In need of a gd rest

It's been 2 full weeks of school. And I'm thoroughly exhausted! What I'd done in these 2 weeks felt like what I would have done for a month in the earlier institution I was in!

I'm going to come down with a bad sore throat and I hate feeling sick. Urgh.

Classes here are intensive. Lesson plans are well arIranged and time is fully utilised. And I mean FULLY utilised - I don't even get any breaks for some classes that could stretch from 5-8hrs long. This is especially tiring when the drafting needs so much brain work from someone so greenhorn.

BUT I'm really happy and motivated. I see the pictures in my head (well maybe except for draping class) and I am living my dreams! Well the first part of it actually.

Friends are envious of my situation. But not many people can see the sacrifices I have to make and the negative side of the entire thing. I think most people see it as a fun, glamorous, creative thing. They only get the creative part right.

A friend told me how her friend was saying that there is this attitude about fashion design students here. And we have seen it with our own eyes. It's really unpleasant. But I guess we can't be blamed. Given the rigourousness of this school and course, and the nature of this industry, I think some designers just have to be like that. The environment molds us in a certain way.

Anyway! I don't have pictures to share cos I was too busy Trying to understand the demonstration and getting my work right.

Excitment and anticipation!!!

Completed my intern job orientation. 2 days and the experience is good so far. The culture of the workplace enable me to do my designing properly without much disruption and stress. I guess most of it comes from being an intern - they don't chase after interns for deadlines.

Was tasked mainly to create fabric patterns for bottoms, and some colour blocking for some clothes. While trying to create another design, I accidentally made this: (it could make a very good logo for my own clothing line if i ever have one!) (FYI AJ stands for Ariel Jin Yen)

School orientation tomorrow! Excited to meet my classmates! Because of the nature of this course, I'm pretty curious what kind of people (and the age group of course) that would take up this course. (:

Oh and in just half a day, I picked up some basic skills in illustrator and also roughly figured out how to use a Mac! Oh my. I am a mac convert now. HAHA.

Putting my gears on

There may be people who are fully content with living their life for the necessity. But I'm not.

I've asked myself over and over again if pursuing this dream is really what I want. Then I look at the life I'd tried to lead - one that is without a drive everyday. Just going through the momentum of going for work for the sake of the money. No I don't want that. The world has sufficient people leading this kind of life. One more or one less makes not much difference.

I'm going after my dreams.

It seem so surreal. And so far away. And so impossible.

But I'm going to prove to myself and to everyone that it is possible.

A friend once told me that my strength and my weakness is that I'm strong. I've seen how my strength could be my weakness. But I'm going to utilise it to my advantage now.

To those who are waiting for me to give up - be prepared to wait a lifetime.

I'm not giving up till I'm there where I'd envisioned myself to be.

Sketch book

I had been caught up in completing my contract job at OCBC and healing myself from my recent breakup. The last few weeks had been so hectic with so many things going on every weekend!

However, I'm here to share a good news! I'm accepted by Raffles Academy of Continuing Education! I'll be interning with Hypnosis, and studying full time under the sponsorship of e2i! Awesome I tell you!

I prepared a sketchbook filled with my sketches done when I stopped my classes at FMDS to concentrate on my work. You can see that I'm still trying to improve on my sketches, trying to make my clothes look more REAL and ALIVE. Not fulling capable of that yet - sad to say - but glad to see I've made some progress!

Ok now cut the talk. Let the pictures do the yakking.

 What you think? Drop me comments! It's hauntingly quiet here ):

Wish September would come sooner.

I haven't been blogging here much 'cos something's been bothering me quite much in my personal life. Anyway! I don't have pictures in this entry cos most of what I'd been doing are sketches. Unlike my project, these sketches don't have a theme, an idea, a purpose, etc. So I don't feel like posting most of it. I've been sketching to keep myself drawing, thinking, and designing. I flip through magazines, look at the details of some designs, learn from them, then put them into my sketches.

Thanks to a recommendation from a very dear friend's girlfriend, I bought a good book to get me started on sewing. It was retailing for $120 approx on Ebay and Kinokuniya. BUT, a random trip to Basheer (most people would know this shop - it's a book/magazine heaven for designing people) saved me half (approx) that price! Awesome place I must say.

Also, I've recently bought my sewing machine! I've decided to go for the old brand Singer. Bought the 7464 model from Courts at $599! Quite a fair bit of savings I must say. And the sales auntie taught me so much about the basics of using a sewing machine. I haven't used it much 'cos schedule's been a little tight these few weeks.

Next up in my schedule is a photo exhibition by my dearest friend. Can't wait for it! So proud of him (:

A mini closure

Finally, the mad rush for project deadlines is over.

2 weeks.

3-4 hours of sleep daily.

Heavy, panda eyes.

Over-exhausted and swollen eyes.

Piled up work in office.

ALL WORTH IT when I see the outcome.

Fashion History final 8 pieces + Mood Board.

Theme: Rococo

Designer: John Galliano

Feature: Marie Antoinette

For bigger and more pictures: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150898497152285.405292.704612284&type=3&l=55c96457b9

Mixed Media Final 2 pieces.

Setting: Fort Canning Park

Event: Symphony in the park (a concert)

Media used: Poster colours, markers, colour pencils

For bigger pictures: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150902785042285.405778.704612284&type=1&l=bd1e31a29e

Art Direction Final set of 3 posters.
Brand: Royce
Product: Nama Chocolate
Target Audience: Female working adults (between 25-40)
Concepts: Senses and Feelings
For bigger pictures: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150902795042285.405779.704612284&type=1&l=3f2ea060f9

In Awe

I'm in the mood for a HUGE update! And with pictures too! HAHA.

It's been a really busy week. Just last month, I attended the Men's Fashion Week 2012 at Marina Bay Sands. That was an awesome first-time experience. The male models were just strutting down the run way in front of me! WOW. Haha. Well, I definitely won't forget the weird underwear pieces I saw too. Haha. Definitely an unforgettable experience.

AND THIS WEEK - I attended the Audi Fashion Show 2012. This year it's held at the tentage at Ngee Ann City again. The benefit of being a student - I got 3 free tickets to the show! Haha. The first show I watched on Monday was the Audi Star Creation 2012 Finals. To be honest, I was nodding off towards the end. To show 4pieces of clothes from each of the 12 contestants is too much.Not all of them were exciting to watch. And the music was too boring.

Then on Friday, I caught the Audi Star Creation Capsule collection from 2011 winners. Well it's definitely much more interesting. They showcase their collection that they did during their internship with Fj Benjamin. Amongst the three, I love Chen Zhi Gang's collection the best. His clothes really brings out the femininity in women. I can see his link and flow from clothe to clothe. Really nice.

Then it was the Parco Next Next yesterday afternoon. The first designer collection that went on stage was really fun. Especially the kid on Heelys (running shoes with wheels) - she just took the limelight. Haha. A refreshing take on the runway! The rest of the collections had some boring ones, and some really interesting ones too. I guess one designer decide to steal some limelight by using Nat Ho as one of his model.

Then just last night, I attended the Zac Posen show that I paid for! AMAZINGLY BEAUTIFUL DRESSES. Seriously. I can't stop saying "they are so pretty!" after the show. This last gown that went on stage just took my breath away. The gown is totally different in reality. Photos don't do it justice. Seriously! I shall one day design such gown for my own wedding! It's a promise!

And of course, I got a bunch of freebies. I have a stack of hair salon vouchers (salons that uses Redken) that I doubt I will use. Anyone interested can get from me! I'm not sure if I'm going to give it away generously free or going to sell it. Hehe.

And now, about school.

The following are some work I did for my Mixed Media and Rendering class.

 The first lessson we were taught how to shade properly. With just pencils of course. This was my homework. Not too badly done. But I got really bored of shading towards the end. Haha.

This was done partially in class. It's my sharpener. We were suppose to learn to shade in details. Nice?

 Next class, we started to draw some real stuff. This was a part of a plant. I shaded pretty well, but our teacher told us to try and experiment with marker shading. I must say, some parts of the leaves weren't too well done. But I'm still quite proud of this drawing cos given that I could shade since I was young, I was never able to do a decent job on real objects.

 We were suppose to do the same thing as homework, but on a complete plant. And I made a mess. Ugly to the max.

We started to learn to shade with colour pencils. The homework was to make a piece of cloth look like a cloth. After 5-6 attempts, I finally made it work. Phew!

This was the nightmare!!! LIVE SKETCHING! Horrendous. We all hated the corn so much by the end of the class. My apple totally look like onions. By now, I have totally started to hate shading. Argh.

But this saved me. Last week we learnt how to shade with watercolour. It was fun to do this. Never figured out how to do this when I was in secondary school. And now at last, I do. But of course at a price - I had to buy the costly watercolour paper. $$$





The following is my first homework from Art Direction Class. For reasons I can't understand, this class is all about taking photos. So the first class, we were theoretically taught what Aperture, Shutter Speed and ISO was. That's it. Then we were asked to use our DSLR to take photos with given requirements from these 3 functions. *rolls eyeballs* I have plenty of complaints about this class. But I shall not go on about them here if not my post will never end.

However something good did come of this first homework I did. I was asked by the school to participate in the Crowbar Awards (Using 3 out of the four pictures). Quoting from Wiki "The Crowbar Awards are open to full time tertiary students worldwide. There are six categories open for entries, advertising, design, photography, interactive, film, and the Crowbar Challenge. The awards are run by the Association of Accredited Adversting Agents Singapore."

I thought my homework will be very normal. I mean, we were suppose to work with light or water. So I thought everyone will be doing what I did? But end up, I was wrong. But ah wells. To explain briefly, my main concept was Mother Nature. 

FYI, all the light source was from my iphone flashlight.

Using a small glass cylinder, I created a seaweed.

 This was done with the same tiny glass cylinder, but unscrewed this time. A tracing paper was placed on top to distort the surface. Tada - my natural landform.

 A romantic sunset along the beach. With a plastic bowl of water, I moved the water inside to create the colour waves you see here.

 With the same method, plus a change in the white balance, I created the scene of the underwater world JUST beneath the surface of the sea. I cut out the fishes to complement the picture and to help me to tell my story. But somehow it became the center of attraction.

Then it's my favourite class: Art History (to be specific, it's fashion history). Ali told us so many interesting stories while teaching us the history in fashion. Got me all intrigued by Marie Antoinette. You wouldn't believe how affected I am by her. She's so poor thing. Sad.

Anyway, Ali taught us fashion illustration as we need to draw out some basic designs as part of our project.

This is one of my first few (presentable) figures. Also my first attempt at marker rendering. Haha.

 My first proper designing attempt since starting school. Inspired by Marie Antoinette. Ali did a more amazing job when he corrected this figure. I need to exaggerate my drawings more.

 This is obviously inpsired by the Egyptians. I was infatuated with the "goatees" they have while I was drawing this outfit. You can see the goatee everywhere in this outfit. Haha.

 Well this is an odd dress that I was trying to do. Can you tell it's inspired by the pomegranate?




Ok enough updates already. I need to get down to doing my research for my two projects. Work work work!

Tata!~

status update

I have neglected this blog for quite awhile.

Well an update: I have a new job and my school is starting on 2 April 2012.

About my school. I felt comfortable with FMDS. So I've decided to enroll there. Will be doing a part time diploma in Fashion Design, funding my school fees with my job. And hopefully I can juggle both.

Got a job recommendation from Mel's friend. 6 months of contract at OCBC. Hopefully I can stay there for long so I wouldn't have to look for a job again. Have been hearing good things, and they pay me good enough (not superbly well, but enough for my current situation).

Well as for drawings, I have nothing much to upload cos I've stopped drawing for afew weeks, and I didn't take photos of my drawings done earlier as well. But during my interview with a lecturer in the school, I've gotten good remarks given that these works were self taught. I really hope I can improve on them and most importantly, learn how to MAKE clothing.

My future after this

I'm nearing the last day of my work. The necessity to make a decision about my future becomes more and more urgent now. I can go unemployed for awhile. But not forever.

The decision I have to first make is the school and course. After consulting afew people, I have came to a conclusion that a Diploma in Fashion Technolody (Design and Product Development) may not be the course I need. It teaches me more of manufacturing and production of fashion. What I need is a good foundation in learning fashion designing. And that would mean a diploma in First Media Design School would be more relevant. (My financial status and lack of background knowledge limits my choice to only these 2 schools) However, the choice would then have to be made on whether to do it full time or part time. Let me list out the pros and cons.

Pros of Full Time (Advance Diploma in Fashion Design and Merchandising)

1. I get to do 2 more modules: one is about merchandising fashion, and the other is the internship/mentorship.
• I can do without the first module. But the second module is the one that got me interested. An internship (or mentorship with Thomas Wee) is a very good stepping stone for me to enter this industry in Singapore. Needless to say, being able to do the mentorship would be like living in my dream!
2. I have all the time in the world to hone my skills. Even when my lessons may be only 3days a week, I have 5 days to brush up on it.

Cons of Full Time

1. I need to take up a loan to do this course. Which then leads me to the two next cons.
2. I will need many years to pay off my debts. Then there will be no saving for a house, etc.
3. I will not have any allowance in those 2 years. So what do I live on? Eat grass and walk to school everyday?
4. I will be wasting the 2 years worth of working experience. 

Pros of Part Time (Diploma in Fashion Design)

1. I can work to pay my school fees (once every 3 months). I earn my own keep, while paying for my own fees.
2. I won't miss out on the 1.5years worth of working experience.
3. If I work in the relevant industry, my working experience would be very good. If I'm not, then the work/job would be a good backup plan.

Cons of Part Time

1. I will miss out the two modules, especially the internship/mentorship.
2. I will need to be super discipline. More so than I was doing my degree. 
3. I may or may not perform as well. After work, most people doing part time course just need to listen in lectures after work. But I won't be just listening. It's hands on. And I will be mentally and physically challenged.

Conclusion
My financial status play a big part. I can't be a millionaire overnight so the financial factor is definitely something I cannot control. But I can control my attitude, my discipline, my will-power. I may miss out on the internship. But I may try to see what I can work out with the school to help me get the internship. Worst case scenario, I can always look for an internship myself like how I did in my final year in my degree.


Anyway, for people who are interested to help provide me with more opinions, I will list out the links to the course outline of the schools and courses I'm interested in.

TAFF: Diploma in Fashion Technology (Design and Product Development)
FM: Advanced Diploma in Fashion Design & Merchandising (FT)
FM: Diploma in Fashion Design (PT)

Drawing at the jetty

Did this drawing at my grandpa's jetty during our reunion dinner. It was an attempt to get my proportions right. But it seems that I didn't. Because after taking this photo, I noticed how deformed my right hand was. LOL.


The leg in this drawing is the only part I'm most proud of in this drawing. Especially the shoe, even though it seem so out of proportion with the whole body. Credit goes to my cousin who gave me some tips on drawing the feet and the feet.

My Dream

A (not so) brief introduction to my choice in doing fashion designing:
http://luvariel.livejournal.com/22134.html

My first few PROPER drawings (:

  This is my first attempt to draw fashion figure yesterday. It's not awesome. But it was definitely some work!

My second attempt that same day. It's a mess. My attempt to draw a rose ended up in a red cabbage. Urgh.

My attempt today! I wanted to try portraying an outfit with chiffon over a tight long dress. But I guess it wasn't too successful. But i figure it's a nice try anyway!

Ok I've done enough today. I may do some self-explanatory another day.

Time to rest to prepare for the "war" at work tomorrow!