon Tea to wash down some remnants of the meal offa my mouth. Okay…I got this..round 2!!!

...and the winner is....

Job well done! Time to end the meal by smoking it off with a nicotin filled cigarette. Peace!

End of part 2.

Yesterday, I decided to cook for friends. Well, I didn’t had enough ingredients to go around, so I only had 2 to come over. I started officially cooking at about 3:30 pm. Started off by grilling some tomatoes and onions, pureed them in a blender along with a splash of balsamic vinegar, olive oil, a handful of basil leaves, and a bunch of chinese parsley. I threw the blended ingredients into a big pot of chicken stock and had it reduced by 2/3rds. That was the pasta sauce I am experimenting on.

The main was, of course, meat. In this case, I was using a pork tenderloin. It was marinated overnight with brown sugar, celery salt, lemon zest, and crushed black pepper. I sauteed it for a moment to just seal off the entire surface and then it was whacked into the 200 degree oven for 14 minutes. Pretty simple stuff.

It was 5 by then, and I had no reason to blanche the pasta yet so I went out for a cigarette and a beer while I wait for the pasta sauce to emulsify into a thicker consistency.  Then TJ came over. That meant it was 6 o’clock. All that’s left is to make a salal out of the veggies TJ brough over. He brought 2 bell peppers, 2 tomatoes and a lemon. I did a quick julliene out of the vegetables and proceeded in making a salad dressing. It consists of a splash of olive oil, some chopped garlic and onion, lemon zest, and a spoonful of dijon mustard.

When it was almost 7, I blanched the pasta and Taya came over, just in time to eat. After dinner, I followed TJ over to Zhik’s house(apparently he wanted to try the drumset for the PS3’s Guitar Hero 4) Only one track made me pounced into a nostalgia mode…..The Eagles - Hotel California. It never occured to me that this song was one of my favorites almost a decade ago. Well, now it’s on loop over in my media player. Hah!

Instead of continuing with the story, I’ll just break it into 2 parts.

End of part 1.

Yeah, the title seems like it’s extracted straight out of the Bible but I assure you, this shall not and will not be some preaching site. You have my word. Well, let’s start off by saying that this is mainly not out of boredom (although at some point it was) but rather, a collaboration between a dear friend and myself.

I’ll try not to bore the visitors with the usual arguments and whatnot. Instead, I’ll be sharing some artwork and recipes that I’ve learned. I do have an account on http://soaprick.deviantart.com so be sure to check it often. I might alternate in posting my newly drawn images between this site and on deviantart.

Well, since I’m already ranting, let’s keep this going!

Who the hell am I?

Well,  I draw and I cook. These are but 2 passions of mine since I was little. How I was introduced to art was really retarded. Yes, I watched cartoons, read comics, and played video games. Guess those are the factors that got me into drawing. Now the funny thing is, I only can imitate other people’s style. I can’t really have a clear mind when I pick up a pen and paper to draw.

Cooking on the other hand….well…I love to eat. Yes, I admit it… I live to eat…not the other way round. Guess I was exposed to good food when I was young. Now a chef’s biggest problem is to satisfy his or herself. The worst critique will always be yourself. With all the food program on television, it’s only natural that I have some basic knowledge of cooking or working in a kitchen. I’ve actually applied for a short course in culinary cooking. Now I’m armed with at least 15 recipes of the fine-dining cuisine.

Obviously, the number doesn’t impress others much. Well, I only cook when I’m home alone. My father works on an island far far away from home and my mother goes over monthly. I could either eat out or cook myself. Those are the choices given to me. Obviously with the current recession and the hike in the prices of food, I’d rather cook for myself, learning a few things or two in the process. (Yes, I have guinea pigs! Bwahahahaha!)

Well, since this was created after Valentines day and the Chinese new year, I’ll go ahead and share 2 of my drawings that are made for the season. Enjoy!

“Hello world. Im soaprick. Nice to meet you!“